UP TechTalk

Exploring the wise integration of technology in teaching and learning

moodle

What’s New in Moodle 3.9?

Posted by Filed Under: News, Online Learning, Upgrades

During the first week of January 2021, ATSI will be completing a major upgrade of the Moodle system, taking us from version 3.6 to version 3.9- a change which will bring greater stability and new features. Read on for an overview of some of the key changes!

Activity Picker

Moodle 3.9 will bring a tabbed view to the activity picker that pops up when you click “Add an Activity or Resource.” Now, in addition to the main tab, which will include all items, you will also have the choice to select tabs that show just Activities (gradable items) or just Resources (text tags, URLs, etc). You will also have the option to “Star” activities, which will be included on an additional tab for easy access- a favorites list is born!

H5P Content Integration

H5P- short for HTML5 Package- is a way of adding interactive content to your course page. For more information on how to use H5P in Moodle, see the introductory article on the Moodle.org site. Stay tuned for ongoing updates about how this can be used in your courses.

Go to Top

Included in the new version of Moodle will be a “Go to Top” button, making it easier for users to return to the top of their course page rather than having to scroll manually from where you are on the page.

Want Even More Info on Moodle 3.9?

LinkedIn Learning offers a terrific series of introductory Moodle courses, including one on Moodle 3.9. All members of the UP community have access to this- and any other courses offered on the platform- for free. If prompted, log in with your UP credentials.

The ATSI team is also available for questions, troubleshooting, or training requests- feel free to email us anytime. We look forward to assisting you!

Free online Moodle PD

Posted by Filed Under: News, Professional Development

It’s hard to find the silver lining in our “new normal” of COVID-19. Amongst so many other, more dire things, the epidemic has disrupted the normal summer opportunities for professional development for many of us at UP. So, I would like to share an online, completely free option with the campus:

Mountain Moodle Moot

This regional Moodle conference (or “moot”), held annually in Helena, MT, is regarded as one of the best and most entertaining in the U.S. This year is the 10th anniversary and the moot is online and free for the first time. This would be well worth registering for if you would like to go deeper into the world of Moodle with sessions from a colorful cast of characters who use Moodle in interesting and diverse ways. I went last year and had a great time networking and learning, so I was disappointed I would not be able to travel to Helena this year. I will be in attendance and hope to (virtually) see others from UP there!

Course Navigation Using the Moodle Dashboard

Posted by Filed Under: News, Upgrades

Decorative image.

Many of you may have noticed that there have been changes to your course navigation options. Namely, that the Custom Course Menu section which summarized your courses, has been discontinued by the developer and is no longer part of the default page layout.

Luckily, for those wanting to refine the course results shown on their dashboard, many of the functions previously offered by the Custom Course Menu are replicated front and center by other dashboard features. These features also make it easier to do some tasks, such as separating out frequently accessed courses you have marked as favorites (starred) or pulling up old courses that you have previously hidden.

For an overview of the dashboard features please see our Moodle Guide article About the New Dashboard in Moodle 3.6.

Included in this document you will find links to a number of more in-depth guides which you can explore depending on your needs. We particularly recommend the following, which address some of the most common tasks the Custom Course Menu was used for:

For now, the Custom Course Menu can be added back to the dashboard by individual users by adding a block to your dashboard, and we will keep the option to do so available as long as possible. It is important to note however, that with the block no longer being developed, future upgrades may cause the feature to stop working- so we encourage you to get to know the new dashboard navigation features now so that you feel confident with them if you need to use them in the future.

If you have any questions not covered in these guides, or encounter any issues while using the dashboard features, ATSI can be reached at atsi@up.edu.

Need Moodle Resources? Check out our Moodle Guides Collection!

Posted by Filed Under: Support, Teaching and Learning

At this time when so many are having to transition their work and educational lives online, figuring out how to do activities you’ve previously done in person can be a considerable task. For those of you learning how to move your classes online, the UP Moodle Guides site is an excellent resource to explore!

UP Moodle Guides contains a knowledgebase of over 80 help articles with step by step instructions on how to do different tasks in Moodle. You are sure to find a wide variety of helpful articles whether you are completely new to the site or have been using the site for many years as part of your face-to-face instruction.

Some favorites if you are just getting familiar with Moodle:

Not able to find the guide you want? We are always happy to answer your questions or take suggestions of new topics to cover in our guides. You can reach our team at atsi@up.edu and we look forward to hearing from you!