On 17^th July 2014, the QMplus online learning environment will unveil a host of new and exciting features. This is as a result of an upgrade of the underlying technology, Moodle, from version 2.2 to 2.6.

In order to apply this upgrade, QMplus will have some unavoidable interruption to normal service beginning the week of 14^th July. For details of the upgrade plan, please visit our ‘Upgrade Go-Live Plan’ webpage.

What’s coming?

As the environment is jumping several versions (2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6) there will lots of features which were added along the way. Here are some highlights of what staff will have access to after the upgrade.

Moodle 2.3

2.3 saw great improvements all round, including:

1. Improved File picker, apart from an improved look and feel to the file picker, 2.3 also released the automatic ability for both staff and students to be able to drag and drop files straight from the desktop into Moodle (without having to add a drag and drop block).
2. File repository feature – add an alias (or shortcut) to a file so that the file can be linked to. If an alias is created, then when the original file is updated, it will change in all instances of the alias. This will be a great help to those who want the file used in many places and easily updated.
3. Single point to add activities and resources – before 2.3, there were two drop-downs, one to add a resource and another to add an activity. Now there is a very simple link called ‘+Add an activity or resource’ – this brings up a slick activity chooser so you can select what you want from it simply.
4. Display of file size and type – there are now two tick boxes in a file resource that will automatically display the size of the file and the file type. This can be especially useful for students to know before opening or downloading a file.
5. Section per page – determine whether the whole course is displayed on one page or split over several pages on a section-by-section basis with navigation links providing back/forth to next sections.
6. Quick Edit – When you have uploaded a file or created a resource and want to change the name (which is the text that appears on the course page) there is now a simple option that allows you to edit without having to edit the activity itself. This will save time.
7. New single assignment activity – previously staff would have to choose from four different assignment types (advanced uploading of files; online text; upload a single file; offline activity). Now these options are configurable via a single assignment activity.
8. New quiz features – (a) force students to answer the quiz in the defined order (b) quiz remembers what page the student was on when they resume.
9. Sticky Blocks – administrators or teachers can force a block to appear on various pages within a course area.

Useful Resources on 2.3:

• For a complete list of features in the 2.3 release, please refer to: Moodle Docs – New Features List: http://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Category:New_features

• Gavin Henrick’s post on ‘Some features in the upcoming 2.3’

• Mark Drechsler’s post on the new file aliasing feature

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Moodle 2.4

Some of the features introduced in 2.4:

 

1. Moodle Mobile – the official Moodle app requires the Moodle 2.4 platform
2. New assignment features –
   1. Cut off date – this is a date beyond which students will not be able to send in their assignment, as the button for doing so will no longer be displayed (previous Blackboard users will be familiar with this). In addition to this, after that date (or time) a teacher may, on request, grant an extension by going to the class assignment grading screen, clicking the “Edit” column and choosing “grant extension” for the relevant student.
   2. Blind marking – if enabled, a teacher will not see the names of students who have submitted their assignments. Instead, they will see randomly generated participant numbers.
   3. Force students to accept submission statement – such as a statement indicating that this is their own work.
   4. More features available for student group work submissions – such as one student uploads and another downloads and adds to it.
   5. Ability to upload multiple feedback files via zip.
   6. Offline grading worksheet – download grading list as a spreadsheet – add grade and comments then re-upload.
   7. Course overview block – users can rearrange their courses by dragging them into different places. They can also choose how many courses they wish to display.

 

Useful Resources for 2.4

• For a complete list of features in the 2.4 release, please refer to: Moodle Docs – New Features List: http://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Category:New_features

Videos

• Video – Cut off date and granting extensions
• Video – Blind Marking
• Video – Group-work assignments and grading

 

 

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Moodle 2.5

Some of the features introduced in 2.5:

1. Badges – teachers can award course badges based on a variety of chosen criteria.
2. Collapsed forms items – non-essential settings on forms are collapsed by default, yet you can quickly access them when you need them.
3. Further drag and drop features – drag an image or some text onto your course page and choose whether to display it embedded in a label or as a clickable resource.
4. Inline Folders – choose whether to have a folder show its contents in a separate screen, as previously, or to have it display them inline with any subfolders expanded.
5. Searching enrolled users – search box makes finding users in very large courses much easier.

 

Useful Resources for 2.5

• When badges might be useful – The Badges of Oz
• Folder resource

 

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Moodle 2.6

Some of the features introduced in 2.6:

 

1. Live annotation – highlight and add notes straight in Moodle to any .pdf file. These can then be sent back to the student.
2. Editing icons – these are hidden away in a drop down, instead of all appearing on the screen when ‘turn editing is on’
3. Text editor – toggle on and off of advanced features, making it easier to use without all the icons taking up space.
4. Performance improvements – new options for handling sessions using backends like memcached, full support for PHP OPcache, faster admin menus, improvements on MS SQL and Maria DB and more.
5. New assignment features –
   1. Marking workflow: set the assignment workflow (Not marked; Marking completed; In review; Ready for release; Released). This can then be set per student so that they know what is happening with the grade.
   2. Marking allocation: allocate a specific teacher per student. When that teacher logs in, they will only see the students who they have been allocated to mark. Once that teacher has marked, they can then allocate the work to another teacher to review.

Useful Resources for 2.6:

• Video – Moodle 2.6 release highlights
• Video – Moodle annotation

 

 

 

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Image credit: ULCC upgrade page