Moodle LMS is one of the most popular open source learning management system in the world. It is used by more than 333 million users across 242 countries. Recently Moodle turned out 20 years old which is a huge achievement considering the amount of efforts involved in it including development and maintaining. New Moodle users often look to get started guides to get acquainted with Moodle easily.
There are many good resources available to get started with Moodle like “Start teaching with Moodle in 15 minutes book“. Recently Moodle Academy -the learning hub for the global Moodle community have shared a webinar recording of the session “Introduction to Moodle for Administrators“.
The webinar helps you learn the basics of setting up a Moodle LMS from within the admin interface. The video is suitable for any new, non technical Moodle administrators to get started with Moodle. Check out the video recording below:
The video recording is a part of Free Moodle course – Introduction to Moodle, which provides a short, high level overview of Moodle. We advise you to go through the complete course if you are not already familiar with Moodle.
What are the other helpful Moodle resources for new users to get started with Moodle administration? Please share with us in the comments section below.
Illinois Education & Technology Conference (IETC) 2022 will be held on Nov 2 to Nov 4, 2022 at Bank of Springfield Center. The IETC conference gives you the chance to attend 120+ formative sessions on technology integration, STEM, coaching, tech infrastructure, and more.
The conference will be returning to the in-person event for this year and will feature more learning opportunities across all three days. You can learn, explore and connect with other innovative educators to harness the power of technology and prepare future-ready students.
What you can expect at IETC 2022:
Access to over 120 sessions packed with inspirational and highly relevant professional learning opportunities.
Optional two-hour workshops during all three days of the conference (additional fees apply).
Three powerful keynotes on technology strategies, engagement, and the latest edtech tools.
Access to the Exhibit Hall featuring the latest products and services from more than 60 of the most popular edtech companies.
Tech Leaders Summit designed for technology leaders and support staff (pre-registration required).
Networking opportunities for teachers, coaches, and library and media specialists.
Complimentary lunches on Wednesday and Thursday.
The IETC Social on Wednesday and IETC Trivia Night on Thursday.
Unlimited networking opportunities with 600+ educators, education leaders, and corporate representatives from around the world.
PD hours for attending sessions.
The early bird pricing will be available till October 7. So hurry up and book your seats for the Illinois Education & Technology Conference (IETC) 2022 today.
Early Educators Leadership Conference 2022(image Credits - EELC)
Early Educators Leadership Conference will be organized on October 5-8 2022 in Orlando, Florida. This year the theme of the conference will be Leading Career Pathways to Equity. This year’s conference will focus on advancing equity in early learning, through advocacy for young children, families and the educators who serve them.
The Early Educators Leadership Conference (EELC) 2022 will provide you with an opportunity to discuss with industry leading experts the obstacles that affect equitable wages, and the support and recognition our field is worthy of. The EELC 2022 will bring together national and international leaders, policymakers, early childhood professionals, higher education institutions and early childhood training organizations all under one roof.
The retreat-style conference includes 30 sessions tailored to your interest. Check out all the session in the Early Educators Leadership Conference (EELC) 2022 here. The program includes many exciting sessions like:
Leading with Heart-Is Your Door REALLY Always Open?
Compassion Fatigue in Helpers – Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others
Diversifying the Teaching Pipeline: Creating a Spanish-language A.A.S for Early Childhood Education
General Session: The Leadership Journey of an ECE Changemaker
Boosting Family Child Care: Bridging Quality Care and Business Sustainability
The Six Signature Traits of an Inclusive Educator
And many more
Unfortunately the registrations for this year Educators Leadership Conference (EELC) 2022 are full as of now. The conference venue is as detailed below:
The Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld
6677 Sea Harbor Dr
Orlando, Florida 32821
United States
New minor versions of Moodle LMS version 4.0 and other supported branches are released today. All Moodle site administrators are encouraged to upgrade their Moodle site to the latest version. The new Minor versions includes minor updates and bug fixes.
This will be the last minor version release before the next major release of Moodle 4.1 in November 2022. The next major version i.e. Moodle 4.1 is focused on improving usability and accessibility. Check out this article to understand the new features coming in Moodle 4.1 version.
The complete list of fixed issues in Moodle 4.0.4 and other minor versions can be found in the Release notes as below:
Moodle holds onto 39 place in Top 100 Tools for Learning 2022 (image credits - https://www.toptools4learning.com/)
Moodle – the world’s most popular open source Learning Management System is ranked among the top 100 tools for learning in 2022. Moodle – as a learning platform is ranked as #39 among the top 100 tools for learning. The 16th Annual Tools for Learning survey 2022 has been extended to 300 learning tools instead of 100 tools.
The survey lead by Jane Hart divides the tools in three areas – personal learning (PPL), workplace learning (WPL) and education EDU). Moodle is among one of the few tools for Tools for Education (Edu) as well as Tools for Workplace Learning (WPL). The other Learning Platforms ranked are as follows:
Google Classroom – 32 (-15),
Moodle – 39 (-1),
aNew Spring – 66 (+1),
Canvas – 72 (-15)
While Moodle has lost one place, other competitors like Canvas by Instructure have lost 15 places and dropped to 72 place. Google Classroom is ranked as the top learning platform with rank 32 but this year it has also lost 15 places.
Canvas LMS by Instructure has got new enhancements which are focused towards the users in Higher Education. The new enhancements are designed to support education at scale, enhance the student experience, and further inform and empower educators and administrators.
The new enhancements were shared by the Canvas LMS team during the InstructureCon 22. These new features will make it easier for the educators to manage their course in Canvas easily. The new features include the following:
Improved Assignment Submission Workflow – The overall Assignment submission workflow is enhanced with new & exciting features like Progress Tracker, Clearer Submissions options, Access to each attempt etc.
Confetti Celebrations for Assignment Submission
Emojis in Submission Comments
Annotation Assignments for Digital Worksheets
Improvements in SpeedGrader – The SpeedGrader got new enhancements like – Comment Library, Reassign Submissions, Word Count Tool, Update Submission Status etc.
Improved Efficiency in Grading – The grading interface has got improved efficiency with Assignment & Student search, Ungraded Assignments, Labels for graded assignments, CSV Export & Enhanced gradebook filters.
LaTeX & MathJax Equations can be added to any Canvas text field.
Accessibility issues checker with notifications count.
Microsoft Immersive reader has been added to more places.
Quizzes Improvements – The new enhancements to quiz helps you move from classic quizzes to new quizzes in a flash. It includes – Quiz & Bank Migration, Partial Credit for matching, Printing capabilities, module workflow, Item Bank Management, Item Bank filtering, Rich content editor update, New Quiz API in GraphQL.
Discussion Redesign – The discussion are also enhanced with Evolved User Interface, User Role Labels, Quote Replies, Participant mentions, Flag a reply & Anonymous Discussion.
Outcomes & Competency Based Education – Improved Outcomes Management, Learning Pathways and Automatic due dates so students can stay on track.
You can also watch the video recording of the InstructureCon session discussing all these new enhancements below.
Learning 2022 conference will be returning to Orlando on November 6 – 9
Learning 2022, the premier event for learning leaders, will be returning back to Orlando, Florida from November 6-9. The Learning 2022 conference will focuses on the strategies, skills, and solutions that matter most to educators and leaders in the education field. This year the event will take place at Disney’s Coronado Springs in Orlando, FL.
Learning 2022 takes a leadership oriented view about strategies, trends, technology with an eye towards developing necessary skills for leaders at all levels. The conference program session includes inspiring sessions by notable keynote speakers, 120+ sessions in a variety of formats, and exciting learning experiences to give you a notable experience.
The detailed timings for the Learning 2022 conference are as follows:
Nov. 6, 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM ET
Nov. 7, 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM ET
Nov. 8, 6:00 AM – 5:30 PM ET
Nov. 9, 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET
This year the event will explore a number of leadership topics and themes based on:
Thriving Through Change
The Evolution of Learning Leadership
Leading Hybrid or Remote Teams
Empathetic Leadership
Women & Leadership
Wellness at Work
Immersive Learning Experiences
In addition this year there will be pre-conference workshops on November 6 before the main conference officially begins. There will also be Thirty under 30 program to offer special scholarship and unique program for 30 learning professionals under the age of 30.
The last date to register your seat through online registration is November 4, 2022. You can save $100 if you register before September 23. Join the educational leaders and industry experts for the Learning 2022. Register your seat today!
What Is Blooket And How Does It Work? Tips & Tricks for Educators
Blooket is one of the most popular game based learning platform which offers immersive gameplay and a lot of new ways of teaching. In this Blooket guide for teachers, we will cover everything that teachers need to know about the interactive platform to create their own games and start using it in a new and fun way for teaching. So, lets get started with Blooket and how does it work?
Blooket is interactive and funny game based learning platform which uses a quiz-style digital game coupled with character-based gaming to teach students. It includes a lot of pre-populated questions and answers with the ability to create your own questions. The students can participate in the quiz in the class or anywhere on their own devices. Teachers and students just need a digital device to access the platform.
The most amazing and motivating part is that the students will always feel like playing a game, as they win points every time that they give the correct answer. It all adds up to a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and a system that’s very easy to use.
Best Blooket Features
Blooket offers a wide variety of exciting features. Let’s have a look at few of them in brief below:
Blooket is super easy to use for both teachers as well as students.
Students can be easily assign into groups.
Huge library of pre-populated questions and answers to get started.
The ability to earn points and coins motivates students to come back and engaged.
Suitable for all ages
Many interesting gaming modes available
Teachers can easily understand how their students are performing and identify areas that they may need to review again
Teachers have the option to lead the game or let the students play in their own way.
We will try to cover all these features in detail in the upcoming sections.
Getting Started with Blooket
The great news is setting up an account and getting started is quick and easy. Even better…it’s free! You can signup using your email ID or using Google account.
You can also watch this video to get started with Blooket:
Once you are logged in the portal, you will notice the welcome screen stating that “You’ll need a Question Set to Host!”. You can either start creating your own set or else check the Discover Sets link.
From this page, you will find thousands of already created sets which can be reused in your class. You can even add them to your favorites to come back later.
If you feel creative, choose the option to create a new game.
Name your game (think of something funny and creative that will attract your learners’ attention),
Add a short summary of the game,
Upload an image that will help locate it on the dashboard, and
Choose the privacy settings that you want to add (especially if you want the game to be visible only to your students)
Start creating your questions from scratch. You can also import the questions from CSV file or from Quizlet import.
Creating your set from scratch
Now, since you have decided to create your own set from scratch, let’s have a look at the process of adding new questions in detail.
Once you saved the set (it is called as a Blooket), you will see the options to change time limit and adding new questions.
Click on Add Question button.
There’s an easy-to-use layout with four answer choices, similar to what students see on many state assessments. You can add images and set a time limit for each question if you’re working on fluency or want to add an extra challenge.
Once you save a question, You can easily make its copy by clicking the duplicate button.
Blooket Game Modes
Once you’ve finished creating your set, you’re ready to specify the type of assignment you’ve made. Here are some of the game options you might choose:
Host Game – Live Mode
If you choose to host a game, it means that the students will be interacting with game live which makes it a group game session aka Blooket Live. You can control the game details by allowing late joiners, randomizing student names, and specifying the number of questions. Students can participate in hosted games through the Blooket app on their devices.
Homework Mode
You can assign a review game for homework using the “HW” tab. This will take you to a page where you can set a due date/time and a goal.
Now it’s time to generate and share the Game ID with your students. When your multiple-choice game is ready for use, Blooket will provide a number code you can give to your students for them to access the game mode.
Game Options available to Choose From
Blooket offers a wide range of games that students can play at any time during their day. Some of the games that students can find in Blooket are:
Classic – The classic game is like any other quiz-trivia game. Students should answer as many questions as possible in order to earn a point and finish first.
Cafe – In Cafe mode, students answer questions to earn food to serve to customers in the game. In this mode, the points are the items that they need in order to replenish the empty food boxes and run the cafe properly.
Gold Quest – In Golden Quest students have the option to answer the quiz-based questions at their own pace. When answering the questions correctly they get the option to unlock three new boxed.
Racing – In the racing competition, Students need to answer the questions as fast as they can in order to block their competitors and proceed to the next level.
Factory – In factory mode, the learners needs to answer quickly to upgrade their blooks and make virtual cash in their factory.
Crazy Kingdom – Keep a kingdom running by answering a variety of guests’ requests and managing your limited resources.
Crypto Hack – In Crypto Hack mode, the students needs to answer correctly to mine cryptocurrencies and hack others.
Tower defense – In the tower defense mode, students need to answer questions, build towers, and design the defense to protect yourself from waves of Evil Blooks.
Blooket Pricing
Blooket is completely free to use and it offers a paid plan named as “Plus” for teachers looking to level up the features. The Plus plan (paid annually) starts with $2.99/per month and Plus Flex (paid monthly) starts with $4.99/per month.
The free plan comes up with 60 players and question set search features but the Plus plan comes up with enhanced game reports, question set folders, up to 300 players and student bonus tokens among other features. Check out the pricing page for more details.
Blooket Tips and Tricks
Blooket offers a easy & intuitive way of gamified learning for both students and teachers. Here are some tips and tricks to follow while using Blooket for teaching.
Edit the existing question sets – Why to reinvent the wheel from scratch when you already have a lot of pre-built questions in the library. Search the question sets already available and edit these to suit your needs for the fastest way to get up and running.
Set your own quiz speed – This is one of the most notable feature of Blooket as it allows you to adjust the speed of your quiz according to your students needs. The time limit for each question can be changed easily which is very handy feature.
Reward students for their efforts – You can use Blooket to reward your students. Ask them to finish an assignment before they can access a new game on Blooket which is again learning. You can use the Homework gaming mode for this purpose.
How you are using Blooket for online teaching? Do share with us in the comments section below.
Ciao, All Moodle users from Italy! The MoodleMoot Italy 2022 will be organized from September 22-24 in Urbino. This year the MoodleMoot Italy 2022 will be organized by Italian Moodle Users Association (AIUM) in
collaboration with the University of Urbino Carlo Bo.
During the three days of the conference, participants will have the opportunity to attend workshops and to explore the use of Moodle in different scenarios. There will be sessions covering the new features of Moodle 4 – the latest Major version of Moodle LMS.
The registrations for the MoodleMoot Italy 2022 are open now and the interested participants can register their places through the official website here. The tickets for all AIUM members is completely free of cost while for the non AIUM Members it will be only 75 Euros.
Italian Moots started with the 2005 “MiniMoot” in Rome and have taken place annually ever since. AIUM is one of the most active Moodle Associations on a national scale, owing to a large extent to the large number of active contributors.
The 7th Open Education Policy forum will be held on September 14-15 2022. This year the forum is a completely digital edtech conference. The Forum’s virtual space is open to practitioners, activists and policymakers from all over the globe to exchange knowledge, make connections and bring together the Open Education and Open Culture communities.
The Open Education Policy forum is organized by Centrum Cyfrowe and will revolve around new Pan-European study. It will focus on the usage of GLAM educational digital resources, interactive materials, and online digitised collections by teachers and educators.
This year the Open Education Policy Forum will be looking for the answers to the following vital questions:
How exactly are digital cultural heritage collections being used?
What are the key opportunities and challenges of more GLAM content-based tools and resources used for educational purposes?
How to make sure these are fit for the purpose of teachers and educators?
How to shape best policies supporting the development of such tools and resources?
The 2 days conference will be held in English language and is completely virtual. All the sessions will be available through the Zoom app and the registration will be free for all interested participants.
