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Moodle 4.1 – Code freeze on October 17, to be released on November 28

Moodle 4.1 - Code freeze on October 17, to be released on November 28
Moodle 4.1 to be released on November 28

Moodle 4.1 – the next major version release of Moodle LMS is all set to add many new features. As per the latest announcement, The Moodle 4.1 version will be released on November 28. It will continue to add upon the new features introduced in Moodle 4.0 like UX & Question bank improvements.

Sander Bangma announced the timelines for the code freeze for Moodle 4.1. The code will be frozen on October 17th and after that the QA cycle will be carried out. In the QA cycle, the testers will be checking the new features to find out any bugs. Once the QA cycle is complete 100%, the Moodle 4.1 will be released on November 28.

Bangma has given a glimpse of major features coming in Moodle 4.1, which are inline to what we have reported earlier in this post. (the below list is coming directly from Sander Bangma post on Moodle forums here.)

UX enhancements

  • Database activity – this is an MUA supported project which brings improvements to the database activity for both learners and educators. New presets and enhanced management of presets will make the database activity easier to use.
  • Gradebook improvements – commencing with UX improvements to gradebook navigation, the user report and single view reports will be enhanced to make them easier to use. Further work on gradebook is planned for following releases.

Integrations

  • Ability to share Moodle LMS course content directly to MoodleNet – you could already push MoodleNet content to your Moodle site and with these improvements it will be possible to share your Moodle course content directly with MoodleNet.
  • Various improvements to the BBB integration – following the initial integration of the BBB plugin in Moodle 4.0 the BBB team is working on a number of improvements including the ability to invite external guests to BBB sessions.
  • Introduction of Tiny MCE 6 as HTML editor next to Atto – in Moodle 4.1 we are adding TinyMCE 6 as an additional editor next to the existing Atto editor. TinyMCE is well supported and will transition to become the Atto replacement in following releases.

And more!

  • Numerous accessibility improvements – Moodle is committed to delivering an inclusive and accessible LMS to all. We are currently working on a number of accessibility improvements which will also be backported to Moodle 4.0. Upon completion Moodle 4.0 will be WCAG 2.1 AA accredited and we will ensure Moodle 4.1 receives the same accreditation.
  • Question and Questionbank improvements – this community initiative is continuing with the question bank improvements that commenced in Moodle 4.0. Making the question bank more powerful and ultimately into a course activity.
  • Additional reports for Report Builder – in Moodle 4.0 we introduced the WP report builder into LMS and added several system and custom reports. This work is being continued for Moodle 4.1 with additional report sources being added.

What are the new features of Moodle 4.1, which makes you feel ecstatic? Which Moodle version you are using on your learning environment? Please share with us in the comments section below.

How to import Edmodo Quizzes into Moodle Quizzes

How to import Edmodo Quizzes into Moodle Quizzes
How to import Edmodo Quizzes into Moodle Quizzes

Edmodo – the popular educational network that helps the teachers to communicate with the students and their parents, is completely shutting down the operations on September 22. There are many teachers who have created quizzes in Edmodo and would like to continue using them even after Edmodo shuts down. Here, we will share the steps to export al quizzes from Edmodo and then import them into the Moodle LMS.

Justin Hunt – the Poodll Guy has developed a new Moodle block plugin to help import the Edmodo quizzes in Moodle. The steps for using the block to convert Edmodo quizzes into Moodle quiz are as below:

  • Export your Edmodo quizzes using the Edmodo Quiz Export tool by BookWidgets which is a Google Chrome extension.
  • Now, you can use the new “Edmodo Quiz Import Block for Moodle” block plugin developed by Justin Hunt. You can also use the demo Poodll page here if you dont want to install the plugin on your Moodle site.
  • Drag your exported Edmodo quiz zip file into the tool, and press the “upload file” button
  • Your Moodle import file (xml) should download.
  • Visit the question bank page of a course on your Moodle site and import the questions using the import file. The questions for each quiz will be created in a question category of the same name as the quiz.
  • Create a quiz activity in the course and add the questions from the appropriate question bank category to the quiz.

Justin has also shared a video walk-through for the process which you can watch on YouTube here:

What are the other tools to export your Edmodo content into other learning management systems? Please share with us in the comments section below.

Moodle forms strategic partnership in Europe to accelerate digital competencies for educators

Moodle forms strategic partnership in Europe to accelerate digital competencies for educators
OpenDigCompEdu Project (Image Credits - https://www.opendigcompedu.eu/)

Moodle – world’s most popular open source Learning Management System (LMS) has signed a new partnership in Europe to accelerate the digital competencies of school educators from Spain, Romania, Croatia, Greece and Norway.  The project named – Open Digital Competences Training for School Educators (OpenDigCompEdu) will foster sustainability.

In a official media release, Moodle HQ announced the strategic partnership with the European Commission’s ERASMUS+ programme for education, training and youth. The other partners include:

  • The Dept. of Education of the Generalitat of Catalonia – Spain
  • Politehnica University of Timisoara – Romania
  • Timis County School Inspectorate – Romania
  • University of Piraeus Research Center – Greece
  • University Computing Centre of the University of Zagreb – Croatia
  • Premium Moodle Certified Service Provider, eFaktor – Norway

The aim of the OpenDigCompEdu Project is to promote the sustainable adoption of more online and blended approaches in education through the use of open educational technologies and open education principles. The objectives set for the project are as follows:

  1.  To enhance the uptake of open education, open education practices, resources and open digital tools for delivering competence-based teaching.
  2. To create and validate an understanding of the sustainability in education through open education within the Framework for open and digital competences for educators.
  3. To improve the achievement and recognition of digital competences for education through e-portfolio and formal learning by introducing the OpenDigCompEdu e-portfolio and OpenDigCompEdu MOOC courses for educators.
  4. To introduce microcredentials and open badges in open digital competences for school education in the partner countries.

The OpenDigCompEdu Project website is live now and can be accessed here. The newly launched website will form a valuable resource for educators who want to learn more about open digital competencies and provide project updates.

What is Wakelet and How Does it Work for educators?

What is Wakelet and How Does it Work for educators?
What is Wakelet and How Does it Work for educators?

Wakelet is a popular tool which is used for digital content curation and sharing in online classrooms. In simple terms, Wakelet helps you save anything with a link to a collection in the cloud, after that you can change title, reorganize, add descriptions, add collaborators and share it everywhere. You can also save the links through Pocket, Google Keep or any other Bookmarking tool but Wakelet offers you much more afterwards which can be quite useful for you as an educator. Let’s continue to understand what is Wakelet and how does it work for educators below.

[lwptoc numeration=”none” numerationSuffix=”dot” width=”full”]

Wakelet is a digital curation tool which can help you collect different articles across the internet to help your learners understand better. With so much information available across the internet it is more important now to be able to filter out the excess “noise” and help craft a story to share with others. From social media posts and videos to images and links, this lets you collate it all in one stream.

The combinations of links are known as Wakes which can be easily created and shared, making them widely accessible for students, teachers as well as parents. Teachers can create wakes for their topics and gather relevant learning links in the wake, students can explore them and even go off to explore wakes created by others to learn more.

It is aimed for both in-person and remote learning with learners aged thirteen and above. It allows you to export the wakes to PDF so you can print and use it as a physical classroom resource too. Wakelet is available through any web browser as well as apps for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire devices.

How does Wakelet work?

To get started with Wakelet, you need to visit the homepage – https://wakelet.com/ It allows you to signup for free with your Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft or Email ID within seconds. Once you are logged in, you can create a Collection and give it a name.

Creating a new Wakelet Collection
Creating a new Wakelet Collection

After title, you can start adding links in your collection. You can also add your Twitter, YouTube, OneDrive and Google Drive accounts to pull links in Wakelet collection.

Additionally, Wakelet comes with browser extension for Chrome as well as Firefox. That means you can be browsing various resources as you would normally and then simply hit the Wakelet icon in the upper right corner and that link will be saved to any wake you pick.

In the classroom, you can add a wake collection for your students for a specific topic and let them go through it and even revisit learning after a topic has been covered.

How much does Wakelet cost?

Wakelet is completely free of cost to sign up and use. There are no hidden costs, no per user charges and no advertisements. The company mentions that all features are completely free and will remain that way. Even there are new premium plans introduced in future, the currently available features will remain free of cost.

What are the best Wakelet features?

  • Simple to use, No Coding, No configuration – Wakelet allows you to signup and start using in few minutes. It is very simple to use even for novice users who are not well versed with technology. Some great examples of wakes include lesson plans, newsletters, group projects, research assignments, portfolios, and reading recommendations.
  • Easily collaborate and share across platforms – Wakelet allows you to share the content easily for in-class and remote learning. You can export all wakes in PDF format to use them in classroom learning. You can invite your clients and colleagues to work on collections with you!
  • Better Organization – You can arrange all your work however you want in one single place.
  • Free of Cost – Wakelet is always free of cost and will remain forever free.
  • Seamless Integration – Having integrations available with all popular online learning tools like Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard etc. Wakelet provides ease of use.
  • Follow others – You can also follow other creators such as on a social media platform, makes it easy to build a list of useful regular creators.

How to Embed your Wakelet collections in your LMS?

You can easily share your Wakelet collections into your LMS, Blog or website. Follow below steps to embed your collection in your online tool:

  • Once you’ve finished curating a collection, save it as unlisted or public.
  • Click Share at the top of your Wakelet collection. See the options for sharing your collection with your learning community!
  • Select Embed. Choose from different layouts, formats, other visual options like light/dark mode – so your embedded collection appears just how you want it to!
  • Copy the Embed Code! Then go to your website, LMS, blog, etc. and paste the code into the HTML page. Boom! Your collection is embedded for your viewers to access and engage with!
  • In Moodle, you can embed the HTML code in Label, Book resource or any other area where you can use the HTML code.

What are your favorite ways to use Wakelet in your learning environment? Please share with us in the comments section below.

Why Edmodo is shutting down on September 22?

Why Edmodo is shutting down on September 22?
Why Edmodo is shutting down on September 22?

Edmodo was/is a popular educational network that helps the teachers to communicate with the students and their parents. However, with over 100 million + users, the company has decided to shut down its operations completely on September 22, 2022. The new left many teachers awestruck as Edmodo is one of the best tools available for online teaching. Let’s understand why it is shutting down?

Edmodo has been operating for 15 years and was seen as a competitor to Google Classroom and Schoology. During the COVID pandemic, it was looked as the first tool for connection between teachers, students and parents. Via the Edmodo app or website, teachers can share content, texts, videos, homework and assignments with their students online.

However, in a shocking announcement on August 16 on Twitter, Edmodo revealed that the platform will be shutting down on September 22.

https://twitter.com/edmodo/status/1559256931704770560?s=20&t=EmTtk0DgSKshST9JB7q4UQ

Reason why Edmodo is shutting down?

“After more than a decade of ensuring Edmodo can stay a free tool for all, we have found that it is no longer viable for us to maintain the level of service you deserve and that we can take pride in ourselves,” explained the parent owner company, the Hong Kong-based NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited.

Stating further, the Asian Company which established China’s first online gaming portal 17173.com said that the platform will be offered in some countries outside US as B2G.

“The shutdown of the free B2C platform (Edmodo.com) will allow the Company to focus its effort in better optimizing the B2G platform to fit the needs of the different countries. The Company expects to realize substantial savings in operating cost, which will accelerate the path to reaching operating profitability of its education business.”

What will happen to my account and will my data be permanently deleted or sold?

According to the support team, the accounts for teachers, students and parents are expected to be permanently deleted after the platform is fully shut down. The content created within the Edmodo will also be completely deleted along with the accounts.

“You can be assured that your personal data will not be shared, transferred, or sold to any 3rd party and, in fact, once permanently deleted, it will not be accessible or recoverable even by Edmodo.” said the media release issued by NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited.

What’s your take about Edmodo shutting down? Have you ever used the platform for your online teaching? Do share your memories with us in the comments section below.

Moodle tip of the day – How to create a course which shows Pass/Fail in Moodle

Moodle tip of the day - How to create a course which shows Pass/Fail in Moodle
Moodle tip of the day - How to create a course which shows Pass/Fail in Moodle

Moodle courses can be used in a variety of ways to complement your elearning requirements. Recently one of the Moodle users asked about creating a Moodle course which can show whether a student has passed the courses along with the percentage of marks obtained.

Solution: While there are many ways of achieving the same, there are two methods suggested by the Moodle community.

Solution 1:

Since grading can be applied to individual activities in Moodle course, so either we can make one more activity in the course e.g. Label. Then use the conditional restrictions according to our requirements. Once the user met all the criteria mentioned in the Label settings, it will be shown to the user. Now when the user views that label, it can be set up as the course completion criteria. Read more about the course completion criteria here.

Solution 2:

the other user pointed out a much simpler way of doing that. He suggested instead of using custom scales, it is better to edit the letter values in gradebook settings. For example – the values within the range 100-70 can be marked as Pass while less than 70 can be marked as fail. In addition you can also change the grade display type to either Letter (percentage) or Percentage (Letter) which will show a clear demarcation to students like Pass (75%) or 75% (Pass).

What solution would you like to propose for this problem? Share your creative thoughts with us in the comments section below. You can also respond to the original forum thread here.

MoodleMoot Philippines Video Recordings available now – Check them out

Get ready for MoodleMoot Philippines (MootPH22) on July 27-29
MoodleMoot Philippines 2022

MoodleMoot Philippines 2022 was organized by Nephila Web from July 27-29 which was dedicated to users, developers, and administrators of Moodle. The conference was attended by Moodle CEO & Founder – Martin Dougiamas & other notable educators around the globe.

The video recordings of the MoodleMoot Philippines 2022 are available now on YouTube. So, in case you were not able to attend the conference, you can watch and benefit from the videos.

Check out the video recordings below:

The MoodleMoot Philippines 2022 was held completely online and was attended by many educators from Asia Pacific region.

The theme for this year’s event is “Educators thriving amidst the pandemic, adopting to change and learning as one.” This year the first day will be dedicated to Moodle Workplace while the other two days will see keynote speech by Dr Martin Dougiamas & others. The program includes talks from local and international experts on topics such as:

  • Hybrid Learning success
  • The future of learning analytics
  • Best Moodle Practices and Effective use of H5P
  • Teaching effective virtual classes using Moodle & BigBlueButton
  • Virtual Learning Environment Mobile App

Digital Curriculum & App Innovation Summit

Digital Curriculum & App Innovation Summit
Digital Curriculum & App Innovation Summit

The Digital Curriculum & App innovation summit 2022 will be held on November 8-9 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. The event will bring together the educators, leaders & curriculum providers who are working on learning ecosystems for modern changing education landscape.

The Summit program is designed for K-12 and higher education academic and technology leaders, curriculum specialists, instructional designers, digital content providers, library professionals, innovation officers, and other edtech leaders.

The speakers will share practical strategies to improve learner engagement and retention, support digital teaching and learning innovation, and foster collaboration to build a better future for learners.

The registrations for the Digital Curriculum & App innovation summit 2022 are open. The early bird pricing deadline is September 16, so make sure to book your seats before that. You can check out this link to reserve your spot.

The conference will be held in Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 E Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202-6101.

Check out all details on the event website here.

Fasten your seatbelts for MoodleMoot Global 2022 – Program now available!

Fasten your seatbelts for MoodleMoot Global 2022 - Program now available!
MoodleMoot Global 2022

MoodleMoot Global 2022 is the biggest Moodle conference of the year which will be held from September 27-29 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. The event will welcome more than 500+ moodlers from around the globe to meet and learn from each other. This will be return of the in-person conference after two years.

The full conference schedule for MoodleMoot Global 2022 is now finalized and include keynote presentations, community sessions, workshops & social and networking events. The conference program is based on this year’s theme – “education for the future”. Under the main theme, the following sub-themes will be covered:

  • Moodle of the Future
  • Realising the full potential of Moodle
  • Integrating Moodle with external tools
  • Supporting an international community
  • Learner centred education: empowering learners
  • Using Moodle in unique and unexpected ways

This year’s MoodleMoot Global program includes over 120 presentations, covering the three conference streams for Educators, Administrators and Developers. The program also includes a variety of social and networking events (including the MoodleMoot Global Party!) and much more.

You can check out the full schedule of the MoodleMoot Global 2022 here.

Moodle Tips – Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz

Moodle Tips - Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz
Moodle Tips - Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz

Moodle – world’s most popular open source Learning Management System is having a powerful and most customizable quiz engine. By using the Moodle Quiz module, you can create all types of online exams with all sorts of permutations and combinations. Many new Moodlers often look for the options to randomize the Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz in order to make it difficult for the students. Read on this post to understand how you can setup the questions to shuffle within a Moodle quiz easily.

We will be talking about two main things here – first, shuffling the questions within a quiz and secondly, shuffling the order of the answers in case of a Multiple Choice Question type (MCQ). So, lets dive in and check out the first part of randomizing the questions within a Moodle quiz:

Before starting with this, I assume that you have some questions ready in the Question Bank and you have setup the quiz activity in your Moodle course. We will configure the quiz settings to shuffle the questions by following the below mentioned steps.

In Moodle 4.0, the quiz and question bank have improved so it is easier to navigate in it. Once you are in Editing Mode On, navigate to Quiz >Questions page. On this page, you will see the questions present in the current Moodle quiz. You can add more questions to the quiz from this page from Question Bank, or write a new question directly.

Moodle Tips - Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz

Shuffle Questions through the Edit Quiz PageAs shown in the image above, on the top right corner, you will see a small checkbox “Shuffle”. If you check this checkbox, it will make the order of questions random in the current quiz section. It will make it harder for the students to share the answers with other students.

Shuffle Answers within a question

Now, let’s look at the steps to shuffle the answers options within a question. In order to do that, you need to do the following two steps:

  1. On the Quiz settings page, under the Question Behaviour section, you need to select ‘Yes’ for “Shuffle within questions” as shown in the image below:

    Moodle Tips - Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz
    Enable shuffle within questions
  2. After that you need to edit the question for which you want to shuffle the answers. On the edit question page, In the General Section, you will see an option “One or multiple answers? ” along with a checkbox to “Shuffle the Choices”. If you check this box, then the order of the answers are shuffled during each attempt.

    Moodle Tips - Shuffling Quiz Questions and Answers in Moodle Quiz
    Shuffle the answer options on the edit question page

Once you are done, don’t forget to save your question and quiz. It is always recommended to take a preview of the quiz before allowing the students to attempt the same. This will ensure that the quiz flow works exactly the same was as desired.

What are the other exciting ways to use Moodle Quiz for online exams? Do share your creative methods with us in the comments section below.