New Moodle a hit with pilot users

A new version of Moodle, the university’s online course management system, will be introduced May 1 at Concordia. Users should note the following:

• Content submitted or published in Moodle before April 27 at 9 p.m. will be transferred automatically to the new version of Moodle.
• Content submitted or published in Moodle between April 27 at 9 p.m. and May 1 at 8 a.m. will not be transferred to the new version of Moodle.
• Moodle will be unavailable April 28 from midnight to 1 a.m. and May 1 from 7 to 8 a.m.

About Moodle 2.3
As part of the pilot phase of the new system, eight Concordia professors and their students were actively using Moodle 2.3 during the winter term. For Walcir Cardoso, a pilot tester, associate professor of education and self-professed fan of all things Moodle, the upgraded system has transformed the way he teaches.

With the addition of automatic blogs and wikis, class interaction has reached a new level. Students use the blog feature, which can be set to private or public, as a space to post their notes and comments, as well as video (which is now embedded) and links that support class discussion. “In turn, I take the topics they’ve written about and videos they’ve posted to complement what we’re learning in class. It’s become a valuable part of the learning process,” says Cardoso.

Students use wikis to post questions related to course material and classmates are encouraged to respond. “Students then come to class prepared to review the topic. It creates an atmosphere of interaction in and out of the classroom. They’re basically selecting what they want to learn about in class,” says Cardoso, who also integrates these social media activities into his weekly quizzes.

“It encourages students to visit the blogs and wikis of their peers and motivates them to interact.” Users can also view a breakdown of their grades (e.g., quizzes, papers) should the instructor choose to post them. Quizzes are scored automatically and can be set to provide immediate results for students to view.

Voice recording is another popular feature, allowing instructors such as Luis Ochoa, pilot tester and senior lecturer in the Department of Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics, to test oral comprehension by recording his questions in Spanish. “The new version of Moodle makes it easier to develop quizzes,” says Ochoa, who has also taken full advantage of the new language option which includes Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

Other improved features include discussion groups and forums, a live chat feature, as well as an upgraded interface. A new drag-and-drop feature will eliminate the need to input one file at a time. “It’s easier to navigate, more personalized and flexible,” says Alex Aragona, director of application portfolio management in Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS).

The new platform, he adds, will also feature automatic enrolment and withdrawls, providing instructors with an up-to-date class list.

Private file storage of 100 megabytes will be available to students, a handy feature as users can store documents in a private files area and later transfer them to a course folder when ready for submission. “This provides students with a portable and secure space to store academic documents and eliminates the need to carry around a USB key,” says Aragona.

Users who experience difficulty retrieving course data or accessing certain functionalities after May 1 can contact the IITS Service Desk.

Related links:
•    Centre for Teaching and Learning Services
•    Moodle training
•    FAQ