April 2017 Moodle News

Instructional Media Lab Temporarily Relocated Morning of Monday,
May 15

On Monday, May 15, W.E.B. Du Bois Library will be closed until noon. We will be able to take appointments in LGRC A210 between 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., and in Du Bois Library, Rm.765 from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. on May 15.

Note this is the day before grades are due and a busy time in the Instructional Media Lab. If you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact us as soon as possible to reserve your time (413-545-2823, or instruct@umass.edu).

 

Need help with grading in Moodle?

Grades need to be approved in SPIRE just before midnight on Tuesday, May 16. 

Final grades from the Moodle Gradebook can be imported into your SPIRE grade roster any time during the grade-entry period. For details see:

If you would like to meet with a Moodle Gradebook expert to review your gradebook before the end of the semester, please contact the Instructional Media Lab at 413-545-2823, or instruct@umass.edu.

April 2017 Moodle Updates

Issues addressed and features added in April included:

  • In Attendance activities, instructors now have the option to “drop” a number of the lowest-graded sessions from the overall attendance grade for each student. If you chose to use this new feature, we recommend you explain your “Drop the lowest” policy to your students.  For details see Record Attendance in Moodle, and in particular, Set Marking Options, and Attendance in the Moodle Gradebook.
  • A bug that caused some Turnitin Activities to prevent instructor access to student submissions has been fixed by Turnitin. This bug also has been corrected retroactively for any courses in which the error occurred.

 

What’s Coming in Moodle 3.1?

New feature development is now on hold while our Moodle team prepares for the upgrade to Moodle 3.1.

In mid-July, 2017 (tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 13), Moodle at UMass Amherst will be upgraded to version 3.1. During the upgrade window, Moodle will be unavailable — announcements regarding downtime to follow. 

This upgrade will not result in significant changes to the user interface, or loss of functionality.  To find out about new features see our Moodle 3.1 Highlights.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact the Instructional Media Lab with your questions about Moodle: 413-545-2823, or instruct@umass.edu.

 

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