April 2020 Moodle News

moodle cow looking out of a window at the reader down below.

We are getting close to end of the semester!

We are in the final stretch of the semester. This Moodle news include information about the COVID-19 crisis, Remote Teaching Tips, Important Upcoming Dates, our Remote Teaching workshops, Summer and Fall Moodle course requests, Echo360 course requests, and Moodle help and resources.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

UMass Amherst has moved to remote teaching for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester. To assist instructors the campus has developed the Disruption-Resilient Instruction page with resources, recommendations, and best practices. This will be integral to providing assistance to our communities during this crisis. Please check this page often for updates and additional information.

Remote Teaching Tips

Remote teaching during this emergency is creating new opportunities and challenges for instruction. We’ve gathered some useful information from across the campus as it relates to instruction at this time.

  • Information Technology (IT) has compiled a list of Remote Learning and Technology Resources for Students. These resources will help orient students with the vast array of tools they may be presented with for their courses.
  • If you are choosing to reuse Echo360 lectures from a previous semester, you will need to Share (Publish) them to current Echo360 course in order for students to access them.
  • The Teaching and Research section of the UMass Amherst Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) website has been revamped to provide faculty more direct access to the resources they need as they transition to remote learning..
  • The transition to online teaching and learning has highlighted the need to Secure Your Online Spaces. As new information, solutions, and best practices become available, this page will be updated.

Important Upcoming Dates

Here are some important dates to keep track of for the end of the Spring semester.

  • Last Day of Spring Classes : April 29
  • Final Exams Begin : May 1
  • Final Exams End : May 7
  • Spring grades due by midnight : May 12

Remote Teaching Workshops

The IDEAS team is holding workshops designed to help you with remote teaching and strategies to make sure the technology meets your pedagogical goals. You can see a full lineup on our Teaching at a Distance workshops page. Check back frequently, as more will be scheduled as interest grows.

Request your Summer & Fall Moodle Courses in SPIRE

Summer and Fall Moodle course requests are now available on SPIRE. Don’t forget that each semester you will need to request Moodle for the courses you are teaching.

For details, see:

Request your Summer and Fall Echo360 courses

Echo360 course requests for the Summer and Fall 2020 semesters are now available in SPIRE. Just like Moodle, each semester you will need to request Echo360 for the courses you want to use it in.

For step by step instructions, see Request Lecture Capture. Once your Echo360 courses are ready, it’s easy to give students access to Echo360 recordings through Moodle.

Moodle Help and Resources for Instructors

To learn more about Moodle or to get help, you can:

Here are additional links for quick reference that may save you some time:

Skip to toolbar