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Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center

Significant Moodle Upgrade (11/25)

Our Moodle instance has been upgraded to Moodle version 3.9.

Update Wed., November 25, 3:45pm

We think we have turned off the Insights feature but are still receiving some reports from some faculty about emails being received. It is possible that there could still be outgoing messages from before the shut off that are working their way through the queue on the Exchange mail server. You can determine how Moodle communicates these kinds of messages by managing your Moodle Notifications using the directions at our Moodle Basics guide. To opt-out of the Insights messages, look for the “Insights generated by prediction models” setting and set them all to Off.

Update: Wed., November 25, 12pm

We are aware of the issue with Moodle sending Insights notifications via email (at risk student, inactivity, etc.). You can disable these emails via your own Moodle Notifications preferences. Look for the “Insights generated by prediction models” setting and set them all to Off.

With the pending migration of student project submissions from Moodle to MyHeliotrope, we are finally able to do upgrades on Moodle that have been overdue for the past couple of years. This should resolve some of the Moodle issues we’ve seen with recent browser upgrades for Chrome, Safari, and MS Edge, and provide new Moodle functionality for faculty as they set up their Winter and Spring 2021 courses. There is a scheduled maintenance period from 4:00am - 7:00am this Wednesday (11/25) for Campus Technology Services (CTS) to upgrade our current Moodle server to version 3.9.3. (We still have plans to migrate Moodle to a new cluster-based server architecture with more resources, but will do that next summer to avoid disrupting ongoing classes.)

Following the upgrade, you will notice a new appearance for Moodle, since the theme we are currently using is not compatible with Moodle 3.9. We are applying the Classic theme to the new upgrade, to keep the look and feel as close as possible to our current Moodle system. Also, for instructors, there is a new, more visual Chooser for adding activities and resources when you are editing your course. With the new Chooser, you have the ability to ‘star’ those activities and resources you use most often, so you can have a default view that just shows the tools you usually use.
If you want a deeper dive into the new features that come with the cumulative version upgrades that we are doing, you can check out the links below. Also, the TLTC is looking to once again bring together an advisory group of faculty to make recommendations for when we bring the new Moodle server online next summer (theme choices, what add-ons to have, whether to use the built-in Safe Exam Browser instead of LockDown Browser, etc). If you are interested in being part of that group next semester, drop us a line at TLTC@purchase.edu.

Version 3.7.x

  • What’s new for faculty: private replies and locking discussions in the Forum activity; new competencies features, including awarding badges based on competencies met; rotating PDFs submitted to assignments; better managing of Moodle Messages; etc.
  • What’s new for students: new Forum controls; notification of upcoming activity due dates; better Messaging controls; etc.

Version 3.8.x

  • What’s new for faculty: ability to grade whole Forums using the standard Moodle grading interface, including rubrics; Forum export and summary; embedding H5P content; etc.
  • What’s new for students: session time-out reminder; emojis; new Forum view; etc.

Version 3.9.x