Moodle / SUNY LMS Updates

Updates on the SUNY switch from Blackboard to D2L Brightspace and Moodle / Duo login process.

SUNY Selects D2L Brightspace to Replace Blackboard Contract

It’s official: D2L Brightspace will be the learning management system (LMS) selected and supported by SUNY going forward. Brightspace will be the foundation along with related tools for instruction and student support for a new Digital Learning Environment (DLE) that will be the platform for SUNY Online courses, as well as all campus online, face-to-face, hybrid, HyFlex (dual-delivery), flipped classroom, and other courses. SUNY plans to work with all campuses to bring them on board the new platform, in order to provide a consistent environment for student learning across the SUNY system.

What does this mean for us at Purchase?

We (the TLTC and CTS) have paused development work on a new Moodle server cluster, while our campus reviews the Brightspace platform and SUNY’s contract with D2L. Winter 2022 and Spring 2022 courses will therefore be hosted on our current Moodle server, and should be available shortly for faculty access.
Purchase has not yet committed to migrating to D2L and leaving Moodle; however, we will be relying on faculty evaluation and input on these systems going forward.
Faculty and instructional support staff who are interested in getting a sandbox on the new SUNY Brightspace platform should contact the TLTC so that we can forward your request to the SUNY project team. The plan is to provide course sandbox spaces to any interested faculty and instructional support staff, to facilitate review of the new environment and any eventual migrations.
More information can be found at the SUNY Digital Learning Environment site.
Be sure to log in with your Purchase username and password to view all of the available information, including the July, August, and September bulletins for the project, available on the Progress page as well as a series of FAQs. The final approval of the contract by the NYS Comptroller’s Office is highlighted in a special bulletin, clearing the way for SUNY to proceed with implementation planning.
Registration is now open for the first installment of SUNY’s “Introduction to D2L’s Brightspace” webinar series, scheduled for October 28, 1pm-2:15pm. Space is limited so register asap!

Moodle Switch to Duo Authentication

On Friday, October 8, 2021 at 11:00pm, all students, faculty, and staff are required to login to Moodle using Cisco Duo Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), just as you do to access other Purchase College applications like Outlook Web Access (email), MyHeliotrope, the Library’s Discovery Search, and more.

Please visit the Duo Enrollment Guide for more information about how to download and work with Duo Multi-Factor Authentication.

More information from Campus Technology Services (CTS) about using Duo:

If you have not yet enrolled in Duo, please follow the Enrollment Steps to add your Telephone Number and phone type as well as install the Duo mobile app.
Once enrolled, you may also add another device.
If you lose your phone or the phone is not working properly, please contact CTS, they can assist you with adding another device or issuing a temporary bypass code until a new phone is obtained.
If you do get a new phone and the number is the same, please install the Duo mobile app, and then contact CTS so they can send a reactivation text to that phone to reactivate Duo.

Please contact Campus Technology Services (CTS) with any questions about using Duo.