Greetings!
This blog is one way to stay connected with our community and keep you in the know on what’s happening with Moodle now and ongoing. The blog will feature posts about every 2 weeks from now until the Moodle Renovation is complete to help you understand where we’re at in the process as well as what you can expect along the way. We will also highlight some of our best and most exciting new Moodle features that will ultimately improve the user experience for everyone.
The Moodle Team
The Moodle Renovation project team has been working hard for the last year to bring the Butler campus a stronger tool and platform for online, hybrid, and web-enhanced face-to-face (f2f) teaching. Back in the spring semester of 2014, the Center for Academic Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT) established two guiding groups for Moodle: Moodle Operations and Implementation (MOI) and Moodle Development and Steering (MDS). The MOI team is committed to the constant technical evaluation and improvement of the learning management system (LMS) functionality and ease of use. This includes enhancing overall functionality through the exploration, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of new technology. The MDS team is committed to advocating for the greatest possible number of positive user experiences in the LMS through thoughtful and intentional decisions. These decisions are guided by best practices in pedagogy (including faculty input), instructional design, and visual literacy. Both teams seek to provide an intuitive platform that supports students’ learning and engage in Moodle work on a weekly basis.
The Moodle Renovation
Along the way, we’ve worked to align our decision-making and timing with the needs of Moodle’s users. Most recently, the work groups held open roundtable discussions to confirm the best timing for the improved Moodle to “go live.” After reviewing the options, the risks, the rewards, and the timing of grading, the feedback was clear: August 19rd, 2015 will be our go live date. No worries! You will still be able to build, grade, and do all of your normal Moodle usage prior and after this date. Nothing is moving, migrating, or going away. Best of all, you won’t have to do anything. Think of it similar to a Word or PowerPoint or really any technology version update. Some things might look a little different, but it’s still the same tool. We are not losing any functionality; we are only gaining functionality and better accessibility.
Now and Future
Currently, we have two testing environments set up by IT. This Moodle will have lots of testing before it is ever implemented, so the next steps are to finish testing scripts for our testers and begin the first of multiple rounds of functional testing. Starting this process early means that when August 23rd comes there will be almost no risk of it “breaking.”
We will also be completing initial user centered design (UCD) interviews soon. Read more about that very soon!
Signing off,
The Moodle Renovation Team
