by Barnana Sarkar.  

Following two days of outstanding presentations and engaging discussions, we finally arrived at the last day of MoodleMoot Global 2023. With over 700 participants joining from 56 countries and more than 100 speakers from 24 countries, the event has truly become a global gathering of educators, innovators, and Moodle enthusiasts!
Rediscovering the potential of AI in eLearning 

On Day 3 of MoodleMoot Global 2023, a panel, led by Brett Dalto from Moodle HQ, delved into AI's role in education and workplace learning. Experts like Heikki Wilenius, Elizabeth Dalton, Rajnish Kumar, Tim Hunt, and Meghan Mencer shared their insights. They debated AI's potential bias, its regulation in education, and its positive impacts. Dalton emphasized diverse data sources for unbiased AI, while Kumar stressed the intent behind AI creation. Hunt questioned our readiness for AI legislation and Wilenius highlighted the need to understand and embrace AI’s workings for adaptation.

After a refreshing coffee break, the morning sessions continued with diverse topics, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of Moodle and educational technology.

Linda Fernsel from the University of Applied Sciences (HTW), Berlin, delivered a compelling presentation titled ‘In Fair Models We Trust: Introducing a Plugin for Auditing Moodle Learning Analytics Models’. She delved deep into the intricacies of ensuring fairness in machine learning models. In another enlightening session, Yan Shen and Stephen Bader from NC State University presented ‘Implementing the Moodle Roadmap Plug-in to Support Blended and Flipped Learning’. They unveiled a meticulously designed roadmap plugin that acts as a cornerstone for educators aiming to implement blended and flipped learning methodologies. 

Lastly, Tore Høgås and Audun Jørstad Lillekjendlie, representing the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, took the stage to discuss the ‘AI-assisted QA of Moodle Translations’. Addressing the often-overlooked challenge of ensuring top-notch translation quality assurance, they presented a proof of concept for a cutting-edge AI-assisted translation QA tool. 
The exploration of lifelong learning continued during the day

In the latter half of Day 3, the conference highlighted innovation and lifelong learning. Michael Maloney of IBM discussed the impact of Moodle Workplace on government organizations, emphasizing the need to harness technology for modern training. Meanwhile, Michelle Lomman from mylearningspace delved into AI's relevance for Moodle users, urging a discerning approach to AI integration in education.

And that’s a wrap!

MoodleMoot Global 2023 came to an end, after three days packed with engaging presentations, networking opportunities, a music jam night, and the Moodle party! During the closing session, we announced the winner of the best ‘80s costume and the award went to Yasuko Aoki and Chie Tsukamoto from e.learning.

Reflecting on the event, we not only gained invaluable knowledge but our community also had a fantastic time forging new connections, and were deeply engaged throughout. We are also super excited to announce that MoodleMoot Global will return next year, and it will be held in Mexico! 

Read our daily wrap-up blog for more updates. 

by Martin Dougiamas.  

Hey everyone!

I'm writing this now from our very successful MoodleMoot Global 23 now happening in Barcelona where 700 of us Moodlers are having the best conference ever!

I'm really happy to share some news about an evolution of my role at Moodle!

As you all know (and can see in this Moodle forum if you go back through old posts!) that I’ve led Moodle as CEO for the past 24 years since I founded it in 1999.  

I’m incredibly proud of what the Moodle project has managed to achieve so far, from my early experiments at Curtin University, through the journey of growth towards 260 of us at Moodle HQ working together with over 100 partners and a community of tens of thousands of people worldwide helping  hundreds of millions of learners daily.   I think it's clear that as an open source platform, Moodle has been a major player in bringing the world of education online and making learning accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or financial situation.  

Throughout the last two decades, I’ve stayed passionate about research, innovation and experimentation, even while I had to learn how to run and manage our Moodle HQ company at the centre of the project to provide sustainability and management of the project.  I feel Moodle HQ is mature enough now to allow me to focus my attention more fully in this area, concentrating on how the world of online learning technology can evolve.  Freely available generative AI, robots and new devices are bringing a technology and education revolution that will disrupt these fields as much as the Internet itself did, if not more.  

And so, I'm announcing that I'll soon be personally moving to a new role as Head of Research at Moodle, with my own research team, reporting directly to the Board (I'm also still Chairman of that board of course).   This will allow me to focus on research and investigation of new open source education technologies helping to support the Moodle roadmap in the long term.

This is not sudden, and I've been preparing for this for over a year, making sure that everything will be smooth.

We have already started our search for a new CEO to take over the management of Moodle HQ's operations.  The new CEO will of course be selected based on their alignment with our values and commitment to Moodle’s mission, as well as their commercial, strategic, and people leadership capabilities.  

Nothing will change for the Moodle community.  Everyone at Moodle HQ remains committed to Moodle LMS as an open source platform and our certification as a B Corp recognises our ongoing dedication to using business as a force for good. It’s incredibly important to me and the Board that we take the time to find the right person for the job, so it's likely to be some time before we announce an appointment.   We hope to have a new CEO in place in early 2024.  

If you have questions, please reach out to me directly, or for further information about the role, please contact people@moodle.com.  

I am very much looking forward to this new situation and to helping propel Moodle through this period of change in a different way that is actually much closer to where my heart lies and how and why I started Moodle in the first place all those years ago.

Thanks all and cheers!   😀🧡
Martin 

by Barnana Sarkar.  

Day 2 of MoodleMoot Global 2023 was packed with several moments that left attendees brimming with insights and ideas. From lifelong learning's past, present, and future to government partnerships and collaborative success stories, here's a quick look at the key highlights of the day. And, of course, a little something special to cap it all off – the Moodle Party!     

Welcome speech and keynote 

On Day 2 of MoodleMoot Global 2023, Abby Fry, the Head of Marketing and Communications at Moodle, greeted attendees. She highlighted the day's main sessions: a keynote by Rakhat Zholdoshalieva, an excellent lineup of workshops and presentations, and the upcoming 80s-themed Moodle Party at Otto Zutz Club.

Following Abby’s welcome note, Rakhat Zholdoshalieva, team leader for the Quality Learning Ecosystems Program at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, delivered her keynote on "Lifelong Learning: Past, Present, and Future."  Her engaging presentation took attendees on a journey through the evolution of lifelong learning, emphasising its historical significance and contemporary relevance.

The first half of Day 2 continued to raise the bar for the conference

Among the sessions held during the first half, Martin Dougiamas, the Founder of MoodleHQ, led an Open EdTech Innovation Workshop that was full of valuable ideas and innovative solutions. The workshop aimed to encourage attendees to think creatively about how to incorporate technology into education and to consider new ways to enhance the learning experience.

There were also several other interesting topics presented at the event. Albina Bardhi from the Department of Product Development at Praktika.al shared her experiences ‘Revolutionising vocational education through digital transformation’ with the MësoVET Project in Albania. In her talk, she provided valuable insights on how to use technology to enhance vocational education and improve employment prospects for students.

The second half made the even more captivating!

The second half of Day 2 at MoodleMoot Global 2023 was marked by an array of captivating presentations and discussions, offering attendees a deeper understanding of Moodle's evolving landscape. Several presentations stood out as they showcased how Moodle continues to adapt and thrive in various educational and professional contexts.

Dublin City University (DCU) shared its fascinating journey in upgrading to Moodle 4.1, highlighting the institution's two-decade reliance on Moodle as a critical component of its educational infrastructure. In their presentation, ‘Eating an elephant’, they focused on DCU's systematic six-phase approach, from securing senior management support to providing staff with training sessions for the new Moodle version, which served as a valuable lesson for others undertaking similar upgrades.

Capping off Day 2 with collaboration and celebration

Day 2 culminated in a series of engaging activities that not only facilitated networking but also celebrated the essence of the Moodle community. The evening kicked off with networking drinks from 17:15 pm to 18:15 pm, providing a casual yet valuable platform for attendees to connect and exchange insights.

To top it all off, the day concluded with the highly anticipated Moodle Party, a lively gathering that allowed attendees to unwind and socialise. There was also a competition for the best costume at the Party, and the best one was awarded a Prize! It was a fantastic way to cement the sense of community that makes MoodleMoot Global such a rewarding and enriching event.

Read our daily wrap-up blog to know more and also get a sneak peek at Day 3! 

by Barnana Sarkar.  

We are thrilled to announce that the most anticipated event of the year started on a high note. Day 1 was all about exploring the theme of this year’s MoodleMoot Global, ‘Lifelong learning’. We not only engaged with like-minded educators, experts, and Moodlers from around the globe but also welcomed leading industry keynote speakers.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights from Day 1!
Opening keynote and welcome message

The event started with Marie Achour, Moodle Global Head of Product, who greeted everyone in her welcome speech. She gave us a glimpse of what was scheduled for the day - right from a fantastic speaker lineup to the highlights of the upcoming Moodle LMS 4.3 release.

Following the welcome speech, our Founder, Martin Dougiamas, delivered his keynote presentation on ‘Lifelong intelligence’ focusing on how artificial intelligence is changing education and the workplace. 

During his keynote presentation, Martin shared that the more he engaged with AI, the more he came to appreciate the nuances of human education, voice, and intent. He emphasised the importance of understanding the depth and meaning behind words and how this highlights the significance of education in today's world. His presentation underscored the need for a balanced approach that harnesses AI’s capabilities while valuing and preserving the richness of human communication and education. 

Morning sessions at MoodleMoot Global

Day 1 at MoodleMoot Global began with vibrant discussions, ranging from open-source education principles to advancements in AI for virtual classrooms. Brett Dalton from Moodle HQ elaborated on the essence of open platforms and standards, highlighting the importance of collaborative digital learning. Simultaneously, Fred Dixon from Blindside Networks showcased AI's role in enhancing virtual learning experiences and using analytics for student support.

The day's discourse also touched on AI-generated content's academic implications and the evolving tech in education. Kate Bazilevskaya from Tiny further provided insights into the UX challenges faced in generative AI, revealing complexities educators and designers encounter when aiming for intuitive interfaces.

The second half of Day 1

Day 1's second half showcased impactful presentations. Willian Mano Araujo delved into the 'Evoke Game in Moodle', revealing outcomes of the World Bank's Evoke project aimed at addressing global challenges innovatively, including using AI-generated content. He stressed the game mechanics in Moodle, like avatars and badges, as rewards that signify a commitment to skill enhancement.

Another key talk was 'Women in (Ed)Tech', presented by Amaia Anabitarte and Sara Arjona from Moodle HQ. It highlighted challenges women face in the EdTech sector, spotlighting real-world experiences and the gender ratio among open source contributors. This ignited a dialogue, with several attendees sharing their narratives.

Networking drinks and Music Jam Night

Day 1 concluded on an exciting note! Firstly, the networking drinks provided everyone with a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere to connect and network. It was a fantastic opportunity for Moodlers from around the world to come together, share experiences, and build valuable connections.

Following the networking drinks, the evening continued with a lively "Music Jam Night." This inclusive and friendly gathering welcomed individuals of all skill levels to explore the joy of making music together. We had the chance to join in and experience the thrill of performing on stage at Jamboree, in Barcelona. The night was a celebration of global culture and camaraderie, ensuring that everyone who took the stage received the well-deserved applause from their fellow Moodlers. 

Find out more in our Day 1 recap blog, and also see what's in store for Day 2.

by Marie Achour.  

Hello Moodlers,

Welcome to this edition of ‘Showcase Shorts’.

As we approach the releases of Moodle LMS and Moodle Workplace 4.3, more and more of our work is coming to life, which means that this edition is full of live demos which we hope you will enjoy!

Let’s look at the demos for Moodle LMS first:

• We’ll start with a demo of new Multi-Factor Authentication functionality which will help make Moodle even more secure than it already is! Sprint I3.1 - Multi-Factor Authentication

• Next, we have a demo of our new integration with the Matrix Messaging system which will be bringing the power of modern messaging into the heart of Moodle, helping educators and their students stay better connected. Sprint I3.1 - Matrix Integration

• Onto a demo of some of the features of our new activity cards, with improvements that will help reduce the time and effort it takes to manage activities in courses and help reduce the scroll length of courses, making them easier to navigate for students. Sprint I3.1 - Activity Card Redesign

• Next up, a demo of the new Default Activity Completion functionality enabling the management of completion criteria for a whole site, reducing the time and effort required to manage these settings. #proudlysupportedbytheMUA Sprint I3.1 - Activity Completion Settings 

• And finally, a demo of our new Mime Icon Formats, modernising the look and feel of Moodle and making the icons easier to understand for all of our users. Sprint I3.1 - Mime Icons

Next, let’s take a look at the demos from the Moodle Workplace team:

• Firstly, a demo of some of the functionality being introduced as part of the new Course Catalogue feature which is bringing self-directed learning to the Moodle ecosystem. Sprint I3.1 - Course Catalogue

• Next, a demo of the new Manually Assigned Manager feature, which will help organisations better integrate their HR systems with Moodle and make the life of HR managers everywhere a lot easier! Sprint I3.1 - Manually Assigned Manager

• And finally, a demo of the new Public Custom Pages capability, that will make it possible to show custom pages to a wider range of audiences. Sprint I3.1 - Public Custom Pages

Last but not least, a demo from our Moodle Mobile Apps team, introducing support for self-enrolment in the Mobile app. Sprint I3.1 - Self-Enrolment Support

That’s it for the demos!

In other news, we are very happy to report that we are making great progress towards the achievement of WCAG AA accreditation for Moodle LMS 4.1 and 4.2 - we are ahead of our plan to complete this before the end of the year. Sprint I3.1- Accessibility Update

And one final call out, QA time is here! Our QA cycle for Moodle LMS 4.3 started on the 11th of September. If you’d like to get involved, please watch this video that will give you all the tips you need to do so. Sprint I3.1 - QA Cycle Kick off

Until next sprint!

The Moodle Products Team

PS: Please note that our next round of Showcase Shorts won’t be out for a little while as we are taking a break in honour of the MoodleMoot Global. We hope to see many of you in sunny Barcelona!!

by Simey Lameze.  

Hello Moodle community.

We're excited to announce the commencement of our Moodle 4.3 QA cycle, which kicks off today, September 11th. This quality assurance journey will continue for four weeks, concluding on the release date on October 9th.

Understanding the QA Cycle
The QA cycle is a pivotal part of our development process. It's where our community steps up as testers to rigorously evaluate Moodle's next version. Your collective effort ensures that Moodle meets the highest standards of quality, reliability, and usability.

How You Can Contribute
Here's how you can actively participate and make a significant impact:

• Exploratory Testing: Dive into the latest Moodle features on our dedicated QA testing site. Experiment, explore, and provide your valuable feedback.

• Issue Reporting: If you encounter any issues, whether major or minor, please don't hesitate to share them with us. Your insights are invaluable and directly contribute to Moodle's improvement. Report these issues directly on the Moodle Tracker.

For comprehensive instructions into the QA testing process, we encourage you to consult the QA testing guide. If have any questions, please post in this forum or join our new Moodle QA Telegram chat room or Moodle QA chat room on Matrix.

Thank you for being an integral part of our testing and QA, together, we can make Moodle 4.3 an exceptional release. 😊

by Marie Achour.  

Hello Community Members,

Over the last few months, we at Moodle HQ have been monitoring the development of new legislation in the European Union that has the potential to negatively impact open source software, its users, the people who contribute to its development and our community of educators and learners globally.

The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) aims to safeguard European consumers and businesses buying or using products or software with a digital component. The act seeks to establish a uniform set of cybersecurity requirements for all digital products in the European Union, requiring auditing and compliance with standards yet to be established. 

The overarching goal of the act is one that Moodle supports unequivocally. A defining characteristic of Moodle’s open source values and practices is our pledge to build a secure learning management system that protects the privacy and security of learners’ and employees’ data.

However, Moodle HQ, as well as a number of other open source software developers; and foundations, such as the Eclipse Foundation and the Apareo Foundation, are concerned that the CRA, as currently written, will dramatically impact users of open source solutions and damage the open source ecosystem.

The CRA aims to establish legislation that will require product manufacturers to apply for accreditation (referred to as the CE mark) of their products to indicate conformance to the act's requirements. This process will impose expensive administrative overheads, limit best practice development practices, and may negatively impact cyber resilience in an open source context.

Further reading on the accreditation requirements and their implications can be found in numerous informative articles, such as:

• This comprehensive blog post by the Internet Society

• A detailed assessment by the Apache Foundation

• A number of articles published by Github, including this articulation of the key issues at play

• An open letter from prominent open source content management providers; Drupal, Joomla, Typo 3 and Wordpress.

For Moodle, the implications could be grave. Although the CRA currently includes an exemption for open source software developed or supplied outside the course of a commercial activity, this exemption has caveats that disqualify Moodle from it, being: 

• The CRA regulates open source projects receiving donations - Moodle receives donations necessary for the sustainability of our project.

• The CRA regulates open source projects that do not have “a fully decentralised development model” - Moodle is developed by both community contributors and Moodle HQ employees, meaning that, as a project that has “corporate” employees with commit rights, we would not be exempt. 

And for institutions, universities or companies that are adopters and adapters of open source software, contribute to open source projects and the community, or simply consume these solutions, the implications could be just as grave. The act has the potential to:

• Make the software you rely on no longer available in the EU - with distribution limited to other geographies or solutions disappearing due to lack of sustainability.

• Limit the potential of open research - with the use of open source software limited by compliance costs.

• Increase the complexity of multi-organisation work - with collaboration on open source software projects difficult due to legal accountability requirements, limiting university and commercial partnerships.

• Increase software licensing costs - with fees charged for any software product increased to cover required re-factoring and compliance obligations.

Last month the CRA was voted on and passed through to the next stage of implementation. However, dialogue with the European Commission is ongoing and further refinements to the act are being debated. This means that change is still possible, and you can help Moodle, and the open source ecosystem as a whole, with action.

We invite you to:

• Join the OpenForum Europe - multi-stakeholder discussions are happening here.

• Publicly state your position that the development of open source is critical to Europe’s prosperity and digital sovereignty.

• Engage directly with the policymakers of your country (MEPs, governments) and corporate public affairs departments. Members of relevant committees can be found via this page.

• Educate your colleagues in government relations on the importance of open source to your business or institution.

We at Moodle HQ will continue to engage with relevant parties through our associations and involvement in the FOSS Legal Network. We will be relentless in our efforts to protect open source and its contribution to providing safe and inclusive educational environments that empower individuals and foster access to quality education for all.

Thank you in advance for your support,

The Moodle HQ Team 

by Mary Cooch.  

Hello everyone,
Please forward these details to anyone in your sphere looking for an LMS:

Are you looking for an online learning platform? Have you heard of Moodle but are unsure whether it is the right product for you? In this webinar on Wednesday 6 September at 11:00 UTC, we'll give you a general overview of our global open source LMS which powers more than 165,000 learning environments in over 240 countries. You'll learn about the background to and ethos behind Moodle; you'll discover just what it can do and how you can tailor it to your specific teaching or training requirements.  We'll also show you how you can get your own Moodle site to meet your needs.

Note: this webinar is part of the course 'Moodle Academy webinars'. You have to be enrolled in the course to register and join the webinar.

Register at Moodle Academy: https://moodle.me/whatismoodlelms

by Mary Cooch.  

Are you new to Moodle development or looking to enhance your Moodle development skills? Join us for this free webinar on Tuesday 5 September at 10:00 UTC where we will guide you through the process of setting up a Moodle development environment. We'll discuss the key components of a development environment, including the installation of a web server, database, and the Moodle codebase. In this session we will also discuss how to work with the Moodle App.

Everybody has their own preferences and you can do Moodle development using the tools you are comfortable with. You will also hear from some Moodle HQ developers who will share how they set up their own development environments.

In the second half of this webinar, our Moodle HQ developers will walk you through what you can expect at this year’s Dev Jam session at the MoodleMoot Global in Barcelona. The Dev Jam is going to be a hands-on session and we hope everyone attending the Dev Jam comes prepared to reap the most benefits.

Note: this webinar is part of the course 'Moodle Academy webinars'. You have to be enrolled in this free course to register and join the webinar.

Register at Moodle Academy: https://moodle.me/moodledevelopmentenvironment. 

by Marie Achour.  

Hi Moodlers,

The Moodle Products team recently completed our 3-monthly increment planning process during which we reviewed our priorities and formalised our delivery plans for the quarter ahead as well as reviewed our longer-term roadmap.

This increment is going to be a busy one, with the MoodleMoot Global and the release of Moodle LMS 4.3 taking centre stage in our priorities list.

Our 4.3 release is scheduled for the 9th of October and will likely contain more than 300 bug fixes, improvements and new features which the LMS teams and our community developers have been working on over the last 6 months.

Highlights for the release are forecasted to include:

1. Game-changing new ‘In Course’ Communication options - Empowering better collaboration, the launch of our new integration with the Matrix Messaging system will provide access to a modern messaging interface directly in the heart of Moodle. Additional functionality will also make working with other messaging systems (e.g. Slack or Teams) more seamless. These new in-course communication options will help educators and learners stay better connected, engage more regularly and work more closely together!

2. Sleeker than ever activity card designs - Empowering our educators and learners to achieve better outcomes, our refreshed activity cards will be more streamlined and provide educators easier access to manage groups, access restrictions and activity completion conditions. These improvements will help reduce the time and effort it takes to manage activities in courses and help reduce the scroll length of courses, making them easier to navigate for students.

3. Time-saving default site-level settings for activity completion - Empowering administrators and educators to get their jobs done faster, this new functionality will enable the management of completion criteria for a whole site, reducing the time and effort required to manage these settings. We are very grateful to the MUA for proposing and helping us design such a valuable improvement!

4. More ways to tap into the power of external tools - Empowering our educators to be more creative with LTI tools, our new functionality will include the ability to add and manage pre-configured tools at a course level, providing educators the choice to show these tools in the activity chooser and making the creation of external tool activities easier with a simplified form.

5. And much much more - including further Gradebook improvements, new functionality in Quiz and Question Bank, improved integration with MoodleNet, further enhancements to Report Builder and more capabilities in our Text Editor.

Plus, it will be our most secure version of Moodle yet, with a ton of new security enhancements due for release!

Our plans for the increment will also see us - amongst many other things - progress the Learning Catalogue functionality in Moodle Workplace, add new analytics capabilities in the Moodle Mobile App and make the journey for new MoodleCloud users easier than ever. 

To see the full details of our updated plans, please visit our Public Roadmap.

 

Until next increment!

The Moodle Products Team

by Carles Aguiló.  

Hello Moodlers,

Welcome to a new series of communications called "Functionality with Moodle".

1. Introduction

We are aware that Moodle is wonderful, but no one can cover all your teaching and learning technology needs on their own. This is why we have started several efforts to understand what you integrate with Moodle and to communicate how we support you in these integrations.

2. Integrations' Survey 2023 edition is coming soon

Last year, we started our Integrations Survey, the second edition of which is around the corner. The main findings for us from 2022 were shared in a post and a visual summary could be the following graphic:

3. Plugins directory

https://moodle.org/plugins is the main point of information for things that connect with Moodle or extend Moodle capabilities. As we understand that Moodle is about always used together with other tools, we have started to work on the improvements on this important tool via some focus groups. We'll be communicating here the improvements that we carry out so that you can tell us early what you like and what you don’t.

4. Functionality with Moodle

We are also explaining better how Moodle provides a round solution with the help of our industry partners in the pages under https://moodle.com/functionality-with-moodle/. In these pages, you will find an in-depth explanation of a topic, plus an invitation to visit our Certified Integrations, which are solutions that we have vetted to work exceptionally well for a given functionality.

So far, we have been able to produce three items on high impact topics:

• Moodle & Accessibility
• Moodle & Virtual Classrooms
• Learning Analytics For Moodle

More will be coming soon, watch out for the next one on data synchronisation!

by Martin Dougiamas.  

It's exactly 21 years since I first announced Moodle 1.0 in this forum.  So much has happened since then, but it's gone so fast!

Cheers to all of you in the Moodle community. 🍻

Here's to another 21!  🧡

(image from Midjourney)

by Sandra Matz.  

It’s now just one month until MoodleMoot Global 2023 kicks off in Barcelona. Have you booked your place?

MoodleMoot Global runs from 19-21 September, with an optional pre-conference Jam Day and the Moodle Global Partners Day on the 18 September. The conference will feature talks and presentations by Moodle users and enthusiasts from all over the world. Visit the online program to see who we’ll be hearing from over the three days of the conference. Highlights include keynote addresses from Rakhat Zholdoshalieva (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning) and Martin Dougiamas (Moodle founder and CEO).

Of course as all Moodlers would know, MoodleMoot Global is not just about the talks and presentations. We’ve got a great lineup of after-hours activities to get us together and kicking on into the night. On Tuesday, join our Music Jam night where you’ll get a chance to jump up on stage and play in one of Barcelona’s great live music venues. We’ll have a selection of instruments available to use so you can strum, drum and hum the night away. There are limited places available, so book your spot now and join the Music Jam chat in Matrix. And once again we’ll be hosting an epic Moodle Party, with this year's theme being “The 1980’s”.

In case you have not yet registered to attend MoodleMoot Global 2023, you can book your place now to secure your spot!

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

The MoodleMoot Global team

by Sandra Matz.  

Are you keen to learn all about MoodleCloud and see how you can make the most of it?

Join us for this free webinar, on Monday 21st August at 8:00-9:00 UTC, as we dive into MoodleCloud! We'll take you on a tour of a fresh MoodleCloud site and see just what you can do with it. We'll explore the differences between Moodle LMS and MoodleCloud, and we'll look at the specific details that make MoodleCloud unique.

Whether you've experienced MoodleCloud before, or you're brand new to the platform, register now so that you don't miss this opportunity to find out what you can do with MoodleCloud.

Note: this webinar is part of the course 'Moodle Academy webinars'. You have to be enrolled in this free course to register and join the webinar.

Register at Moodle Academy. 

by Marie Achour.  

Hello Moodlers,

Welcome to this edition of ‘Showcase Shorts’.

Our product teams have just completed another productive sprint and we are excited to share our progress with you all!

This Showcase Short edition contains a number of interesting updates for our beloved Moodle Community Developers:

1. An update on our progress with integrations, which are moving along at pace as we head towards code freeze for the release of Moodle LMS 4.3. Sprint I2.3 Integration Update

2. Some new developments in our QA testing approach, with time-saving improvements that will benefit all our developers. Sprint I2.3 QA Update

3. Good news regarding the conversion of IconSystem from AMD to ESM, with bonus code clean-up for less tech debt - which is always a great thing! Sprint I2.3 Technical Enhancements

4. Ongoing updates to our icon component library and a demo of our new UX landing page, with handy links to useful collateral for both design & development, helping us all create a beautiful Moodle together. Sprint I2.3 Design Ops Improvements

5. And more work and ideas to improve the usability of the Plugin database, one of Moodle’s best assets that deserves a bit of extra love. Sprint I2.3 Plugin database improvements

 

We also progressed with the delivery of features and improvements which will be of benefit to our champion Moodle System Administrators in both educational and workplace contexts:

1. The introduction of filters that can be applied to user tours, enabling more flexibility for administrators in creating tours for their organisations. Sprint I2.3 User tour filters

2. The ability for administrators to manually assign a person’s manager in Workplace, making mapping and integration with HR systems easier. Sprint I2.3 Manually assigned manager

3. Enhanced dynamic rule functionality, allowing learning plans to be unassigned from a user automatically, reducing manual tasks needed to manage this process. Sprint I2.3 Dynamic rules enhancements

4. And last but certainly not least, the successful upgrade of our ‘Download Moodle’ site, which will provide everyone who uses it greater stability and resilience. Sprint I2.3 Download Moodle upgrade

The heart of our solutions, our Moodle Educators will also benefit from our recent efforts in:

1. Simplifying the management of grade outcomes, making educators' life easier by reducing the amount of time it takes to manage their course gradebooks. Sprint I2.3 Gradebook improvements

2. Enhancing pre-configured LTI tool management at a course level, empowering educators to manage LTI tools within their own courses. Sprint I2.3 LTI framework improvements

3. And an update on the progress of our work on the Activity Card redesign, part of our ‘forever’ journey of helping our educators provide engaging learning experiences to their learners. Sprint I2.3 Activity card redesign

For our Moodle Partners, without whom we couldn’t do what we do, we progressed work that matters to them, including:

1. An important security improvement, critical for compliance requirements. Sprint I2.3 Security improvements

2. Progress towards the launch of Learning Catalogues in Workplace, supporting self-directed learning out of the box in Moodle. Sprint I2.3 Learning catalogue update

3. The introduction of a Child Theme for Moodle Workplace, making custom theme administration less time-consuming and less risky. Sprint I2.3 Moodle Workplace Child Theme

4. And the redressing of a bunch of ‘hot topic’ bugs & issues raised for Moodle Workplace. Sprint I2.3 Moodle Workplace various improvements

  

Our Moodle Mobile App Users will soon benefit from a number of new improvements that drive more consistency with our Moodle LMS desktop version, enhance global search functionality, and provide app administrators with advanced analytics capabilities. Sprint I2.3 Moodle Mobile App deliverables

And finally, for all Moodlers, we know that one of the most important things we do is engage with you and seek your feedback, input and contributions to Moodle’s product development. 

This sprint we progressed a number of activities that give us the opportunity to do more of that directly within our product solutions:

1. We are launching a new Net Promoter & Feedback functionality on our Moodle Cloud standard plan service, which makes it easier for our users to provide us with their insights as they are using our solution. Moodle Cloud NPS feedback

2. Our Moodle Cloud team is also getting into the rhythm of something called ‘continuous discovery’ which means that we are constantly having short but important discussions with our users, ongoingly informing our plans and development efforts. Moodle Cloud continuous user interviews

3. And we are also embedding direct feedback functionality on moodle.org, providing you with an opportunity to tell us how we can make the home of our community even better than it already is. moodle.org feedback

Until next sprint!

The Moodle Products Team

by Brett Dalton.  

I am happy to announce the Kick off meeting for the Moodle LMS Community Product Advisory Group will be held at  11am UTC on 17th August 2023 on BBB.   World Clock link for time zone converstion can be found here. 

The Kickoff meeting is intended to cover the aims of the PAG, some of the ways the PAG is intended to operate and to disucss any questions people may have.

The meeting link can be found in the PAG course on moodle.org.  If you expressed interest in joing the PAG on the Announcement thread please expect an invite to the course over coming days.  If you have not previouly commented on that thread and would like to attend please express your interest on this thread in the General Help forum and you will be added to the course.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone there.

by Sandra Matz.  

We invite you to join us for an informative webinar on Designing & Developing branched Moodle Lessons, on Wednesday 26th July at 9:00-10:00 UTC.

In this free webinar, our expert speaker will guide you through the process of creating engaging and interactive Moodle Lessons that allow for personalised learning experiences. You will learn how to utilise the branching feature of Moodle Lesson to create different learning paths.

Whether you are an educator, instructional designer, or eLearning professional, this webinar will provide you with practical strategies and tips to enhance your Moodle Lessons and make them more effective and learner-centered.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills in designing and developing branched Moodle Lessons. Register now to secure your spot and take your Moodle courses to the next level!

Note: this webinar is part of the course 'Moodle Academy webinars'. You have to be enrolled in this free course to register and join the webinar.

Register at Moodle Academy. 

by Marie Achour.  

Hello Community Members,

Welcome to this edition of ‘Showcase Shorts’ which is full to the brim with updates on our progress in delivering our roadmap. 

This time we kick off with our Moodle Workplace update, with updates on our progress with delivering IDEA-131 'Manually Assigned Manager', which will make integration with a wider variety of external HR systems easier in the future. 

Manually Assigned Manager

The Workplace team also completed a number of improvements in support of requests made by our Premium Partners which informed more than half of our priorities this sprint. 

Partner Selected Deliverables

For Moodle LMS, the teams progressed with the delivery of the following:

• IDEA-31, providing ongoing enhancements to the functionality and usability of our Gradebook; Further Gradebook Improvements

• IDEA-152, designed to make adding LTI external tools to courses easier for educators; LTI Framework Improvements Phase 1

• IDEA-16, which will see us enhance our course management, back up & roll-over capabilities; Better Backups

• IDEA-158, bringing to life the second phase of our integration with MoodleNet, enabling bi-directional sharing of whole courses between our platforms; and MoodleNet Integration - Courses

• IDEA-183, the newest feature voted for by the MUA, supporting the setting of course-level defaults for course completion. Course Level Defaults

Our journey towards delivering the most secure version of Moodle LMS ever continues, with more security-focused improvements completed during the sprint. Security Blitz Continues

During the sprint, the Moodle Mobile Applications team proudly released version 4.2 of the Moodle LMS Mobile App, packed full of new features and functionality. Read the announcement for all the details.

We are also continuing our work on making the journey for new users on MoodleCloud easier with the development of a new starter course, designed to help them see the potential of Moodle come to life. 

MoodleCloud Starter Course

And finally, as always, our Moodle Community Sites team continues to improve the tools we make available to you. We are currently working on improving the UX resources we make available to the community and the searchability of Moodle Plugins.

Moodle Community Sites Changes

Until next sprint!

The Moodle Products Team

by Sandra Matz.  

Last week we announced that the provisional program for MoodleMoot Global 2023 is now available on the event website. Please note only registered presenters appear in the program and more sessions will be published in the coming days as they are confirmed.

This year’s event will take place in Barcelona, from 19-21 September, with a pre-conference Jam Day and Moodle Global Partners Day on Monday 18 September. The Jam Day will include three parallel sessions: a Developer DevJam, UX Jam and Learning Designer Jam, which are included in the conference price. Places are limited, so we recommend you book early to secure your place! 

Remember to register by the early bird deadline of 15 July (UTC+2) to benefit from discounted registration fees!

The MoodleMoot Global 2023 provisional program includes over 100 presentations, covering the different conference streams for Educators, Administrators, Workplace Trainers and Developers, allocated into themed sessions that combine different talks, workshops and poster presentations from the Moodle community, Moodle Partners, Moodle HQ and sponsors.

The program also includes a variety of social and networking events, including the Moodle Party, a Music Jam Night that conference attendees can book for free, and much more!

We invite you to visit the event website for more information about the event and to book your place!

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona in September!

Best regards,
Sandra Matz
MoodleMoot Global team

by Brett Dalton.  

Over the last 18 months MoodleHQ has been working to establish a stronger connection with our community in an effort to provide you with more visibility on the work being completed by our teams and to help ensure our priorities are more in line with your needs. 

Part of this work has included the publication of our public roadmap which provides increased visibility on our plans for the future and the issue of our ‘Showcase Short’ news articles, which come out on a regular basis and provide an overview of work being completed by the Moodle HQ Product team.

To further support these efforts, today we are delighted to announce the establishment of a new Product Advisory Group (PAG) for Moodle LMS - Community. This group will join our existing PAG groups, the Moodle Workplace PAG (for Moodle Premium Certified Partners) and the Moodle LMS - Partners PAG (for all Moodle Certified Partners) and will be the first one focused on inviting members of our broader community as participants.

Just like the Partners and Workplace PAGs, we expect that our newest PAG will be incredibly valuable; allowing a wide variety of voices to be heard efficiently and providing input to our roadmap.  

 The Moodle LMS -  Community PAG will be open to all interested parties, and will be focused on several key activities: 

• Providing a forward view of the existing Moodle LMS Roadmap.

• Facilitating the ideation of new initiatives and functionality with direct input from the community to influence the roadmap moving forward.

• Gathering early feedback from the community on the design of features under development.

MoodleHQ has been working closely with the Moodle Users Association on the creation of this PAG. Its formation is an initiative which is being completed in partnership with the association and in parallel to the recent change announcement issued by the MUA. 

By establishing the Moodle LMS - Community PAG, all interested MUA members will have an alternative avenue to shape the future of Moodle LMS. As part of the next evolution of the MUA, we hope that it will prove to be as successful as its predecessor, helping to drive many more great initiatives and continue to drive alignment between the community and MoodleHQ into the future.  

Over the coming days we will be posting more details about the Moodle LMS - Community PAG , its operation, and meeting schedules.  The first of which will be a kick off meeting to disucss further the intent and operation of the Moodle LMS - Community PAG.  Additionally a dedicated Community PAG space will be established on Moodle.org.   I would like to invite any parties who wish to participate to please indicate their interest by responding to the announcement thread here.

EDIT:  Please note the link to the MUA announcement has been updated as they have now provided a public link.