Students returning for summer classes may notice Moodle has had a facelift.
Moodle 2 replaced the original Moodle at the beginning of the summer term to provide students and faculty with requested features and updated technology.
Moodle changes every year, Sheri Thompson, IT communications and planning officer said, but the transition to Moodle 2 is the most monumental modification since the University began using Moodle about 5 years ago.
The Moodle Development Advisory Committee and Information Technology Services worked in conjunction to release the new technology.
Committee members and ITS developers evaluated student and faculty suggestions about Moodle and decided which features to include in the upgrade.
“Most changes to Moodle are geared toward faculty, because students don’t realize they have the power to make changes by hitting the feedback button on their Moodle page,” Thompson said.
Some of Moodle 2’s features had to be created, Thompson said, but ITS also utilized features from Moodle 2’s provided “core code.” Students and faculty must acclimate to new grading, assignments and layout features.
Faculty now has the power to release online assignments based on pre-determined conditions – like grades on preceding assignments. Moodle 2 also offers the instructor an enhanced view of a student’s progress.
Thompson said she was particularly excited about two new features, block docking and the mobile theme, because they give users a readable and easy-to-use site.
Block docking allows users to hide or collapse drop-down menus on their Moodle pages.
Randall Hall, chemistry professor and chairman of the Moodle Development Advisory Committee, said he found block docking the most useful of the new features because it gave him flexibility to customize his Moodle page.
“You can get the junk out of the way and onto the sides if you want,” he said.
Although the original Moodle could be viewed on a smart phone or tablet, the site wasn’t formatted for those devices. Moodle 2 has a mobile theme, which utilizes menus housed in columns and rows to organize content.
Along with new features, Moodle 2 has revamped older features, like forum posts and graphics to enhance easy use, according to a University GROK article.
Thompson said ITS developers also made enhancements to grade books.
“Faculty have very specific ways they want their grading,” she said. ”We try to accommodate, but we also need basic templates to make it easier for faculty to use.” 
Before rolling out Moodle 2, ITS and the Moodle Development Advisory Committee ran alpha and beta tests on the site.
Thompson said alpha testing is when the University’s ITS developers go through the software to make sure there aren’t any serious problems.
Beta testing, when actual University classes test the site for a semester, is the final step before release.
Hall said a “small but representative” group of teachers from a variety of University colleges tested Moodle 2 last semester, and they offered beneficial suggestions at the end of testing.
Although some students may be wary of the technology change, Thompson said she is excited because it is uplifting to provide students and faculty with new features when recent financial strains are forcing a lot of people to say no. 
 
_____ Contact Marylee Williams at [email protected]