With Fall 2013 classes ending in just one month, it is almost time to request Moodle for your Winter Session and Spring 2014 on-campus courses. (Moodle course requests begin with pre-registration on Tuesday, November 12th, 2013.)
The October 2013 release of Moodle included some important updates:
- Videos in Moodle courses reused from a previous semester may need updating
- Non-Standard student roles are now included in the Moodle Gradebook
- Other minor fixes and improvements
For complete details on all of these topics, keep reading below.
Request Moodle for Winter Session and Spring 2014 On-Campus Courses Starting Tuesday, November 12, 2013
For each term you teach an on-campus class, you must request a Moodle course in SPIRE.
Moodle course requests for Winter Session and Spring 2014 on-campus courses begin with pre-registration on Tuesday, November 12th, 2013
To request a Moodle course, log in to SPIRE at https://www.spire.umass.edu. In the Menu, go to Faculty Home > Moodle Course Request. You will go through a series of screens that will gather information about your course. For details, see our “Request Your Moodle Course in SPIRE” page:
http://www.oit.umass.edu/support/moodle/request-your-moodle-course-overview
Note: On-campus courses for the College of Nursing will not be listed as eligible for Moodle in SPIRE. Instructors teaching in this college require approval to use Moodle.
For questions or help with requesting a Moodle course in SPIRE, please contact the Instructional Media Lab (413-545-2823 or instruct@oit.umass.edu).
Videos in Moodle Courses Reused from a Previous Semester May Need Updating
If you copied course content from a previous semester and embedded video by pasting <Object> tags from YouTube or another media service into the source view of the HTML Editor in Moodle, you will need to reinsert the video.
For security reasons, “Object and Embed” code is no longer allowed in Moodle. You can simply link to a Vimeo or YouTube page from anywhere you see an HTML editor in Moodle, or use iFrame embed code (with some restrictions) to embed media.
For details see our “Embed Video or Audio on a Moodle” page:
https://www.oit.umass.edu/support/moodle/embed-video-or-audio-a -moodle-page
For questions or help with videos reused from a previous Moodle course, please contact the Instructional Media Lab (413-545-2823 or instruct@oit.umass.edu).
Non-Standard Student Roles are Now Included in the Moodle Gradebook
Students enrolled in a Moodle course by special request (i.e., students are not enrolled in a Moodle Course through SPIRE), now appear in the Gradebook. This includes:
- Student – with incomplete
- Student – Independent Study
- Student – Graduate Credit
For questions or help with non-standard student roles, please contact the Instructional Media Lab (413-545-2823 or instruct@oit.umass.edu).
Other Minor Fixes & Improvements
Moodle Updates for October 2013 include some minor behind-the-scenes tweaks to the Gradebook and quizzes.
Have a question, comment, or need help?
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding Moodle, please contact the Instructional Media Lab (413-545-2823 or instruct@oit.umass.edu).