Technology change is inevitable and Colgate’s Moodle is no exception. Moodle version 2 will be in place for the fall 2012 semester after two years of version 1.
Why must we change? Security updates, software support, and new or improved functionality are the primary drivers. Why don’t we want to change? Lost or reduced functionality, new interfaces, time to migrate and re-learn. Simple resistance to change is probably also somewhere in the mix of your, and my, reluctance to switch.
And yes, we in ITS are along for the ride with this change, learning and re-learning and flustering and cursing with you. Much has changed behind the Moodle scenes and we are struggling to understand the new software and create a functional version.
We are maintaining the link http://moodle2.colgate.edu as our starting point for information on the transition to the new version. Check there for the latest server links, Moodle news, and how-to files.
So what about this new Moodle version are we likely to praise? Curse?
Below are some of the changes we are expecting.
Nice…
Moodle v2 developers have spent a lot of time trying to make Moodle look and work better, offering:
- better themes for improved “look and feel,” including options for hiding all those extraneous icons when you “Turn editing on”
- a more consistent user interface – more appropriate names, groupings, and locations for various functions
- reduction in the numbers and complexity of Moodle objects, including content (Resources) and Activities
Moodle v2 has more connections with the non-Moodle world, including access to documents in:
- Google Docs
- Dropbox
- Picasa, YouTube, Box, Wikimedia, and more
Moodle v2 will have all your old Moodle courses with almost all their content (wikis are problematic) available for use and re-use in the future. We can also restore old Blackboard archives to Moodle v2.
Naughty…
We will lose some things.
- with all those document options comes a return to the complex, “multiple-clicks-from-hell” document upload
- an improved user interface means forces us to learn where our favorite functions are and what they are now named; consistent or not they aren’t where they were for two years
- some of our old themes have not been updated for v2
The timing of change doesn’t always fit our academic schedule. This means that some even nicer… features, not quite ready yet, will probably need to wait for spring 2013.
- drag and drop document uploads – drag a file from your computer into your Moodle
- single assignment type – change your assignment type at any time (and you can forget those differences among single file upload, multiple file upload, …)