Moodle Transition to v3.0 – Message for Faculty
In June of 2016, ITS will be upgrading Moodle to version 3.0. This upgrade will provide improved functionality, as well as an enhanced look and feel of the Moodle environment. The decision to upgrade Moodle was based, in large part, on feedback and recommendations that emerged from the Faculty Moodle Satisfaction Survey conducted by the Committee on Information Technology(CIT) in 2015. Faculty satisfaction with Moodle was, for the most part positive, and the upgrade will address several of the issues identified in the survey report. Colgate will be partnering with eThink to facilitate and support this upgrade (fully managed hosting, upgrade, data migration, and testing). Additional information about the upgrade is briefly outlined below.
Timeline
Key milestones for the upgrade include the following:
- April & May 2016 – ITS planning and technical preparation.
- June 2016 – Finalize a configuration of a test instance of Moodle v3.0
- End June 2016 – “Go live” with upgraded site.
- July / August 2016 – User education (faculty workshops / support resources)
What will this mean for you?
While the look and feel of Moodle 3.0 will be slightly different, the overall functionality will remain the same. We have been working to identify and summarize those changes which we think are most relevant for Colgate faculty members. The linked document below, “Transition to Moodle 3.0” presents our analysis to date. In essence, we believe there are many positive changes yet few that change your environment negatively or dramatically.
Transition to Moodle 3.0 (Google Doc)
Education & Support for Faculty
Faculty can anticipate a range of support opportunities prior to the start of the Fall 2016 term. Specific scheduling details about these opportunities will be made available in follow-up communications.
- Hands-on workshops
- 1:1 consultations
- Self-paced tutorials
- Documentation
- Exploring test site
Contact
Please direct any questions or requests for additional information to our project lead for the transition to Moodle 3.0, Dan Wheeler, in Academic Technologies — via email (dwheeler@colgate.edu) or phone extension 7742.
Ongoing updates and information will be made available on the following web page: