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The Stream Board and the University’s Information Systems and Services Oversight Committee (ISSOC) have approved the move to a new version of Moodle, with a pilot starting in 2012 and full institutional roll-out in 2013.  Moodle is the learning management system that is at the heart of Stream.  Massey is currently on version 1.9 of Moodle which Moodle HQ  will not support beyond July 2012.  While Open Source applications can be maintained without the help of entities such as Moodle HQ, moving to a new version that receives regular bug fixes, enhancements and security updates has many benefits.

The move to v2.x requires careful planning as the new version is substantially different to version 1.9.  While the look and feel of  v.2.x remains pretty much unchanged, development work has focused on activities, resources and underlying code which means that moving from one version to another isn’t as simple as flicking a switch.  As Massey has made a number of customisations to its Moodle install these may need to be re-customised to accommodate how the new version works.    To assist in moving customisations across a freeze on changes to Moodle v1.9 has been put in place.  This freeze will remain until early 2013 when the request for change process will be made available again.  Although no new changes will be considered for versions 1.9 or 2.x in the next 18 months,  there is value in noting changes that you would like to see in the new version by comparing versions and looking at what’s available at http://docs.moodle.org.

Some of the highlights of the new version include:

• a new quiz engine
• conditional activities
• the ability to copy activities i.e quizzes
• integration with repositories e.g. Google docs, flickr, and/or institutional repositories e.g. Alfresco, Equella, Sharepoint
• a rewrite of the assignment activity

While the final business case for the move has to be signed off by the Senior Leadership Team, work has begun in prioritising the customisations and plugins that will be moved.  Migration of material that exists in v.1.9 will begin for a small pilot group early in 2012 and  from there more and more papers will be moved across in preparation for Summer School 2012 and Semester 1, 2013.

Planning is also underway for a full suite of professional development to assist with understanding what the new version offers in terms of functionality and the opportunities for enhancing the teaching and learning experience.  A series of online modules and face-t0-face sessions are being developed and will be offered early in 2012.

Look out for more details about the move to the latest version of Moodle in the coming months.

 

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