Message-ID: <16032861.1182532595149.JavaMail.joeescobar@joe-escobars-computer.local>
Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 19:11:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: moodleadmin
Reply-To: moodleadmin@lanecc.edu
Subject: Moodle end-of-term notices
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Instructors,

I have a few end-of-term (and end-of-year!) items to bring to your attention.

First: the instance of Moodle for Summer 2007 will be available early next week.  I'd planned to have it up this Friday, but the outages this week and last interfered; I'll send out another message as soon as it's available.

Second: we will shortly begin cleaning out the "previous" instance of Moodle (moodle.lanecc.edu/previous), which contains classes from Fall 2005 to Spring 2006.  During the first week of Summer term, I will archive all the classes that are in that instance and remove it from the server.  If you need to work on classes that are stored in that instance, you should make a backup and move them to the current instance of Moodle and work on them there.  (We do this in order to free up space on the server, and to improve its performance.)  Classes in other instances of Moodle (Summer 2006 - Spring 2007) will NOT be affected.

If this causes any problems for you, please let me know.  Remember that all of these classes--including student data--will be archived, so if you need to restore a course, we can always get it from backup if necessary.  Our normal practice is to keep courses on the server for one year after the end of the term.

Finally: In Fall 2007, we will upgrade Moodle to a new version to take advantage of some new features and a number of bug fixes.  The advantage: a number of problems have been fixed, particularly with quizzes (I know some of you who've had some pretty rocky experiences this term will be glad to hear that), and to my way of thinking there are some nice changes to the user interface.  The flip side is, unfortunately, that we'll all have to get used to the changes.  Those changes include the following:

- A slightly different user interface.  There aren't too changes here, and they're not terribly complicated, but they are important.  At some point during the Summer, we will provide links to to more information so you can start learning about some of the changes before you return in the Fall.

- Some of the third-party modules that currently in use will not work.  Once such module is the MyFiles block, which was an easy way for students to share files with each other.  Another is the gradebook; the version we presently use is incompatible with the newer version of Moodle.  We're evaluating alternatives, and will adopt something that's as close as possible to what we have now.

As part of this upgrade, we're evaluating setting up internal mailboxes for users within Moodle, so that communications can all happen within Moodle rather than relying on external mail addresses.  External mail will still be available, but by default, mail to students would use an internal mailbox only accessible within Moodle, thus bypassing some of the problems we've had this past year (messages don't always get forwarded; students don't have valid email addresses; and so forth).  I'm being purposefully vague about this because we have not nailed down precisely how all this would work, but I'll be sure to let you know as more specific information becomes available.

I'll continue to send out email to alert you of notable developments during the Summer.  As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

David



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David Walton
Moodle System Administrator
Lane Community College
For enrollment, course creation, logging in, or general server issues, email moodleadmin@lanecc.edu
For faculty assistance using Moodle, email online@lanecc.edu
Voice: 463-3367
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