Message-ID: <13447120.1182532582303.JavaMail.joeescobar@joe-escobars-computer.local> Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 21:40:26 -0800 (PST) From: moodleadmin Subject: Re: Problems with internal mail in online classes Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_Part_101_5019889.1182532582302" GWItemID: 45C9E4DA.LCC-Mail.MC_PO3.100.1346735.1.3321.1 ------=_Part_101_5019889.1182532582302 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jennifer, All of your concerns about Moodle's email are valid. I agree that both the interface and the stability of its built-in email are severely retrograde. I'm hoping that we may have a substitute ready for Spring 2007--I've been waiting on the development of an external plug-in, a new version of which was just released. I've been trying to clean up some other issues and haven't been able to get to it as quickly as I'd like. The loss of actual messages concerns me. I am guessing that it has to do with the cumbersome process by which Moodle sends email and the number of points in that process where sending email can get derailed (if the student blocks email except from people on her contact list, for example; or if the student is 'online' in Moodle's eyes when the message is sent--which means that the message won't get forwarded out to regular email). I guess what I mean here is that it may not be a Moodle bug per se, but an example of how email is badly implemented. That may be no more than semantics, as the user ends up just as frustrated in either case. There's one other factor that might be at play here: we've had a couple of instances this term where email may have been lost because the email server had to be taken down due to spam flooding, and not all messages in the queue at the time were correctly processed. I did put up alerts on the Moodle login page about that, but only left them up for a few days, so it's possible that they were missed. Could you email me some more details of instances where students didn't receive internal Moodle messages? David >>> On Wed, Feb 7, 2007 at 12:05 pm, Jennifer Love wrote: > David, Meredith, Joe, and colleagues: > > I would like to touch base with you briefly about some concerns I am having > about the reliability of Moodle's internal mail ("Messages") system. I have > had reports this term from my online students who have said they have not > received a message I have sent them within Moodle; or who report that they > received the Moodle message in their Moodle Message area, but not in their > personal email accounts (despite their configuring their email accounts to > receive Moodle mail). (This has happened to me several times over the past > few terms, too: Someone sends me a message in Moodle, but it never shows up > in my personal email account.) > > My biggest worry here is the former problem: i.e., that Moodle-sent messages > sometimes don't even make it to the recipient *within* Moodle. That is a > scary situation for both students and instructors. > > Below this email to you, I have pasted in an exchange between a student and > me in which the student did not receive a message I sent her (back in > January) about her essay draft. (This student needed to see my response to > her paper in order to revise her essay, but she apparently never got it the > first time, though she *did* receive it when I re-sent it the day before > yesterday.) > > This problem--lost messages in Moodle--does not seem to happen often, but it > has happened at least once every term I've taught a Moodle class, and I think > it's something that should be looked into. I use the Moodle Messages system > extensively to give private feedback to my students on their work, and if the > system is not reliable, students end up missing out on my feedback (and > sometimes grading) of their work. > > WebCT's internal mail system was 100% reliable, in my experience, and I > would hope that we can do what is possible to ensure that Moodle's is, too. > (Sorry for the shameless plug for a now-defunct system. . . . ) > > One issue that compounds the difficulty here is the oddly non-intuitive > nature of the Moodle "Messages" area. In order for students to see a message > I have sent them, many must click on "Message History" in order to open it > for the first time. (Not all browsers create this "added hoop to jump > through," but many do.) Also, in order for students to re-open a message from > me or a classmate that they have already seen, unless they have added the > sender to their "List of Contacts," they must go through a complicated series > of steps that I think must be confusing for many students. This series of > steps includes: > > - Clicking on the person's name in the "Participants" area. > - Clicking on "Send Message." > - Clicking on "Message History." > > None of these steps appears to have anything to do with "viewing an already > received email." > > I know there is probably nothing that can be done about these design > problems (short of contacting the Moodle developers), but I worry about it > because it makes private communication with students so complicated. > > One thing that might facilitate students' viewing (and re-viewing) emails > from their instructor, at least, would be to configure the Messages area so > that students "already automatically" have their instructor's name in their > "List of Contacts." Is this possible? (Or maybe it's already the case--I'm > not sure what students see in their "Messages" area when they open it up for > the first time.) > > In any case, I truly feel that an internal mail system should > self-explanatory and easy for students to use. > > Thank you so much for your consideration of these issues. > > Below is my email exchange with the student who didn't get an earlier > Moodle-sent message from me. > > Thanks again, > Jennifer Love > > ** > > Tuesday, 6 February 2007 > > Michelle Woodall [04:41 PM]: > > I didn't receive the first letter of response that you sent me, but I did > receive the one that you just posted. I don't know if it's too late to > rewrite my paper with the suggestions that you gave me or if I should just > keep it the way it is. Anyways let me know and thanks for the feedback. > > Jennifer Love [07:03 PM]: Subject: Revising Your Essay! > > -- > > Michelle, > > Thanks for your note. I am very sorry that my first response to your essay > did not reach you--I wonder what happened? (I assume it was a glitch in > Moodle. I definitely have a record in Moodle of having sent you the message, > so I really do not know what happened.) > > It's important that you know that I send each student, by Moodle mail, an > in-depth response to every essay that they write (draft and revision). So, > if, on a future occasion, you don't receive a message from me about your > paper within a week of submitting it to the forum, please email me and say, > "Ms. Love, I didn't get your response to my essay." I will email it to you > again. It's very important that you have my responses so you know how I'm > responding to your essay! > > As for your First Essay, you should *definitely* revise it again in response > to my feedback. I will give you until this weekend to revise it--I hope > that's enough time. Just submit it to the same forum ("Revised First Essays") > when you're done. > > Thanks, Michelle. I will look toward seeing your "newly revised" essay in > the forum by this weekend. > > Jennifer Love > > > > > > > > Jennifer M. Love, Ph.D. > Instructor of Writing > Division of Language, Literature, and Communication > Lane Community College > 4000 E. 30th Ave. > Eugene, OR 97405 > Email: lovejm@lanecc.edu > Office phone/msg.: 541.463.3393 > Homepage: http://teach.lanecc.edu/kenz/llc/staffpage.html?userid=48 =============================================== 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 =============================================== ------=_Part_101_5019889.1182532582302--