You may or may not have heard that we are working towards a new and improved Moodle to replace MyCourses at TWU… and it’s true!
MyCourses is currently based on Moodle 1.9, and we will be moving to Moodle 3.0 (or maybe 3.1).
Our ideal timeline is that we will have access to a new Moodle server early in 2017 and that we will be able to deploy campus-wide in Moodle 3.x in September 2017. If any of you have been through a major technical transition like this one, you will know that there will be some adjustment of timelines as we proceed.
Once we have access to Moodle 3, and throughout the Spring 2017 semester, we will be hosting regular drop-in training and orientation sessions for individual users. We are also available to meet with groups for more targeted training for your specific department. We will make a sign-up form available as soon as possible.
Please note that we are not planning to migrate content or courses from MyCourses to the new Moodle 3.x. We will maintain your access to MyCourses (but not indefinitely), and we will provide instructions for you to be able to export your course materials from the old system to retain as an archive and/or to build your course in the new system.
Moodle 3 is much more user-friendly and has a much cleaner interface compared to 1.9 and we will ensure that you and your department are prepared to make the transition to the new system. If you’d like to have a look at the latest Moodle (3.2), you can go to learn.moodle.net and sign up for a free account. Keep in mind that we won’t necessarily have access to all of the features you see on moodle.net.
We hope that you will be able to use this as an opportunity to think carefully about how and why you use Moodle for your courses, and to design your course to maximize student learning.
If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to email me at colin.madland[at]twu.ca or call local 3876.