Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Home Blog Page 96

Get ready for MoodleMoot Brasil 2022 on 26 & 27 May

Get ready for MoodleMoot Brasil 2022 on 26 & 27 May
MoodleMoot Brasil 2022

MoodleMoot Brasil 2022 will take place on 26 & 27 May 2022. In 2022, for the second time, the meetings and activities will take place completely online. This will Help all community members from all over Brazil and the world to follow the event online.

The registrations for the attending the MoodleMoot Brasil 2022 are open. All interested community members can register for the event through this link. The registrations for the event are completely free of cost.

If you are an educator or Moodle enthusiast, you can also submit your presentation proposal. The last date for submitting the proposal is 30 April 2022.

For more information about the MoodleMoot Brasil, please visit the official website here.

Moodle Security Tips for Beginners

Moodle Tips for Beginners - How to keep your Moodle environment safe
Moodle Tips to keep your Moodle environment safe

Security of a Moodle site is an incredibly important issue for all Moodle site administrators. In educational sector, data security is an incredibly important concern and it makes the job of a Moodle administrator more responsible.

As more and more sensitive data is stored on your Moodle server, you need to be competent enough to handle all such disasters. As the old proverb says ”Prevention is better than cure.” It makes complete sense to close all the security holes and be ready for any disaster.

With every new version release Moodle is upgraded to make Moodle more safe and secure. By default, Moodle core provides a security checks report where you can see the current status of security on your Moodle site. It is available for site administrators under Site administration > Reports > Security checks.

The report provides the recommendations from over two decades of Moodle usage by community. However there may be some security issues, so here are some recommendation to keep you Moodle site secure and safe.

  • Keep your Moodle up to date – Moodle releases minor point releases after every two months from the first major version release which includes a lot of bugs and security issues fixed. As per the recent stats, many websites are still using Moodle 3.5 version.
  • Keep all plugins and themes update – Just as you update Moodle core, Moodle plugins needs to be updates along with the themes. Unless properly secured, Moodle plugins can also be backdoor entry to your Moodle site.
  • Remove unnecessary plugins – Why to keep all plugins which you are not at all using, you should uninstall them asap. Moodle has a useful information to show you the list of courses where any particular activity plugin is used. You can check out the same through Site Administrator > Plugins > Activities > Manage Activities (Blocks) etc. If you are not using a plugin installed on your Moodle site, it’s a better to uninstall it.
  • Implement a password policy and change your passwords often – Moodle offers to set a password policy for all users on your Moodle site. By enforcing a password policy, you can force users to use stronger passwords that are less susceptible to being cracked by an intruder. It is generally a good practice to change your passwords often to make sure safety.
  • Don’t use admin as your username – Most site administrators keep the administrator username as simple as admin which results in easy pickings for the hackers. Make sure to keep a username with strong character combinations.
  • Limit login attempts – Under Site policies > Account lockout, you can set up the threshold limit of incorrect login attempts to prevent DDoS attacks.
  • Set Backups – Regular backups are necessary to prevent any disruption due to any hardware issue or any security failure. As a Moodle administrator, you must make sure that a robust backup process is in place.
  • Use HTTPS for login – HTTPS encrypts the user’s login data, so it’s difficult to sniff out a user’s username and password on the network. In Moodle, HTTPS logins can be enabled by an administrator in Settings > Site administration > Security > HTTP security.
  • Change file permissions – File and folder permissions are set of rules that “specify who and what can read, write, modify and access them” in your Moodle website. Avoid configuring Moodle directories and sub directories with 777 permissions. You should opt for 755 or 750 instead.
  • Set Cron execution via command line only – Running the cron from a web browser can expose privileged information to anonymous users.  Under site policies, you can run the cron from the command line or set a cron password for remote access.

What are the other security tips you would like to share with Moodle community to keep Moodle safe? Pl share with us in the comments below.

Moodle Tip for Beginners – How to check the Moodle Version

Moodle Tip for Beginners - How to check the Moodle Version
How to check the Moodle Version?

Many times Moodle users need information of their exact Moodle version for different reasons. There are many ways to check Moodle version as below:

1st Way (with Site Administrator access)

The exact version of your Moodle site can be seen from the https://YourMoodleSite//admin/index.php?cache=1. Otherwise you can visit Site Administration > Notifications to see the Moodle Version running on your site.

Moodle Version Check
Moodle Version Check through Site Administration > Notifications

There is another way for administrators to check the Moodle version. You can navigate to Site Administration > Server > Environment. The page will show the Moodle version on the top with other server checks.

The above method works only if you have access to Site Administrator account. However in case if you are not having the admin access, then there is a caveat to check the Moodle version.

2nd Way (As a regular teacher in Moodle)

As a regular teacher at the bottom of any Moodle page, just click the “Moodle Docs for this page”. This link will take you to the Moodle documentation of that particular version. For example – https://docs.moodle.org/311/en/Moodle_version link is relevant for Moodle 3.11

"<yoastmark

If we have 400 in place of 311 in the same URL then it would be relevant for Moodle 4.0 version.

3rd Way (Access to server files)

In case you are managing the Moodle server, then you can check the Moodle’s version.php file to determine the Moodle version. The file is located in Your_Moodle_Directory/version.php

Moodle Version.php
Moodle Version.php

 

Moodle Mobile App version 4.0 available now with new features

Moodle Mobile App version 4.0 available now with new features
Moodle Mobile App version 4.0 available now with new features

Moodle Mobile App version 4.0 is now available with exciting new features. Following the release of Moodle 4.0 version release, the Mobile App will also includes many exciting features. Juan Leyva – the developer of the Moodle Mobile App announced the release of the new version on Moodle forums.

The new Moodle Mobile App will offer fresher and minimalistic interface enabling students to better prioritise and focus on their learning. The new app will also create a more smoother, intuitive and dynamic user experience for touchscreen devices.

Here are the main new features for the Moodle Mobile App:

  • Support Moodle 4.0 LMS new “My courses” page
  • User profile repositioned to match LMS
  • Design updated to Material design 3 matching overall Moodle style
  • Some pages now support swipe (participants, book module, grades, forum discussions,…)
  • Resuming a course or a book is now easier
  • Course main page additional options menu redesigned
  • Navigation between sections and activities improved
  • SCORM, H5P automatic full-screen mode
  • Thumbnails for videos are automatically generated
  • Content and activities pages with fewer distractions for users so they can focus on learning
  • General performance improvements
  • New notifications page (capturing all the notifications received by the user)
  • The enrolment fee plugin is now supported (launched in a browser outside the app to complete the process)
  • New 4.0 assignment time-limited submissions supported
  • Teachers can now see H5P attempt reports

The new mobile app will be compatible with all Moodle sites which are running Moodle 3.5 or above versions.

You can download the latest Moodle Mobile app through Google Play store for Android devices and App store for iOS devices.

Ireland & UK MoodleMoot 2022 to take place from 9-11 May

Ireland & UK MoodleMoot 2022 to take place from 9-11 May
Ireland & UK MoodleMoot 2022 (Image Credits - Twitter)

The Ireland & UK MoodleMoot 2022 will take place from 09-11 May 2022. The third online MootIEUK will be an online event to bring Moodle users, educators, developers and leading edtech professionals to share elearning ideas.

This year the MootIEUK will again be completely online with online streaming on Zoom, Vimeo and other social media handles. The MoodleMoot is organized by Moodle Community with participating from Moodle Partners in the region.

The keynote speaker Martin Dougiamas will be addressing the functionality and features of Moodle LMS 4.0. Moodle Partners and sponsors will also be showcasing their latest projects, products and services. Here is the brief schedule of the MoodleMoot Ireland & UK 2022:

  • Day 1: Live sessions included a Keynote presentation, Panels, Lightning talks, and Workshops.
  • Day 2 & 3: Live sessions included Panels, Lightning talks, and Workshops.

The registrations for the MootIEUK are currently open and interested users can register through this link. The last date for registration is 8th May 2022. The full 3 day conference ticket is priced at EUR 175 (VAT excluded).

There will be many exciting presentations on different topics like Gamification, Question Bank improvements, accessibility improvements, learning analytics etc.

Do not forget to join the MoodleMoot Ireland & UK 2022 as it will be one of the best online Moodle conference. Please visit the UK & Ireland MoodleMoot website for all details about the event.

Moodle™ Plugin Review – Completion Progress Block

Moodle Plugin Review - Completion Progress Block
Moodle Plugin Review - Completion Progress Block

In the weekly Moodle Plugin review, we will be taking a look at the Completion Progress block. It is a very handy block plugin which can be utilized for learners time management. Completion Progress Block was developed by Michael de Raadt and is currently maintained by Jonathon Fowler and is always well supported for latest Moodle version release.

The completion progress block is popular among Moodle users as it is currently in use over 12k Moodle sites. The block plugin displays a list of activities to be completed by students. It also supports color coding so that students can quickly what they have and have not completed/viewed.

How to get Completion Progress Moodle Plugin

You can download the completion progress plugin from Moodle Plugins directory through this link. Please makre sure to download the correct version compatible with your Moodle version. Once you got the plugin, you can follow this guide to install it if you are not sure how to install Moodle plugin.

After installation is complete the plugin will take you to global settings page (Site administration > Plugins > Blocks > Completion Progress)

This block uses activity completion settings to display the progress correctly. Please make sure to set completion settings for each activity you want to appear in the bar, including an expected by date.

Watch this video to learn more about Activity completion in Moodle.

How to Use Completion Progress Moodle Plugin

A teacher can add the completion progress block to any course like a normal block. Just follow the following steps:

  1. Enter the Editing Mode by toggling the “Turn Editing On” button.
  2. Add the activities/resources in your course.
  3. Set activity completion settings for all the activities/resources
  4. Add completion block to your course page.
  5. Configure the block settings:
    • Order Bar by:
      • Time using “expect completed on” date
      • Ordering in course
    • How to present long bars
      • Squeeze
      • Scroll
      • Wrap
    • Use Icons in bar
      • Yes
      • No
    • Show Percentage to students
      • Yes
      • No
A progress bar for a student
Completion Progress Bar visible to student (image Credits – Moodle.org)

Once done, you will see the completion progress block showing the activities and the progress.

Are you using the completion progress block on your Moodle LMS? How was your experience with this plugin? Please share with us the creative ideas of using this plugin in the comments below.

The beginners guide – How to install a Moodle Plugin

The beginners guide - How to install a Moodle Plugin
Check out how to install Moodle Plugins

Moodle Plugins enable you to add additional features and functionality to Moodle, such as new activities, new quiz question types, new reports, new blocks, integrations with other systems and many more features. The easiest and most maintainable way to add new functionality to Moodle is by installing a new Moodle plugin

Moodle supports more than 50 types of plugin to extend the functionality. As of writing of this post, Moodle Plugins directory includes more than 1967 plugins contributed by 1080+ Moodle community developers.

There are three ways how the plugin code can be installed in Moodle.

  • From the Moodle plugins directory
  • via uploaded ZIP file
  • Manually at the server

Installing from the Moodle plugins directory:

  • Login as an admin and go to Site administration > Plugins > Install plugins. (If you can’t find this location, then plugin installation is prevented on your site.)

Moodle Plugin Installation

  • Click the button ‘Install plugins from Moodle plugins directory’.
  • Search for a plugin with an Install button, click the Install button then click Continue.
  • Confirm the installation request
  • Check the plugin validation report.

Moodle Plugin Installation

Installing via uploaded ZIP file

  • Go to the Moodle plugins directory, select your current Moodle version, then choose a plugin with a Download button and download the ZIP file.
  • Login to your Moodle site as an admin and go to Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Install plugins.
  • Upload the ZIP file. You should only be prompted to add extra details (in the Show more section) if your plugin is not automatically detected.
  • If your target directory is not writeable, you will see a warning message.
  • Check the plugin validation report

Installing manually at the server

If you can’t deploy the plugin code via the administration web interface, you have to copy it to the server file system manually (e.g. if the web server process does not have write access to the Moodle installation tree to do this for you).

You need to establish the correct path in the Moodle code tree. For beginners, I would like to bring attention to the plugin nomenclature for better understanding the Moodle code tree.

If you carefully observe the plugin name then you will observe that it is starting to look similar to block_sharing_cart, theme_essential or editor_marklar etc. This means that the first word includes the type of plugin and the second word includes the name. You need to extract the file contents in the appropriate directory on your server. Some Common locations are:

  • /path/to/moodle/theme/ – themes
  • /path/to/moodle/mod/ – activity modules and resources
  • /path/to/moodle/blocks/ – blocks
  • /path/to/moodle/question/type/ – question types
  • /path/to/moodle/course/format/ – course formats
  • /path/to/moodle/admin/report/ – admin reports

Caution before installing Moodle plugins

Definitely Moodle plugins help to add new features and add additional functionality but you need to consider the following points before installing a new plugin:

  • Do you really need the plugin? There are many workarounds of doing things in Moodle and achieve similar results. So please make sure to explore all core options before looking for any plugin.
  • Is the plugin well maintained and supported for supported Moodle version.
  • How you will keep your Moodle updated in future in case the Plugin is not supported or not updated anymore by the developer.
  • Is the plugin update frequency is aligned with your overall Moodle site upgrade frequency.

Moodle 4.0 available now for download

Moodle 4.0 available now for download
Image Credits - Moodle.org

Finally the Moodle 4.0 version is available now for download. The new major version of Moodle is packed with a lot of exciting new features. The new version of Moodle provides a fresh look and makes it easier ever for teachers as well as students.

The Moodle 4.0 version is dedicated to Moodle community members who have contributed to Moodle in last 20 years. You can download the copy of Moodle 4.0 from https://download.moodle.org/

The major features packed in Moodle 4.0 includes:

  • Improved Dashboard & Course Page
  • Simplified Navigation
  • Collapsible & Expandable course index
  • BigBlueButton integration as standard activity in the Moodle core
  • Improvised Question bank
  • Customer Report Builder for Admins
  • Admin Preset plugin in Moodle core which will allow administrators can save the configuration of their Moodle site, so that they can share it with other Moodle sites or other Moodle users.

Moodle 4.0 passed 100% Quality Assurance tests, ready for release

Moodle 4.0 passed 100% Quality Assurance tests, ready for release

In a good news for all Moodle fans, the upcoming Moodle 4.0 version has passed the 100% of tests. The next major version of Moodle i.e. Moodle 4.0 is now all cleared to be released on Tuesday 19th April 2022.

In a recent post on Moodle Forums, Sander Bangma from Moodle HQ announced the news. The developers who have helped in the QA testing with atleast 3 tests, will be receiving the “Moodle Tester’s badge“. The badge is awarded to everyone who help with Moodle QA testing. Apart from the badge, the name of the participants are also listed in Testing Credits directory.

What’s involved in Moodle QA testing?

Moodle QA testing involves testing the new features coming in the next Moodle version and ensure that it is working without any problems in different environments. It is mainly carried out to test Moodle’s functionality from a user point of view.

Real users test out the new functionality on different pages of Moodle. It is not mandatory that you are a developer to test it out. It can be done from any Moodle user who can check if the new feature is working without breaking any other thing.

Moodle 4.0 is the next major version of Moodle which is scheduled to be released on 19th April 2022. It includes many exciting new features which you can check here.

Moodle™ 4.0 – Check out the new features coming in the next major version

Moodle™ 4.0 - Check out the new features coming in the next major version
Moodle 4.0 - Check out new features

Moodle™ – world’s most popular Open Source Learning Management System (LMS) will get a brand new version released in April 2022. The Moodle  4.0 will be the next major release of the LMS which will be covering many new & exciting features.

For every major version release, Moodle HQ team focus on improving the architecture and user experience. Similarly, before the release of Moodle 4.0, the team has focused mainly on improving the user experience for teachers as well as for learners.

In this post we will cover the features in the upcoming Moodle 4.0 version.

Improved Navigation, Search & Menus

With this major feature upgrade, it will become more easier and user friendly for teachers to navigate through  course resources in a better way. The update will be to bring more accessibility to both Primary & Secondary navigation menus.

This new improved navigation feature will bring a context based secondary navigation menu which will allow a quicker access to frequently used items. This improved navigation will provide  a consistent look and feel between desktop sized viewports & mobile sized viewports. In the secondary menu, Navigation items will now appear as tabs within the context header.

Easier Course Management

Another major update in the UX for Moodle 4.0 is to have easier course management. The main objective of this new feature is to improve the user experience of creating & editing the courses. It is mainly targets for course creators & instructional designers.

Better Student workflow in the course

This another new feature will help students navigate easier through the course contents. It will be easier for the students to understand what is the next thing coming for them and what do they need to do to complete the course.

Question Bank Improvements

This new project is coming from Moodle community which will make it easier to manage the question bank. There are many small features coming inside this Question bank improvements like question version numbering, improved questions backup & restore and many more.

The question bank will be now made up of plugins which will make it easier for administrators as well as teachers to manage the questions in the question bank.

Admin Presets Plugin in Core

Moodle plugin – admin present will be now a part of the Moodle core. This plugin allows administrators to export the site settings to .xml presets, import and load other sites presets. It is quite handy plugin especially only for administrators as they can easily export Moodle site settings and configuration to other Moodle site.

BigBlueButton Integration

BigBlueButton is an open source web conferencing system designed for online learning. This new feature will provide an open source video conferencing solution that ships ‘out-of-the-box’ with Moodle.

LTI Tool/Provider Integration

This new feature will help Moodle to support the 1.3 specification – the only currently recommended standard for LTI. Moodle can already provide courses and modules as LTI tools.

So, these are some cool new features coming soon in Moodle 4.0. Please share with us in the comments below.