🌧️ Winter 2023: Courses, Instructor Enrollments +M4 updates

🌧️ Winter 2023: Courses, Instructor Enrollments +M4 updates

by Josh Manders -
Number of replies: 0

Instructors,

Winter 2023 courses are now available to you in Moodle.

There are ~140 courses that are unassigned (assigned to "STAFF") along with sections yet to be built. If you don’t see your section listed, check the class schedule to ensure your department administrator has added you as the instructor of record.

➡️ To help you close out a previous course or to open an upcoming course you can follow our recommended Moodle course Start of Term and End of Term procedures.

Reminder: You will either need to click on the "Hidden Courses" link or search for your class using the CRN# to locate your hidden courses.Student enrollments will be added one week prior to the beginning of the term (Monday, September 19th, 2022).

-Josh
LMS Admin


🚧 Beginning December 12th, 2022 the ability to add new instances of the OpenForum activity type will be removed.

OpenLMS (our Moodle hosting company) announced the end of life (EOL) of the OpenForums (mod_hsuforum) activity type and associated OpenReports grading workflow at the start of 2022. They have officially delayed the EOL for Q2 of 2023, however, I strongly encourage you to move away from using it in your courses ASAP as the activity could cease to function midway through Winter or Spring term. 


Moodle Forums are represented via an overlapping blue and green icon
versus Open Forums single white icon. 

Does This Affect Me?
Maybe — any instructor who has 1 or more instances of the OpenForum activity type in a credit course in the last 5 terms will have received personal emails from me. However, there may be a small handful of instructors with development courses, non-credit courses, or courses without CRN's that were not included in my email list. If you are co-teaching a course with others, please check-in with your colleagues.

What Do I Need To Do?
Replace all instances of OpenForums activity type with a Moodle Native Forum — prioritizing any content you'll import into a Winter 2023 course. If the course is no longer taught by you and or you don't plan on importing it into a future term, no action needs to be taken.

Is There a Video That Provides More Info?
Yes - we didn't make it but there's a comprehensive 10min video on YouTube that discusses the differences between Native Moodle forums vs OpenForums.

Can Someone Convert Them Over For Me?
Most likely — between the ATC and myself, we can assist instructors with moving their forum content away from OpenForums. However, we are only able to do so with advanced notice (2-weeks minimum) and planned scheduling. If this is the route you wish to take, please submit a request to the ATC ASAP!


🎓 Moodle 4.0 Delayed to Summer 2023 Term | July 13-15th, 2023
The following notification was sent to all faculty by Grant Matthews on 10/20/22. 

On July 13, 2023 the College Learning Management Software (LMS), Moodle, will undergo a major and mandatory upgrade from Moodle 3 to Moodle 4. The Academic Technology team and IT department will work with the vendor to make the necessary technology transition on July 13, 14, and 15, 2023. This constitutes a planned three-day Moodle outage that will impact students and summer classes during Week 3 of Summer term.

Over the next several months, as we make arrangements for the upgrade, additional communication, tools, and training opportunities will be provided to support the transition. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we make plans for the Summer term interruption. 

Fall 2023 classes utilizing Moodle will be available only on the new Moodle 4 platform; transfer of course content and materials will occur during summer prior to faculty class prep days in the fall.

If there are questions about how this transition will impact courses, students, or individuals, please reach out to the Academic Technology Center (ATC@lanecc.edu).


🆕 Help Articles located at support.lanecc.edu 

Knowledge base articles for Academic Technology and the Student Helpdesk (SHeD) are available at the following permanent web address: support.lanecc.edu. All links posted in Moodle have been automatically updated to point to the new location as well as links on LaneCC's main website. If you are importing course content older than 2021, please be aware that help.lanecc.edu links will need to be manually updated.


Now Taking all Winter Term Metacourse Requests

Early requests are appreciated as it helps to avoid last minute technical issues. If you would like a Metacourse, use our meta course request form or contact the ATC (atc@lanecc.edu) for assistance.

For those new to Metacourses: a Metacourse allows you to combine enrollments from multiple course sections into a single Moodle shell — reducing the need to duplicate resources, activities, etc. when you are teaching multiple sections or course sharing between multiple instructors. 


📅  Academic Technology Center (ATC) Fall Support Hours Monday-Friday 9am-4pm
The ATC is open to in-person assistance. We are located in Center 208, down the hall from J&J Coffee Shop.

  • Email: atc@lanecc.edu | Phone: 541-463-3377
  • Join Live Online Help (via Zoom): ATC Virtual Support (10am-2pm)
    Or join Virtual Support by Phone:
    Dial: +1 346-248-7799 and Enter Meeting ID: 934 628 325

If you are no longer teaching at LaneCC and wish to be removed from this News & Announcements forum, email a removal request to moodleadmin@lanecc.edu