Post Moodle upgrade reflections by Sultan Wadud https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle Please use this Padlet board to share your thoughts on the following three sections: 1. Successes: What went well with the upgrade? What are some of the benefits and improvements that you have noticed or enjoyed? 2. Failures: What went wrong with the upgrade? What are some of the challenges and difficulties that you have faced or encountered? 3. Future plans: What are some of the suggestions and recommendations that you have for future upgrades? What are some of the features or functionalities that you would like to see or have? en-us 2023-10-03 10:05:15 UTC 2023-11-09 11:10:21 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783156513 Tumble weed

]]> 2023-11-09 10:43:38 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783156513 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157155 4.3 on 2nd January

]]> 2023-11-09 10:44:08 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157155 Turnitin for Quiz activity https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157240 2023-11-09 10:44:12 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157240 Start earlier https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157303 Starting earlier on a test server and in phases would have ensured a smoother transition.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:44:15 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157303 Pre-empted any major disasters with thorough testing before the upgrade https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157389 2023-11-09 10:44:20 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157389 Nothing catastrophic went wrong. All issues were dealt with quickly. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157852 2023-11-09 10:44:47 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783157852 Short periods for testing means pressure on all https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158082 2023-11-09 10:44:59 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158082 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158085 Automated testing

]]> 2023-11-09 10:44:59 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158085 Training https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158307 More training for staff and students

]]> 2023-11-09 10:45:13 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158307 Excellent communication dbuzzard1 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158352 2023-11-09 10:45:17 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158352 Grid format https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158435 We have this format on all courses, and the developer has essentially held everyone hostage by only working on certain functions. Looking to move away from this format now.


]]> 2023-11-09 10:45:20 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158435 Prompt response to issues dbuzzard1 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158851 2023-11-09 10:45:42 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783158851 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159077 UX upgrades with a direct focus on student co-creation

]]> 2023-11-09 10:45:54 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159077 New theme to make interface less cluttered, removal of some blocks and plugins https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159152 2023-11-09 10:45:58 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159152 Successfully rebuilt the menu to make it go one level deeper. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159358 We use Moodle as an intranet. As a result, this facility is useful.


Everything else went smoothly.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:46:06 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159358 Less time for testing https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159466 2023-11-09 10:46:13 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159466 Some UI changes were imo, a step backwards. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159632 2023-11-09 10:46:21 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783159632 paulwarren5 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160165 Became better aligned with the rest of the university: new branding meant more consistency across courses.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:46:49 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160165 Unexpected issues https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160194 eg particular quiz question types

stopped working

]]> 2023-11-09 10:46:50 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160194 The provider set the timeline dbuzzard1 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160244 2023-11-09 10:46:52 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160244 Removal of individual file icons and indentation https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160518 Two biggest issues that have been raised by staff

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:04 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160518 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160689 No major errors on launch and thankfully, due to lots of resources made beforehand, staff have adjusted well

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:14 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783160689 All Moodle 4 databases feeding PowerBI slotted in place without additional work. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161013 Reports were up and running shortly after the upgrade.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:32 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161013 Smoothest upgrade ever! https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161341 UCL - smoothest upgrade because working on it for 2 years, well planned, and well supported

  • Agile model helped

  • Automated testing process

  • About 10 in the Team

  • 3.9 to 4.2 only took 3 hours (2am-5am)

  • UX studies made a big difference

  • support propagated properly

  • transparency: remove fear

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:47 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161341 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161411 The new Activities and Resources logos, though more modern, have become leas intuitive: at first glance they look all similar. The previous versions were easier to identify what activity each represented.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:50 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161411 M3>4 documentation https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161481 Some challenges trying to identifying causes of issues due to a lack of a thorough documentations about what settings existed in M3 and what had changed in M4.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:54 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161481 It all basically still works https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161503 Despite only having a team of 3 people!

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:55 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161503 Boost theme request https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161510 Get rid of the Course Index on the Boost theme - what is the point of it? It is just a repeat of collapsed sections topics in the centre. Seems there is no way of hiding it but without CSS?

]]> 2023-11-09 10:47:55 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783161510 Had a few SCORM based configuration problems impacting tracking. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783162991 I think this has been solved by altering a few properties in Moodle. In the interim, I wrote additional SQL reports to record SCORM activities.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:49:10 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783162991 No Demo Site https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783163448 Unable to obtain a demo site early enough to inform training and communications

]]> 2023-11-09 10:49:35 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783163448 paulwarren5 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783163873 Time constraints: we should have started work on the upgrade much earlier than we did to give us more time on it.

]]> 2023-11-09 10:49:49 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783163873 Straight forward to build a new theme for v4. Easy to update custom plugins in PHP v8. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164231 2023-11-09 10:50:09 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164231 Timing of upgrade https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164526 2023-11-09 10:50:23 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164526 Training on course format and progressing away from tabs dbuzzard1 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164814 2023-11-09 10:50:40 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783164814 Agile methodology https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783165499

  • more engagement with stakeholders

  • more transparency

  • actually delivering what stakeholder wants

  • improved feedback process from both academic and students

    • ]]>     2023-11-09 10:51:12 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783165499     https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783166198

  • KCL- It happened! pretty smooth when looking back.

  • Win for our department (King's Digital) was better relationships with central team and specialist roles form our team are more embedded in central team moodle operations

    • ]]>     2023-11-09 10:51:53 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783166198     New template based around M4 design principles and features. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783166757 2023-11-09 10:52:21 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783166757 To submit some WYSIWYG code to toggle comments and bubbles by default on the Assessment plugin. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168424 One of our exam boards prefer the comments outside of the bubble format. Particularly on cover sheets. I had to re-program the bubble comments out of Moodle (but still left in an option to use them).

    ]]>     2023-11-09 10:53:51 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168424     Doing consultations with staff and students to inform changes was good for us. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168556 2023-11-09 10:53:59 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168556 https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168724 It went very well, despite being combined with a migration to a new external provider and a compressed timescale (started March 2023, finished August 2023)

    ]]>     2023-11-09 10:54:08 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783168724     Getting students involved in developing comms & training for students (ambassadors) https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169358 2023-11-09 10:54:44 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169358 staff and students seemed underwhelmed :) https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169420 2023-11-09 10:54:48 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169420 Previous theme update https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169651 QMUL's previous theme update did a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of getting people used to changes in interface etc.

    ]]>     2023-11-09 10:54:58 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783169651     ALLY disfunction https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783170963 2023-11-09 10:56:11 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783170963 Timeline and being held hostage by plugins which aren't compatible! https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172315 2023-11-09 10:57:31 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172315 Underestimation of the complexity of Moodle for theme design https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172490 Designers unfamiliar with Moodle were underprepared for how many elements, components, screens and other options should be included in design specifications. This meant a lot of back and forth between designers and developers, resulting in less time available for development.

    ]]>     2023-11-09 10:57:41 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172490     Reducing fear of change https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172828 Also talked about in the room...we ran "upgrade awareness" sessions which focussed on what was, and wasn't changing. These were very successful.

    ]]>     2023-11-09 10:58:02 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783172828     Teaching staff have often complained there is no effective way to hide courses/modules that are cluttering their teaching site list. https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783173769 2023-11-09 10:58:53 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783173769 Reviewing and updating college-wide access courses content and design (moving course format and accessibility enhancement) https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783176158 2023-11-09 11:01:09 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783176158 Moodle and MS365 integration https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783181752 Authentication from MS. Teams course generation from Moodle. Really straight forward and effective.

    ]]>     2023-11-09 11:06:29 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783181752     https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783185645 Short preparation time before the upgrade (>6mo) had a knock-on effect to implementing testing and bug fixes.

    ]]>     2023-11-09 11:10:21 UTC https://padlet.com/soaswadud/moodle/wish/2783185645