August 2014 Upgrade to Learn@Illinois

On August 14, 2014, Learn@Illinois will undergo an upgrade to Moodle 2.6.3. The upgrade will include security fixes, bug fixes, and a number of enhancements to functionality. Improvements include:

Enhanced Functionality

Moving to Moodle 2.6.3

You’ll notice many upgrades and enhancements in Moodle 2.6.3, including a more responsive design (see the Moodle 2.6.3 Release Notes, the 2.6 New Features, and the 2.5 New Features). In particular, users will see that editing icons are now displayed in a drop-down menu:

Old editing interface:

old edit

New editing interface:

new edit

Additions and Improvements

  • The Learn@Illinois login process will move to the campus Shibboleth service, for a more secure, single sign-on method
  • Students will now have the ability to add comments directly to select course activities, such as Lessons
  • Users will be able to collapse the left sidebar when their navigation blocks are docked (when not in “editing” mode)
  • Improved linking capabilities for the TabTopics format have been created, providing easier navigation from tab to tab.
  • “Course Legacy Files” will be retired; any remaining course files will be added to an Orphaned Activities section
  • A “UICourseNav” block has been added, which improves the display options of the previous “Section Links” block
  • Grading options will be re-categorized for improved display
  • Instructors will have more control when submitting feedback to students
  • All UIUC faculty, graduate students, and instructional staff will be preloaded in the system, making the task of manually adding users more efficient
  • An improved rostering system to facilitate automatic roster uploads
  • Users will now have the option to create custom tabs on their “MyMoodle” page, in order to more easily organize their courses
  • The Moodle version will be added to the homepage footer

Module Updates

The following modules will be updated to a new, improved version!

  • Attendance
  • Collapsed Topics
  • Configurable Reports
  • Dates Report
  • Ensemble Repository
  • Group Choice
  • i>Clicker Integration
  • Journal
  • Mass Action Block
  • OU Blog
  • PDF Feedback/Submission

Bug Fixes

  • The “Turn Editing On” button will now consistency display in the top-right corner, as well as float in the lower right of the screen
  • Users will now be able to move section blocks consistently in all formats