Convergence

The transition to Moodle 2 as the CLE”s online course delivery system is in full swing at UCSF. For background information on the move to Moodle 2, see Brian Warling’s post titled “Moodle 2: A Quick Preview.” We would like to take the opportunity to provide UCSF faculty and staff with additional information and instructions for moving forward with CLE course migrations.

Although files cannot be migrated directly from Moodle 1.9 (the version currently being used at as the main CLE site) to Moodle 2, many resources and activities can be. No user data (e.g. assignment submissions, quiz scores, forum posts, etc) can be migrated to Moodle 2; this information will remain available via Moodle 1.9. The current list of items that LTG staff can migrate can found here.

Some tips to keep in mind when preparing for a course migration are as follows:

The Book resource can contain a large amount of content including text, links to outside resources, images, videos and documents hosted on the CLE. The module can be used to create a book-like website inside of a course on the CLE. By organizing content in a Moodle 1.9 course into Books when appropriate, we can migrate resources that may not be possible to migrate individually.

Are you using a course template? Most schools use a standardized CLE course template. If you are not using a template, think about creating one before migrating to Moodle 2. This will help provide more consistency throughout courses in a program, and also provide a better learning experience for students.

Course migrations can take up to two weeks to complete, so get your request in as early as possible for the smoothest transition!

Submit multiple course migrations requests in one message by emailing learningtech@ucsf.edu or use the Moodle 2 Migration Request Form (located in the Moodle 2 Support Center) and include the following information:

• A list of the courses needed to be migrated with appropriate semester and enrollment method.
• The resources and activities you want migrated from the Moodle 1.9 course to Moodle 2 course. Let us know if you want all possible resources and activities migrated; if you want only specific activities and resources migrated; or if you want to start fresh in Moodle 2.
• We can also provide all of the course files from your Moodle 1.9 course on a DVD for your records. Just let us know if this is something you want included with the course migrations!
• Provide the names of faculty that you want assigned to the course as instructors. If this information is the same as the Moodle 1.9 course, just let us know and we can replicate.

Lastly, below are resources to help with CLE course migrations:

• Moodle 2 Online Workshop: A self-paced course that will teach you how to perform the basic tasks associated with building a course or collaboration space in Moodle 2.
• Moodle 2 Support Center: The Support Center provides instructional resources for Moodle 2 users. This includes training videos, documents, a user forum and updates from system administrators.
• For migration consultation requests, please send an email to learningtech@ucsf.edu, and a Learning Technologies staff member will contact you to set up an appointment.

Image credit: Serge Melki

We have discovered an issue with the Collaborate web conferencing system and OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4. If you have recently updated a Mac that you use to join a Collaborate session as a moderator or participant; or if you are trying to view a recorded Collaborate session, please follow either one of the three suggested workarounds below that have been provided by Blackboard.

Affected Platforms
Mac OS X 10.8.4

Issue
Recent security changes released by Apple may prevent Web Conferencing customers from launching Blackboard Collaborate sessions and recordings. Customers using OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 will be affected. The security changes no longer allow users to auto-launch JNLP files. The following message will appear when trying to launch a session:

Note: Clicking the OK button will NOT launch the session

Solution/Workaround
This issue can be resolved by using one of the following workaround methods:

Workaround 1 (Recommended):
Role: Moderators and Participants
Difficulty: Novice

To launch a Web Conferencing session or recording follow the steps below:

1. Locate the downloaded JNLP. Note: Please refer to knowledge base article 2941 to learn how to locate the JNLP Download.
2. Control-click (or right-click) the file and then select “Open” from the context menu. You will see the Open meeting.jnlp confirmation message (Refer to the image below).
3. Click the “Open” button at the bottom of the dialogue box to launch your Web Conferencing session (Refer to the image above).

Note: Repeat workaround 1 every time you wish to launch a Web Conferencing session or a recording.

Workaround 2:
Role: Moderators and Participants
Difficulty: Novice

1. Go to your Apple Menu at the top left corner of your computer screen.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Select Security & Privacy (Refer to the image below).
4. If necessary, click the lock icon at the bottom left of the Security & Privacy window to make the needed changes (Refer to the image above).
5. Under the “Allow applications downloaded from area”, select the Anywhere option at bottom of the Security & Privacy window (Refer to the image below).
6. Click the “Allow from Anywhere” button to confirm (Refer to the image above).
7. You should now see the Open confirmation message shown in the image below:
8. Click the “Open” button to allow your Web Conferencing session or recording to launch successfully.

Workaround 3: Collaborate supports mobile devices too!
Role: Participant Only

Join the Blackboard Collaborate session on your iOS mobile device (iPhone/iPad) or Android phone or tablet. Please refer to knowledge base article 2474 to learn how.

Please contact LTG with any questions about the issue and we will update this post when more information is available.

Further Details
For further information regarding this Apple Security Update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5784

Link to the Blackboard Collaborate article: http://support.blackboardcollaborate.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8336&task=knowledge&questionID=2940

LTG and Library staff are thrilled to have Dr. Tina Brock (Faculty, School of Pharmacy) share her experiences with the Moodle 2 pilot and previous learning management systems. We would like to thank Dr. Brock for her active participation in the current Moodle 2 pilot and for her feedback for the Convergence blog.

1. How long have you used Moodle or similar learning management systems in education?

I started experimenting with learning management systems (first a WebCT pilot then a full Blackboard implementation) in the late 1990s while I was teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  I continued to use Blackboard when I moved to University College, London in 2005 but later started playing with Moodle for a project in Sub-Saharan Africa. When I arrived at UCSF in 2010, I was excited to see we were using a platform with which I had some experience!

2. When did you start using Moodle 2 at UCSF? What was your initial impression?

I directed a course for Physical Therapy (PT) students this winter/spring and took the opportunity to try out Moodle 2 for this experience. My positive experience working with PT in the past led me to believe they would be up for the challenge of something new and since the class size was somewhat smaller than a typical pharmacy cohort, I thought it would be a good environment for testing. I was working with PharmD student teaching assistants who had been accustomed to the previous version of Moodle (with an Ilios calendar) and we hoped to incorporate both Collaborate and Articulate sessions, so I anticipated there would be a learning curve for all of us. I was so pleased that the new interface is much more user friendly so we were all up to speed quickly!

3. What type of feedback have you received from UCSF students, faculty and staff using Moodle 2?

The team working on and participating in this course has had nothing but positive feedback. The file infrastructure in Moodle 2 is infinitely easier to manage  - just drag and drop. Before we started, we developed some standard file naming schema and access protocols (eg, we chose “force download) to make each session consistent for the learner. The PT students acclimated very quickly, accessing the Collaborate/Articulate sessions, using the discussion boards, and even uploading their final exam assignment. We also all liked that Moodle 2 is more user friendly for iPads.

4. Has using Moodle 2 saved you time in preparing and teaching courses?

Definitely. As I mentioned, the new file infrastructure saves a lot of time. It’s also easier to make changes to material already posted. One limitation of the previous version was that an instructor really had to know what they wanted the endpoint to look like before they set up the file structure at the start – but that’s not always possible, especially with new courses.

5. What are the top 2 reasons you would recommend migrating to Moodle 2 to other UCSF faculty?

I would have to say the improved (drag and drop) file infrastructure is the best reason for faculty. For students, they will like the more contemporary user interface and the ability to access more cleanly via mobile devices. When students are happier, teachers are happier, too!

6. Feel free to comment on any other aspect of Moodle 2 and the UCSF CLE.

UCSF has made great progress with their learning tools over the last few years and it’s exciting to think that we’re able to bring the same degree of innovation to our classrooms as we do to our labs!

____________________________________________________________________________

About Dr. Brock:

Dr. Tina Penick Brock joined the Department of Clinical Pharmacy in July 2010. She was previously the Director of Capacity Building at Management Sciences for Health, a Senior Lecturer at the University of London, and a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received the BA German, BS Pharmacy and MS Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Mississippi and the Doctorate of Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Brock’s primary research interests are global health professional education, human resources for health, technology-enhanced learning, curriculum development, interprofessional training and medication adherence.

Read more here.

We are pleased to announce the release of Blackboard Collaborate™ 12.5 web conferencing at UCSF. Collaborate 12.5 sessions are available starting Wednesday, May 15, 2013. The update will be seamless for Collaborate users, just join the Collaborate session as you usually would via the UCSF CLE to take advantage of the update.

Below is a list of new feature in Collaborate 12.5:

• Support for Android devices to expand opportunities for mobile learning. Download the Android app here and the iOS app here.
• Built-in phone conferencing with auto-provisioned call-in numbers, eliminating the need for a third-party teleconferencing provider. Learn more here.
• Single-click individual permissions and ability to toggle chat emoticons on/off for increased moderator control. Read more here.
• Cloud-based MP3/MP4 conversion service, enabling instructors to make any recorded session easily accessible on desktop, laptop, and any mobile device. To request MP4/MP4 version of your recorded Collaborate sessions, please contact LTG staff.

LTG staff will be working to develop support documentation for the new features listed above. Please contact LTG staff in the meantime if you have questions about using Collaborate 12.5 at UCSF.

For current Collaborate support documentation, please visit the Collaborate@UCSF User Guide.

As part of our ongoing transition from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2, the Learning Technologies Group has recently debuted two new support resources: the Moodle 2 Support Center and the self-paced, online workshop “Creating Your First Moodle 2 Course.” These new resources, modelled after similar resources available for the previous Moodle version, provide on-demand training and documentation for the UCSF Moodle 2 community.

The “Creating Your First Moodle 2 Course” workshop will help faculty, staff, and other participants learn to perform the basic tasks associated with setting up a course or collaboration space in Moodle 2. Topics introduced to participants include site navigation, Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2 migration details, uploading files, creating activities, and choosing a student enrollment method. Although this workshop covers some of the same material as the in-person “Building Online Courses in the CLE with Moodle 2″ workshop, participants may find value in completing both workshops, in whatever order they choose. This online workshop is only available to UCSF users with a MyAccess username and password.

The Moodle 2 Support Center provides training videos, documents, a user discussion forum, and updates about Moodle 2 from system administrators. At the moment, the Support Center is comprised mainly of documentation geared towards faculty and staff. Learning Technologies staff will continue to populate this area with additional resources for faculty and staff, and also with new documents geared towards students who need help using the system, as time allows. The Moodle 2 Support Center is available to anyone, with or without a UCSF MyAccess username and password.

To take advantage of these resources, visit the Moodle 2 Support Center (available without a MyAccess login) and the Creating Your First Moodle 2 Course online workshop (requires a MyAccess login). If you have questions, suggestions, or feedback, please post to the forums in each space, or send us an email.

With the Moodle 2 pilot up and running, LTG staff has been busy updating documentation to help support UCSF CLE users. Collaborate moderators will notice some subtle changes in the way Collaborate sessions are created and managed in Moodle 2. But rest assure, the changes are not too significant and we have put together step-by-step instructions and a handy FAQ to help with the transition.

Updated Collaborate documentation is now available on the Collaborate@UCSF User Guide. We have also developed a Moodle 2 and Collaborate FAQ that is located on the User Guide as well. Moodle 1.9 support documentation is still available under the Moodle 1.9 Moderator Guide.

The LTG ‘Web Conferencing with Collaborate’ workshop has also been updated to incorporate support for Moodle 2. Register for an upcoming Collaborate workshop!

Please contact LTG staff with any questions about using Moodle 2 and Collaborate.

Image Credit: Erin Hayes, Moodle Trust

A new feature in Moodle 2 is the ability to easily embed Vimeo videos in CLE courses using only the video URL. With ETS running a UCSF Vimeo pilot program, this is good news for many CLE users. The plug-in for embedding YouTube videos using just the video URL has been possible since Moodle 1.9, and Vimeo videos can now be added to Moodle 2 courses the same way.

Adding YouTube and Vimeo videos to a CLE course page is as easy as inserting a hyperlink into a Word document. Simply insert and highlight text, select insert web link, add the video URL and Moodle does the rest. There are advantages and disadvantages to using this method as opposed to using embed codes to add videos. For clarification, an embed code is the short HTML code typically used to embed an online video on a webpage. The main advantage for using this new method is the ease of use. You are also not limited to the 75MB upload limit when embedding a video like you are when uploading directly to the CLE.

A disadvantage to using this simpler method is the inability to customize the size of the video player. By default YouTube and Vimeo videos are sized to 400 x 300 pixels when viewed in the CLE.

To insert a YouTube or Vimeo video in a Moodle 2 CLE course:

1. Copy the URL of the Vimeo or YouTube video
2. Turn editing on in the CLE course
3. Select “Add an activity or resource” link
4. Select “Page” to add the video to a webpage in the CLE, or select “Label” to add the video directly to the CLE course page
5. Paste the video URL into the page content field
6. Highlight the URL, press the “Insert Web Link” button in the Moodle 2 editor
7. Insert the video URL in the “Link URL” field
8. Select “Save and display”

It is that easy! Click for more detailed instructions on Basic Video Embedding.

There may be times that you want to customize the video player to make the player size larger. This can be done by embedding the video using the respective YouTube or Vimeo embed codes. Click for detailed instructions on Custom Video Embedding.

Have fun and please contact LTG staff with any questions!

Just a reminder that registration is now open for LTG Spring 2013 workshops. There are five workshops being offered and below is additional information on each. Library workshops can also be found on the UCSF Library Class Calendar and are open to UCSF faculty, staff and students.

Building Online Courses on the CLE with Moodle 2
Presented by Brian Warling

Moodle is the linchpin learning management system that provides many of the CLE’s core functions. In 2013, we will transition to Moodle 2, the latest version. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to use many of the new Moodle 2 features and enhancements, including: new course navigation tools; drag-and-drop file and resource management; conditional release; much improved quiz building and navigation; private files; new page layout options; and mobile interfaces. We will also discuss transition plan details. Open to UCSF faculty, staff and students. Read more and register here.

• Wednesday, April 17, 9 – 11am
• Wednesday, May 1, 2 – 4pm
• Thursday, May 16, 9 – 11am
• Tuesday, June 4, 9 – 11am
• Wednesday, June 19, 2 – 4pm

The Better Presenter
Presented by Sean Gabriel McClelland

We have all fallen victim to presentations that leave us bored and confused. In this workshop, you will learn to become a better presenter and create slideshows that enhance your presentations, not detract from them. You will develop an understanding of why templates are bad, and stories are good. Read more and register here.

• Wednesday, April 10, 1:30 – 4pm
• Tuesday, May 14, 9:30am – 12pm
• Thursday, June 13, 9:30am – 12pm

DV Workshop: Shoot Like a Pro
Presented by Sean Gabriel McClelland & Dylan Romero

Shooting a video is something that anyone can do, but it takes practice to produce a quality product. In this workshop, we will introduce you to LTG’s video equipment, discuss best practices for planning and shooting effective video, and then practice those techniques with a hands-on exercise. Read more and register here.

• Tuesday, April 23, 1:30 – 4pm
• Wednesday, May 15, 1:30 – 4pm
• Wednesday, June 12, 9:30am – 12pm

DV Workshop: Edit Like a Pro
Presented by Dylan Romero & Sean Gabriel McClelland

Editing digital video is becoming more and more commonplace, but it does not mean that everyone does it correctly. In this hands-on workshop, we will cover editing software, terminology, conventions and distribution options pertaining to digital video. Our Digital Video: Shoot Like a Pro workshop is a recommended but not required prerequisite. Read more and register here.

• Tuesday, April 30, 1:30 – 4pm
• Wednesday, May 22, 1:30 – 4pm
• Wednesday, June 19, 9:30am – 12pm

Web Conferencing with Collaborate
Presented by Dylan Romero

Learn the fundamentals of using the web conferencing tool Blackboard Collaborate, previously known as Elluminate. Attendance is highly encouraged for anyone moderating or administering Collaborate sessions. Come check out the new interface with support for mobile devices and learn how to better collaborate with students, faculty and staff! Read more and register here.

• Thursday, April 18, 2 – 3:30pm
• Tuesday, June 18, 2 – 3:30pm

For workshop related questions, contact the Learning Technologies Group.

UCSF faculty and staff often contact LTG with questions about how they can leverage the messaging system in Moodle to better communicate with students. The current messaging system in Moodle 1.9 is not intuitive and is used infrequently at UCSF. Messaging in Moodle 2 has been overhauled and some of the improvements are substantial enough to potentially win over some new users.

Both faculty and students receive notifications via the messaging system based on events in the CLE. Messaging is now ‘event-driven’ in Moodle 2, meaning users can select from a list of events in Moodle that trigger a message. The message can be delivered via a pop-up window in the CLE, through an email notification or both.

An important thing to remember is that messaging preferences are set at the user level in Moodle 2. By default students receive pop-up notifications for personal messages and email messages for event notifications. These can be set for when a student is online or not online. Both email and pop-up notifications can be configured by users to be triggered by various events in the CLE. Students configure these options, or turn off notifications completely in ‘Message Preferences.’ Because of this capability, faculty who use the messaging system in the CLE should remind students that important course related messages can be missed if notifications are turned off. Messaging preferences are applied system-wide to all courses that a student is enrolled in through the CLE

Some examples of how messaging can be used at UCSF are:

• Notify students of upcoming assignments
• Notify students of feedback for assignments
• Remind students to provide feedback
• Notify when a post has been submitted to a discussion forum
• Send a personal message to faculty or  students
• Send multimedia content to students/instructors in a personal message

There are two main components of the messaging system for both faculty and students. The first is viewing any messages sent or received through the system to other users. To view all messages, navigate to the ‘Navigation’ block and select ‘Messages.’ This will include all pop-up and email messages sent through the CLE, even if the user has notifications turned off.

To configure which messages you receive and how, navigate to the ‘Settings’ block and select ‘Messaging.’ By selecting the check marks next to each event, users can determine how they receive both event-driven and personal messages.

If you are a faculty member interested in messaging students, navigate to the course in the CLE where you would like to send the message. From the ‘Navigation’ block, select ‘Participants’ and all enrolled users in the course will be displayed. Select either all or individual students using the check marks listed next to the names and select ‘Send a Message’ from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the page.

Depending how users have their message preferences configured, they will receive your message in a pop-up window, email or neither if they have message notifications turned off. Recipients are not able to see the students included on the message; protecting the privacy of the students.

Messaging in Moodle 2 can often be confused with the ability to send notes in the CLE and the email digest, which notifies students of forum posts daily or with each forum post. Stay tuned to the Convergence blog for an upcoming blog post on these Moodle 2 features and as always feel free to contact LTG staff with any questions about the CLE or the transition to Moodle 2.

Messaging 2.0 Resources:

• Messaging MoodleDoc
• Messaging FAQ
• Using Messaging

Many educators and students are familiar with the Khan Academy and have seen the video tutorials created by Salman Khan. Since 2009, the Khan Academy has become a rockstar in the field of educational technologies and has gathered both supporters and critics along the way. Regardless of your opinion on this type of asynchronous learning activity, we can all agree that it is definitely a creative way to teach short chunks of content to many learners.

LTG recently acquired a Wacom DTU-2231 interactive display that is available to UCSF faculty, students and staff. The 21.5” tablet monitor easily connects to the PC or Mac in CL-247. You can draw directly on the touch-screen surface of the tablet to create videos similar to those seen at the Khan Academy. Some of the more popular software used with the tablet are SketchBook Express, PowerPoint, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Learning how to use the Wacom tablet monitor only takes a few minutes and is designed to simply ‘plug and play.’

There are many potential uses for the tablet monitor at UCSF. Below are just a few examples:

• Sketch a workflow or process
• Explain a concept or idea
• Provide a break in PowerPoint with a demonstration
• Annotate over a document, x-ray or image
• Annotate using Snipping Tool

To begin using the Wacom DTU-2231 tablet to create your own instructional content, follow the steps below:

1. Reserve CL-247 at tiny.ucsf.edu/reserve_mm.
2. Email learningtech@ucsf.edu to reserve the tablet and set up a brief consultation. The tablet is available during normal LTG hours, M-F, 8:30 am – 5pm.
3. Plan or outline the instruction.
4. Practice using the tablet and stylus in the software you plan to use.
5. When ready, use the screen-recorder Camtasia to capture the annotations and drawings on your screen. If you are drawing or annotating on the Mac, use Sketchbook Express or the ink tool in PowerPoint. If you are using a PC, use PowerPoint.
6. Edit screen-captures and other assets in Camtasia, iMovie ‘11 or Final Cut Pro X.
7. Share your videos using Vimeo, YouTube or the UCSF CLE.

As always, please contact us with questions about potential ways to use the Wacom  tablet monitor or any of the technology supported by LTG staff!

This is part three of a three part series of Convergence blog posts on Moodle 2 Activities.

UCSF faculty have long taken advantage of online quizzing in the CLE, not just for graded exams like midterms and finals, but also for ungraded activities like self-assessments or practice quizzes. Moodle 2 includes several improvements that make the quizzing activity easier to use for instructors and students alike. This post covers the most compelling improvements: quiz navigation and flagging, overriding quiz settings for a subset of students, and reviewing and grading student responses.

Navigation and Flagging

Some of the biggest improvements to quizzes in Moodle 2 are geared towards students. A new quiz navigation block sits in the corner of the screen and provides several pieces of information to a student during their quiz attempt. Using this new feature, a student can:

• see how many questions are in the quiz (in the above example, 7 questions)
• determine which questions they have answered (gray background) or not answered (white background)
• determine which questions they previously flagged for later review (small red triangle at the top of box 2), and click to jump to that question.
• monitor how much time is left in the quiz in an unobtrusive way (under certain circumstances, the Moodle 1.9 time clock could block a student’s view of quiz content).
• click the “Finish attempt” link to review their progress and submit the quiz.

These improvements should help prevent confusion during what is already a stressful time for many students.

Overriding Settings

Faculty members who needed to provide accommodations to students on quizzes in Moodle 1.9 knew that the process for doing so was cumbersome at best. In Moodle 2, an instructor can make exceptions to a number of quiz settings for an individual or group or students. For example, if the time limit for a quiz is 30 minutes, a student who needs time-and-a-half can be given a 45 minute time limit (as shown in the image above). This can be done quickly, easily, and securely, without having to create duplicate copies of a quiz. Other overrides an instructor can make in this way include the start or end date of a quiz, the number of attempts an individual student can make, or the password that student can use to access the quiz.

Reviewing and Grading Student Responses

Moodle’s quiz activity provides a number of different question types, including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. Many of these question types can be automatically graded by the system because there are distinctly correct and incorrect answers to each question. Essay responses, though, must be graded manually by a person.

Moodle 1.9 provided instructors with the ability to download grade information for individual students in a quiz (i.e. how many points they earned on each question), but not the actual text of the responses. The only way to see these responses was to be logged into the system, and to click into each student’s attempt one at a time. Moodle 2 now allows instructors to view a table containing the text of the questions as well as the actual responses entered by a student or selected students — but also to download this table to an Excel spreadsheet for offline access or storage. This should make it much easier and more convenient for instructors to grade essay questions, sort student quiz results based on their response to a particular question, and also keep a backup copy of results offline for future review.

Ready to get started in Moodle 2?

Faculty who are interested in taking advantage of the new quizzing improvements can begin teaching their courses in Moodle 2 as early as the Spring term. For information about joining the Moodle 2 Pilot, contact the Learning Technologies Group. We’ll be happy to meet with you, review the contents of your existing courses, and discuss the migration services the LTG can provide.