We hope everyone had a relaxing and re-energizing summer after the difficulties faced with pandemic teaching last year. While your friendly neighborhood Moodle team cannot guarantee anything on the Covid-front (fingers crossed), we can guarantee the following Moodle information is accurate:

• MONDAY, AUGUST  16 — Moodle upgraded from 3.9 to 3.10: Improvements include security upgrades and new quiz features. For more on Moodle, please attend the August 17 Summer Short: Your Moodle Powers: Surprising Things Instructors Can Do! (click to add this event to your calendar)
• MONDAY, AUGUST 23 — Summer 2021 (2103) courses turned off: We turn courses off 10 days after the course end date. If you need a course left open, please submit a ticket
• MONDAY, AUGUST 23 — Students populated in most Fall 2021 (2201) courses: If your course starts on the 28th, you’ll be able to see student lists in Moodle on this day. If your course starts later, look for students 5 days before the start date. Students won’t be able to see their courses until Friday (see below)
• THURSDAY, AUGUST 26 (10 am – 5 pm) — #RUMoodleReady? (VIRTUAL & IN-PERSON): Virtual support is here to stay, but in-person is back! Ed Tech will be available in multiple formats to help with anything Moodle-related – from gradebook setup, the creation of META shells, course transfers, or help on developing content and instructional design. We will be in the Innovation Center (old West Hall) room 123 all day or you can join us via Zoom (click to add this event to your calendar)
• FRIDAY, AUGUST 27th — Fall 2021 (2201) courses turned on for students: The semester begins August 28th. We turn on courses one day early so students can become familiar with their courses before instruction begins. If you are still preparing your course, we encourage you to write a short welcome message and then hide the sections of your course you are still preparing. Expect your course to be visible to students between 1 and 2 pm on the 27th.
• FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd — Spring 2020 (2002) courses removed: We continually remove older Moodle courses to keep the Moodle server running optimally. You can backup/download a Moodle course on your own or reach out to us for help. Ed Tech also backs up courses before they’re removed from Moodle and saves copies of older courses remotely for an additional 3 years. If you need access to an older course, please submit a ticket

If you’ve been assigned to teach a course in the Fall of 2021, but the course doesn’t appear in your Moodle dashboard, check with your department manager to make sure you’ve been assigned to the course in Banner.

If you have any questions about these upcoming dates, feel free to respond to this blog, give us a call or submit a ticket. We’re happy to help.