Simmons Moodle is the home for your online classroom. Dive into your courses, explore new resources, and connect with your peers and instructors. Be sure to download the Moodle App for iOS or Android to stay updated. If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out via the question mark (?) icon at the bottom of your Simmons Moodle homepage.
Earlier in January, Simmons Moodle was upgraded to version 4.1. This new version provides an improved user experience that is simplified, responsive, and more consistent. Thank you for your understanding during this process.
Please explore some of the new features found in Moodle by reviewing the “What’s New in Simmons Moodle” page that is linked at the top of your Moodle Dashboard. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected], or by using the “?” symbol in the bottom-right corner of your Moodle page.
We are excited to announce a significant upgrade to our learning management system, Simmons Moodle, which will take place on January 8, 2024. The transition to Moodle 4.1 represents a substantial improvement in our online learning experience, offering enhanced features and a more user-friendly interface.
Key benefits of this upgrade include:
Modern User Interface: A new sleek and intuitive interface that will make navigation and course management more straightforward.
Improved Mobile Compatibility: Increased responsiveness on mobile devices, allowing for a seamless learning experience on smartphones and tablets.
Enhanced Accessibility: Better support for accessibility standards, ensuring that all community members can access and benefit from online resources.
Streamlined Assignment Submission: Students will find it easier to submit assignments, and instructors will have a more convenient grading process.
Advanced Analytics: Improved data analytics tools, helping instructors and administrators make data-driven decisions to support student success.
There will be a scheduled downtime on the morning of January 8th, 2024, to ensure a smooth transition. We anticipate that Moodle will be unavailable for four to six hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
We are committed to providing the best online learning environment for our university community, and this upgrade is a significant step towards achieving that goal. To that end, we will continue to update the Simmons community with details about specific improvements directly through the Moodle platform. In addition, the Center for Faculty Excellence will be providing instructor workshops to further introduce new key features on January 10th at 11 a.m., and January 11th at 2 p.m.
Thank you for your cooperation and patience as we work to enhance your Moodle experience. If you have any concerns or questions, or would like to be considered as part of a small pilot group to provide early feedback about the new Moodle experience, please don’t hesitate to contact our Moodle Support team at [email protected].
The Simmons Moodle platform is scheduled for an upgrade before the Spring 2024 semester commences. To ensure a smooth transition to the enhanced user experience, we will be sharing updates and sneak peeks of the upcoming features during the Fall semester. If you’re interested in getting acquainted with the fresh offerings, which encompass streamlined navigation, an upgraded course page, and a revitalized dashboard, kindly explore the resources available on Moodle’s New for Teachers and New for Students pages, or refer to their dedicated YouTube playlist.
After two years of pivot, campus-based undergraduate coursework has transitioned back to Simmons Moodle. Faculty and Students login with their Simmons credentials and no longer use a separate password to access their coursework. Simmons Moodle is very similar to the Learning Management System of previous years and the transition from one to the other should be smooth.
If you need technical support, please reach out to [email protected]. All support is now provided by Simmons Staff. The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) provides instructional design assistance for faculty and can be reached at [email protected].
We’re also excited to introduce Gradescope, a cloud-based grading tool. Gradescope allows faculty to save time grading and provides analytics on how students are doing in class. Gradescope can be used to grade a variety of assignments: quizzes, bubble sheets, exams, worksheets, projects, problem sets, projects, and programs. Integrated with Moodle, Gradescope works with Gradebook to manage students’ grades.
Beginning with the upcoming Summer semester, on-the-ground Undergraduate courses will transition back to Simmons Moodle Learning Management System from the Digital Campus supported by 2U that was utilized during the past two years. Courses will be made available by faculty just prior to the first meeting of the class.
Students may contact instructors about accessing courses in Moodle. Additional information about navigating the platform is available at Moodle for Students. For technical difficulties or issues accessing your account, please contact the Simmons Technology Service Desk.
The Spring 2013 phase of migrating courses from eLearning to Moodle is now complete! The School of Management, The Graduate School of Library and Information Science, The School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and several departments in The College of Arts and Sciences are now using Moodle. All together, this Spring we migrated about 60 courses from eLearning to Moodle; 160 new Moodle courses were built from the ground up.
Getting Up to Speed on Moodle
Since July, faculty have attended over 140 hours of dedicated Moodle training. In addition, we’ve been busy hosting drop-in sessions, in which faculty can stop by without an appointment for immediate one-on-one support, and staffing Moodle informational tables around campus. We’ll continue to have tables outside the library where students and faculty can have their questions answered. Finally, improved, searchable Moodle documentation is poised to be integrated with Technology Support’s FAQ database later this month. Keep an eye out!
What’s New in Moodle
This December saw a big update to Moodle that brought with it a number of improvements. Moodle’s new drag-and-drop feature allows instructors to drag multiple files from their computer directly into their Moodle course with a flick of the wrist. Moodle Assignments have been streamlined and made more flexible. In response to faculty requests for a tool that would let students sign up for Groups, we’ve added the new “Group Choice” activity.
Hook into Educational Tools through Moodle
Moodle facilitates integration with educational tools to enhance your course. Access the Library’s Course Reserves system directly from Moodle. There’s no need for students to log in again, and instructors no longer have to establish special passwords for their courses. More faculty are also trying out Tegrity, our Moodle-integrated content capture solution, to record videos of lectures and course content. Tools like these make it easier for faculty to flip the classroom and spend more face-to-face time on interactive work and discussion.
Big news for GSLIS and SNHS students: Simmons Moodle will be replacing eLearning as the online platform for you course materials and activities this Fall. If you are registered for a Fall 2012 course in one of these schools, you will automatically have access to Moodle 101. This student resource includes basic information on how to access Simmons Moodle classes, set up your profile, change your messaging settings, and more. If you have any questions related to this new tool, please e-mail [email protected].
Last month, we mentioned that our pilot test of the new eLearning system, Simmons Moodle, was getting under way. We’re happy to report that one month into the semester, we have received positive feedback from faculty members involved in the pilot. Last week, the team released a survey within Simmons Moodle to gather feedback from their students.
One of the major highlights pilot testers have been pointing out is improved communication, both between professors and students, and between students themselves. Simmons Moodle makes it easier to send, and reply to, class-wide announcements and has additional tools for collaboration and sharing of information.
Simmons Moodle is also structured more like other web services and many members of the pilot have found it easier to use than Blackboard and have responded positively to the enhanced communication and interactivity it provides.
Rex Krajewski, Head of Library Information Services for Simmons, and a faculty member, said he has found his experience with Simmons Moodle to be “overwhelmingly positive.” He also mentioned that, “It is easier…to use as an instructor, and it seems as though the students are having an easier time using it, as well. It feels less like an add-on or extra thing to do ‘just because,’ and more like an integral part of the course.”
In the near future, we will be working with members of the Administration and representatives for each school to outline a plan to make Simmons Moodle available for all classes at Simmons. Keep an eye on upcoming issues of TechNews for more about Simmons Moodle.
If you read last month’s TechNews, you know that Simmons is engaged in a project to replace Blackboard-based Simmons eLearning as the College learning management system (LMS). Because this project will affect most of the Simmons Community, we want to keep you informed of its progress while highlighting some of the exciting things it will make possible.
The new LMS, currently called Simmons Moodle, has been made available this semester to a pilot group of professors who have volunteered to use it in their classes and to provide feedback. During spring semester, there will be ten courses and more than 250 students using Simmons Moodle and sharing their experiences with us. In preparation for these courses, the Simmons Moodle Team has created tutorials, videos, and FAQs for both faculty and students. We will use what we learn from the pilot to help us plan and prepare for the campus-wide roll out.
We are very excited about Simmons Moodle and the capabilities and improvements it will bring to a technologically integrated learning experience. Among these are more customizable features and increased communication between students and professors. In the coming months, we’ll provide updates on our progress and share with you the experiences of some of the students and faculty using Simmons Moodle.
As we integrate our experiences from the pilot into a plan for campus-wide roll out, you can expect to hear more about this project. Additionally, you are welcome to visit lmsproject.simmons.edu, to read our blog and stay on top of updates as they occur.