NC State Enterprise Learning Management System (LMS) Updates

Moodle 2 Update

Long-term development and planning continues in preparation for the upgrade to Moodle 2.  We will need to move from the Moodle 1.9x system to Moodle 2.x in order to stay engaged with the active Moodle support community.  A Moodle 2.0 planning team has been meeting within DELTA to do initial analysis and planning for an upgrade, with the intention to include the LMS committees formally once we are further along in our internal testing.  All upgrade timelines will be discussed with the LMS committees.

In the spring, we were evaluating Moodle 2.0 and found issues that would prevent us from upgrading directly to it. When Moodle 2.1 was released over the summer,  we immediately began evaluating it. Several of the big issues with Moodle 2.0 were corrected and 2.1 looks promising, but it is still being reviewed internally at this time.

Status updates:

• We have successfully done a small scale test upgrade from a 1.9.x server to a 2.1 server.
• We have imported 1.9 course backup files into a 2.1 server.
• With the  LMS Best Practices committee, we are reviewing and setting the initial configuration for Moodle 2.1.
• Work has begun on re-doing our internally developed NC State themes for Moodle 2 since the structure has changed and requires new development in this area.
• In support of continued development of Moodle themes and content structure design, an icon set is being designed that will complement the NC State Moodle themes and better visually identify the function of the various tools we use within Moodle.
• A campus accessibility review of Moodle 2.1 is in progress.
• Work is progressing on a redesign of the Book module for better usability.
• All patches on our current Moodle 1.9 servers have been evaluated to determine which ones are still necessary for Moodle 2.1 and have beenupdated if needed.
• All add-on’s installed on our current Moodle 1.9 servers are being evaluated to determine which are still needed with Moodle 2.1, and if so, what is their availability status for Moodle 2.x.

We hope to have more information and begin developing timelines with our partners as to when the upgrade will occur by spring 2012. Please keep in mind that this is a major upgrade with some significant changes in how Moodle 2 works, which will necessitate a lot of planning, coding, testing and configuration to minimize the disruption to faculty in teaching their classes.