The document outlines 20 potential improvements for Moodle. Some key ideas include: 1. Adding real-time trending of course content to highlight popular materials. 2. Developing an advanced logging framework and API to collect detailed usage data. 3. Creating a simplified "mother proof" interface for older users. 4. Integrating social bookmarking to allow users to bookmark and share resources. 5. Improving the gradebook, attendance tracking, backups, and other core features.

1. 20 Moodle
Improvements
Daniel McSweeney – Kyle Goslin

2. 1
Real-time trending course content
Provide an insight to course material that students are
really interested in.
 Could shine a light on material other students missed.
 Lazy students will know something is up when they see
a surge in activity.

3. 2
Advanced fine-grained logging framework*
 Push the existing logging framework one step further.
 Add hooks into existing modules
 Simple API to allow integration
 Unseen levels of data produced
* May need a lot of power

4. 3
Stripped down “Mother Proof” interface
 Prevent our “older” companions from getting overwhelmed
with the amount of links and options available.
 BIG fonts, Simple colours.
 Simple terminology
 Login?!? You mean “Let me in to that there page”

5. 4
Virtual eyes / Poke
 Similar concept to facebook poke feature
 Small set of eyes appear
 Student knows your watching them and better get
going with that work…

6. 5
Open online usage monitor
 Students can see how long they have each been online
for.
 Idle time not counted, only actual usage.
 At the end of the semester, graph pass rate to usage
monitor. Can be used as evidence in exam boards.

7. 6
Integrated … to PDF renderer
 Similar to gmail functionality
 Allow any file type that has a general text layout to be
rendered and downloaded as a PDF.
 If the student does not have .docx / .doc / .rtf ……
viewer, they can just convert to PDF.

8. 7
3 Life System
 Student has 3 lives.
 If the student misses deadlines for submissions they
automatically loose a life.
 If the student looses 3 lives they automatically are
summoned for a face to face progress meeting.

9. 8
Integrated social bookmarking
 Combination of module and browser plugin
 Imagine finding a website or resource you like
 Booking marking by relating it to a moodle course and
even a topic/section of that course
 Your bookmarks and other learners bookmarks can be
visible to all course learners
 Think of Moodle integrated with Delicious
 Moodle meets informal group/social learning

10. 9
Improved User Interface
 Can a user tell the difference between Moodle 1.0 and
2.0 in terms of look and feel.
 Has it changed much in the last 8 years
 Can we make use of more AJAX functionality and
HTML 5?
 Can we speed up use and basic operations for all
users.

11. 10
Simplify the Gradebook
 I get nosebleeds.
 Can we simplify the gradebook and divide the
functionality into easier to understand components.
 It is by far the most difficult component to train staff to
use.
 Is there an argument for a basic grade tool and an
advanced?

12. 11
Assessment load balancer
 A failing of many higher education courses is an inability to
schedule assessment across modules without causing overlap and
periods of excessive workload.
 Can we expand the assignment types to allow staff to estimate the
amount of time it will take to complete an assignment.
 Can we also allow course owners to set the weekly workload for a
module.
 Moodle can then report on assignment clashes and periods of
excessive workload.

13. 12
Student performance monitor
 Another failing of many higher education courses is an inability to
spot a student failing a number of modules.
 Can we develop an integrated alert system when a student has
failed a certain % of assignments or has not submitted.

14. 13
Backup to repository
 Allow moodle users to add a backup repository to their
user profiles (e.g. dropbox)
 Automate course backups to to repositories.

15. 14
Anonymous Usage for some Activities
 There are instances when we may want to allow users
to use activities in an anonymous guise
 Questionnaires
 Votes
 Feedback
 Forum postings
 Assignment submissions
 Peer review

16. 15
Enhanced Student profile
 Students tend to move upwards in third level across
programme boards.
 Not unusual to be managed by 20+ academic staff over
course of 4 years of study.
 Require a student information zone. Details on
 Academic performance, attitude, behavior etc.
 Medical needs
 Learning needs
 Past incidents etc.

17. 16
Core Attendance Feature
 Moodle is a course management system with no core
feature for managing real world attendance.
 Issues with two existing modules.
 Link attendance to previously suggested student profile
feature.

18. 17
Cross server backup and restore
 Many larger institutions take a snapshot of their moodle
server and archive it (write protected)
 Allow moodle courses to be backed to another moodle
instance.
 Allow moodle courses to be restored or migrated from
another moodle instance.
 Allow restore files to exceed course file upload limit.
 Make migrations easier!!!!

19. 18
Citation Manager for Moodle
 Perhaps this is outgrowing the VLE
 Useful to allow students to gather and manage citations
in one central location.
 Moodle would be perfect!
 Could be linked to assignment submissions, peer
sharing and review etc.

20. 19
Make this a resource!
 Sometimes you receive a student submission or
assignment that you would like to highlight or add to
your module as a good example.
 Example to other students
 All students to vote for submisisons etc
 What about a ‘make this a resource’ button which
would copy the submission to the file area and allow
you to give it a title etc.

21. 20
Suggestions for Moodle.org
 Make it easier for people to suggest improvements (non
tracker based)
 Allow rating of modules
 Show a list of top modules
 Show modules by
 Download
 Popularity
 Age etc
 Keep up the amazing work!!!

22. CONTACT DETAILS
DANIEL MCSWEENEY
Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
Daniel.mcsweeney at itb.ie
Twitter: @DanielMcSweeney
KYLE GOSLIN
Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
Kylegoslin at gmail.com
Twitter: @kylegoslin