Changes, New Features
and Enhancements
VLE Upgrade Project
GUIDE
v1.1
© User Services
IT Services
University of Malta
© 2013 User Services
IT Services
University of Malta
Msida MSD 2080
Malta
May only be reproduced with permission.
email: vle.itservices@um.edu.mt
http://www.um.edu.mt/itservices
Tel. +356 2340 4113
VLE Upgrade
Moodle 1.9 became the University of Malta’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at the start
of academic year 2009/10. Since then, Moodle Headquarters has developed an improved
version, Moodle 2, and is now moving its support away from Moodle 1.9. In order to take
advantage of the new developments and ensure continued support for its VLE, the
University will be upgrading the VLE to Moodle 2.
The UoM VLE will be upgraded to Moodle 2, with a pilot starting in February 2013 and full
institutional roll-out in September 2013. Although most functions will be familiar to current
users, this upgrade will bring new and improved features. This guide is intended to assist
tutors to learn the new navigation, features and file management.
More information about the VLE Upgrade Project is available at:
www.um.edu.mt/vle/upgrade
In Brief
Navigation and
Settings Blocks
The new Navigation and Settings blocks are available on every
page. They provide different links depending on whether you are in
a study-unit main page or in a resource/activity.
The new Drag and Drop feature enables you to:

easily upload files directly from your computer to the main
page of the study-unit area., and

relocate resources, activities and sections without the need
to use the cumbersome Move ( ) icons.
Drag and Drop
Edit Title icon
When you Turn Editing On, you can click the Edit Title icon
(adjacent to all resources and activities) and change the file link
title directly from the main page of the study-unit area.
File Picker
Although the Drag and Drop feature eliminates the multiple steps
in uploading a file to the study-unit area, occasionally you might
need to use the File Picker, which provides a simplified process of
adding files and.
Add and remove
sections quickly
You can add and remove sections (weeks/topics) from your studyunit directly from the study-unit main page by clicking the small
icons at the bottom of all the topics in the study-unit.
Duplicate functionality
You can use the Duplicate ( ) icon if you have a resource or an
activity in your study-unit area that you would like to duplicate.
Activity Chooser
In Moodle 2, the two drop-down menus for adding study-unit items
(Add a resource... and Add an Activity...) can be replaced by a
single link (Add an activity or resource). When you click on any of
the listed resources or activities, a useful description is displayed.
This gives you more information about that specific item,
particularly useful if you are not entirely sure which resource
activity you need.
New Assignment
activity
A new Assignment activity incorporates all the features of the old
Assignment activities (i.e. Advanced uploading of files, Online text,
Upload a single file, Offline activity). Since the latter four activities
are be phased out and converted to the new activity type, it is
highly recommended that all new assignment activities are created
using the Assignment activity.
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Navigation and Settings blocks
The new Navigation and Settings blocks are available on every page. They provide different
links and will change depending on whether you are in a study-unit main page or in a
resource/activity.
The Navigation block contains links, such as Home, My profile and My study-units.
Note that My profile contains additional links to Forum posts and Messages. My study-units
will list all the study-units you have access to.
The Settings block provides context-sensitive links and includes links such as Study-unit
administration, Switch role to…, My profile settings and the Resource/Activity
administration (when applicable).
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Drag and Drop
The new Drag and Drop feature enables you to:

easily upload files directly from your computer to main page of the study-unit area,
and

relocate resources, activities and sections without the need to use the cumbersome
Move ( ) icons.
To add a file to a study-unit area:
1. Click Turn editing on (top right corner).
2. Locate the file on your computer, and drag it to the section you want to add it to in
the study-unit area.
The text Add file(s) here will be displayed (see underlying snippet) during the
dragging process. Upon release, the file will start uploading to the study-unit area.
Note that you might need to resize your window to be able to see the source folder
(where your file is stored on your computer) and the study-unit area simultaneously.
3. If required, click the Update () icon to make changes to the uploaded file. You can
also click the Edit title ( ) icon to change the file link title directly from the main
page of the study-unit area.
To relocate a section (topic and its content) or a resource/activity:
1. Click Turn editing on (top right corner).
2. Press and hold the Move () icon adjacent to the section/resource/activity title.
3. Drag and release the item to the new location.
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File Picker
When adding new files through Add a Resource drop-down menu, the Content section
(below) is displayed.
To upload a file, you can drag a file from your computer to the designated drag-and-drop
area marked with a blue arrow, or click the Add… link to open the File Picker (below).
When the file picker screen appears, a number of links are listed on the left side. These are
links to Repositories which hold files you might want to use:

Study-unit files contain all files which you have previously uploaded into different
study-unit areas, which you can pick and add to your current study-unit area. Click
‘System’ on the breadcrumb path to change folder location and view files in other
study-units.

Recent files contains the last 50 files you have uploaded.

Upload a file can be used to browse for and upload a file from your computer.

URL downloader can be used to download files or images from a particular URL
(web address) directly into the VLE.
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To add a previously uploaded file from Study-units files or Recent files repositories:
1. Click the preferred repository and navigate to the desired file location.
2. Click the file. The underlying window, providing detailed information about the file,
will be displayed.
This window provides detailed information about the file.
3. The option Create an alias/shortcut to the file is not always present. It depends
on the selected repository. If this option is selected, the file is going to be considered
a link, and it will be automatically updated if the source file is overwritten/replaced.
4. Click Select this file.
To use the Upload a file repository:
1. Click Upload a file in the repository list on the left side menu.
2. Click Browse… button. The File Upload dialog box will be displayed.
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3. Locate and select the file you want to upload.
4. Click Open button to confirm selection of file.
5. In the Save as text field, type a name you want to give to the file being uploaded.
6. Click Upload this file button.
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Adding and Removing Sections Quickly (Weeks/Topics)
Typically, for you want to add a new section (week/topic) in your study-unit area, you need
to change settings from the Edit Settings link in the Settings block (previously known as
Settings in the Administration Block).
You can now add or remove sections directly from the study-unit main page, by clicking
Turn editing on button (top-right corner) and any of the small
icons at the bottom of
the last topic in the study-unit.
If the number of weeks/topics is changed so that it is less than the number of sections
containing activities, the ‘extra’ sections are shown at the bottom of the study-unit area
with the title 'Orphaned activities' when editing is turned on.
Considering the screen below as an example, the study-unit is set to display 14 sections.
The 15th, which is hidden from students, is labeled as ‘Orphaned activities’ and is not visible
to students.
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Duplicating a Resource or Activity
If you have a resource or an activity in your study-unit that you would like to duplicate, you
can do this by using the Duplicate ( ) icon. The duplicate tool is useful if you wish to
quickly create the same activity (such as a forum) without the need to reconfigure settings.
For example if you have set your forum to contain the same title and introduction, you don't
have to re-enter this text.
To duplicate a resource or activity:
1. Click Turn editing on (top right corner).
.
2. Locate the item that you wish to duplicate and click on the Duplicate (
confirmation message will appear.
) icon. A
3. Click Continue.
4. Click Edit the new copy to edit settings of the duplicated resource/activity, or
Return to the study-unit.
5. In the study-unit area, the duplicated resource/activity will be placed directly below
the original. You can relocate it within your study-unit area by using the Move ( )
icon or change the link title using the Edit title ( ) icon (as explained above).
Note that:

Turnitin assignments should not be duplicated using the VLE’s Duplicate
feature. This will lead to an error message in the newly created activity. In
addition, if a Turnitin activity is imported (restored) from another study-unit area,
an error message will appear in the newly created Turnitin activity. Delete any
Turnitin activities that this error message is displayed in.
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Activity Chooser
In Moodle 2, the two drop-down menus
for adding study-unit items (Add a
resource... and Add an Activity...) can be
replaced by a single link (Add an activity
or resource). When you click on any of
the listed resources or activities, a useful
description is displayed. This gives you
more information about that specific
item, particularly useful if you are not
entirely sure which resource activity you
need.
To turn on/off the Activity Chooser:
1. Click Turn editing on (top right corner).
.
2. In the Settings block, click Activity chooser on.
The two drop down-menus (Add a resource... and Add an Activity...) will now be
replaced by a single link (Add an activity or resource).
To turn off the Activity Chooser, repeat the above steps.
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New Assignment Activity
Moodle 2 features a new Assignment activity, which
incorporates all the features of the old Assignment activities
(i.e. Advanced uploading of files, Online text, Upload a single
file, Offline activity). Thus, for example, a tutor can now set up
an Assignment activity that allows students to simultaneously
input text online (Online Text) and submit files (Advanced
uploading of files, Upload a single file).
There are also several new options in settings, including:

Require students click Submit button - If enabled, students will have to click a
Submit button to declare their submission as final. This allows students to keep a
draft version of the submission on the system. If this setting is changed from ‘No’ to
‘Yes’ after students have already submitted, those submissions will be regarded as
final.

Notify graders about submissions - If enabled, tutors receive a message
whenever a student submits an assignment, early, on time and late. Message
methods are configurable.

Notify graders about late submissions - If enabled, tutors receive a message
whenever a student submits an assignment late. Message methods are configurable.

Submission comments - If enabled, students can leave comments on their own
submission. This can be used by students to add comments viewable by the tutor/s.

Feedback comments - If enabled, the tutor can leave feedback comments for each
submission.

Feedback files - If enabled, the tutor will be able to upload files with feedback
when marking the assignments. These files may be (but are not limited to) marked
up student submissions, documents with comments or spoken audio feedback.
Note that:

Old assignment activities migrated using the VLE Copy will be retained, and
eventually automatically converted to the new Assignment activity. Settings will not
be lost during the conversion process.
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© 2013 User Services
IT Services
University of Malta
Msida MSD 2080
MALTA
May only be reproduced with permission.
email: vle.itservices@um.edu.mt
http://www.um.edu.mt/itservices
Tel. +356 2340 4113
v1.1 © IT Services, University of Malta
11