New in Moodle
Moodle users might have been expecting it: at the end of August, the University of Vienna's e-learning platform received its regular summer update. For the new academic year, Moodle is now available in the current version 4.4. Of course the upgrade also includes new features and improvements.
Among the most important innovations are:
- The student folder activity now offers more options in the publishing settings for file submissions and in the notifications.
- In the tag cloud activity, the visibility of submitted words can be controlled.
- The declaration of consent activity has been adopted from the test phase into regular operation. With this, you can make the access to course content dependent on whether the participants agree, for example, to confidentiality clauses.
- With the new group assessment function, teachers can now easily transfer assessments of individual group members to all members.
If you want to get a complete overview, you can find all new features in detail in the Moodle preview course Moodle Feedback, Introduction and Outlook. You can also leave (anonymous) feedback on Moodle in this course. The e-learning team uses this to further develop the learning platform.
Users can try out all the learning elements and get to know Moodle in the example course on activities and materials.
News from u:stream
The continued expansion and modernisation of u:stream will go on in winter semester. The streaming service is now available in a total of four new teaching rooms, two of which are in the main building (BIG lecture hall and lecture hall 1) and two of which are on the university's campus (seminar room 1 and 2 in courtyard 1). The well-used rooms in the main building are already equipped with the new camera model that will be used for future installations of u:stream in lecture halls. The equipment was thoroughly tested last summer semester. The u:stream team expects the new equipment to provide better recording quality and greater reliability. The new model also offers an auto-tracking function that allows the camera to follow the lecturer as they move around the lecture hall. The new cameras can be operated as before via the u:stream web interface and now also via the touch panel in the lecture hall.
Uploading and downloading subtitle files in the editor
Teachers can now upload existing subtitle files for a video in the editor via the u:stream administration. They can also download subtitles created in the editor as a subtitle file. Subtitles can currently be added in German and English. The user guides for using the u:stream administration explain how to create subtitles.
Old u:stream server successfully shut down
After more than 15 years of service, the ZID decommissioned the oldest video management service as planned in July. Several thousand videos were transferred to the new system to replace the old u:stream server. The streaming team would like to thank all users involved for their cooperation!
What's new in the video conferencing tools?
For teachers, BigBlueButton now allows you to download recorded lectures in MP4 format.
In Zoom you can now use automatic subtitles. These are displayed in English by default, but can also be generated in other languages. Meeting hosts can download them as a subtitle file. You can access the subtitles settings via your profile by going to Settings – Meeting – In Meeting (Advanced).
The e-learning team of the ZID wishes everyone a good start to the new semester!