Students "Opting Out" Of LBCC Email = No Moodle Auto-Enroll

Scenario:

A student tells you they don't have access to your Moodle course. You have determined:

• they are registered for your course (and not just on the waitlist)
• you have set up your Moodle course for automated enrollments
• all of your other registered students have access to your Moodle course

But not this student. Why not? Chances are, the student in question has "opted out" of LBCC email messages. This status currently prevents student Moodle accounts from being auto-enrolled in Moodle courses (we're working on it!).

In the past, we have recommended that you send those students to the Student Help Desk (in the Library), who will then send them on to Registration to cancel the "opt out" status in Banner, but there is a way to determine that for the student in WebRunner, and send them directly to Registration:

1. Log in to your WebRunner account

2. Click "Faculty and Advisors."

3. Click "Summary Class List."

4. Click "Select Term and submit.

5. Click "Select a CRN" and submit.

6. This will deliver a class roster. Find the student with the Moodle access issue, and if they don't have a little mail icon to the far right of their name, CONGRATULATIONS! You have discovered the issue!

Now all you need to do is instruct the student to visit the Admissions and Registration Department (in Takena Hall) and request to have the "Email Opt Out" status on their Banner account removed. That will trigger auto-enrollment into their course(s) running in Moodle. Congratulations - you are part of the solution!

Moodle Recycle Bin

We are happy to report that our Moodle system now has a recycle bin! If you have ever deleted an Activity or Resource from your Moodle shell, and later wished you could get it back, now you will have up to 30 days to restore it into your course.

You will see the link to the recycle bin in the Administration block in your Moodle course shell:

It's easy to restore an item:

Note that when you restore an Activity or Resource, it will reappear at the bottom of the content section where it previously resided, not its original position.

Let us know how you like this new feature!

Choosing A Course Format In Moodle

"The vast majority of Moodle courses apply the weekly format, probably because it is the most similar to a physical classroom experience. This is understandable, and preferable as long as an LMS technology is brought to support modern pedagogical efforts."

Read more here.

Images and Formatted Text in Gmail

GREAT NEWS! You can now paste content into Gmail and all of the formatting and images will remain intact.

Read more here.

Thanks for the heads-up, Chad Bordes!

Nailing It With PowerPoint

Yes, a lot of us have a true love/hate relationship with Microsoft PowerPoint, but we also have thousands of slideshows (PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc.) deployed to our students. If you're going to use PowerPoint, you might as well do it right. And with that in mind, I'd like to share a great blog post on that very topic. Enjoy!

Managing Moodle Blocks

Moodle Mobile Enhancements (Version 3.1)

PSST - I'm sitting in on a Moodlerooms webinar RIGHT NOW covering the updates coming around soon in our Moodle system, and this slide caught my eye:

Stay tuned for more update information.

How To Copy A Google Drive Folder

You may know how to copy an individual Google Doc, but have you ever thought it might be useful to be able to copy an entire folder of Google Docs (and even subfolders, too!) in one fell swoop, rather than one at a time?

I have found two ways to do this, and I really don't have a strong preference for either. I would flip a coin and share only one here, but, given that neither of these processes is technically a Google tool, there is the possibility one or both may stop working in the future - sort of like "Labs" in Gmail: not officially supported, but use and enjoy it while you can.

So, up-front, here are two links for you to bookmark in your browser:

A. labnol.org/xcopy

B. http://tools.gappstips.com/drive/copy-folder/#

Here are the basic processes for both:

A:

1. Click the "A" link above. It will take you to a page that asks you to give the tool access to your Google Drive:

2. This will produce a pop-up:

3. You will be taken to a page that looks like this:

4. It's probably going to be easier to browse for the folder in your Google Drive if you click the "Select Folder" button. This produces (yet another!) pop-up, where you can select the folder to copy:

5. By default, the tool will name the new folder to be created "Copy of" followed by the original folder name. It works well for me to delete those words, and add "- COPY" (or maybe some kind of context indication) at the end of the name. That way, it will appear below the original folder in your Google Drive:

The other process (B) is similar.

1. Authorize the app:

2. Indicate the source folder:

3. Name the target folder, click the "Copy files" checkbox. and click the "Preview" button:

4. Click the "Go" button:

5. Your folder will be copied and placed right where you can get to it:

If either or both of these techniques change substantially, or stop working altogether, please let me know right away, so I can update this post. Like a lot of our blog posts, lots of people bookmark them to refer to when they need a refresher. And as always, your comments below are welcome!

How To Copy A Google Doc

Have you ever wanted/needed to have a copy of a Google Doc? There are actually a few different ways:

If you are viewing a Google Doc, you can make a copy via the "File" menu:

You don't even need to be viewing a Google Doc - you can right-click a Google Doc in Google Drive and click on "Make a copy:"

Both of the above techniques will work for Google Docs you own, as well as those shared with you (with editing, commenting, or viewing privilege), creating a new copy that you will own.

Pretty simple, huh?

Moodle Course Groups

Are you teaching more than one section (CRN) of a course, but don't want to have to manage more than one Moodle shell for the course? No problem - here is how you can easily implement Groups in your Moodle course to handle it!

Banning Smartphones in the Classroom

"A recent study… found that university students who had their devices taken from them scored 17 percentage points lower on a standardized test than those who didn’t. Researchers concluded that students without their smartphones experienced so much anxiety and fear of missing out — or FOMO — that they were unable to focus."

Read more here.

TECH Talk - Publishing & Sharing a Google Doc

There are two paths toward getting other eyeballs on your Google Docs: publishing and sharing.

The Perfect eLearning Course?

What I'm reading today:

The Perfect e-Learning Course™ is a legendary creature that changes its shape with each new technological and aesthetic trend. It is all things to all people – classic, yet also fresh, modern, and applicable to all levels of learner experience and skill. I’ve even heard that, when you measure the readability of such a course, the scale doesn’t give you a grade level. It just says “Awesome.”

Read more here.