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Moodle 3.8 what to expect

Moodle 3.7 was released 20th May 2019, and Moodle 3.8 is coming 11th November 2019.

Moodle 3.8 release dates are:

  • Code freeze (no new features accepted): 7th October 2019
  • QA cycle (start of QA testing): 14th October 2019
  • Release date (once QA passed): 11th November 2019

So what can you expect?

Well, to be honest, nothing earth-shattering

The following features and improvements are being worked on for inclusion in Moodle 3.8 and subsequent versions. Some of these projects are large and following an initial investigation and scoping effort are likely to be split over two Moodle releases.

  • Further enhancements of Forum
    • Ability to grade forum activity
    • Student activity reports
    • Exporting of forum content
    • A new forum look and feel – oh gosh – more reinventing the wheel as we continually change the interface
    • This is a project run in collaboration with the MUA.
  • Improved H5P integration – yes, Moodle is losing ground to Canvas and other LMS’s people the activities that people want are not in core.
  • Usability overhaul for Activity Chooser. Playing with the interface again.
  • Activity dates relative to student enrolment dates. Interesting.
  • Improvements and new features for Learning Analytics. Hmmmm, for the 1% of sites that use this?
  • Other projects that are currently being considered are
    • Accessibility improvements – sorry – that should not be a main feature of a roadmap now – it’s just basic “needs to happen” work
    • Improved Safe Exam Browser integration – I wonder how many people use this? I’ve seen it a couple of times, but not too much.

For the next few releases Moodle expects to increase the focus on improving key Moodle features and activities. The Forum project and Activity Chooser overhaul are examples of this.

To me these seem like incremental changes, and not major improvements. It’s like when I upgrade my iPhone from iOS 87.6 to iOS 87.7 – not much really changes, and some of the things that do have zero effect (I don’t need Stocks Apple, or a News App forced onto my device that I can’t even use! Grrrr).

Let’s see.

Stuart Mealor
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Stuart Mealor

Stuart is interested in all things e-learning, with specific interests in Moodle, e-learning strategy, and business development. His experience in education over 30 years, MBA in International Business, and knowledge of e-learning systems implementation, together with graphic design background, give him a unique skill set for e-learning projects.

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