ITRC Staff Represent ISU at Mountain Moot Conference

This year, seven members of the Instructional Technology Resources Center (ITRC) had six proposals accepted and presented at the 2023 Mountain Moot conference hosted at Carrol College in Helena, Montana. Over the course of 13 years, Mountain Moot is a conference that connects institutions that use Moodle LMS. Presenters gather to share strategies for implementing Moodle tools, discuss the development of Moodle plugins, and share innovative use cases for Moodle.

Randy Stramm, Associate Director of the ITRC, presented Moodle Comparison - Breakdown in Canvas. This presentation reviewed the Forums/Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments within Moodle and Canvas. Specifically, features within each activity were demonstrated side-by-side in both learning environments as part of the Idaho State University’s LMS review process.

Rick Fowler, Instructional Technologist, presented Upgrading to Moodle 4: Tips and Tricks from a Year of Experience. This presentation explained some of the major changes between Moodle 3 and the upgraded Moodle 4, which was implemented in Moodle ISU last summer. This included major changes to the graphic user interface, navigation, and new use cases for certain functions in Moodle 4.

Kim Tomkinson, Instructional Designer, presented Embracing UDL through Moodle Tools: A Proactive Approach. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework complements many aspects of quality course design. The UDL framework helps instructors anticipate the needs of learners with a wide variety of motivations, learning styles, and perceptual abilities. This presentation helped participants from the Moodle community better understand how Moodle tools can be used to implement UDL design strategies and create a more inclusive learning environment for students.

Participants had the opportunity to evaluate course content and practice implementing UDL design principles by brainstorming in small groups to propose options for revisions using Moodle tools. They also validated the suggested modifications with explanations and rationales to support their decisions. The session concludes with participants identifying a UDL element they can integrate into their own design practice.

Michael Spall, Instructional Technology Consultant, Sacha Johnson, Senior Instructional Designer, and Kim Tomkinson co-presented Captivated by Moodle Competencies - An Approach to Reporting. During the in-person presentation, they showcased their collaborative work with faculty to develop Moodle Competency Frameworks and our efforts to augment the reporting and analysis to improve program efficiency, course evaluation, and student self-assessment.

Lance Roe, Integrations Instructional Technologist, presented Loom X Moodle Integration. Loom offers a great free tool for educators to create and share videos instantly, and now that same Loom functionality can be part of your Moodle LMS. In this presentation, Lance shared the benefits of Loom’s Education account and SDK integration, along with best practices for creating screencasts in Moodle. 

​​Paul Lynch, Instructional Designer, presented Learning Lessons: A Guide on the Lesson Activity. The lesson activity is a robust tool in Moodle. It is capable of linear pathways and more complex branching scenarios. Due to its feature-rich nature, it may be intimidating to implement in a course. In this session, we demystified the lesson activity by providing an overview of the lesson activity, including activity settings, storyboarding, and building a demo lesson.