Category: News

New Moodle LAE Releases for July 2018

There are four new Moodle: Liberal Arts Edition releases. The 3.1 release is maintenance-only. The 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 releases include an update to the Filtered Course List block. The 3.3 and 3.4 releases contain a new core patch for handling empty course sections on upgrade. You can download the updates from the CLAMP code release archive.

The next stable releases are scheduled for mid-September. We do not expect future updates for Moodle 3.2; schools using that version are encouraged to upgrade. Moodle 3.5 was evaluated by the attendees at the recently-concluded Hack/Doc Fest at Lafayette College.

These releases were developed, packaged, and tested by Charles Fulton (Lafayette College) and Kevin Wiliarty (Hampshire College).

CLAMP Recognition Award Winners for 2017-18

The CLAMP Steering Committee is proud to announce the 2017-18 winners of the CLAMP Recognition Awards.

Chad Bergeron, Academic Systems Administrator at Brandeis University, is one of those members of the CLAMP community who is consistently willing to help out others. He is a very active participant in the CLAMP Slack workspace and the CLAMP Moodle Exchange forum, where he regularly offers solutions and insights as well as initiating productive discussions with his own requests for assistance.

Kevin Wiliarty, Senior Web Programmer at Hampshire College, has participated in CLAMP since he attended the Furman Hack/Doc in the Winter of 2011. He is a constant source of patient insight on the CLAMP Moodle Exchange and on Slack. He is always willing to share his experience with others and has mentored several developers within CLAMP. When CLAMP has needed help, whether to maintain the Filtered Course List or integrate the Liberal Arts Edition, Kevin has stepped up. CLAMP previously presented this award to Kevin in 2013-2014.

About the Awards

The CLAMP Recognition Awards are awarded annually to one developer (e.g.; hacker) and one instructional technologist (e.g.; doc’er) to acknowledge outstanding achievement as members of the organization. These achievements include work on Moodle development, Moodle documentation, CLAMP organization and/or recruitment to CLAMP.

In 2017-18, the value of this award is $500. Learn more about the awards at CLAMP-IT.org.

New Moodle LAE Releases for 3.1.12, 3.2.9, 3.3.6, 3.4.3

There are four new Moodle: Liberal Arts Edition releases. The 3.1 and 3.2 releases are maintenance-only. The 3.3 and 3.4 releases contain updates related to GDPR compliance. You can download the updates from the CLAMP code release archive.

The next stable releases on the 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, and 3.1 branches are scheduled for mid-July. Moodle HQ has also released Moodle 3.5; CLAMP will evaluate it and prepare a beta at the forthcoming Hack/Doc Fest at Lafayette College.

These releases were developed, packaged, and tested by Charles Fulton (Lafayette College) and Kevin Wiliarty (Hampshire College).

New Moodle LAE Releases for 3.1.11, 3.2.8, 3.3.5, 3.4.2

There are four new Moodle: Liberal Arts Edition releases. The 3.1 release is maintenance-only. The 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 releases contain an update to the Ad-hoc database queries report.

You can download the updates from their project pages:

 

The next stable releases on the 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, and 3.1 branches are scheduled for mid-May. We expect Moodle HQ to release Moodle 3.5 around that time; CLAMP will evaluate it and prepare a beta at the forthcoming Hack/Doc Fest at Lafayette College.

These releases were developed, packaged, and tested by Charles Fulton (Lafayette College) and Kevin Wiliarty (Hampshire College).

CLAMP and GDPR compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new law promulgated by the European Union. It will take effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR governs the storage and use of the personal data of EU citizens, or of anyone’s data by companies and organizations in the EU. It introduces stringent new requirements for the handling of such data, including giving people the right to request the deletion of their data.

Does this law affect my school?

We are not lawyers and this does not constitute legal advice. Based on discussions at the Centre College Hack/Doc and elsewhere, we suspect that the practical effect of the GDPR on our institutions would be limited. If you haven’t already, you should ensure that college counsel is aware of the law.

What is Moodle HQ doing?

Moodle HQ has announced a plan for supporting the GDPR and is publishing a guide for site administrators. Development work is in progress for supporting the GDPR. This includes creating a new Privacy API so that plugin developers may bring their plugins into compliance as well.

What is CLAMP doing?

Members of CLAMP’s Development Committee are following the progress of the discussions within Moodle HQ. At least one CLAMP-maintained plugin, CLAMPMail, stores private data and will be modified for GDPR compliance. When Moodle HQ releases new versions of Moodle which support GDPR compliance, CLAMP will release new versions of the Liberal Arts Edition within one week of that release which incorporate those changes.