Hi All,
We’re getting close to code freeze, which for this release will commence on Monday Oct 22nd.
After this date no new code is accepted into integration until after the release. This allows us to focus on QA testing and fixing issues found with the existing code. Please also see the description of our development cycle.
The projects for Moodle 3.6, overview of the main items below, are progressing well with the main development activities focused on additional privacy features, group messaging, dashboard improvements and LTI 1.3.
The release date is scheduled for November 26th.
Improvements to the Dashboard and Course Overview page. In particular the ability to handle large numbers of courses and activities. Planned improvements include new blocks with easy access to the most recently visited courses and activities, ability to favourite and hide courses, ability to load more courses onto one page and providing a separate timeline block.
Introduction of group messaging. One-to-one messaging is already possible in Moodle and this will introduce the ability to enable group messaging for a course or any other group formed by the teacher. In line with our focus on protecting privacy, users will be given greater control over who is able to message them.
Additional privacy features. Several improvements are planned to further enhance privacy and controls for users and their data. This continues on from the privacy features implemented in Moodle 3.5 for the European data privacy regulations (GDPR). The enhancements will include a more human friendly readable format of the data export, ability to perform an erasure request on previously (prior to Moodle 3.5) deleted users, improved control over the purpose and retention period for different types of activity modules, and more!
Support for LTI 1.3. Following on from the LTI Advantage support that was introduced in Moodle 3.5 we are now introducing support for LTI 1.3. One of the key improvements in LTI 1.3 is enhanced security to protect user information with the introduction of OAuth2 authentication and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for message signing.
Improvements to Quiz analytical tools. This is a project selected by the Moodle User Association (MUA) to simplify the way response statistics for random question pools are displayed. Further information can be found on the MUA page and in the tracker.
Adding file and media support for assignment feedback. This will allow teachers to upload files and media when providing students with feedback on their work.
Accessibility improvements. Inclusiveness for people with disabilities is the driver for this project and current work in this area is focused on improving accessibility of the Boost theme and Forum.