Hello Moodlers,

We just had an impressive user conference in Barcelona, and the engagement by and towards our integrations was incredible!

1. Moodlemoot Global 2023

The conference brought together 700 people from all over the world, and commercial integrations supported the conference by sponsoring it and being there to hear and talk to our users. From the 26 sponsors, 8 of them were part of our Certified Integrations' group and 14 more were tools that connect to Moodle, so all in all, an amazing contribution to this beautiful get-together!

You can find out about all these tools at moodlemoot.org/our-sponsors and about our Certified Integrations at moodle.com/certified-integrations 

2. Plugin directory

We have started work on the inclusion of LTI integrations and other integration types in or alongside our plugin directory. The final shape that this will take is still unknown, but if you'd like to share feedback with us regarding this, we'll be very happy to hear from you at technology-partners@moodle.com.

3. Certified Integration Partner Day

Besides our user conference, we also had our very first Certified Integration Partner Day last week. It was fantastic to exchange with a group of passionate advocates of educational technology, some of which are open source, all of which support the Moodle project. A few great ideas came out of this extended meeting, and also a lot of exchanges that make our work stronger and more resilient to the ever changing nature of technology and education.

Here is proof of the fantastic team of people that constitute our Certified Integrations, together with three of our extraordinary Product Leadership team: Marie Achour, Brett Dalton and Matt Porritt.

4. Did anyone say generative AI yet?

Obviously, as AI became hot a few months ago, a few companies contacted us with ideas and suggestions that we've never heard of again. However, there are two great exceptions to that: Nolej.io has started creating a Moodle plugin for their automatic course creation tool and DataCurso.com, developed by the Moodle Partner Industria e-Learning, is a tool to support course creation with a pedagogical approach.

That's it for this month, I hope you're having a great back-to-school in the Northern hemisphere  

Hey everyone!

I'm writing this now from our very successful MoodleMoot Global 23 now happening in Barcelona where 700 of us Moodlers are having the best conference ever!

I'm really happy to share some news about an evolution of my role at Moodle!

As you all know (and can see in this Moodle forum if you go back through old posts!) that I’ve led Moodle as CEO for the past 24 years since I founded it in 1999.  

I’m incredibly proud of what the Moodle project has managed to achieve so far, from my early experiments at Curtin University, through the journey of growth towards 260 of us at Moodle HQ working together with over 100 partners and a community of tens of thousands of people worldwide helping  hundreds of millions of learners daily.   I think it's clear that as an open source platform, Moodle has been a major player in bringing the world of education online and making learning accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or financial situation.  

Throughout the last two decades, I’ve stayed passionate about research, innovation and experimentation, even while I had to learn how to run and manage our Moodle HQ company at the centre of the project to provide sustainability and management of the project.  I feel Moodle HQ is mature enough now to allow me to focus my attention more fully in this area, concentrating on how the world of online learning technology can evolve.  Freely available generative AI, robots and new devices are bringing a technology and education revolution that will disrupt these fields as much as the Internet itself did, if not more.  

And so, I'm announcing that I'll soon be personally moving to a new role as Head of Research at Moodle, with my own research team, reporting directly to the Board (I'm also still Chairman of that board of course).   This will allow me to focus on research and investigation of new open source education technologies helping to support the Moodle roadmap in the long term.

This is not sudden, and I've been preparing for this for over a year, making sure that everything will be smooth.

We have already started our search for a new CEO to take over the management of Moodle HQ's operations.  The new CEO will of course be selected based on their alignment with our values and commitment to Moodle’s mission, as well as their commercial, strategic, and people leadership capabilities.  

Nothing will change for the Moodle community.  Everyone at Moodle HQ remains committed to Moodle LMS as an open source platform and our certification as a B Corp recognises our ongoing dedication to using business as a force for good. It’s incredibly important to me and the Board that we take the time to find the right person for the job, so it's likely to be some time before we announce an appointment.   We hope to have a new CEO in place in early 2024.  

If you have questions, please reach out to me directly, or for further information about the role, please contact people@moodle.com.  

I am very much looking forward to this new situation and to helping propel Moodle through this period of change in a different way that is actually much closer to where my heart lies and how and why I started Moodle in the first place all those years ago.

Thanks all and cheers!   😀🧡
Martin 

Following two days of outstanding presentations and engaging discussions, we finally arrived at the last day of MoodleMoot Global 2023. With over 700 participants joining from 56 countries and more than 100 speakers from 24 countries, the event has truly become a global gathering of educators, innovators, and Moodle enthusiasts!
Rediscovering the potential of AI in eLearning 

On Day 3 of MoodleMoot Global 2023, a panel, led by Brett Dalto from Moodle HQ, delved into AI's role in education and workplace learning. Experts like Heikki Wilenius, Elizabeth Dalton, Rajnish Kumar, Tim Hunt, and Meghan Mencer shared their insights. They debated AI's potential bias, its regulation in education, and its positive impacts. Dalton emphasized diverse data sources for unbiased AI, while Kumar stressed the intent behind AI creation. Hunt questioned our readiness for AI legislation and Wilenius highlighted the need to understand and embrace AI’s workings for adaptation.

After a refreshing coffee break, the morning sessions continued with diverse topics, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of Moodle and educational technology.

Linda Fernsel from the University of Applied Sciences (HTW), Berlin, delivered a compelling presentation titled ‘In Fair Models We Trust: Introducing a Plugin for Auditing Moodle Learning Analytics Models’. She delved deep into the intricacies of ensuring fairness in machine learning models. In another enlightening session, Yan Shen and Stephen Bader from NC State University presented ‘Implementing the Moodle Roadmap Plug-in to Support Blended and Flipped Learning’. They unveiled a meticulously designed roadmap plugin that acts as a cornerstone for educators aiming to implement blended and flipped learning methodologies. 

Lastly, Tore Høgås and Audun Jørstad Lillekjendlie, representing the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, took the stage to discuss the ‘AI-assisted QA of Moodle Translations’. Addressing the often-overlooked challenge of ensuring top-notch translation quality assurance, they presented a proof of concept for a cutting-edge AI-assisted translation QA tool. 
The exploration of lifelong learning continued during the day

In the latter half of Day 3, the conference highlighted innovation and lifelong learning. Michael Maloney of IBM discussed the impact of Moodle Workplace on government organizations, emphasizing the need to harness technology for modern training. Meanwhile, Michelle Lomman from mylearningspace delved into AI's relevance for Moodle users, urging a discerning approach to AI integration in education.

And that’s a wrap!

MoodleMoot Global 2023 came to an end, after three days packed with engaging presentations, networking opportunities, a music jam night, and the Moodle party! During the closing session, we announced the winner of the best ‘80s costume and the award went to Yasuko Aoki and Chie Tsukamoto from e.learning.

Reflecting on the event, we not only gained invaluable knowledge but our community also had a fantastic time forging new connections, and were deeply engaged throughout. We are also super excited to announce that MoodleMoot Global will return next year, and it will be held in Mexico! 

Read our daily wrap-up blog for more updates.