{"id":37,"date":"2025-09-24T05:45:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flossed.uk\/blog\/?p=37"},"modified":"2025-09-24T05:45:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:45:41","slug":"edtech-newsletter-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flossed.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/edtech-newsletter-05\/","title":{"rendered":"Edtech Newsletter 05"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MoodleDach<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

I am writing this from Lubeck Germany ready for the start of MoodleDach \u201cunconference\u201d starting tomorrow 2nd September 2025. I have been twice before and the unconference concept means that the schedule is decided on the first day. This has been very effective in the past and the related discussion forum is starting to fill with ideas as to what should be covered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MoodleDach is developer focussed and in previous years people have developed new plugins from concept to plugins database over the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MoodleMoot Global<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be held in Edinburgh Scotland from 16 – 18 September. The schedule is available here https:\/\/moodlemoot.org\/2025\/program\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will be attending, and I will have my guitar with me\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improvements in Core AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core Moodle AI Subsystem now has more meaningful error messages. Previously whenever there was an error the user would see a generic <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c Something went wrong\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try again later<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.atlassian.net\/browse\/MDL-83147\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Question Generation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people at ByCS Lernplattform (formerly Mebis) have done a huge update to the questiongen plugin. It is configurable to work with 3rd party question types and can even pull in text from pdf\u2019s as the source for generating questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/github.com\/bycs-lp\/moodle-qbank_questiongen\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alternatives LLM\u2019S \/ChatGPT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I opened an account with Together AI and spent US$5 (five) worth of tokens. After quite a lot of experimenting it is currently costing me on average 1 US$ cent per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have attached one of my moodle sites to Google Gemini using the ByCS local_ai_manager and I am impressed with the results.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI for teaching programming<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have tweaked my AI Text question type to process questions relating to programming languages and  have found the Qwen models particularly effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulk Tags AI Suggestions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have added an \u201cAI Suggestions\u201d feature to my Question bank bulk tagging plugin. This currently only works with Moodle 5.0 but I can retrofit it for Moodle 4.5 if anyone wants it badly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/github.com\/marcusgreen\/moodle-qbank_bulktags\/wiki\/AI-Suggestions\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moodle HQ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to follow discussions about the Core Moodle AI Subsystem there is a forum at moodle.org<\/a> here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.org\/mod\/forum\/view.php?id=8826\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However it does seem rather quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recommend the AI Lounge here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.org\/mod\/forum\/view.php?id=8776\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which contains summaries of the biweekly meetings chaired by Martin Dougiamas and is a really useful source of up to date information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moodle AI Plugins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been gathering a list of Moodle plugins that use AI\/LLM systems that do not require a subscription to the provider of the plugin (though of course they all require access to an LLM. You can find the list at the end of this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/github.com\/marcusgreen\/moodle-tool_aiconnect\/wiki\/Other-AI-Plugins\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moodle 5.1 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next version of Moodle is scheduled for release on 6 October 2025 and is currently in QA. These items  caught my eye on Jira<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI: Add user access controls at course and activity level<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.atlassian.net\/browse\/MDL-85738\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Allow teachers to specify AI access per activity (e.g., disable \u201cgenerate text\u201d in a particular quiz) rather than at a broader level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let site admins set default AI settings that can be locked or overridden at the course level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow report builder schedule types to be easily extended<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.atlassian.net\/browse\/MDL-86066\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Restructure moodle code directories<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.atlassian.net\/browse\/MDL-83424\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Moodle Gemini provider<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have not tried it yet but \u2026 according to the page at moodle org<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Moodle AI provider plugin that integrates Google’s Gemini AI models into Moodle’s AI subsystem. Supports text generation, image generation, and text summarization with configurable rate limiting and privacy-first design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/moodle.org\/plugins\/aiprovider_gemini\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AIText<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The updates and features in the next release can be seen here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/github.com\/marcusgreen\/moodle-qtype_aitext\/blob\/develop\/changelog.md\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I will be including an \u201cexpert mode\u201d, which will give people experienced with prompt creation more control over what is sent to the external AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent conversation I discovered an organisation that looks after the Moodle setup in 23 universities is testing my AI Text question type with a view to deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am hoping that more people using it will result in more ideas for prompting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canvas and OpenAI in partnership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructure and OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT) have announced a  Global Partnership to Embed AI Learning Experiences within Canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.instructure.com\/press-release\/instructure-and-openai-announce-global-partnership-embed-ai-learning-experiences\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I view this as two organisations with no obvious path to profit propping each other up. If they don\u2019t get bought up they will both run out of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MoodleDach I am writing this from Lubeck Germany ready for the start of MoodleDach \u201cunconference\u201d starting tomorrow 2nd September 2025. I have been twice before and the unconference concept means that the schedule is decided on the first day. This has been very effective in the past and the related discussion forum is starting to … <\/p>\n

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