Moodle 4 LMS Implementation

• Consistency of experience for students
• Continuity of service in cases of Instructor/Student medical leave
• "Auditors" - every student and instructor engaging with matriculated Brandeis is vetted
• To secure Student and Faculty Information
  • FERPA (such as class roster information)
  • Protecting Student data against vendor intrusion
  • Limiting data harvesting (vendor profiling, adware intrusion, tracking cookies)
  • Physical and mental safety from anonymous online threats
  • Limiting Brandeis students' exposure to "home-grown" private server environments were insufficient security protocols were implemented
  • Limiting external visibility to any unlicensed media that an instructor might be sharing with students
• To ensure that security protocols and policies on campus are adhered to
  • Protecting students and faculty from extremist attackers and online trolls
  • Data protection (disaster recovery from environmental or malicious data loss events)
• Legal
  • Reduce litigation risk (easier to provide evidence in "this person said that" situations"
  • Being able to provide data and logs under a warrant

Moodle is provided for online coursework. It is the place for messaging, forums, and posting videos.

• Integrated and managed Brandeis tools such as Google, Zoom, Box, Echo 360, and others, are available using Brandeis authorization and security protocols.
• The following page lists software that is available at Brandeis: https://www.brandeis.edu/its/services/software-business-systems/software/index.html
• Additionally, the following page lists software available in on-campus labs: https://https://www.brandeis.edu/its/services/computers-devices/public-computing.html
• New requests can be made via the ATAC request form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQq8BL_jgMxDV-fRs5ndMZH9nQaRSKMMfBywtyMz6XeQsYMw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Graded student work in a digital platform must be auditable, accessible, and documented to demonstrate that the institution is meeting academic standards for re-accreditation purposes.. Institutions must retain graded assignments, exams, and projects for a specified period to verify grading consistency and learning outcomes.

• Non-Brandeis provided LMS services such as independently set up versions of Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, etc, even if they are being used through Brandeis’s Google Account Single-SignOn Services.
  • Messaging platforms not explicitly provided by Brandeis or those not having first been reviewed and approved by the ATAC, which is responsible for conducting research and discovery to ensure that platforms adhere to university policies and standards. 
    • Why? Many technologies do not adhere to the policy requirements,  the academic standards, or the legal requirements of Brandeis and need to be reviewed and approved before being used.
• Brandeis-provided LMS tools, if used outside of the integrated process
  • Example: using a course code through a platform such as Perusal, which requires students to create new logins, rather than using the tool within Moodle.
• External websites that require accounts or sign-ins, for example, any online platform such as forums or other posting places that require students to sign in.
  • Examples: personal wiki site, instructor resource page from another school, third-party unreviewed collaboration platforms like Figma.

No, communication with students should occur within Brandeis-provided messaging tools.

Yes. Files stored in Brandeis Google Drive or Box can be made available in your Moodle course as linked content.

Yes, linking to external content is ok as long as the links are provided through Moodle and do not require students to create their own accounts to sign in and access the content. It is important to use caution to ensure that copyrighted and unlicensed materials shared by a Brandeis employee are not made available on public websites.