News & Updates

The focus of this brief survey is to collect feedback on the recent improvements to eClass, which were implemented on May 19, 2022. Your feedback will also assist us in understanding what the community would like to see in our learning management system (LMS) in the future.

Please click here to begin the survey. It should take you no more than 2-3 minutes to complete.

Your feedback is highly valued and we appreciate your time and participation in advance.

We’re excited to announce that eClass will be getting a much-needed makeover soon! The changes that are coming to eClass will provide a modern, up-to-date teaching and learning experience for users of our learning management system. There will also be new features and feature enhancements that will benefit both students and instructors.

This project has been a collaborative effort between several campus departments. The Office of Digital Learning and Instructional Design Services carefully customized this new theme in consultation with Academic Affairs, Marketing, the Academic Technology Advancement Committee (ATAC), and our external LMS hosting provider, OpenLMS. The customizations were also guided by formal and informal feedback we have received from faculty and students January 2020 – present.

We also considered the College’s goals for the current strategic plan, particularly with regards to diversity and inclusion. The new eClass theme will be generally more inclusive, taking into consideration our diversifying student population.

When will the change take place?

These updates will take place on Thursday, May 19, 2022. This date was carefully chosen to minimize disruption to active courses with respect to all academic populations and calendars.

We estimate that eClass will be unavailable beginning at 12:00AM EST and proceed through the morning, with access being reinstated by midday. Please plan ahead accordingly.

Can I preview the changes?

Absolutely! You can see the highlights here:

What changes can I look forward to?

The following is a quick overview of the enhancements that will become available following the update:

• Redesigned Home Page The eClass home page is completely redesigned with an intuitive layout, a modernized appearance, and an enhanced mobile experience.
• Finding Courses The new eClass home page displays all your courses in one easy-to-access location. It is also customizable, allowing you to “star” and sort your courses.
• Updated Style The updated appearance is clean and contemporary with updated graphics and icons, providing a consistent visual design. Stylistic changes were made to ensure that eClass is in alignment with MSMC branding.
• Customize your eClass Experience Your eClass Profile lets you customize the information others see about you in your courses. Edit your profile to add an image, a personal bio, and your preferred pronouns. Also, change your preferred language from the eClass home page.
• Other Enhancements In addition to its redesigned style, this update will include new features and enhancements that will improve the learning experience for both instructors and students. These features will include a new “Level Up” block to measure student achievement in the course, a Group Choice tool for students to select their own eClass Groups, and updates to Whole Forum Grading.

Is this eClass update necessary?

Yes! The changes that are coming are vital to maintaining a healthy and vibrant learning management system for teaching and learning at the College. Our current theme is out of date in 3 primary ways:

• Security and Stability: The current eClass theme we are using will no longer be supported by our hosting provider OpenLMS. Our new theme will come with a host of security updates, and will be more compatible with future versions of Moodle.
• Compatibility: The current eClass theme was designed for Moodle 2.9 (released in 2015) and is no longer being actively maintained.
• Changes in the field: The ways in which we teach and learn are constantly changing, and this update will help us leverage new capabilities and functionality in virtual learning environments.

How will this update affect my courses?

All existing courses and content will be updated on May 19. Students do not need to take any additional action. After the update, instructors may need to address minor changes in the styling of course elements (such as text color and font size choices), due to the new look of the site.

Do I need training?

Because this update is not going to change the core functionality and workflow that you are used to in eClass, we don’t anticipate that students and instructors will need any formal training to acclimate to the new eClass environment.

We will be updating all of our video resources and eClass documentation to reflect the new theme. These will be available on our website and YouTube channel following the update.

If you have questions about the eClass update, please contact us at digitallearning@msmc.edu.

The video playlist below contains a catalog of the past upgrades to eClass (Moodle). The playlist will begin with the most recent upgrade video. Click here to see the playlist on YouTube.