Recycle Bin is a simple plugin with a useful function: it allows Moodle users to recover deleted course components as well as entire courses.
Now Moodle 3.1 users can easily restore accidentally-deleted components, modules, and even entire courses. Recycle Bin is flexible, so admins and users can determine how long items are stored and purged in the Recycle Bin.
Here is an overview:
The Recycle Bin plugin was made possible by the University of Kent. When asked about Recycle Bin’s development, Skylar Kelty, a Developer at the university, said “I noticed a lot of people were tracking this plugin compared to our other ones. A lot of people asked for further development, so I got really involved with the community on this particular plugin”. John Matthews, Learning Technologist at the University of Kent, said that “catastrophic deletions” were the catalyst for the creation of Recycle Bin. “We had a problem” John said, “someone had deleted a quiz but they didn’t realise they were deleting student work- and that was a disaster. We looked into why it had happened and how we could prevent it happening. The Recycle Bin was suggested to prevent this happening and as a fix in case it happens again in future”. Now that Recycle Bin is a core feature of Moodle 3.1 “the potential impact of those disastrous deletions is minimal – we just click a button”.
The tool is especially exciting as it is the first feature contributed to core by the Moodle Users Association (MUA). The MUA is a separate entity from Moodle Pty Ltd, Moodle Partners and the Moodle community, where members pay a fee to have their say on the next Moodle core features. Members of the Moodle Users’ Association, in this instance, put forward their preference for the University of Kent’s plugin.
When asked about how Recycle Bin has been received by the Moodle community, Skylar said “It’s been very positive feedback, a lot of people are happy it’s finally in Moodle”.
To try out Recycle Bin, and all of the other new features, download Moodle 3.1 today or contact a certified Moodle Partner.
