JISCMail - VLE Archives

Yes I have – and there is one in making so I shall be keeping my eye on that one!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adam Marshall
Sent: 06 May 2005 15:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VLES] Moodle v WebCT

It would appear that Moodle is attracting a great deal of UK and European funding – I would imagine that they are considering the weaknesses that you have identified. Have you expressed you misgivings to any of the Moodle users / developers lists? There may well be solutions in the pipeline?

You could also have a look at Bodington too – that has assessment? http://bodington.org/ for a demo ‘live’ CD.

adam

--
Adam Marshall: OUCS, 13, Banbury Rd. Oxford OX2 6NN.
Shameless plug: Use the Bodington VLE http://bodington.org
Cheese of the month: Cheshire (not to be underestimated)

From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rebecca Barrington
Sent: 06 May 2005 14:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VLES] Technical support for VLEs

Thank you for your thoughts Adam

We are looking at the two but both are offering quite different things in terms of the learner and tracking progress. So far, WebCT seems to be the only one that offers a tool to add any assessment details into the system rather than just the quiz results. This is key to us as both offer the ability to build courses according to most learners needs (ie: every course can be different according to course / learner). However, WebCT does give more learner control and guidance than Moodle does. Have to say that so fat, WebCT seems to be more learner focused and Moodle a delivery tool (and will probably open myself to arguments against this from Moodle fans!). I realise that Moodle is growing with a great community and will continue to grow, but I assume we will need some technical expertise to enable this in house. Hence the question of technical support.

I am still very open minded at this stage!!

Becky

-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adam Marshall
Sent: 06 May 2005 14:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VLES] Technical support for VLEs

Becky

I think you should also consider whether you want to be locked into a proprietary closed-source system with a licence fee that may dramatically increase and from which it is difficult to move teaching materials (WebCT) or whether you want to employ a system with an active and open development community who support the open standards recommended by the likes of JISC and BECTA.

I realise that my reply is slightly skewed in favour of Moodle but anecdotal evidence suggests that many institutions are looking to move away from WebCT or Blackboard. Indeed, The University of Highlands and Islands are one of these institutions; they are moving from WebCT to the truly wonderful Bodington open source VLE.

Adam

Adam Marshall. OUCS, 13, Banbury Rd. Oxford OX2 6NN.

Shameless plug: Use the Bodington VLE http://bodington.org

Cheese of the month: Cheshire (not to be underestimated)

From: Virtual Learning Environments [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rebecca Barrington
Sent: 06 May 2005 13:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VLES] Technical support for VLEs

We are currently trialling WebCT and Moodle at South Devon College at the moment and hope to make a decision about which one to go with by the end of this month. I was wondering what the level of technical support is for each. By this I mean Computer Services support to deal with maintenance, fixing any issues or customising systems. We will have a separate administrator who will deal with course creation, user accounts and general user issues.

For those of you using either WebCT or Moodle, how much technical support do you have? Do you have a person devoted to the VLE or is it part of your computer services provision?

Thank you in advance!!

Becky

Rebecca Barrington

ILT Facilitator

South Devon College

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