 |
 |
I wonder if it would be a good idea to look at ESUP-Portail (13 institutions, 80,000 students, uPortal/Moodle integration) as an example of a regional consortium formed to support open source software. The 'local expertise' can be leveraged into regional expertise, and perhaps provide a highly robust and flexible system. I also wonder what 'standards' are being described (apologize if I am coming late to this debate and this has been covered), it seems XHTML, Shibboleth, LDAP, IMS Enterprise, IMS-LD, etc. are all internationally recognized standards. Did the LE do a formal evaluation of VLEs to determine the ones that meet it's pass/fail rubric? If so is that evaluation made public somewhere? We are developing rubrics for VLE selection that include estimated costs of implementation for open source projects, in other words, if your VLE fails the selection due to lack of standard X, include an estimation of how much it would cost to implement standard X in the VLE (this could include extensible VLEs such as Blackboard Enterprise as well as open source VLEs, of course). This was in response to recent experience with an institution who chose to pay $126,000/year for a VLE because it had standard X, when standard X could have been developed and supported for much less. Best Michael PS, I assume your SIMS is a different SIMS from the one San Francisco State University, SDSU, etc uses (a system originally based on cobol upgraded to oracle as SIMS-R)? They have an SIS called SIMS, and do have a integration for Moodle for it. On May 17, 2006, at 4:24 AM, Walker - Ted wrote: > I'm glad I raised this can of worms - I think there are a whole host of > points coming out of it. > > I am happy to share the text of the letter - perhaps that would best be > done off list. It clearly, as suggested, does come from a DFES > roadshow. > The most relevant paragraph reads: > > "Current advice from DFES is that schools should not buy a VLE > individually but that they should bulk buy either through their LA or > Regional Broadband Consortium. Home grown systems based on 'open source > software', e.g. Moodle, were not to be preferred as they will not meet > national requirements, they relied on local expertise and will be > incompatible with other systems for exchanging information. Also that > families of schools should use the same VLE to facilitate sharing of > materials and work on transition projects." > > I understand the issues are somewhere along these lines: > > Total cost of ownership: We do have about 25 hours a week of technician > support time, but this isn't as a result of using Open Source software, > it is a web designer who we use for training and development of all > e-learning and web developments. It is helping us build up a culture of > innovative use of online teaching and learning, and we would benefit > from this regardless of brand of learning platform. In fact, the nature > of Moodle lends itself to much more open and distributed management and > we can allow teachers and even students to manage courses within it. > > Specific local knowledge: I set up a Moodle installation on my laptop, > from scratch, in an hour or two as a pilot (including downloading > software etc.) ICT support were therefore able to install a corporate > version on a hosted server very quickly. The main issues were opening > up > ports, network speed etc, which are dependent on our relationship with > our RBC. Our technician, who is now the resident expert, had never > heard > of Moodle when he joined us in December, but the transparency of the > system makes it straightforward to get on top of. > > Common sign in: We have set up LDAP so that users simply log on with > their network password. No problems. We are interested in developing > Shibboleth (which I understand will cross authenticate with other > platforms - Bodington et al) as well as Moodle, and see that as a > potential route for sharing resources with the Moodle or 'open source' > "family of schools", as and when we make suitable relationships. > > Interoperability: We have not yet managed to link Moodle with SIMS (our > current MIS). I think there are issues here, and my hope was that BECTA > would be forcing SIMS to conform to much more transparent standards, > although I'm not much of an expert. This is my most serious concern. > > Commercial support / future developments: There are commercial > organisations available to support Moodle and other open source > software > for those who need it. Even if we disbelieve the philosophy that says > Moodle will continue to be developed and in the public source, why is > it > any more vulnerable to having the plug pulled than Blackboard / WebCT > or > any other commercial incarnation that can only survive whilst there is > a > market (and when the product is discontinued the provider will have no > interest in providing support)? Any commercial product is likely to > have > upgrades and changes over the development cycle, and it may well be > that > in 5 years time we will have all had to change / upgrade / reengineer > our platforms anyway. As I understand it Moodle is SCORM compliant and > pretty transparent. > > > I think Moodle is a great product, and was definitely an appropriate > choice to develop the use of a learning platform and e-learning culture > within this institution in the current timescale. We went along this > road because we thought it would be a positive help towards improving > teaching, learning and the school culture; it just seemed to be a bonus > as we thought that it was also in line with DFES best practice. It > would > be a shame if the DFES, RBCs and LAs discourage schools from this and > try to direct us into a corporate project where we feel we have no > ownership. > > > > DISCLAIMER > > You are also advised that the views and opinions expressed in this > E-mail message and any attachments are the author's own, and may not > reflect the views and opinions of Rawlins Community College.This > E-mail message, (including any attachments), is intended only for the > person to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential > information. > > If you are not the intended recipient, any review, retransmission, > disclosure, copying, modification or other use of this E-mail message > or attachments is strictly forbidden. > > If you have received this E-mail message in error, or have any > concerns regarding this E-mail, please contact the Network Manager > ([log in to unmask]) and delete the message and any > attachments from your computer. > > > ***************** List information: ***************** > Remember - replies go by default to the entire list. > Access the list via the web on http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/vle.html > To unsubscribe, email [log in to unmask] with the message: leave > vle > Michael Penney LMS Project Manager California State University, Humboldt [log in to unmask] http://learn.humboldt.edu http://www.humboldt.edu/~mmp5 ***************** List information: ***************** Remember - replies go by default to the entire list. Access the list via the web on http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/vle.html To unsubscribe, email [log in to unmask] with the message: leave vle