Moodle nudges forward
Interviewed by Jack Kenny for today’s Guardian about Moodle:
And Moodle has also been written by teachers, something Miles Berry [...] feels is also key. Moodle software “is written … by those involved in education and so has evolved with the features education wants it to have. Moodle is not just about online courses but building an online learning community.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jan/08/link.link3
Hi Miles,
I was at an Elgg conference in Edinburgh a few years ago and heard you give a fantastic talk about using Moodle in your school. I’m in the early days of running a web design and development business and I’ve been asked to integrate Moodle into a website I’m developing for a education client.
I’ve never worked with Moodle before and I have to give my client an idea of how long it will take to set up and how much ongoing technical and administrative support they would need. I realise that a lot depends on the specific requirment of the organisation but I was wondering if you could give me an idea of time scales from your own experience?
Hope to hear from you soon
Nova Stevenson
Hi Nova,
Thanks for getting in touch.
A fresh install of Moodle on a box running LAMP is no more than an hour’s work – the worst of it is setting up the database in my view.
Setting up authentication depends on the sort of system you’re running. If you know your way around LDAP you’ll be fine, otherwise cvs upload and authentication against another system (eg a POP server?) would be my recommendation.
Creating an empty course is quick, but populating it with resources and activities is an ongoing process – not significantly longer than doing the equivalent work in word processor, but not overnight either – this is down to the teachers though, after they’ve got the hang of how to use it. I’d favour piloting with one or two departments and e-learning champions before a site wide roll out.
Get back to me if I can be more help.
Miles.