Open Source Projects e.g. Moodle
Barron KoraleskyMacalester College
Barry BandstraHope College
June 1, 2005
Outline
• Open source solutions • What is Moodle, why use it?• Institutional case studies
– Hope College– Macalester College
• MITC, open source, & collaboration• Discussion
Open Source Learning Management Systems
(LMS) What is open source & what is an LMS?
– How does it differ from commercial models? • Cost• Control
– What are examples of open source LMS systems?
–
– Why open source for higher education?
Why use an LMS?
• Promotes active learning• Accessibility (reserve readings) • Reusability • Extend the course outside of the classroom• Because millennial students want/expect it• Incoming faculty expect a LMS• Reduce photocopy and duplicating costs• Because everyone's doing it?
What is Moodle?
• Name - Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment
– Moodle - v. to lazily meander through something
• Developer - Martin Dougiamas • Appeared August 2002
• Guiding philosophy - Social constructivism
Why consider the Moodle open source LMS?
– Advantages • Cost (no licensing restrictions)• Linux/Win/Mac, Apache, mySQL, PHP• Configurability • Very active developer community
– Driven by educators
• Very active user (help) community
Why consider an open source LMS?
– Potential challenges? • Institutional buy-in
– Faculty– IT
• Credibility• Installation • Faculty training • Operational support and help desk • Integrating LMS with other campus data
systems
Functionality & Use
• Syllabus tools (calendaring) – fluid syllabus• Communication tools (mailing lists, discussion
forums, journals, course notices, file/link dispersal) – enhanced connection to students
• Assessment and evaluation tools (quizzes, surveys, grade book, polls)
– Formative & evaluative assessments– Enable student self-assessment
• Assignments• Glossaries
Functionality & Use
• Syllabus tools (calendaring) – fluid syllabus
Functionality & Use
• Communication tools
Functionality & Use
• Assessment and evaluation tools
Case Study – Hope College
• Inception– Needed a platform for teaching Hebrew, but Hope
had no LMS, and no plans to get one• Gestation
– MITC-ITLAC symposium was the opportunity to hear about CMS and institutional experiences (primarily no CMS, some Blackboard & WebCT)
• Experimentation– Searched the web, found possibilities– Hope's computing department allowed me to "play
with" a number of open source projects– Piloted Moodle in religion courses (Spring 2003).
Case Study – Hope College
• Campus pilot project (Fall 2003) • All-campus resource (Spring 2004) and why it
has been so well received • Will be the delivery platform for summer 2006
online courses
Case Study – Macalester
• Macalester had no LMS (2003-2004)• Instructional technologists saw need• Heard about Moodle from MITC colleagues &
MITC itself• Free software, desktop hardware, allowed
instructional techs to run pilot (2004-05)• Pilot pedagogically-focused faculty workshops
with faculty development center and early adopter faculty
B.K.
Moodle @ Macalester
Case Study – Macalester
• First semester – 25 faculty, 400 students, 35 courses
• Second semester – 80 faculty, 1,200 students, 90 courses– Macalester ~1,800 FTE
• Full support starting fall 2005– Central IT server administration– Accounts linked to central systems– Courses/enrollment linked to registrar data
MITC, Open Source, & Collaborations
• MITC collaborations– Liaison meetings– ITLAC symposia
• Helps overcome our natural isolation & limited resources
• MITC hosted projects– LMSs
• Moodle, CHEF– Digital Asset Management
• ContentDM
1/3 MITC Colleges using Moodle
• Albion • Beloit • Earlham• Hope• Lake Forest• Lawrence University• Macalester • St. Olaf
MITC, Open Source, & Collaborations
• MITC provides informal Moodle support – CMS mailing list
• Moodle users chimed in• Discussions of campus adoption of CMS• Discussions about some issues, i.e. FERPA
compliance
– Call for collaboration• Improving use• Extending functionality
Collaboration Case Study• Mac helped Beloit with server choice &
configuration– Heard of us and others through MITC– Existing relationships with colleagues– MITC server + local server
• Macalester took workshop to Beloit– Macalester workshop in development– MITC funded travel expenses– MITC staff attended & assisted
• Beloit expanding Moodle campus wide
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