We are aware that there is a lot happening with the SLE project at the moment and specifically the Moodle implementation. Therefore, we thought it would be a good idea to create a regular fortnightly newsletter to update you on all the current issues, progress as well as sharing your experiences. Do feel free to contribute ideas and suggestions and as we have publicised this in a blog format we should reduce your emails too.
Current system issues
We are pleased to report that we now have a fix for the Single Sign-on (SSO) problem for My.City/Moodle. However, after consultation we have decided not to introduce the SSO until we can discuss when this work can be done at the next SLEG meeting.
The Moodle speed problem, which has been highlighted as a high priority (Impact 1) issue, is currently under investigation by IS Technical Teams and our Moodle partner. We will have a further update on the situation, after testing has taken place, towards the end of this week.
Project posts
The interviews for the new Moodle Administrator are scheduled to take place on Friday (29th Jan) this week. We have once again received a number of applications of a high standard (obviously City is the place to be!!), The Administrator will be working on administration and integrations matters and will be part of Bev’s team (which Naomi is part of).
A huge thank-you to Naomi for all her sterling work on both CitySpace and Moodle. Even in this, Naomi’s last week, before going on maternity leave, she is busily doing handover work with Lucy Clifford, Margit Alexy and Stef Smith in providing additional cover for the Moodle and CitySpace administration roles.
External contacts
Kings College London visited the University this week and were able to discuss the SLE project with a number of key members of the team (thanks to everyone who participated). They were very impressed by how much the project has achieved, and noticed the collaboration and obvious team spirit that have contributed to our success so far.
Susannah presented about the project at the Association of Learning Technologists (ALT) Learning Environment Special Interest Group at the University of Bradford in December. A recording of the presentation is available at http://lersig.alt.ac.uk/pages/32926
Sophie Paluch and Kate Reader presented on the SLE evaluation process at Online Educa in Berlin also in December. Their notes from the conference are online at http://elearningwithkate.co.uk/
Development
The IS Development team have set up a mechanism for development change, which will be communicated by mid February at the SLEG and MIG meetings. Mike Hughes will take on a new role liaising in the area of capturing and monitoring development requests (Mike is available Tues., Wed., and Thurs each week). A warm welcome to Mike and our new Moodle Developer, Amanda Doughty, in their new roles – we wish them every success.
Moodle 2.0
There has been a lot of interest and concern about Moodle 2.0. The current news is that the Moodle 2.0 Beta is scheduled to be available from 1st March and we will be in a position to start evaluating very soon after that date. John Gallagher and Mike Hughes will be attending our next SLEG Meeting and will be presenting and answering questions on future developments and the impact of Moodle 2.0. At this stage IS and LDC are working on parallel plans for staying with 1.9.6 or going to version 2.0. We are also undertaking some impact analysis work on moodle 2.0 now.
Process improvement and planning
LDC and IS are working closely to define processes and procedures around migrations/implementations, support and administration and will issue some draft processes for review in mid-February and as a project, we will ensure this is incorporated into the project plan moving forward. An updated milestones list to follow by the middle of next week.
LDC Showcase
Finally, we have the LDC Showcase taking place next week – 3rd February from 4-6pm in the Northampton Suite – please don’t hesitate to let LDC know if there is anything you require and best of luck to all for a successful event.