This document discusses untraditional open source solutions for web content management for education and e-learning. It describes how Drupal is an open source content management system that provides a flexible and customizable option. Drupal allows technical writers to quickly create and manage content online. The document also profiles one writer who used PHP-Nuke instead of a traditional learning management system to create a customized online environment for his students. While open source software requires more initial effort, it can meet non-traditional needs in a cost-effective way and with community support.
INTRODUCE your students, educators, and schools to the latest Microsoft software so they can interact,
collaborate, and learn. EES offers qualified academic customers a way to realize their full potential with
quality technology tools available under a single, subscription agreement
The document discusses how colleges and universities can use Drupal to modernize their digital presence and web infrastructure. Drupal allows institutions to consolidate outdated websites, support faculty and student sites more easily, and engage stakeholders through innovative online experiences. Acquia provides Drupal solutions, hosting, training and support to help higher education institutions deliver compelling digital services in an affordable way. Drupal gives schools a flexible platform to power educational applications and manage web, mobile and social channels.
The document is a presentation by Xyleme, Inc. about their new learning platform called Bravais. Bravais aims to address limitations of traditional LMSs by delivering personalized, just-in-time learning across any device. It utilizes a cloud-based content repository that allows for granular assembly and delivery of learning objects. Key features include personalized recommendations, social learning features, and tools for content creation and management.
Leveraging the cloud to deliver personalized learning experiences - mLearnCon...Xyleme
Ramon Guiu, Product Marketing Manager at Xyleme, Inc., presented at mLearnCon 2012 on "Leveraging the Cloud to Deliver Personalized Learning Experiences." This is the deck from his presentation. Thank you!
The document discusses blended learning solutions targeted at UK food and consumer goods suppliers. It describes creating an online eAcademy using open-source software that can be customized with a company's branding and content relevant to their business. The eAcademy provides online training courses that are a low-cost, high-performing, and scalable blended learning solution which combines online and face-to-face training.
Elearnit is a network of consultants that helps companies grow through training via a license-free Learning Management System (LMS). They offer customizable LMS software that can be integrated with other applications, custom-made and off-the-shelf online courses, and virtual classroom services. Their services include LMS installation and customization, training on how to use the LMS, consulting, and course development. They have provided these services to many large companies and organizations.
This document discusses Moodle, an open-source learning management system, and Pukunui, a Moodle partner company. It provides an overview of what Moodle is, its architecture and standards, as well as its growth in users and sites globally. Pukunui is introduced as an education technology company specializing in Moodle and Mahara with offices in several countries. Services discussed include hosting, support, custom development and training.
Indiana University - IT Service Firm Helps University Improve Communication, ...Ellie Vollerthum
"When you replace a 20-year-old phone and voice-mail system with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Unified Messaging, there’s no comparison." Director of Informational Technology.
INTRODUCE your students, educators, and schools to the latest Microsoft software so they can interact,
collaborate, and learn. EES offers qualified academic customers a way to realize their full potential with
quality technology tools available under a single, subscription agreement
The document discusses how colleges and universities can use Drupal to modernize their digital presence and web infrastructure. Drupal allows institutions to consolidate outdated websites, support faculty and student sites more easily, and engage stakeholders through innovative online experiences. Acquia provides Drupal solutions, hosting, training and support to help higher education institutions deliver compelling digital services in an affordable way. Drupal gives schools a flexible platform to power educational applications and manage web, mobile and social channels.
The document is a presentation by Xyleme, Inc. about their new learning platform called Bravais. Bravais aims to address limitations of traditional LMSs by delivering personalized, just-in-time learning across any device. It utilizes a cloud-based content repository that allows for granular assembly and delivery of learning objects. Key features include personalized recommendations, social learning features, and tools for content creation and management.
Leveraging the cloud to deliver personalized learning experiences - mLearnCon...Xyleme
Ramon Guiu, Product Marketing Manager at Xyleme, Inc., presented at mLearnCon 2012 on "Leveraging the Cloud to Deliver Personalized Learning Experiences." This is the deck from his presentation. Thank you!
The document discusses blended learning solutions targeted at UK food and consumer goods suppliers. It describes creating an online eAcademy using open-source software that can be customized with a company's branding and content relevant to their business. The eAcademy provides online training courses that are a low-cost, high-performing, and scalable blended learning solution which combines online and face-to-face training.
Elearnit is a network of consultants that helps companies grow through training via a license-free Learning Management System (LMS). They offer customizable LMS software that can be integrated with other applications, custom-made and off-the-shelf online courses, and virtual classroom services. Their services include LMS installation and customization, training on how to use the LMS, consulting, and course development. They have provided these services to many large companies and organizations.
This document discusses Moodle, an open-source learning management system, and Pukunui, a Moodle partner company. It provides an overview of what Moodle is, its architecture and standards, as well as its growth in users and sites globally. Pukunui is introduced as an education technology company specializing in Moodle and Mahara with offices in several countries. Services discussed include hosting, support, custom development and training.
Indiana University - IT Service Firm Helps University Improve Communication, ...Ellie Vollerthum
"When you replace a 20-year-old phone and voice-mail system with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Unified Messaging, there’s no comparison." Director of Informational Technology.
Opportunities for Reuse Beween User Assistance and TrainingLinda Urban
In many organizations, people who develop training work in an entirely different group from those who develop documentation. The two groups may develop information about the same subjects and barely realize it. While there has always been potential for the two to work more collaboratively, in today’s economy there is increasing need to find ways to collaborate across these teams, to share resources, and to reuse information.
This talk looks at the potential for reuse between documentation and training, points out some of the problems that get in the way, and proposes some strategies for improved collaboration. Discussion points include:
* What types of information are the best candidates for reuse
* Must you reuse, or can you repurpose?
* Difficulties when training is a revenue center and documentation is a cost center
* How to reframe the picture of documentation and training to increase opportunities for reuse
* What the DITA Learning and Training Specialization offers
The document discusses e-content development for effective learning. It begins by defining synchronous and asynchronous learning and describes virtual classrooms and adaptive learning. It then discusses various tools for creating, editing, and publishing multimedia content like graphics, audio, video, and more. Authoring tools are presented for developing e-learning content like Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and iSpring Suite. Learning management systems (LMS) are introduced for administering, tracking, and delivering online courses. Popular open-source LMS like Moodle, Canvas, and Open edX are highlighted. The document concludes by emphasizing engagement and personalization when developing online courses.
The document discusses e-resources for education, including types of e-learning, e-learning authoring tools, learning management systems (LMS), and mobile apps for education. It describes synchronous and asynchronous learning, the SAMR model for technology integration, benefits of e-learning, and popular open-source LMS like Moodle, Canvas, and Open edX. Authoring tools like Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and iSpring Suite are presented for developing interactive e-content. The use of LMS, H5P interactive content plugins, and apps like Google Classroom, Evernote and ClassDojo in mobile learning are also summarized.
The document discusses various types of e-resources for education including online and offline resources. It describes scholarly databases, information gateways, spoken tutorials, and tools for creating graphics, audio, and video. It also discusses web 2.0 tools for teaching like Zoho, Slideshare, and WordPress. Useful national digital libraries and resources are mentioned including National Digital Library of India, N-List, FOSSEE, Virtual Labs, and Spoken Tutorials.
Instruction Designe for e-Content Development;UK-India ProspectiveMazhar Laliwala
The document discusses creating a virtual learning environment at the University of Delhi using open educational resources and networked delivery of education. Some key points:
1) It proposes a blended model combining physical and virtual elements for delivering quality education through a network-based approach.
2) Open educational resources like content, applications and infrastructure can be leveraged to create engaging, customized and modular educational resources.
3) Efforts include building curriculum-based content, collaborative project-based labs, and training teachers to effectively use technologies and design content.
4) Challenges include identifying appropriate platforms and pedagogical issues, but benefits include seamless access to educational resources across institutions.
The document discusses Learner Management Systems (LMS) and focuses on Moodle as a free and open-source LMS. It provides an overview of Moodle's characteristics and functionality, including content delivery and assessment tools, collaboration features, and how Moodle supports constructivist learning models. Implementation tips are provided, such as planning delivery, linking activities to assessment, determining support needs, and considering external hosting options.
Human Logic is an IT consulting firm based in Dubai that provides e-business, e-learning, and IT consulting services. It has experience developing custom applications, integrating systems, and optimizing infrastructures for clients across industries globally. Some of its clients include Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, NHS UK, and universities in the UAE, KSA, and Oman. Human Logic aims to use its expertise in technology and understanding of client needs to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions.
Web Site Design - University of New South WalesPoint Alliance
Why settle for a content management solution with limited capabilities?
See why Launch Pad for Web has so much more to offer!
The Launch Pad for Web product has been a very good platform for us to start from so that we could efficiently build and implement a highly customized Content Management Solution specifically to meet our business needs. The intuitive design allowed us to easily get access to the product and integrate additional datasets and external systems into the content management solution.
Jim Leeper
IT Manager, Faculty of Medicine
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
International Horizons College selected an all-SaaS cloud-based IT infrastructure with no servers to create a cost-effective and agile learning environment. This included networking, hardware, and education applications provided as managed services by du. The cloud-based model with Google Apps, video conferencing, and a mobile-first approach allows for powerful collaboration between students and faculty both on-campus and remotely. Choosing SaaS avoided the high costs and complexity of maintaining physical infrastructure, while still providing state-of-the-art learning technology.
GoldenGiving.org is a new online community website launching on May 20, 2008 that helps members in the San Francisco Bay Area find, support, and review local non-profit organizations (NPOs). The website allows members to freely contribute their experiences, ratings, and endorsements of NPOs they have personally interacted with. It aims to provide increased accountability and awareness of Bay Area NPOs through collaborative member reviews and ratings. The site remains independent and does not financially evaluate NPOs, depending entirely on community contributions to assess organizations.
Design2Web provides web design services to convert designs into valid XHTML and CSS code that is compliant with web standards. They test pages in major browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Turnaround time depends on the client's deadline, and Design2Web works with clients to establish a schedule. Clients should provide design files like PSD or AI along with any custom fonts to allow Design2Web to begin work converting the design to web standards-compliant code for different browsers.
GoldenGiving.org is a website that allows members to find, support, and review charitable organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Members can read and contribute reviews of organizations to help others connect with causes they believe in. The website aims to provide accountability for non-profits through independent reviews by its community members, without endorsing or financially evaluating any single organization. It operates as a nonprofit and asks for ongoing donations to maintain the website.
Genotropica Software has released a new version of its Visual Genome software. Visual Genome 2.0 allows scientists to analyze genetic data 10 times faster and detect protein sequences faster. It also provides more precise results and allows researchers to more easily find correlations that could lead to cures for diseases. Beta testers found Visual Genome 2.0 extremely useful for data mining potential drug targets. The new software is available for a 30-day free trial from Genotropica Software's website.
Design2Web is a web development company that helps visual designers save time and money by taking on technical web development tasks. This allows designers to focus on creative projects instead of worrying about coding designs. Clients report Design2Web returns coded pages much faster than it takes them, without any browser errors or bugs. Design2Web's owner explains standards-based coding, like XHTML and CSS, provides more flexibility than table-based HTML by separating presentation from code.
Smile Train is an international non-profit organization focused on cleft lip and palate repair. The organization works globally to provide surgery and other treatments to help children born with cleft conditions. Smile Train aims to ensure that all children have access to the safe and effective cleft care they need to live healthy and productive lives.
The document summarizes the September/October 2006 newsletter of the Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. It announces that Patrick Moore received an award for an article he co-authored. It also introduces the newly elected 2006-2007 officers for the chapter: Keith Dover as President, Mary Corder as Vice President, and Patrick Moore as Treasurer. It provides background information on each officer and their accomplishments.
Expedia Corporate Travel wanted to localize their website for Chinese users but encountered issues when directly translating the English text into Chinese characters using their existing table-based HTML structure. The Chinese characters were larger and caused the page layout and design to break. They hired Design2Web to convert the site to a standards-compliant format using XHTML and CSS which allowed the Chinese text to flow freely without breaking the design. This made it possible for Expedia to successfully localize their site for Chinese users.
The letter introduces GoldenGiving.org, a website that helps users find and evaluate charitable organizations. It aims to understand what motivates individuals to donate and ensure donations are used effectively. The letter highlights a beta user who found an organization through the site that aligned with her values and interests. Users are encouraged to join GoldenGiving.org to discover, review and support trustworthy charities that make a positive difference with donations.
What is The Role of Technology in SCORM-Compliant Solutions.pptxedwarddavid26
SCORM-compliant solutions are driven by the latest developments in technologies for smooth development, delivery, and management. The role of technology is immense in the foundation of SCORM solutions and the creation of dedicated complying learning content.https://www.acadecraft.com/learning-solutions/scorm-compliant-solutions/
Group A will present on WBI development standards from IEEE, ADL, ISO, and IMS. They will discuss the history and current work of each standards organization. Berta Sanchez and Regina Miller will discuss ADL and its SCORM standard. Tanya Reber and Leisa Eiland will cover ISO and IMS respectively. The document provides background information on each standards body, including their goals of improving accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of online content.
The document discusses continuing work on personal e-portfolio tools and platforms. It outlines 6 work packages to further develop and trial the Open Source Portfolio (OSP) and PHP-based CV builder tools, including convergence with the Open Source Portfolio Interchange standard, application hosting, additional case studies, and interoperability testing. It also discusses dissemination activities and concerns with the Sakai platform for e-portfolios. Key findings are that e-portfolios are about reflection and learning processes rather than just tools or products, and a learner-centered focus on reflection had more value than institutionally-driven systems.
Opportunities for Reuse Beween User Assistance and TrainingLinda Urban
In many organizations, people who develop training work in an entirely different group from those who develop documentation. The two groups may develop information about the same subjects and barely realize it. While there has always been potential for the two to work more collaboratively, in today’s economy there is increasing need to find ways to collaborate across these teams, to share resources, and to reuse information.
This talk looks at the potential for reuse between documentation and training, points out some of the problems that get in the way, and proposes some strategies for improved collaboration. Discussion points include:
* What types of information are the best candidates for reuse
* Must you reuse, or can you repurpose?
* Difficulties when training is a revenue center and documentation is a cost center
* How to reframe the picture of documentation and training to increase opportunities for reuse
* What the DITA Learning and Training Specialization offers
The document discusses e-content development for effective learning. It begins by defining synchronous and asynchronous learning and describes virtual classrooms and adaptive learning. It then discusses various tools for creating, editing, and publishing multimedia content like graphics, audio, video, and more. Authoring tools are presented for developing e-learning content like Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and iSpring Suite. Learning management systems (LMS) are introduced for administering, tracking, and delivering online courses. Popular open-source LMS like Moodle, Canvas, and Open edX are highlighted. The document concludes by emphasizing engagement and personalization when developing online courses.
The document discusses e-resources for education, including types of e-learning, e-learning authoring tools, learning management systems (LMS), and mobile apps for education. It describes synchronous and asynchronous learning, the SAMR model for technology integration, benefits of e-learning, and popular open-source LMS like Moodle, Canvas, and Open edX. Authoring tools like Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and iSpring Suite are presented for developing interactive e-content. The use of LMS, H5P interactive content plugins, and apps like Google Classroom, Evernote and ClassDojo in mobile learning are also summarized.
The document discusses various types of e-resources for education including online and offline resources. It describes scholarly databases, information gateways, spoken tutorials, and tools for creating graphics, audio, and video. It also discusses web 2.0 tools for teaching like Zoho, Slideshare, and WordPress. Useful national digital libraries and resources are mentioned including National Digital Library of India, N-List, FOSSEE, Virtual Labs, and Spoken Tutorials.
Instruction Designe for e-Content Development;UK-India ProspectiveMazhar Laliwala
The document discusses creating a virtual learning environment at the University of Delhi using open educational resources and networked delivery of education. Some key points:
1) It proposes a blended model combining physical and virtual elements for delivering quality education through a network-based approach.
2) Open educational resources like content, applications and infrastructure can be leveraged to create engaging, customized and modular educational resources.
3) Efforts include building curriculum-based content, collaborative project-based labs, and training teachers to effectively use technologies and design content.
4) Challenges include identifying appropriate platforms and pedagogical issues, but benefits include seamless access to educational resources across institutions.
The document discusses Learner Management Systems (LMS) and focuses on Moodle as a free and open-source LMS. It provides an overview of Moodle's characteristics and functionality, including content delivery and assessment tools, collaboration features, and how Moodle supports constructivist learning models. Implementation tips are provided, such as planning delivery, linking activities to assessment, determining support needs, and considering external hosting options.
Human Logic is an IT consulting firm based in Dubai that provides e-business, e-learning, and IT consulting services. It has experience developing custom applications, integrating systems, and optimizing infrastructures for clients across industries globally. Some of its clients include Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, NHS UK, and universities in the UAE, KSA, and Oman. Human Logic aims to use its expertise in technology and understanding of client needs to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions.
Web Site Design - University of New South WalesPoint Alliance
Why settle for a content management solution with limited capabilities?
See why Launch Pad for Web has so much more to offer!
The Launch Pad for Web product has been a very good platform for us to start from so that we could efficiently build and implement a highly customized Content Management Solution specifically to meet our business needs. The intuitive design allowed us to easily get access to the product and integrate additional datasets and external systems into the content management solution.
Jim Leeper
IT Manager, Faculty of Medicine
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
International Horizons College selected an all-SaaS cloud-based IT infrastructure with no servers to create a cost-effective and agile learning environment. This included networking, hardware, and education applications provided as managed services by du. The cloud-based model with Google Apps, video conferencing, and a mobile-first approach allows for powerful collaboration between students and faculty both on-campus and remotely. Choosing SaaS avoided the high costs and complexity of maintaining physical infrastructure, while still providing state-of-the-art learning technology.
GoldenGiving.org is a new online community website launching on May 20, 2008 that helps members in the San Francisco Bay Area find, support, and review local non-profit organizations (NPOs). The website allows members to freely contribute their experiences, ratings, and endorsements of NPOs they have personally interacted with. It aims to provide increased accountability and awareness of Bay Area NPOs through collaborative member reviews and ratings. The site remains independent and does not financially evaluate NPOs, depending entirely on community contributions to assess organizations.
Design2Web provides web design services to convert designs into valid XHTML and CSS code that is compliant with web standards. They test pages in major browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Turnaround time depends on the client's deadline, and Design2Web works with clients to establish a schedule. Clients should provide design files like PSD or AI along with any custom fonts to allow Design2Web to begin work converting the design to web standards-compliant code for different browsers.
GoldenGiving.org is a website that allows members to find, support, and review charitable organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Members can read and contribute reviews of organizations to help others connect with causes they believe in. The website aims to provide accountability for non-profits through independent reviews by its community members, without endorsing or financially evaluating any single organization. It operates as a nonprofit and asks for ongoing donations to maintain the website.
Genotropica Software has released a new version of its Visual Genome software. Visual Genome 2.0 allows scientists to analyze genetic data 10 times faster and detect protein sequences faster. It also provides more precise results and allows researchers to more easily find correlations that could lead to cures for diseases. Beta testers found Visual Genome 2.0 extremely useful for data mining potential drug targets. The new software is available for a 30-day free trial from Genotropica Software's website.
Design2Web is a web development company that helps visual designers save time and money by taking on technical web development tasks. This allows designers to focus on creative projects instead of worrying about coding designs. Clients report Design2Web returns coded pages much faster than it takes them, without any browser errors or bugs. Design2Web's owner explains standards-based coding, like XHTML and CSS, provides more flexibility than table-based HTML by separating presentation from code.
Smile Train is an international non-profit organization focused on cleft lip and palate repair. The organization works globally to provide surgery and other treatments to help children born with cleft conditions. Smile Train aims to ensure that all children have access to the safe and effective cleft care they need to live healthy and productive lives.
The document summarizes the September/October 2006 newsletter of the Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. It announces that Patrick Moore received an award for an article he co-authored. It also introduces the newly elected 2006-2007 officers for the chapter: Keith Dover as President, Mary Corder as Vice President, and Patrick Moore as Treasurer. It provides background information on each officer and their accomplishments.
Expedia Corporate Travel wanted to localize their website for Chinese users but encountered issues when directly translating the English text into Chinese characters using their existing table-based HTML structure. The Chinese characters were larger and caused the page layout and design to break. They hired Design2Web to convert the site to a standards-compliant format using XHTML and CSS which allowed the Chinese text to flow freely without breaking the design. This made it possible for Expedia to successfully localize their site for Chinese users.
The letter introduces GoldenGiving.org, a website that helps users find and evaluate charitable organizations. It aims to understand what motivates individuals to donate and ensure donations are used effectively. The letter highlights a beta user who found an organization through the site that aligned with her values and interests. Users are encouraged to join GoldenGiving.org to discover, review and support trustworthy charities that make a positive difference with donations.
What is The Role of Technology in SCORM-Compliant Solutions.pptxedwarddavid26
SCORM-compliant solutions are driven by the latest developments in technologies for smooth development, delivery, and management. The role of technology is immense in the foundation of SCORM solutions and the creation of dedicated complying learning content.https://www.acadecraft.com/learning-solutions/scorm-compliant-solutions/
Group A will present on WBI development standards from IEEE, ADL, ISO, and IMS. They will discuss the history and current work of each standards organization. Berta Sanchez and Regina Miller will discuss ADL and its SCORM standard. Tanya Reber and Leisa Eiland will cover ISO and IMS respectively. The document provides background information on each standards body, including their goals of improving accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of online content.
The document discusses continuing work on personal e-portfolio tools and platforms. It outlines 6 work packages to further develop and trial the Open Source Portfolio (OSP) and PHP-based CV builder tools, including convergence with the Open Source Portfolio Interchange standard, application hosting, additional case studies, and interoperability testing. It also discusses dissemination activities and concerns with the Sakai platform for e-portfolios. Key findings are that e-portfolios are about reflection and learning processes rather than just tools or products, and a learner-centered focus on reflection had more value than institutionally-driven systems.
Our client, an education technology startup, wanted a scalable online programming test solution for colleges. Katpro developed an integrated learning management solution with a course creation system, learning objects, and permissions. The cloud-based solution was built with C#, ASP.NET, AJAX, and Microsoft SQL databases. It provided a centralized, user-friendly platform for course and learner administration, assessments, and sharing content between systems.
This document provides an overview of a workshop on Universal Design for Instruction (UDI). The objectives of the workshop are to recognize principles of UDI, discuss ADA laws and standards, identify learner needs, outline learning strategies, summarize how to implement UDI, devise a teaching blueprint, and assess UDI achievements. The workshop will cover topics like UDI principles, ADA laws and standards, recognizing learner needs, creating accessible documents and media, and designing instruction with UDI.
1. The study examines how semantic wikis can be used by application service providers (ASPs) as a knowledge management system for managing software artifacts. Semantic wikis offer capabilities like advanced search and collaboration that traditional systems lack.
2. A literature review found that semantic wikis can effectively support knowledge sharing of software artifacts through features like concept-based search and rich content navigation. They also allow information to be shared across boundaries.
3. Evaluating requirements for documentation found semantic wikis can address issues traditional wikis cannot, like understanding architectures. Recommendations include ASPs researching and training on semantic wikis to better manage software artifacts.
The document discusses how a learning content management system (LCMS) can enable single sourcing of content to provide flexibility. It describes how single sourcing allows content to be stored without presentation details so it can be delivered through multiple technologies and to multiple audiences. It then provides an example of how a company called OutStart implemented a single sourcing strategy across their various learning products and deliverables like documentation, online help, and instructor-led training.
This document provides guidance for principals on technology topics including:
1. Developing a vision for student-centered learning environments and modeling technology use.
2. Ensuring adequate network infrastructure and IT support to enable the vision.
3. Moving away from textbooks and empowering teachers and students to create their own learning resources.
Lejla A. Bexheti - eLearningCentre SEE UniversityMetamorphosis
This document discusses current views on e-learning and the development of a new learning management system (LMS). It summarizes that LMS tools are key to supporting new educational approaches using e-learning. It then discusses designing a new LMS that is flexible, adaptable to institutional needs, and aligned with current trends and technologies. The document outlines the goals and principles for the new LMS, including proposed functionality and architecture. A pilot study was conducted to gather feedback from students and instructors to evaluate and improve the system.
1. Learning management systems (LMS) are software applications used to deliver, track, and manage educational content online. They allow instructors to create and deliver content and assess student performance, while providing interactive features for students.
2. Content management systems (CMS) are used to manage website content. A CMS separates the content creation process from website publication, allowing non-technical users to manage content.
3. Popular LMS in K-12 education include Blackboard, Desire2Learn, WebCT, and Moodle. When choosing an LMS, considerations include functionality, licensing options, and support for standards.
DELTA at NC State has transitioned from a commercial LMS (WebCT) to an open-source alternative (Moodle) to gain more control, stability, and flexibility for future growth. They have taken steps to manage perceptions that this was not just a cost-saving measure. Their model involves notifying stakeholders and soliciting input. Challenges include gaining buy-in for their collaborative approach and combating the "free as in free beer" mindset. They have branded their implementation of Moodle as "WolfWare" to feel more native to the NC State community.
Adiante Consultoría provides turn-key solutions for open source products like Moodle, eFront, and Chamilo. They specialize in e-learning, content management systems, and web portals built on Drupal. Their products include D-Campus, a Drupal-based tool for managing educational communities, and an upcoming product called D-News for publishing. They offer consulting, development, customization, deployment and support services for projects using their Drupal products.
This document discusses the experiences of implementing SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards in developing e-learning content for a Cyber Security course. The authors describe their process of identifying learning objects, generating metadata according to SCORM, packaging the content using tools like Reload Editor, and validating the content package using the ADL SCORM conformance test suite. Implementing SCORM standards helped make the course content interoperable, reusable, and able to be launched by different learning management systems. The document outlines the benefits of following content development standards like SCORM.
Poster presentation with Noel Broman - Sloan-C Annual Conference on Online Learning, 2010. Benefits and challenges of using an online project management system with a virtual team. Considerations for selecting an online project management system.
This document provides information about a Database Management Systems (DBMS) Laboratory course with mini project at Maharaja Institute of Technology Mysore. It includes the vision, mission, and objectives of the institution and computer science department. The document outlines the course objectives, outcomes, syllabus, and 5 sample database schemas to write SQL queries on. The course aims to teach foundational DBMS concepts, SQL programming skills, and developing database applications using front-end and back-end tools. Students will analyze real-world requirements and design database structures to solve problems through hands-on SQL queries and a mini project.
At First, Let Yourself Be "Bad" At Drupal 8Kevin Davison
This document discusses strategies for learning new skills, particularly related to Drupal 8. It advocates having an aspiration to learn, neutral self-awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, endless curiosity to explore new topics, and a willingness to struggle at first. Specific techniques mentioned include deconstructing topics, focusing on the most impactful parts, sequencing learning efficiently, and creating stakes to ensure follow-through. The overall message is to not fear challenges from new technologies like Drupal 8, but rather to embrace opportunities to grow one's skills and career.
Revcube was tasked with creating marketing materials for an energy drink company within tight deadlines. The Creative Manager contacted Design2Web for help developing websites and banners on time. Design2Web delivered all the code on time and in the required format. The code fit seamlessly with Revcube's system, allowing the projects to be completed on schedule. The Creative Manager praised Design2Web for providing high-quality, standards-compliant code that helped Revcube meet tight deadlines.
The document is an outdoor safety manual for the Seven Tepees Youth Program. It provides safety protocols for various types of outdoor trips including city walks, camping trips, waterfront outings, and wilderness outings. Common safety protocols that apply to all trips include conducting circle ups to communicate rules to youth, enforcing the same rules as at the Seven Tepees facility, coordinating with third-party organizations for certain activities, conducting pre-trip planning and day-of trip protocols like headcounts and first aid. Specific protocols are also outlined for city walks, such as crossing streets safely and using restrooms in pairs or with staff.
According to a report by the Pacific Institute, sea level rise of 1-1.4 meters by 2100 could cause $100 billion in property damage along California's coast, flooding areas where over 450,000 people live. Waves play a major role in coastal erosion, which is exacerbated by sea level rise and threatens over 30 million Californians. Oceanographer Tim Janssen studies wave modeling to better understand wave behavior and its effects on coastal erosion, though predictions are challenging given the complex physics involved. Improving such predictions will help inform policies around protecting California's coastlines from damage and flooding due to sea level rise and erosion.
MedArts is evaluating options for restructuring its treatment of bronchiopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The options are maintaining the status quo, decentralizing care across hospitals, or centralizing care at Longworth Pediatric Hospital (LPH). LPH currently provides the highest level of BPD care but others lack specialized resources. Centralization could improve care quality but families may struggle with transportation. Decentralization improves access but could dilute specialized care levels and be costliest. A full cost analysis and family survey are recommended to evaluate financial and patient impact.
GeneCo is a genetic research facility located in Palo Alto that offers career opportunities for graduates interested in genetic research. Established in 2002 to assist companies during the Human Genome Project, GeneCo now continues as a profitable genetic research company integral to the genetics industry. GeneCo's facilities provide amenities like daycare, fitness facilities, and 24/7 security, and the company values diversity and equal treatment of employees.
Design2Web is a San Francisco Bay Area web development company established in 2006 that provides standards-based web design and development services. Founder Devin McCollam leads a team of over 250 developers. Design2Web takes visual designs created by clients and converts them into standards-compliant XHTML and CSS code, allowing designers to focus on design while developers focus on more advanced technical work. Clients praise Design2Web for high-quality, lightweight code delivered on tight deadlines.
Alex joins the Seven Tepees Youth Program in 6th grade and over the next seven years, the program teaches Alex life skills for academic and personal achievement. Through tutoring, mentoring, outdoor activities, and college planning support from Seven Tepees, Alex develops skills and earns a scholarship to attend college with a plan for success.
The document discusses Davison Systems, a company that develops computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. It describes their flagship product, DavisonCMMS, which allows users to manage work orders, preventative maintenance, inventory, and collect asset data. It also describes their predictive maintenance module, PredictMate, which analyzes asset data trends to predict failures. The document provides testimonials from satisfied customers and details on purchase options and system requirements.
Introducing GTD®
* “If my mind had a mind, I wouldn’t need
a system.” – David Allen
* GTD® is the popular shorthand for
Getting Things Done®
* “…a powerful method to manage
commitments, information, and
communication.”
"$10 thousand per minute of downtime: architecture, queues, streaming and fin...Fwdays
Direct losses from downtime in 1 minute = $5-$10 thousand dollars. Reputation is priceless.
As part of the talk, we will consider the architectural strategies necessary for the development of highly loaded fintech solutions. We will focus on using queues and streaming to efficiently work and manage large amounts of data in real-time and to minimize latency.
We will focus special attention on the architectural patterns used in the design of the fintech system, microservices and event-driven architecture, which ensure scalability, fault tolerance, and consistency of the entire system.
The Microsoft 365 Migration Tutorial For Beginner.pptxoperationspcvita
This presentation will help you understand the power of Microsoft 365. However, we have mentioned every productivity app included in Office 365. Additionally, we have suggested the migration situation related to Office 365 and how we can help you.
You can also read: https://www.systoolsgroup.com/updates/office-365-tenant-to-tenant-migration-step-by-step-complete-guide/
How to Interpret Trends in the Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart.pdfChart Kalyan
A Mix Chart displays historical data of numbers in a graphical or tabular form. The Kalyan Rajdhani Mix Chart specifically shows the results of a sequence of numbers over different periods.
Skybuffer SAM4U tool for SAP license adoptionTatiana Kojar
Manage and optimize your license adoption and consumption with SAM4U, an SAP free customer software asset management tool.
SAM4U, an SAP complimentary software asset management tool for customers, delivers a detailed and well-structured overview of license inventory and usage with a user-friendly interface. We offer a hosted, cost-effective, and performance-optimized SAM4U setup in the Skybuffer Cloud environment. You retain ownership of the system and data, while we manage the ABAP 7.58 infrastructure, ensuring fixed Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and exceptional services through the SAP Fiori interface.
inQuba Webinar Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr Graham HillLizaNolte
HERE IS YOUR WEBINAR CONTENT! 'Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr. Graham Hill'. We hope you find the webinar recording both insightful and enjoyable.
In this webinar, we explored essential aspects of Customer Journey Management and personalization. Here’s a summary of the key insights and topics discussed:
Key Takeaways:
Understanding the Customer Journey: Dr. Hill emphasized the importance of mapping and understanding the complete customer journey to identify touchpoints and opportunities for improvement.
Personalization Strategies: We discussed how to leverage data and insights to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers.
Technology Integration: Insights were shared on how inQuba’s advanced technology can streamline customer interactions and drive operational efficiency.
AppSec PNW: Android and iOS Application Security with MobSFAjin Abraham
Mobile Security Framework - MobSF is a free and open source automated mobile application security testing environment designed to help security engineers, researchers, developers, and penetration testers to identify security vulnerabilities, malicious behaviours and privacy concerns in mobile applications using static and dynamic analysis. It supports all the popular mobile application binaries and source code formats built for Android and iOS devices. In addition to automated security assessment, it also offers an interactive testing environment to build and execute scenario based test/fuzz cases against the application.
This talk covers:
Using MobSF for static analysis of mobile applications.
Interactive dynamic security assessment of Android and iOS applications.
Solving Mobile app CTF challenges.
Reverse engineering and runtime analysis of Mobile malware.
How to shift left and integrate MobSF/mobsfscan SAST and DAST in your build pipeline.
Freshworks Rethinks NoSQL for Rapid Scaling & Cost-EfficiencyScyllaDB
Freshworks creates AI-boosted business software that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively. Managing data across multiple RDBMS and NoSQL databases was already a challenge at their current scale. To prepare for 10X growth, they knew it was time to rethink their database strategy. Learn how they architected a solution that would simplify scaling while keeping costs under control.
Dandelion Hashtable: beyond billion requests per second on a commodity serverAntonios Katsarakis
This slide deck presents DLHT, a concurrent in-memory hashtable. Despite efforts to optimize hashtables, that go as far as sacrificing core functionality, state-of-the-art designs still incur multiple memory accesses per request and block request processing in three cases. First, most hashtables block while waiting for data to be retrieved from memory. Second, open-addressing designs, which represent the current state-of-the-art, either cannot free index slots on deletes or must block all requests to do so. Third, index resizes block every request until all objects are copied to the new index. Defying folklore wisdom, DLHT forgoes open-addressing and adopts a fully-featured and memory-aware closed-addressing design based on bounded cache-line-chaining. This design offers lock-free index operations and deletes that free slots instantly, (2) completes most requests with a single memory access, (3) utilizes software prefetching to hide memory latencies, and (4) employs a novel non-blocking and parallel resizing. In a commodity server and a memory-resident workload, DLHT surpasses 1.6B requests per second and provides 3.5x (12x) the throughput of the state-of-the-art closed-addressing (open-addressing) resizable hashtable on Gets (Deletes).
Northern Engraving | Modern Metal Trim, Nameplates and Appliance PanelsNorthern Engraving
What began over 115 years ago as a supplier of precision gauges to the automotive industry has evolved into being an industry leader in the manufacture of product branding, automotive cockpit trim and decorative appliance trim. Value-added services include in-house Design, Engineering, Program Management, Test Lab and Tool Shops.
Your One-Stop Shop for Python Success: Top 10 US Python Development Providersakankshawande
Simplify your search for a reliable Python development partner! This list presents the top 10 trusted US providers offering comprehensive Python development services, ensuring your project's success from conception to completion.
Monitoring and Managing Anomaly Detection on OpenShift.pdfTosin Akinosho
Monitoring and Managing Anomaly Detection on OpenShift
Overview
Dive into the world of anomaly detection on edge devices with our comprehensive hands-on tutorial. This SlideShare presentation will guide you through the entire process, from data collection and model training to edge deployment and real-time monitoring. Perfect for those looking to implement robust anomaly detection systems on resource-constrained IoT/edge devices.
Key Topics Covered
1. Introduction to Anomaly Detection
- Understand the fundamentals of anomaly detection and its importance in identifying unusual behavior or failures in systems.
2. Understanding Edge (IoT)
- Learn about edge computing and IoT, and how they enable real-time data processing and decision-making at the source.
3. What is ArgoCD?
- Discover ArgoCD, a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes, and its role in deploying applications on edge devices.
4. Deployment Using ArgoCD for Edge Devices
- Step-by-step guide on deploying anomaly detection models on edge devices using ArgoCD.
5. Introduction to Apache Kafka and S3
- Explore Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming and Amazon S3 for scalable storage solutions.
6. Viewing Kafka Messages in the Data Lake
- Learn how to view and analyze Kafka messages stored in a data lake for better insights.
7. What is Prometheus?
- Get to know Prometheus, an open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit, and its application in monitoring edge devices.
8. Monitoring Application Metrics with Prometheus
- Detailed instructions on setting up Prometheus to monitor the performance and health of your anomaly detection system.
9. What is Camel K?
- Introduction to Camel K, a lightweight integration framework built on Apache Camel, designed for Kubernetes.
10. Configuring Camel K Integrations for Data Pipelines
- Learn how to configure Camel K for seamless data pipeline integrations in your anomaly detection workflow.
11. What is a Jupyter Notebook?
- Overview of Jupyter Notebooks, an open-source web application for creating and sharing documents with live code, equations, visualizations, and narrative text.
12. Jupyter Notebooks with Code Examples
- Hands-on examples and code snippets in Jupyter Notebooks to help you implement and test anomaly detection models.
High performance Serverless Java on AWS- GoTo Amsterdam 2024Vadym Kazulkin
Java is for many years one of the most popular programming languages, but it used to have hard times in the Serverless community. Java is known for its high cold start times and high memory footprint, comparing to other programming languages like Node.js and Python. In this talk I'll look at the general best practices and techniques we can use to decrease memory consumption, cold start times for Java Serverless development on AWS including GraalVM (Native Image) and AWS own offering SnapStart based on Firecracker microVM snapshot and restore and CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) runtime hooks. I'll also provide a lot of benchmarking on Lambda functions trying out various deployment package sizes, Lambda memory settings, Java compilation options and HTTP (a)synchronous clients and measure their impact on cold and warm start times.
5th LF Energy Power Grid Model Meet-up SlidesDanBrown980551
5th Power Grid Model Meet-up
It is with great pleasure that we extend to you an invitation to the 5th Power Grid Model Meet-up, scheduled for 6th June 2024. This event will adopt a hybrid format, allowing participants to join us either through an online Mircosoft Teams session or in person at TU/e located at Den Dolech 2, Eindhoven, Netherlands. The meet-up will be hosted by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), a research university specializing in engineering science & technology.
Power Grid Model
The global energy transition is placing new and unprecedented demands on Distribution System Operators (DSOs). Alongside upgrades to grid capacity, processes such as digitization, capacity optimization, and congestion management are becoming vital for delivering reliable services.
Power Grid Model is an open source project from Linux Foundation Energy and provides a calculation engine that is increasingly essential for DSOs. It offers a standards-based foundation enabling real-time power systems analysis, simulations of electrical power grids, and sophisticated what-if analysis. In addition, it enables in-depth studies and analysis of the electrical power grid’s behavior and performance. This comprehensive model incorporates essential factors such as power generation capacity, electrical losses, voltage levels, power flows, and system stability.
Power Grid Model is currently being applied in a wide variety of use cases, including grid planning, expansion, reliability, and congestion studies. It can also help in analyzing the impact of renewable energy integration, assessing the effects of disturbances or faults, and developing strategies for grid control and optimization.
What to expect
For the upcoming meetup we are organizing, we have an exciting lineup of activities planned:
-Insightful presentations covering two practical applications of the Power Grid Model.
-An update on the latest advancements in Power Grid -Model technology during the first and second quarters of 2024.
-An interactive brainstorming session to discuss and propose new feature requests.
-An opportunity to connect with fellow Power Grid Model enthusiasts and users.
LF Energy Webinar: Carbon Data Specifications: Mechanisms to Improve Data Acc...DanBrown980551
This LF Energy webinar took place June 20, 2024. It featured:
-Alex Thornton, LF Energy
-Hallie Cramer, Google
-Daniel Roesler, UtilityAPI
-Henry Richardson, WattTime
In response to the urgency and scale required to effectively address climate change, open source solutions offer significant potential for driving innovation and progress. Currently, there is a growing demand for standardization and interoperability in energy data and modeling. Open source standards and specifications within the energy sector can also alleviate challenges associated with data fragmentation, transparency, and accessibility. At the same time, it is crucial to consider privacy and security concerns throughout the development of open source platforms.
This webinar will delve into the motivations behind establishing LF Energy’s Carbon Data Specification Consortium. It will provide an overview of the draft specifications and the ongoing progress made by the respective working groups.
Three primary specifications will be discussed:
-Discovery and client registration, emphasizing transparent processes and secure and private access
-Customer data, centering around customer tariffs, bills, energy usage, and full consumption disclosure
-Power systems data, focusing on grid data, inclusive of transmission and distribution networks, generation, intergrid power flows, and market settlement data
LF Energy Webinar: Carbon Data Specifications: Mechanisms to Improve Data Acc...
White paper drupal for edu
1. Web Content Management for Education and E-learning
Untraditional Open Source Software Solutions
by Kevin Davison
2. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
Table of Contents
WRITERS AND EDUCATORS PREFER TO “KEEP IT SIMPLE, SAM” 3
TRADITIONAL APPROACHES FOR WRITERS AND EDUCATORS 3
ONE PROFESSIONAL WRITER’S UNTRADITIONAL APPROACH 4
ONE UNTRADITIONAL APPROACH FOR WRITERS AND EDUCATORS 5
DRUPALED AND THE “FUNNY MONKEY COMMONS” 6
IS OPEN SOURCE AN ADDED BENEFIT OR SETBACK? 6
LMS AND VLE‐SPECIFIC OPTIONS 7
WHO USES DRUPAL? 8
WHAT’S NEXT FOR EDUCATORS, WRITERS, AND THE READERS? 8
RESOURCES 9
2
3. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
Writers And Educators Prefer To “Keep It Simple, Sam”
Decisions to use new technology for content management are often made by
technical and professional writers. They often drive initiative to adopt
technology, since their roles have evolved from simply gathering information
from subject matter experts (SME), to using sophisticated software to
publish content online. Technical and professional writers have paved the
way for document tracking, knowledge and learning management, workflow,
and web content management (WCM). The simplest solutions available are
often the first choice for writers, as long as it meets the needs of everyone
involved on the content development team.
Enterprise software solutions often involve high costs toward
implementation and support, which requires engineering resources and
Keep It Simple, Sam.
project management to maintain. With the increasing rate of adoption of
The focus of this whitepaper various open source software solutions, the potential to save more time and
is to introduce non-traditional money is evident. Fewer engineering and management resources are required
open source solutions that fit for proven software systems with packaged solutions for academic and
the requirements of technical career training purposes. This becomes appealing to writers, who prefer
and professional writers for long-lasting solutions that meet the needs of everyone involved with content
the management of content management and document workflow.
used for education and e- Some perceive that open source software lacks the professional or
learning, focusing on Drupal enterprise-level support that large software companies may provide. Many
and DrupalEd. open source communities widely collaborate among their developers and
offer equally sufficient support services, often for free. It’s difficult for those
without experience in the open source community to realize how service can
possibly be offered freely, since private software companies have charged for
every feature and service they possibly can. Companies such as Acquia
provide commercial support for Drupal, rivaling the support structures of
large companies with proprietary software solutions. Open source software is
emerging as an acceptable option for academic and corporate communities
Acquia is a commercial open seeking solutions for online education and e-learning for students and
source software company employees with non-traditional needs.
providing products, services,
There are several popular, open source software packages for Course
and technical support for the
open source Drupal social
Management Systems (CMS), also known as a Learning Management
publishing system. Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) that will be
covered. The focus of this whitepaper is to introduce these non-traditional
open source solutions that fit requirements of technical and professional
writers for the management of content used for education and e-learning,
specifically elaborating on Drupal and DrupalEd.
Traditional Approaches For Writers And Educators
Open source education and e-learning web applications may be good options
for organizations that require flexibility, and modular growth potential.
Technical and professional writers require this to meet demands to provide
3
4. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
content quickly, while developed cost effectively. There are many acronyms
for Course Management Systems (CMS), also known as Learning
Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE), that
relate to online education and e-learning. Many familiar web applications,
including Moodle, Blackboard, Sakai, Claroline, and ATutor provide
packages for academic requirements that lack customizable interface design
and application flexibility. Other web applications offer frameworks that
increase this potential, and may require a little more effort to implement
them to match their full capabilities, while not all organizations require this.
The potential advantages from non-traditional solutions include design
customization with greater community support, application flexibility, and a
modular approach for scalability for potential growth in the number of users
and those who contribute content directly.
One Professional Writer’s Untraditional Approach
Jon Starbuck is a professional writer and author of “Run Your Diesel Vehicle
on Biofuels, A Do-It-Yourself Manual.” He maintains AEES.co.uk for the
Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies (AEES) while continuing his
own education about Renewable Energy Systems Technology (REST) and
attending Loughborough University in the UK remotely. AEES is “the long-
standing and successful MSc held at the Centre for Alternative Technology
(CAT) in Mid Wales.”
AEES.co.uk is based on a non-traditional solution to provide
constructive forums, recent news, document management, a collaborative
Wiki, and general information to its students. Starbuck chose PHP-Nuke for
this environment in 2004, which is an open source Content Management
System (CMS), not a packaged LMS. Loughborough University uses
Moodle, and they cannot be equally compared. Each has its own reasons for
different features, and this isn’t a traditional academic environment. AEES
needed a solution that could be customized and maintained easily by any
content contributor or technical writer.
There are some limitations to this non-traditional approach to
education and e-learning, such as documentation because "coders are rarely
good writers." Starbuck wrote much of the user documentation for CAT
himself. PHP-Nuke provided enough information about its technical
AEES is “the long-standing installation procedures with very little available about user issues and general
and successful MSc held at support procedures. In Starbucks’s experience, a good solution should
the Centre for Alternative provide useful documentation.
Technology (CAT) in Mid Open source software has the reputation of being vulnerable to
Wales.” hackers, and in Starbuck’s experience, “open source concerns include
security flaws, but these holes are often filled and reacted to immediately."
He had one experience where a Developer plugged some security holes, and
it took only an hour of the Developer’s time since there was adequate
technical documentation on PHP-Nuke’s website. The software was also
writing in PHP, which is open source, and simple for most developers to
debug and program. This software, like most open source software, doesn’t
4
5. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
require direct involvement from any proprietary software support
department. Anyone can help.
The primary concern with any approach to provide content and
collaboration between students is the missing classroom experience. His
personal experience with this problem is in regards to his current online
enrollment with Loughborough University. The Master’s degree is highly
regarded, though “it lacks the learning experience. I feel very isolated,
ignored, on the sidelines. I don’t feel part of the course and the community.”
Could this experience be improved with better technology? “They do record
the lecture, but usually the quality of the recording is very poor. The audio is
poor, and often the video lacks production quality. What they’re trying to do
is give remotely educated students like me, a ‘fuller experience.’”
Unfortunately, the production quality of video is insufficient in this
case. Essentially, the content is not nearly to the level of quality that the
students can get in person. The multimedia component of any online
education and e-learning system should utilize the best solutions available to
provide quality audio and video to students and employees remotely.
Technical and professional writers must also adopt these methods to provide
multimedia content, not simply written documents to download. Students
“For an open source WCM and employees who aren’t present in the classroom or workplace demand a
vendor to be relevant, it must fuller experience. “It’s not necessarily about the education and e-learning
have a satisfactory product system itself. It’s about the content that’s presented, the quality of the media.
offering, proven enterprise-
As with Starbuck’s current experience, the more he feels like he’s involved
level implementations, and a
large — and passionate — with the education and e-learning, the more he feels part of the community
community of developers and he enjoys sharing.
service providers” Educators, including professional and technical writers, have a
challenge to utilize multimedia along with other written content now that it is
Forrester Research available as a standard to utilize. This is independent of any traditional or
non-traditional education and e-learning system, and is potentially the core
component in some online learning environments. Ultimately, the most
important component in any decision to adopt an LMS, CMS, or VLE is
whether it can provide the best user experience possible. Jon’s experiences
provide a unique perspective with implementing and using two different
systems (PHP-Nuke and Moodle), as a professional writer, and now a
student. The most important factor to him is user experience, not the
technology itself.
One Untraditional Approach For Writers And Educators
“Compared to a traditional Drupal is traditionally considered to be “a free software package that allows
Learning Management an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize
System, Drupal can feel less a wide variety of content on a website” (Drupal.org). Packaged solutions for
restrictive; Drupal has been academic environments like DrupalEd are catching up with traditional
designed to interact with the LMSs, and there is increasing demand for Drupal in the academic
Web, and to make the most community. While most LMSs like Moodle offer "a software package for
of the array of possibilities
producing Internet-based courses and web sites," this tight packaging can
offered by the Internet.”
limit the potential of some e-learning environments that administrators and
Bill Fitzgerald
5
6. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
content contributors may want more flexibility with (moodle.org). There are
usually three types of users involved with Drupal sites: readers, content
developers, and site maintainers. Content developers include Technical and
Professional Writers who need a solution to contribute content, manage
content, and distribute it through workflow. The simplest solutions mean the
most to these users, and when site maintainers don’t need to be involved as
often, this reduces cost.
Drupal still lacks the traditional course management framework that
Moodle and other LMSs contain. If course management and formal academic
process is not emphasized for an education and e-learning project, then a
non-traditional approach may be a better option. The non-traditional
approach offers lower costs and flexibility to informal education and e-
learning environments.
DrupalEd And The “Funny Monkey Commons”
DrupalEd is a free, packaged solution from Bill Fitzgerald, author of “Drupal
for Education and E-Learning,” and FunnyMonkey.com. The Funny Monkey
Commons is essentially a paid service for schools and learning
organizations, a personalized version of DrupalEd. Compared to Moodle, it
offers a similar range of features with more individual support.
The goal of DrupalEd, according to Jane Hart, is to “create a flexible
framework that allows for users to set up a social learning environment or a
more traditional learning environment depending on the needs of the learners
within the site.” Knight Hart is the Founder and Editor, Social Media &
Learning Advisor, for the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.
She considers DrupalEd “as an informal learning site where all users have
“Drupal for Education and E- comparable permissions, or as a more hierarchical learning environment with
learning,” by Bill Fitzgerald
students, teachers, classes, and working groups.” This description covers a
wide range of needs from educational institutions, as well as companies that
need similar features to educate employees.
Is Open Source An Added Benefit Or Setback?
According to the Open Source Initiative (OSI), "stewards of the Open Source
Definition (OSD) and the community-recognized body for reviewing and
approving licenses as OSD-conformant… open source doesn't just mean
access to the source code.” The distribution terms of open-source software
must comply with the following criteria [according to OSI]:
1. Free Redistribution
“As a result, the open source 2. Source Code
model often builds higher 3. Derived Works
quality, more secure, more 4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
easily integrated software. 5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
And it does it at a vastly 6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
accelerated pace and often at 7. Distribution of License
a lower cost”. 8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
Redhat Software
6
7. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral
Open source software, and especially those useful for Education and E-
learning is cost-effective, and beneficial to environments that don’t want to
“The open-source model has rely on proprietary sources all the time. Where proprietary software relies on
a lot to offer the business “secrecy,” this simply means that fewer people know about the flaws
world” because the source is concealed. However, that doesn’t make it any more
secure. Open source software relies on the community to find obvious flaws,
OSI - Open Source Case for
Business
and then fix them immediately. This is possible with so many Developer
eyes constantly watching and testing the source code.
Instead of proprietary software hoarding all the sales and support
services, this is offered to the open source community. The community could
include anyone at the same company or educational institution. This not only
creates jobs, but internal resources that offer better availability and business
memory that can’t be provided by proprietary software services at the same
costs. Open source software facilitates income growth for business that
supports its users, not customers that finance the mega-software company
conversely.
LMS and VLE-specific Options
There are four main open source players, with Moodle in the forefront of the
market share. However, “Other” tends to be the majority leader in this space,
which includes hundreds of other small and custom solutions. SumTotal and
Blackboard other proprietary approaches and do not meet the criteria of open
source software. The following LMS or VLE options will be compared with
the non-traditional approach that Drupal can provide:
San Francisco State Moodle (<http://moodle.org/>)
University students use “Moodle is a software package for producing Internet-based courses
“iLearn,” which is a and web sites. It is a global development project designed to support
customized version of a social constructionist framework of education.”
Moodle for curriculum
management and student Sakai (<http://sakaiproject.org/>)
collaboration. “The Sakai Community develops and distributes the open-source
Sakai CLE, an enterprise-ready collaboration and courseware
management platform that provides users with a suite of learning,
portfolio, library and project tools.”
Claroline (<http://www.claroline.net/>)
“Claroline is an Open Source eLearning and eWorking platform
allowing teachers to build effective online courses and to manage
learning and collaborative activities on the web.”
ATutor (<http://www.atutor.ca/>)
7
8. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
“ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content
Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and
adaptability in mind. Administrators can install or update ATutor in
minutes, develop custom themes to give ATutor a new look, and
easily extend its functionality with feature modules. Educators can
quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional
content, easily import prepackaged content, and conduct their courses
online. Students learn in an adaptive learning environment.”
Who Uses Drupal?
Well-known universities like Yale, Harvard, Penn State, Rice, MIT, and
Stanford use Drupal for education and e-learning, or simply to manage
content internally. Organizations like Unicef, The United Nations, PBS,
NATO, Amnesty International, and NASA also utilize Drupal. President
Barak Obama’s administration uses Drupal to help educate the country about
the stimulus plan at www.recovery.gov. Many for-profit companies are
proud to admit using Drupal, even though they may have content
management or educational web applications of their own. Some companies
include Reuters, Yahoo, Adobe, The BBC, Forbes, and Fast Company.
Drupal has its dedicated following, and there are reasons writers, educators,
www.Recovery.gov and other users choose it for education and e-learning purposes.
What’s Next For Educators, Writers, And The Readers?
"24% of LMS owners are This white paper evaluated traditional and untraditional (open source)
currently planning on software solutions for education and e-learning in academic and career
switching platforms." training environments. Some may not consider Drupal as a traditional LMS
or VLE. With the recent declining market share of Blackboard and Moodle,
Learning Management Systems Drupal is being recognized as a valid solution that rivals Moodle, and other
2008: Facts, Practical Analysis, proprietary enterprise solutions for education and e-learning in various
Trends and Vendor Profiles educational and business environments.
Proprietary software can be more expensive than open source
software when considering licensing fees and support costs billed at a
premium. Some consider this price tag the payoff for software that’s labeled
“easy to use,” and supported by certified professional services. This is not
quantifiably the case, as the total cost of ownership involved fails to reflect
value.
The bottom line is that rich user experience, reliable community-
based services, and ease of use for writers and readers are the most important
factors involved. Writers and educators need the ability to connect with team
members involved with managing content, while delivering it to readers
easily and effectively. This includes the availability of quality multimedia
with a community-building environment to help reproduce what’s missing
from actually being educated along with other students or employees in the
same room.
8
9. by Kevin Davison, TPW 600, Spring 2009
Resources
ATutor. ATutor Learning Content Management System: Information. 01 04 2009. 01 04 2009
<http://www.atutor.ca>.
Claroline Consortium. Home. 01 04 2009. 01 04 2009 <http://claroline.net/>.
Drupal. About Drupal. 28 02 2008. 01 04 2009 <http://drupal.org/about>.
—. Drupal in Education. 01 04 2009. 01 04 2009 <http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-education>.
Fitzgerald, Bill. Drupal for Education and E-learning. Birmingham: PACKT Publishing, 2008.
Hart, Jane. Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day. 22 04 2007. 01 04 2009
<http://janeknight.typepad.com/pick/2007/04/drupaled.html>.
Moodle. About Us. 01 04 2009. 01 04 2009 <http://moodle.org/about/>.
Open Source Initiative. Open Source Initiative. 7 July 2006. 10 April 2009
<www.opensource.org>.
Powers, Stephen. Web Content Management And Open Source. Forrester Research, Inc.
Cambridge, 19 06 2008.
Starbuck, Jon. AEES and Jon Starbuck Kevin Davison. San Francisco, 09 03 2009.
Urevick-Ackelsbert, Alex and Jody Hamilton. "Slides from our presentation at the Higher
Education Web Symposium." 17 07 2008. zivtech. 01 04 2009
<http://www.zivtech.com/blog/slides-our-presentation-higher-education-web-
symposium>.
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