Posts Tagged ‘eLearning’

Smartphones, iPads and tablets are all great devices for surfing the Internet, keeping in touch with friends and family as well as for reading books, catching up on the latest news and shopping online. Over the last couple of years however, organisations have recognised their worth with regards to use in the workplace.

A popular fast food restaurant in America for example, called Sonic, implemented a mobile solution to help train staff on health and safety, etc. They have reported a five times greater up-take with mobile learning than they achieved with other forms of technology-based learning.

The following infographic explains how and why companies big and small can use mobile and mobile apps to gain competitive advantage and achieve their objectives.

If you’d like to explore the possibility of using mobile in your workplace, contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss how Moodle can be used as a learning application on a mobile device.

Sources: line.co.uk, zendesk


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This is an excellent video I found on the Guardian website, showcasing how Moodle has benefited all those involved with Great Corby School.  Students, Teachers, Parents and Governors all actively use the Moodle site and the footage explains how it adds to the education process.  Well worth a watch.

As always – if you should require any further information on Synergy Learning’s Moodle Services please feel free to contact us on info@synergy-learning.com or by calling +44 (0) 28 9042 2000.

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There has been a lot of buzz around Totara recently and we at Synergy Learning are pleased to announce that we have been fully approved to supply Totara services as a Platinum Partner.

What is Totara?

Totara is a customised version of the Open Source Software Moodle, designed specifically to meet the elearning needs of the business world.  It includes a range of extensions to the Moodle software to support:

  1. Competency management
  2. Team management
  3. Individual development plans
  4. Classroom management
  5. Reporting


Totara v. Moodle

We don’t need to tell you how great we think Moodle is.

As a corporate distribution version of Moodle, Totara comes with extra functionality that will be benefit the business user:

  1. Sophisticated reporting, including managers and dashboard reports
  2. Reporting of e-learning and course completion by organisational unit, job role, completion status etc
  3. Classroom scheduling and management
  4. Individual development plans with objectives
  5. Learning paths for job roles
  6. Team management
  7. Competency management
  8. Integration with external HR systems

For a full comparison of the two pieces of software click here

Totara Demo

A demo of Totara can be viewed by clicking on the link below:


Totara with Synergy Learning

As the UK and Ireland’s leading Moodle Partner we have many year’s experience delivering elearning solutions to business costumers.  We have an in-depth understanding of what is required for businesses to successfully facilitate CPD and now Totara provides the tools to take it to the next level.

We offer everything you need to get your Totara site up and running and to make sure it is working for you from it from the outset:

  1. Consultation
  2. Installation
  3. Customisation
  4. Hosting
  5. Support
  6. Training
  7. Themes
  8. Development

If you have any further questions about Totara or would like to discuss anything in more detail feel free to call us at the office 028 9042 2000 or email info@synergy-learning.com.


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I’m just writing a quick blog post on my experiences at this years Emtech event at Heriot Watt University .  At the minute the 2nd phase of workshops are taking place so we’re between Keynote speakers and Exhibitions and I have a few minutes to re-cap.

The strapline for the event is ‘Are you afraid of IT?’and the theme throughout has been – don’t be!  Don’t be afraid to pilot new technologies, explore possibilities, experiment, let your pupils or staff experiment and allow freedom to do so.

There has been some really interesting keynote speakers who have explained through case studies and real life scenarios the benefits technology can bring to an organisation.  Steph Gray explained the need to be sensible about the risks involved with social media, but not scared.  I sat in on Steph’s workshop on using socmed in the work place and it was great to see so many people exploring how they can benefit from twitter and facebook and how to overcome barriers that get in the way.

Gavin Oattes had the crowd laughing from the outset, effectively demonstrating the crux of his presentation which was the power of positivity.  He asked us to think about the first time we sat in front of a computer, and how far we have advanced from then.  As he was talking I was tweeting and writing notes on my iPhone without even giving it a second thought, the story being with time new technology is something that becomes second nature.  It is up to us to start experimenting early…without fear.

Fraser Speirs gave a really interesting presentation complete with video footage, on how his school (Cedars School of Excellence) came to the decision to introduce one to one learning via the iPad.  He re-iterated the need for an open minded approach to the use of technology and the internet, and the need for freedom to explore the possibilities – for both teachers and students.  There were some great examples on the positive impact this ground-breaking approach was having on art, drama, geography and across the whole learning environment.  Not to mention the fact every student got their own iPad!

There is one speaker left – Mr. Stephen Downes, ‘a leading proponent of the use of online media and services in education’, so I’ll look forward to that.  Nothing left to say for now except that the time and preparation that has went into this conference is evident and I feel better informed as a result.

Now I’m off to get a sandwich.

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Moodle 2.0 is slowly engraining itself into the fabric of the elearning community and has proved popular with our clients who have chosen to upgrade.

Still there are a number of schools and companies who have chosen to hold off for the release of Moodle 2.1. Those people will be pleased to hear the release date has been announced – expect it June 2011.

As with every new version Moodle 2.1 is a, “refactoring and modernising” of the current version. According to Moodle.org, “in Moodle 2.1 the core development teams will focus almost exclusively on improving the core activity modules and blocks in Moodle, tackling one or two of the following tasks at a time.”

Refactoring existing modules

  1. Refactor of the Forum module
  2. Refactor of the question bank and quiz, Tim Hunt, The Open University, UK.
  3. Rewriting of the grading interfaces, including rubrics
  4. Adding ability to restore 1.9 backups to 2.x

Adding new modules

  1. A new module that combines the best of questionnaire and feedback and survey into an upgrade for the survey module.
  2. We’ll also be reviewing and adding some of the most popular third-party modules (eg Book)

To read through the Moodle 2.0 release notes visit Moodle.org. For more information on our various Moodle 2.0 upgrade options visit Your Route to Moodle 2.0.


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I don’t know what it is like in the rest of the world but the UK and Ireland have been heavily disrupted by the recent bad weather. As a result the majority of schools have been closed or had to close for some length of time. As always this inspires a flurry of blog posts venting anger and astonishment that in the age of the Virtual Learning Environment schools aren’t better prepared for such an eventuality.

This guy (click here) in particular has pre-empted the excuses a school might give for not continuing operations via their VLE and although it is interesting to read his responses they do seem a bit idealistic.

So what do you think? Should schools be at a stage where they can use their VLE to continue operations even when the building is closed?


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As we get closer to BETT 2011 I thought I would do a bit of research into reasons why schools and universities would chose Moodle over the competition.

There have been a number of reports recently of organisations moving from Blackboard to Moodle with a variety of reasons being given, the most consistent being the huge saving that comes with eliminating the annual license fee.  I read a report from Vasaar College who estimated a saving of $50,000 annually by switching from the commercial Blackboard to the Open Source Moodle.

But the huge money saving was not the only reason for Vasaars decision to switch VLE, as explained by various members of their team…

Jeffrey Schneider, an Associate Professor commented on the different reasons the faculty where drawn to Moodle.

“A sizable majority of [the faculty] were dissatisfied with Blackboard—it seemed really limited and didn’t offer the same kind of metaphor for learning.  It was very teacher directed and felt more fake and artificial.  Moodle is a much more attractive, flexible interface.”

Associate Professor Rachel Friedman, who uses elearning in her classes, pointed out what she considers to be the advantage of Moodle:

“The automatic layout of the semester week-by-week, for example, allows for an “interactive” syllabus—not a frozen document, but something that evolves in response to what is actually happening in the classroom.”

Steve Taylor, a member of Vasaar’s Moodle Support team tells it from a technician’s point of view:

“Technologically speaking, Moodle is easier to maintain than Blackboard because it is an open-source software—a program whose code is accessible to those running the site.

“This means that if there’s a little bug, or if we want a function to behave differently or if someone has created a great new function, we can modify the program. We’ve made lots of modifications and while that has called for some work on our part, it’s resulted in a system that better meets the users’ needs,”

Another school that recently made the move from Blackboard to Moodle is the North Shore Senior High School.  Again their district viewed Blackboard as being a, “huge investment that was putting a hole in their tight overall budget.”

A report by the school’s newsletter described Moodle as being:

“a stronger [version] of Blackboard which includes more advanced features that allow teachers to become more involved in a student’s academic future”

Some of the specific advantages of Moodle outlined by North Shore include:

“it promotes frequent feedback to students. Students are sent email notices when an instructor has posted grades, added feedback to an assignment, and an assignment can be updated.”

“The grade book tool in Moodle lets you add feedback in addition to a grade or score. Built-in blog and wiki tools in Moodle provide new communication options for group work and journals.”

“Moodle students can access all of the course resources from the course front page.”

Over all North Shore concluded that as well as saving money, Moodle provided a site that was much more personalised and flexible.


Introducing Moodle 2.0

Another topic that is sure to be a hot one at BETT 2011 is the release of Moodle 2.0.  With the release of Moodle 2.0 comes a whole host of new and improved features that continues to set Moodle apart from the competition.

The Open University, who operate one of the world’s largest VLE’s, has recently reviewed their options in the light of the advances made with the various software options.

Having looked at the functionality offered by current and future editions of Moodle, Blackboard, Desire2Learn and Sakai it was concluded that the new Moodle 2.0 was best suited to the Open Universities requirements.

A current consideration for organisations using Moodle will be how to introduce Moodle 2.0 as efficiently as possible.  Ross McKenzie, Strategic Development Manager at the Open University, explains how they plan to execute the transition to Moodle 2.0:

“The first student-ready release of our new OUVLE will come online in June 2011, with a follow-up release in September 2011.  We’re planning to run the new OUVLE alongside the existing Moodle-1.9-based OUVLE for at least 12 months, and we’ll be gradually moving students over to the new OUVLE during that period.”

It is inevitable that with Moodle 2.0 being such a major release a lot of Moodle users will want a transitional period for introducing Moodle 2.0 so as to cause as little disruption to their operations as possible.

We have factored this into our Moodle 2.0 upgrade packages, offering a number of ‘Test Options’ that give  Moodlers the chance to play around with a Moodle course, test site or duplicate site.  This means you can acquaint yourself with all the new features that come with Moodle 2.0 before introducing it fully.

For more information on our various ‘Route to Moodle 2.0′ options click here

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Wednesday saw the announcement of the Coalition Government’s Spending Review, which will affect public spending and education budgets for the next four years.

The good news for schools in England is their budget is set to rise from £35bn to £39bn however they are likely to be affected by the significant cuts to local authorities. Universities have been affected the worst, facing a 40% cut to teaching budgets; post-18 further education didn’t go unscathed, taking a 25% hit.

Saving money with eLearning

In my last blog post I looked at how top universities were using elearning to generate revenue.  Now I would like to take a look at the money saving potential offered by elearning.

You will only have to visit London’s BETT show in January to see that education technology is big news and big money, but that doesn’t have to mean more budget.  As a matter of fact it means quite the opposite.

eLearning offers a number of money saving opportunities for both education and business organisations.  For businesses in today’s credit crunch society training is still a must, as are budget cuts.  eLearning can facilitate both, directly offering significant savings in travel costs and indirectly saving money by reducing the time staff are away from the office.

Ernst and Young provide a good example of the potential savings on offer.  The company cut training costs 35% while improving consistency and scalability.  They condensed about 2,900 hours of classroom training into 700 hours of web-based learning, 200 hours of distance learning and 500 hours of classroom instruction, a cut of 52% (Brandon, 2000)

eLearning can also offers savings on delivery costs, removing the need for classrooms, additional trainer costs and the cost of offline resources.

In a previous blog post I referenced Sawtry Community College’s aims to save up to 20% of the school’s budget over the next year, basing the bulk of their savings on technology.  An example of saving on resources come from their science department, who saved £1000 a quarter on paper, laser cartridges and running costs by scanning resources into their VLE rather than laser printing and photocopying.

Open Source Software

eLearning software comes in all shapes and sizes.  There is the option to buy the software (e.g. Microsoft) or download the Open Source equivalent (e.g. OpenOffice) for free.  Open Source Software, the free version, is readily available and covers almost every requirement in the national curriculum so it is not necessary to buy any software at all.

There is a myth that if it doesn’t cost anything then it isn’t worth anything.  Open Source Software is capable of doing everything commercial software does and comes without the annual license fee, meaning huge savings.

In Becta’s 2005 report on Open Source Software in Schools, a comprehensive study of the spectrum of use and related ICT infrastructure costs, it was discovered that OSS schools made a saving of 24% – 44% compared to non-OSS schools.

The report also found that the cost of support in OSS schools were generally around 50-60% of the equivalent non-OSS support costs.  A quote from one of the school’s involved in the study (although the specific person is not referenced):

“If I moved anywhere else […] I’d implement OSS because the financial savings are considerable and this releases more resources to tackle successful implementation.”

As an additional benefit, because OSS is free to download there is no vendor lock-in leaving you free to shop around for the best value.

Moodle

Moodle is an example of Open Source eLearning Software and fast becoming the Virtual Learning Environment of choice for educators around the world.  As such it comes with all the benefits of the best commercial equivalents but without the added cost of the annual license fee.  This can equate to significant savings in tight budgets.

In a previous blog post I referenced the University of North Carolina’s study into the best VLE for them.  At the time they where using Blackboard, but found,

“the University would realise a cost savings of 52% in year 2011-2012 by switching to Moodle as the standard University Learning Management System.”

Another example of Moodle‘s cost saving potential is offered by Marc Blake, Network Manager at Highworth Grammar School, speaking to the BBC in 2009:

“For our school to upgrade to Office 2007 it will cost around £27,000 as a one-off cost, but that doesn’t include the cost of re-training and updating all the associated worksheets and teaching material

“To get the equivalent of Moodle for our 1200 students would have cost in excess of £3,000 per year.  You don’t get the professional support, but if you’re willing to take that on, it’s great money saving,

Moodle provides all the cost-saving potential that comes with elearning, and as an Open Source Software it comes with all the benefits of commercial software but without the additional fees.  With cost-cutting at the forefront of every organisation’s agenda Moodle has proved time and again to offer real savings to Schools, Universities, Businesses, Private Training Organisations of all sizes.

For more information on our Moodle services click on one of the following links Moodle Hosting, Moodle Training, Moodle Support, Moodle Themes and Moodle Development or email joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com.

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All eyes will be on the government this Wednesday (20th October)  as they announce the results of their spending review, which will lay out public spending plans for the next four years.

The spending review follows on from Lord Browne of Madingley’s Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance. Lord Browne proposes lifting the cap on fees, allowing universities to charge £6,000 to £7,000 annually for degrees, in some cases even more.

Lord Browne also proposes the government withdraws from funding teaching in universities, again shifting the burden to students who will contribute once they have graduated.

The Consequences

If Lord Browne’s proposals are acknowledged in the government’s spending plans, it will have a huge effect on higher education.

The most obvious and immediate result will be the increased financial burden on students. Leaving university with a potential £21k debt (and that’s before factoring in the cost of living) at a time when the benefit of having a degree isn’t altogether evident will be a daunting perspective for any young person.

The changes will also have a knock-on effect on how universities are run and business models will have to be reviewed. Observers predict the closure of universities that struggle to justify the higher tuition fees, as well as the introduction of the 2 year degree. Universities will merge and private universities will emerge. Students will stay closer to home to keep higher education ‘affordable’ and university degrees will be led by student demand.

eLearning

eLearning already plays an important role in universities. It is used to increase the quality of courses, enable courses to be delivered more efficiently and provides the opportunity to teach new groups of students in more flexible ways.

The reduction of government funding and the lifting of the cap on fees will result in costs that will price a number of students out of a university education.  Access will be less about academic ability and more about the ability to pay.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if instead of raising fees to re-coup the losses, universities examined a more innovative use of current technology. In light of the new soft-capped fees, online learning in UK institutions are likely to become an increasingly attractive option for overseas students and offer solutions for people wanting flexible arrangements that allow them to combine work and study.

Top universities are already making use of online degrees to generate revenue. When faced with budget cuts of $800 million the California system’s board of regents were forced to look at new income streams and as a result the University of California, Berkeley aim to be the first top-tier research institution in the US to offer fully online undergraduate degrees.

Closer to home, Durham University generate revenue by using elearning to teach PhD students in Asia and the University of Liverpool have linked themselves with Laureate Education to deliver Online Degrees.

This does not have to mean a compromise on the quality of the courses offered. Dame Lynne Brindley, the head of the UK’s Online Learning Task Force, believes the idea that online learning as a ‘poor substitute’ for campus provision is a myth. Speaking to the Times Higher Education Dame Lynne goes on to say the best examples of online learning were “not cheap alternatives” and required “deep consideration”.

Given the current recession, elearning offers a lot of potential for generating revenue as well as cost cutting. With countries like the US, France and Germany investing more public money in education to aid economic recovery the UK cannot afford to restrict the number of students eligible for university. They are the very people the countries future depends on.

Moodle (an aside)

I could not go without mentioning the added cost-saving benefits of Moodle, which offers the same as a commercial elearning environment and without the annual license fee. And Moodle is proof of the potential growth offered by online learning, growing from a bungalow in Australia to 1,000,000 users worldwide.

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In Moodle 2.0 site wide user profile pages can be customised by users with blocks, news-feeds and so on.  The aim here is to make the “My Moodle” interface a more usable space that provides each user with their own personal experience.

According to Moodle.org, My Moodle initially could come with specific pages:

  1. home page / dashboard – A completely user configurable page where the informational blocks can be added and moved. Users could have items such as news-feeds, calendars, etc.
  2. profile – The same function that currently exists on the user profile page. It will provide options for the user to assign what information can be visible by what roles.
  3. blog – Access to the user’s blog (like the current tab on the user profile page).
  4. course list – A better version of the current My Moodle page.
  5. report – Access to various reports and logs on your activities.

Each page would be available to be enabled or disabled to the My Moodle interface.

The release of Moodle 2.0 is drawing ever nearer.  If you are interested in upgrading your current version of Moodle email me at joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com.


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