The South East Training Programme for General Practice, based in the city of Waterford, was established in 1991 to prepare doctors for working in General Practice. In February 2009 the Programme commenced online training with the view to enhancing the onsite training.

After a review of course management systems in use by universities and businesses, it was decided Moodle offered the best solutions.  According to the research carried out by the South East GPTP(1), some of the benefits of Moodle included the ability to:

1. Create a course for GP trainees and control access to the course
2. Lay out the topics for a term and upload aims and objectives, documents, presentations, web links and multimedia
3. Engage in discussion forums with teachers and learners
4. Set and review assignments and receive submissions

Synergy Learning worked closely with the South East GPTP to implement the new Moodle site providing Moodle Hosting, Support and Training.

Results

Questionnaires carried out by the South East GPTP found trainee’s experience of Moodle was overwhelmingly positive:

1. 84% of respondents believed that Moodle had brought positive changes to the training programme
2. 95% respondents would recommend Moodle to colleagues in other GP training programmes

Respondents were asked to comment on their experience of Moodle.  In all, 95% of respondents made comments.  The most frequent topics raised in the comments were:

“ Easy to use, great communication tool, allows wide sharing of information and cuts down on paper waste.”

“Topics posted in plenty of time prior to meetings which allows for better preparation and planning.  Better follow-up by particiapants in topics raised as documents can be uploaded within the week.”

“Immediacy of contact, promptness of reply and all the information in one place.”

“Has fitted in well with the running of meetings and also useful as a study tool”

“It has resulted in better communication between trainees and programme directors and facilitated better planning of day release.  It has also made it easier to communicate with the programme administrator”

“Very positive, all GP training schemes should have one.  Has facilitated communication and information-sharing, I think it has been of enormous benefit”

Conclusion

In conclusion, the authors of the Research Article comment:

“Moodle is easy to use [and] the online learning environment was rapidly adopted and maintained to facilitate teaching and learning.

“Moodle has been successfully implemented in the South East GPTP.  The course management system has received widespread acceptance and participation from trainees, programme directors and trainers.

“Moodle repays the time and effort made by all parties in making it work.  The members of the South East GPTP recommend the use of Moodle to augment general practice training.”

(The South East General Practice Training Programme is funded by the Health Service Executive.)

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You can expect the following new features in Mahara 1.3:

1. Plans and Collections (more information to follow)
2. Simplified navigation
3. Gravatar support
4. RSS feeds for public blogs
5. Pluggable anti-spam system
6. View themes
7. Email bounce handling
8. Moodle 2.0 Porfolio API support
9. View/artefact feedback enhancements
10. Statistics in the Admin area
11. New blocktypes: notifications, recently modified views, recent forum posts
12. Configurable forum post indentation
13. Personal dashboard

For more information on Synergy Learning’s Mahara services click here.

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I’ve finally managed to drag Caroline Kennedy, our Multi-Media Designer (and recent winner of the Moodle 2.0 Theme Design Contest), away from her computer to talk us through designing Moodle Themes, her experiences of Moodle 2.0, and her time at Synergy Learning…

Congratulations on your success in the Moodle 2.0 Themes Contest. You must be pleased?

Yes I’m delighted and really excited to see the theme in the Moodle 2.0 core. It has been a huge learning curve for me over a short period of time and a great opportunity to get to grips with Moodle 2.0.

How long have you been working with Synergy Learning?

I am pleased to say I have been working at Synergy Learning since September 2007. This excludes my time here for placement during my University years.

As a Multimedia Designer at Synergy Learning, I am responsible for creating engaging and interactive eLearning content that will make your virtual learning environment unique to you.

Synergy Learning is a leading Moodle and Mahara partner in the UK and the only Moodle Partner offering full service solutions, therefore, I play a huge role in the design and development of themes for these eLearning platforms. I am also very much involved in any multimedia/web-based design that goes on here at the studio.

What makes Synergy Learning themes different?

Apart from having years of experience and a specialist team of designers and developers, we also offer a personal touch to each and every theme. We work very closely with our clients, to produce a theme that is right for them in design and functionality, whatever their budget.

We love a challenge and also have the expertise to fully customise a theme to give the client exactly what they need. With Synergy Learning you can achieve a theme, which is slick and professional, showcasing your learning environment.

What process do you go through when designing a Moodle Theme?

This will vary slightly depending on which of the 3 Moodle Theme packages the client purchases.

The Bronze theme package, allows the client to choose one of our template designs and personalize it with their logo and a colour scheme.

The Silver theme package allows me to design a complete Moodle makeover based on the client’s logo and any visual identity guidelines they may have in place.

The Gold theme package allows the client to experiment more with their Moodle environment and incorporate customized functionality in order to achieve more of a website style look and feel.

I would work closely with the client to make sure I understand their requirements and start a process of ‘Moodle-boarding’ and feedback, which leads to a professionally designed Moodle theme.

What do you think makes a good Moodle Theme?

Moodle is Open Source, the functionality is there and continually being improved, so for me a good Moodle Theme is one that makes excellent use of the features Moodle has to offer but at the same time, comes with a strong design concept.

A lot of the core themes are pretty standard in terms of design, so to be able to build upon what is there and give it an edge, is very important.

What challenges did Moodle 2.0 present?

Moodle 2.0 came with a huge number of core changes to the platform. Getting to grips with the new layout structure was possibly the most challenging. However, these changes have created greater flexibility in terms of skinning a theme.

Any tips for Moodle Themers out there?

Have patience! It is not always easy to work with someone else’s code. Think outside the box… almost anything is possible when it comes to themeing for Moodle.

To view the winning Moodle 2.0 ‘Splash’ Theme click here.

For more information on Synergy Learning’s Moodle Theme Services click here or email info@synergy-learning.com.

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Drupal is a Content Management system with built-in functionality and add-on modules that allow for a whole load of features:

1. E-Commerce
2. Blogs
3. Collaborative authoring environments
4. Forums
5. Peer-to-peer networking
6. Newsletters
7. Podcasting
8. Picture galleries
9. File uploads and downloads

Like both Moodle and Mahara, Drupal is:

1) Open-source software distributed under the GPL

2) Highly customisable – according to Saad Bassi, “You can mould it into any type of content-centered / user-generated site: from a social media site that allows users to submit and vote on content, a forum, a job board, to an image gallery or a service for deploying portfolio sites for designers – Drupal can get it done.”

3) Supported by a large community of enthusiastic users and developers - with this comes all the benefits of collaborative products – great modules, quick bug fixes, core updates, support and an endless supply of documentation and tutorials

Some Examples of Drupal Sites

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Firefox

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Mozilla

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My Play

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The New York Observer

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If you are interested in finding out more about how Drupal can benefit your organisation, or to find out more about Synergy Learning’s Drupal services, email me at joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com

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Bulk User Actions enables administrators to select users by creating a filter, then performing any of the following actions:

1. Confirm user accounts created through Email-based self-registration which are not yet confirmed by the user
2. Send a message
3. Delete user accounts
4. Display a list of users on a page
5. Download user data in text, ODS or Excel file format
6. Enrol users in selected courses (in 2.0 onwards)
7. Force users to change their passwords (in 1.9.7 onwards)

The following video, uploaded to youTube by ‘Szymonmhk‘, demonstrates using bulk actions in Moodle

In the meantime to continue on with the ‘What’s new in Moodle 2.0’ theme here is a quick introduction to two of the most talked about new features, designed to help students manage their learning:

1. Conditional Activities
2. Completion Tracking

Conditional Activities, developed by Sam Marshall of the Open University, will appear as a standard feature in Moodle 2.0 onwards, enabling teachers to restrict the availability of any activity according to certain conditions such as date, grade obtained, or activity completion.

There are arguments for and against this form of control over a students progress throughout a course as opposed to allowing them to find their own paths, but that is another blog post altogether.

Completion Tracking allows teachers to specify conditions that define when an activity is considered to be complete e.g. when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached or a choice has been made

The Completion systems itself will consist of 2 parts:

1. Activity Completion
2. Course Completion

Activity completion enables teachers to specify conditions that define when a student has completed an activity, for example when a certain number of posts have been made or a grade has been reached

Course Completion enables teachers to specify conditions that define when a student has completed a course.

For more information on all of Moodle 2.0’s features you should read the Moodle 2.0 Release Notes on Moodle.org.

For more information on implementing Moodle 2.0, or on any of the Synergy Learning services email info@synergy-learning.com.

Congratulations to Caroline Kennedy, Synergy Learning’s Multimedia Designer, for her recent success in the Moodle 2.0 Themes Competition.

Caroline says, “I just want to say a massive thank you! I am really delighted. It has been a huge learning curve for me over a short period of time and a great opportunity to get to grips with Moodle 2.0.  Well done to everyone who entered! I’m really excited to see the theme in the Moodle 2 core, along with the others.”

I will add more information on Caroline’s role and expertise to the blog shortly, at the minute she is up to her eyes designing themes for our clients…

To view Caroline’s winning ‘Splash’ theme click here

As the leading Moodle Partner in the UK and Ireland, we are confident we tick all the boxes, so here are our answers.

Are they a registered Moodle partner?
Synergy Learning is a registered Moodle Partner and plays a vital role in the Moodle Community. Moodle is provided freely as Open Source Software, which is made possible by the financial support from the Moodle Partners, through clients who pay for specific development. Clients who chose to work with a Moodle Partner in turn play a vital role in the ongoing development of Moodle.

What training does your host provide, if any?
Synergy Learning is one of the leading Moodle Training providers with professional Moodle Instructors across the UK and Ireland. We offer a series of hands-on training courses to cater for a wide range of customer needs.

We offer training on demand for course creators and administrators as well as bespoke training for specific requirements, onsite or offsite depending on our clients requirements.

Synergy Learning also offer Moodle Theme design to make sure your Moodle suits the look and feel of your organisation, and Moodle Development for increased Moodle functionality.

What other packages, extension and add-ons are possible to extend the features and functionalities of Moodle?
At Synergy Learning we are willing and able to install any additional Moodle modules, filters, blocks and extensions available. The packages are negotiable and can be tailored to suit the client’s individual needs.

As well as that Synergy Learning is the leading approved Mahara (ePortfolio) Partner in the UK and Ireland and the only Moodle Partner in the UK approved to offer ZiLink services for Online Reporting and Parental Engagement.

For more information on Mahara click here.

For more information in ZiLink click here.

Do they provide the Moodle Admin AND the Server Admin?
Synergy Learning has generated a lot of eLearning technological and pedagogical expertise since our inception in 1997. As a result we understand what is required for the smooth running of an eLearning environment and ease of use for the people involved.

We offer both Moodle Admin and Server Admin in tailored packages to suit our client’s requirements. Synergy Learning can provide and maintain the server, supporting other server side packages as well as providing full technical support for the Moodle software or we can simply provide and maintain the server which Moodle runs on. It all depends on what best suits our clients.

We are also the leading Moodle Partner for Hosting, Training, Support and Development in the UK and Ireland

Updates – how often are they going to update the software and ensure compatibility?
Moodle is changing all the time and it is important that Moodle sites are updated in line with core changes for the sake of security issues and improvements.

At Synergy Learning Moodle updates are included as part of every Hosting package. As a Moodle Partner we make it our business to be first in the know with progress in all elearning technology and as a result can advise our clients on important advances and updates.

Moodle 2.0 is on its way and we are well prepared for upgrading our clients Moodle sites and networks, as we are with every Moodle update no matter how big or how small.

Access – what are you allowed to do?
Our clients have secure access to their data files in case they need to upload large learning resources.

Backups
At Synergy Learning we back up our clients Moodle sites daily, early in the morning at approximately 2am. We back up Moodle files, Moodledata and databases.

As well as that our clients have the option of backing up their individual courses. Secure shell access is provided – if the client wishes to back up their sites themselves that is an option.

We also back up any additional modules our clients Moodle sites may have, themes, customisations and code.

Databases
At Synergy Learning we dump and store databases nightly, and this can be done manually / remotely.

Maximum file upload size and storage capacity
We recommend a maximum file upload size of 32MB, anything else can be uploaded via sFTP. The maximum file size limit can be increased if requested.

Synergy Learning offers a number of options for storage capacities ranging from 1GB upward. The limit on email volume and storage space for users and courses varies depending on user numbers and the server space in the clients chosen package.

Our clients get unlimited user accounts in Moodle, server accounts again will depend on the package our client has chosen. Packages can be upgraded if required.

Downtime – when and how much?
Routine maintenance takes place late at night or early in the morning so as to cause minimum disruption. The duration of the downtime will depend on the severity of the issue and can be anything from 15 minutes to 1 hour.

Security – who has access to what?
Security is provided via firewalls, antivirus and daily monitoring by our team of Moodle experts.

For each of our clients one named person will be given access to the Moodle code, the data Moodle places in the MySQL database and the data placed in the Moodledata file structure.

Ports can be made available for access to certain web services and applications (e.g. Skype) providing they are compatible and are not deemed a security risk.

What operating system will the server run on? What database will it use?
Our server runs on Linux and uses MySQL database software

If you require anymore information on any of our services email me at joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com

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.

For those of you who don’t know ZiLink is a Moodle ’super-block’ for online reporting containing a number of blocks within Moodle that can be configured to meet individual school needs by Moodle administrators.

ZiLink includes four blocks working together using the data from the management information system.

1. Online Reporting with parental access to attainment, targets, progress, attendance, behaviour, SEN status plus additional features such as immediate access to their child’s current work, work attempted and overdue work.
2. Individual Learning Plans
3. Timetable
4. Timetable Week

Plus, new developments that will be on-stream in September 2010 include Parent Appointment and a Room Booking system.

You can find out more information on ZiLink by reading our previous blog posts:

1. Synergy Learning and ZiLink: Parental Engagement in Moodle
2. Moodle and ZiLink: Keeping Parents Informed

Or if you  are interested in demonstrating ZiLink visit:

1. http://demo.schoolsict.net/moodle

Synergy Learning is the only Moodle Partner in the UK appointed to sell ZiLink.  For any more information or if you are interested in implementing ZiLink email info@synergy-learning.com