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Coming Soon: Moodle 2.1

Posted by Joel Kerr on 10 Feb

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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

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

Adding new modules

A new module that combines the best of questionnaire and feedback and survey into an upgrade for the survey module.
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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eLearning Events // 2011

Posted by Joel Kerr on 27 Jan

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So BETT 2011 is over and Learning Technologies is about to follow suit. That doesn’t mean elearners can kick their feet up for the next year and wait for January to roll round again. Here is a list of events up and down the country to keep you entertained throughout 2011.

Are You Afraid of IT?
Friday 25^th February | Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh

This conference and exhibition is part of a programme to foster better use of technology in the social services.

Expect a mixture of keynote speakers and workshops attended by senior managers, learning and development managers, practitioners and IT managers.

Click here for more information

ICT for Education

Friday 11^th March | Belfast Hilton
Friday 1^st April | The Grand, Bristol
Friday 13^th May | Cardiff City Football Club

This series of free conferences is aimed at school teachers, technicians and decision makers who share a “common thirst’ (their words!) for e-learning and ICT in schools.

Expect keynote speakers, discussion groups and networking opportunities.

Click here for more information

JISC11 Conference
Monday 14^th – Tuesday 15^th March | BT Convention Centre, London

This conference offers advice, guidance and support via workshops, demos, plenary sessions, an exhibition and networking opportunities.

This is one for those in post 16 and higher education suitable for senior managers, ICT champions, teachers and researchers with an interest in the use of ICT.

Click here for more information

Naace Annual Strategic Conference
Tuesday 15^th – Thursday 17^th March | Wokefield Park, Reading

The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Brave New World: Changing Times in Education’ and aims to explore, debate and challenge current thinking about technology and learning.

If you are involved in education and interested in education technology this event offers networking opportunities and the chance, “to contribute and influence future initiatives, strategies & policies individually and through Naace.”

Click here for more information

The Education Show
Thursday 17^th – Saturday 19^th March | NEC, Birmingham

The Education Show is for finding educational resources and is aimed at educators from all levels and sectors. It promises exhibitions, seminars, conferences and demonstrations to assist in finding, “resources and ideas to help you to save money and make a difference in your school.”

Click here for more information

The EAUC Annual Conference
Monday 11^th – Wednesday 13^th April | University of York

This is more for sustainability in education than elearning but there is no reason why the two can’t go hand in hand.

It’s aimed at the UK’s Further and Higher Education Sector and boasts Dame Ellen MacArther, Sara Parkin and Nick Baker among the keynote speakers. There is also a conference and the opportunity for one-to-one sessions with the experts.

Click here for more information

Plymouth eLearning Conference
Wednesday 6^th – Friday 8^th April | University of Plymouth

The title of this year’s event is “Digital Futures: Learning in a Connected World” which will be delivered via paper presentations, workshops, demonstrations and networking opportunities.

They say, “The 6th Plymouth e-Learning Conference will highlight the need for innovative solutions in education and training, and will provide opportunities for delegates to discuss the tensions that exist between institutional provision and personalised learning.”

Click here for more information

Moodle Moot
Tuesday 19^th & Wednesday 20^th April | Senate House, London

A conference dedicated to UK Moodle users, developers and administrators and a great opportunity to discuss the increasingly popular Open Source Software.

If you are interested in presenting a paper, workshop or other session, visit Moot UK 11 for information.

Click here for more information

iMoot
Saturday 30^th April – Tuesday 3^rd May | Online

iMoot is an international online conference aimed at engaging the 32 million Moodle users across the globe to, “ignite the sense of community and sharing for which Open Source and in particular Moodle is famous for.”

If you are a Moodle practitioner, administrator or decision maker this one is not to be missed.

Click here for more information

IITT National Conference & Exhibition
Wednesday 7^th – Thursday 8^th September | London Marriott Hotel

This is the seventh year of the Institute of IT Training’s National Conference & Exhibition, aimed at corporate and commercial trainers, training managers, L&D managers and HR managers.

Expect talks from the experts, the opportunity to develop your skills and up-to-date information in the field of Learning & Development.

Click here for more information

The Scottish Learning Festival
Wednesday 21^st – Thursday 22^ndSeptember | SECC, Glasgow

An event all about Teaching and Learning, the Scottish Learning Festival offers the opportunity to, “enhance the education professional.”

The list of targets is a long one: headteachers, senior management, policy makers, librarians, community learning and development staff, youth workers and volunteers from local authorities and third sector organisations, college and careers staff, and teaching practitioners in early years, primary, secondary, further and special education establishments.

Click here for more information

World of Learning
Tuesday 27th – Wednesday 28th September | NEC, Birmingham

This conference and exhibition is aimed at all senior level decision makers and buyers. Expect product launches, high profile case studies from industry experts, a host of seminars and networking opportunities.

Click here for more information.

European Conference on eLearning
Thursday 10^th – Friday 11^th November | University of Brighton

This is the 10^th of the ECEL events, which each year is hosted by a different European city. According to the organisers the conferences, “are places to find the excitement of learning new things, the support and stimulation of like-minded professionals in learning and the opportunity to reflect productively on research evidence and conceptual thinking in the field.”

Click here for more information

And one from our German Office:

Online Educa Berlin
Wednesday 30^th November – Friday 2^nd December | Hotel InterContinental

Online Educa Berlin pitches itself as the; “the largest international platform for exchanging ideas and experiences on ICT-supported enhanced education and training”.

Expect conferences with big name speakers, discussions, debates, an exhibition with lots of new products and emerging trends and plenty of networking opportunities.

Click here for more information.

My list does not claim to be a comprehensive one, so if you know of other elearning events in 2011 worth noting leave a comment…

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January // BETT 2011

Posted by Joel Kerr on 21 Jan

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It’s been a busy start to the year!

As has become the norm, our year kicked off by exhibiting at the BETT show. An important event in any edtechs calendar that attracts people from all over the world. It’s a great way to see first hand the new products available and the improvements to those that have been around for a while.

MOODLE

There was a non-stop flow of Moodle visitors throughout the week; existing users who stopped by to share their admiration of the software, organisations that wanted to migrate from other platforms and of course those who were taking their first tentative steps into the world of elearning.

Our job is made a whole lot easier by the fact that Moodle generates such good publicity through word-of-mouth. There were very few people stopping by who hadn’t heard good things about Moodle and the enthusiasm for the software continues to grow. The number of companies and schools who had done their research and were planning a full migration in the near future was overwhelming.

New clients range from primary schools, secondary schools, Local Authorities, FE colleges and universities to councils and large scale organisations. We were also pleased to answer questions from a number of the other exhibitors who were interested in partnerships and integrating Moodle into their own operations.

MOODLE 2.0

At last years BETT we were enthusiastically telling our Moodle visitors the virtues of Moodle 2.0 so it was a pleasure to be able to offer some real solutions at this year’s show. We have upgraded a number of our own client’s sites with successful results and the improved navigation and increased functionality has not gone unnoticed.

BETT offers the opportunity to gauge a real response to the upgrade; both teachers and trainers recognise the benefits of the new conditional activities feature, cohorts, the repository API, the Portfolio API and the list goes on.

We have a queue of people waiting to upgrade with our Route to Moodle 2.0 packages and the demand is only going to increase.

MAHARA

As Moodle becomes as increasingly integral part of the learning environment so the need for an ePortolio also increases. We had a record number of inquiries about our Mahara Services this year. Again the software is proving popular with both educational and commercial establishments who are looking to facilitate records of ‘life learning’ within their establishments.

I’ve spent this week getting in touch with the new contacts we made at the show and the whole office has felt the full benefit of BETT 2011.

I would like to thank all those who visited us at the BETT show for making our trip a rewarding one. If you are in need of our Moodle or Mahara Services get in quick! Our 2011 calendar is filling up fast.

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Moodle at BETT 2011

Posted by Joel Kerr on 06 Jan

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BETT 2011
Stand N2
12-15 January 2011
Olympia, London

Synergy Learning is looking forward to next week when we get to exhibit our wares at the world’s largest education technology event. BETT brings together the leading names in innovative education technology, new elearning organisations and the global teaching and learning community from early years to universities.

This will be the 27th year of BETT which has grown to feature almost 700 exhibitors, attracting close to 30,000 visitors. According to the organisers, “BETT is an indispensable part of the annual knowledge-gathering process, coming at a time when establishments are planning and budgeting for the new school year.”

Why should you attend?

BETT is a showcase of all that is new and innovative within the industry and is an opportunity for education professionals to pick up a wealth of knowledge as well as evaluate and purchase a comprehensive range of ICT products and services.

There will be the opportunity to “touch, test and compare” resources for learners at all levels. There will be free hands-on training, technical help, over 100 seminars, product launches, networking opportunities and the chance to discuss education technology with industry experts and established suppliers

Who should attend?

BETT 2011 covers the entire education spectrum and is aimed at everyone from early learners to higher education and all that’s in between.

BETT 2011 will benefit:

Teachers
Department Heads
Subject Heads
Education Officers
Governors
Librarians
Bursars
Facilities Managers
Teachers Trainers
Inspectors
School Boards
Network Managers IT/ICT Co-ordinators
Head Teachers/Principals
School Management Teams
Parents
LEA’s
Special Needs Teachers
Technicians
Classroom Assistants
Home Educators
Student Teachers
Nursery Staff
Lecturers

Registration for BETT 2011 is now open, for more information visit the BETT show website. See you at stand N2

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Twenty Ten

Posted by Joel Kerr on 30 Dec

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It’s said so often (and I’m not afraid of a good cliché so I am going to say it as well) where did the year go? It seems like yesterday since I was walking through the doors of Synergy Learning for the first time and since I was sitting down to my first blog post.

In fact it was a year ago!

So as we get ready to see in the New Year I am going to give you ten of my highlights from 2010 – things that stood out in my mind at the time of writing (bearing in mind I am still in the grips of my Christmas recovery!).

In no particular order…

The BETT Show

A great start to any e-learning calendar I was lucky enough to get over to BETT for a day trip. Roy, Alex, Jonny, Ian and Andrea were the core team manning the Moodle stand at London’s Olympia from 13th – 16th January and as always the response was mighty

iMoot

2010 played host to the first iMoot where the who’s who of the Moodle glitterati presented to Moodlers around the world. Among the presenters were Synergy Learning’s Technical Director Alex Büchner and Moodle Trainer Ian Wild.

The World Cup

Vuvuzela’s weren’t the only thing that caught the attention of the Synergy Learning office. Our heated Fantasy Football League was a close one and I was delighted to come out on top and very disappointed for Jonny McAlister who spent so much time at the bottom of the table he contemplated making it his permanent address.

Moodle 2.0

Is it this month? Next month? No, tomorrow you say? Yes that’s right – with more ‘will they, won’t theys’ than a soap extra-marital affair Moodle finally released the much anticipated Moodle 2.0. The biggest Moodle release to date with more new and improved features than could be mentioned in this short post (don’t forget to visit our ‘Route to Moodle 2.0’ page to see how we can seamlessly facilitate your upgrade).

Our Fifth Birthday

Although not the fifth year of Synergy Learning, 2010 was the fifth birthday of the company under the ownership of Roy Kerley and Alex Buchner. We celebrated in style…that’s all I’m saying!

Race for Life

We were very proud of our girls who raised a non-to shabby £700 for Cancer Research by taking part in the Race for Life up at Stormont (Belfast) in May. Inspired by photos they had seen from previous years of girls stumbling over the finish line looking red, sweaty and like they were on their last legs, our girls finished the 5k with dignity and grace – and then swore never to put themselves through a similar agony again!

Award-winning Theme Design

While I am being proud I may as well mention Caroline Kennedy who won Moodle 2.0 Theme contest, hosted by New School Learning, with her ‘Splash’ Theme. Caroline won herself an iPad and Splash can now be found as part of Moodle 2.0’s core code.

iPad

It is worth mentioning that 2010 was the year the newest addition to the Apple family was released and a number of iPad‘s have found their way into the Synergy Learning offices. Received with a mixed response the tablet is sure to impact the future of elearning one way or the other.

New Hosting Platform

This was also the year our Senior Networks Engineer, Peter Hinds, built our new Hosting Platform from scratch. Optimised for Moodle and Mahara, “it is a fully resilient platform comprised of hardware manufactured by industry leading vendors.” Click here to read all about it in Pete’s blog post. Not bad Pete!

Scotland

Our Belfast office is just a stone’s throw from Scotland so everyone was delighted for our Managing Director, Roy Kerley, who was appointed to the Board of the eLearning Alliance – a member-based organisation that supports Scotland’s elearning community. We have enjoyed a lot of new business from that direction and met some great people.

And one lowlight…

We were sorry to say goodbye to Fearghal Murphy who left us for sunnier climes (Florida to be more specific). I would like to wish Fearghal all the best for the future, and given that he’s prone to sunburn I would like to wish him good luck for the present as well!

So there you have it – ten memorable moments from the last 365 days… obviously it is difficult to fit a year into one blog post but not a bad list!

Here’s to the next 365…in the meantime I would like to thank you all for reading and wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Joel

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Web Conferencing in Moodle // Big Blue Button

Posted by Joel Kerr on 17 Dec

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I was talking to a client this week about integrating an open source web conferencing system into their Moodle. There are a number of options we have used in the past; DimDim and OpenMeetings among them, but one that is growing in popularity is Big Blue Button.

For those that don’t know Big Blue Button is a Web Conferencing system which focuses specifically on distance education – according to their website it, “enables universities and colleges to deliver high-quality learning experiences to remote students.” Their aim is to make starting a web conference as easy as clicking a ‘Big Blue Button’ hence the name (no explanation provided for why it’s blue).

There are four main elements to Big Blue Button:

The Web Cam – Multiple users can share their webcam at the same time with no limit on the number of simultaneously active webcams

Voice overs – Big Blue Button voice conferencing supports Voice over IP (VoIP) conferencing – all your students will need are speakers and a microphone!

Giving Presentations – The presenter can share their presentation online, keeping everyone in sync with their current pages

Desktop Sharing – The presenter can also broadcast their desktop for all students to see (this works on Mac, Unix and PC)

A Moodle module for Big Blue Button is in existence and it has been integrated by a number of users with positive results. For more information visit the Big Blue Button website.

Anyone interested in web conferencing in Moodle, or for elearning in general, drop us a line on + 44 28 9028 8830 or email joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com

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The Changing Face of Team Synergy

Posted by Joel Kerr on 10 Dec

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It’s almost the end of the year but at Synergy Learning there are a number of new-starts. We have had an influx of new team members, a re-shuffle of roles among our existing team members and the addition of a rather attractive Christmas Tree.

As you will know from the last post Thomas Worthington was the first of the new additions to our team – filling the PHP developer void that was left by Fearghal, who has made a permanent move to Florida (and who could blame him!).

As well as that I would like to welcome both Kenny McCormack and Yair Spielmann (right) to the team. Kenny joins us as the new Operations Manager and has already demonstrated a very regimented thought process that has manifested itself as a number of grids and boxes graffitied over, among other things, Laura’s to-do list.

Mr Spielmann is not really a new face, having been a regular on the freelance scene for well over a year. I often hear Yair being hailed as a genius for solving some unsolvable problem or other and it was only a matter of time before he became a permanent fixture.

I am assured by both Kenny and Yair that there will be a contribution to the blog in the near future with a more formal introduction, but at the minute they are being pulled 10 different ways by 10 different people, so we’ll just have to wait!

Another familiar face is Jonny McAlister (left) who will be well known by most of our clients having been with the company for over 5 years. Jonny joined the company as a designer and during the course of his employment moved his way up to becoming the Creative Director. Along the way he has picked up an enviable knowledge of all aspects of education technology with his specialised subjects being Moodle and Mahara. In his new role as Business Development Director Jonny will be exploring opportunities in the world of education technology while continuing to work closely with our clients and partners to fully understand the best way of moving the company forward.

Finally, with our team of designers working round the clock to meet the quota of design work that comes in (so much so I have started to call them the Theme Machines) we have recruited the support of a whole bunch of new Theme Machines. Welcome to Synergy Learning Damien Gribben, Adam McAllister, Rebecca Northey, Jonny Campbell and Ruth McAlister…I look forward to getting to know you all and working closely with you in the future!

So as you can imagine the office is a-buzz with new faces and personalities (and the Christmas Tree of course) and we are all very excited about the year ahead. I think I’ve remembered everyone in my list…I’m sure I’ll hear about it if I haven’t!

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Moodle for Schools

Posted by Joel Kerr on 26 Nov

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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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Your Route to Moodle 2.0

Posted by Joel Kerr on 18 Nov

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Moodle 2.0 is here – it is time to give your upgrade strategy some serious thought!

At Synergy Learning we have been thinking about upgrades a lot for quite some time now and have come up with a number of packages that will make our clients Route to Moodle 2.0 a smooth one.

This is no ordinary upgrade. With Moodle 2.0 comes the biggest Moodle software overhaul since its inception and includes a number of new features that will offer major improvements to how you run your online learning.

This will require a period of adjustment for all involved. Read on to see how our Moodle 2.0 Pitstops can help you out with your transition period:

Pitstop 1: Courses

This package is designed for Moodle users who want to try out Moodle 2.0 Courses before upgrading their existing site.

This will give you the opportunity to play around with your own Course on our Synergy Learning Moodle 2.0 site, getting used to the new features before a full migration.

Pitstop 2: Test Site

This package is designed for Moodle users who want to get acquainted with a Moodle 2.0 site before upgrading their existing sites.

We will set you up with your very own Moodle 2.0 Test Site to run alongside your existing site so you can get used to the new features before you upgrade.

Again, your Moodle 2.0 Test Site will be for sandpit use only so you can be sure nothing will be published while you experiment.

Pitstop 3: Duplicate Site

With this option we will create a duplicate of your current Moodle site and upgrade it to Moodle 2.0. This means you can run your current site without interruption AND get to grips with the Moodle 2.0 site ensuring a smooth transition when the time comes for a fully integrated Moodle 2.0 site.

The Moodle 2.0 duplicate site will also be for sandpit use only so you can be sure nothing will be published until you are ready.

Alternatively if you are looking to upgrade ASAP get in contact to discuss our Direct Route to Moodle 2.0 option or our New Route to Moodle 2.0 for those who are looking to start a Moodle 2.0 site from scratch.

This is an exciting time for Moodle users and for online learning as a whole. At Synergy Learning our priority will be to make sure our clients Route to Moodle 2.0 is a smooth one, so before long you will be enjoying all the benefits that come with this Moodle upgrade.

For more information on any of our upgrade options visit Moodle 2.0 with Synergy Learning or contact me at joel.kerr@synergy-learning.com.

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Cost Cutting with Moodle

Posted by Joel Kerr on 22 Oct

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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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