Surry Online (powered by Moodle):

Moving to Moodle: One College’s Approach

Dr. Candace RingHelen Dollyhite

Distance Education @ Surry Community College

…a bit of history • In 1998, Surry Community College adopted Blackboard 4 as

its official course management system (CMS).

• Many faculty are happy with Blackboard, but found that information got lost due to having to “drill down” to find information.

• Aug. 2006: In conjunction with NCCCS, Surry participates in the Moodle pilot project, ncmug.net, for UNC and NC community colleges provided by Bill Randall of the NCCCS.

• Spring 2008: 40 faculty members attend “hands-on” workshop opportunities. Surry contracts with Remote-Learner for hosted Moodle instance, branded ‘Surry Online.’

• Summer 2008: 10 faculty participate in pilot project , committing to teach a course in Moodle in Summer 2008. Early Childhood courses phased over to Moodle.

• Fall 2008: Surry Online offers 20 courses on Moodle, with 65 in Blackboard 7.3. Training/migration continues.

• Spring 2009: 50 active courses with 1000 active users. Training/migration continues.

• Fall 2010: Migration is complete. All courses converted and taught on Moodle.

…a bit of history

Open SourceCommercial

…(perceived) pros and cons

Stable(ish) Scalable Supported/”someone to sue” Documentation/Training Perception of “safety & stability” Turn-key solutions

Lack of customization Mandated patches/upgrades Proprietary content Prohibitive cost

Customizable Upgrade/Versioning autonomy Faster integration of new technologies Open standards Integration with other services NCCCS/corporate/homeschool tie-in Substantial cost savings

Loss of some functionality Fears of instability & scalability Lack of support/”someone to blame” Hidden costs – hosting, support, new hires? Requires developers, programmers

…(perceived) pros and cons

…expectations management • Facing the fears:

– Loss of functionality (esp. gradebook, selective release)– Migration (“…you mean I have to start over?!?)– Training & Support– Integration

• Getting “Buy In” From Faculty– Brought in people who had migrated to Moodle to

conduct initial training.– Faculty has positive attitude toward change– Faculty like flexibility of features– Faculty like student reporting and data features

…training & support

• Key to Success: Support Faculty & Students– Candace Ring and Helen Dollyhite conduct

workshops, provide training materials and technical support to faculty

– Provide technical support to students– In the process of creating online training option for

faculty and student orientation– Developing technical support website

…training & support

– Surry now conducts monthly workshops for full and part time faculty

• Includes one-on-one option• Divisional sessions• Campus-wide sessions• Day & evening training options

– Open source downside: No one else to call. No one else to blame.

• Hosting services like MoodleRooms, Optimized Learning, and Remote-Learner can help ease the transition and provide admin support.

…integration – Working on integration with Datatel through Open Source

Collaborative– The “community model” saves the day!

• Similar solutions in place for Datatel (CPCC) freely gives Datatel integration scripts to colleges who ask

• Guildford Technical CC has auditing report• South Piedmont CC has “block student” authentication • The moodle.org forums host a vibrant community of

users/ admins/developers, all of whom believe in the open source model

…timeline

• Develop training material• Conduct workshop series•Teach Moodle 10 courses • Blackboard support continues

• Continue migration & training• 50 courses/1500 users• Add 4 more Con Ed courses• Blackboard support continues

• Moodle 16 live courses•16 faculty/ 320 users• Bring Con Ed aboard -10 courses• Blackboard support continues• Blackboard training as requested

• Complete migration & training• Moodle “official” CMS• Blackboard no longer available

Spring08/Summer 08 Fall 08 Spring 09 /Fall 2009 Fall 2010

…migration

Faculty migration needs are diverse– “I just want my files.”– “I have 2800 questions in a database, and 25 quizzes.”– “Can’t you just move my entire course? All I’ve posted is a

syllabus.”

Migration tools– Zip/Unzip– bFree– Respondus IMS_QTI personality– LSU’s Blackboard Moodle Conversion Tool

• Blackboard– Course Documents– Course Information– Assignments– Discussion Board– Tests– Glossary– Announcements

mapping Blackboard to Moodle

• Moodle– Resources– Resources– Assignments– Quizzes– Glossary– Label or Forum

…administration • LAMP experience is good

– Linux– Apache– MySQL– PHP (in this case)

• Tools– cPanel– phpMyAdmin– dir layout is logical, if you like SSH and command line

• Has required some professional development on our parts– Learning new skills = always a good thing– Having to solve the problem yourself = always a strong motivator– Larger community = more shared solutions– A “we can make this work” attitude = indispensable

Questions?

Dr. Candace RingSurry Community CollegePhone: 336.386.3382Email: ringc@surry.edu

Helen DollyhiteSurry Community CollegePhone: 336.386.3387Email: dollyhiteh@surry.edu