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DOULSJason Platts

CETIS Widget Bash

23rd March 2011

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Project update March 2011• Completion of first phase of the project -

‘Visioning’

• Now in the first development phase

• 2 Key areas for development:

– Connecting the VLE to Google Apps

– Creating Gadgets

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VLE & Google Apps

Google Apps

• Over 10,000 students

• Single-sign-on

• Personal usage e.g. email provision

• Due to enter pilot for teaching usage:

• Issues with accessibility

• Issues adding staff/tutors on to system

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VLE & Google Apps

Export VLE data to Google Calendar

• Creates web calendar feed in Google calendar

• Link from main module website homepage

• Extra guidance

• Support for other data - tasks

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VLE & Google Apps

VLE Portfolio activity

• Enables ‘scaffolding’ of portfolio

• Enables ‘template’ documents to be added to portfolio

• Moodle ‘module’ with extendable architecture

• Save Portfolio content in Google Docs – also supports other formats

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VLE & Google Apps

VLE Portfolio activity

• Scaffold layout can be reused across activities

• Templates can be re-visited across a number of activities:

- User responses are saved- Selective pages can be shown- Builds to produce final document

•Flexible – meets wide range of ePortfolio usage

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VLE & Google Apps

VLE Google Collaborative activity

• Facilitates sharing of documents with students

• Others can see a rendition of the document

• Supports group collaboration

Issues:

• Needs to share to Google groups (maintained centrally), difficult to match Moodle groups to these

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Gadgets

Overview of gadget developments

• Plugin to enable secure connection of gadget to Moodle Web services

• JavaScript library to aid connection to plugin

• Google gadgets to be deployed to iGoogle

• Moodle code to support each gadget – creating web services

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Gadgets

Moodle Gadget pluginSNAPP (SocialNetworkApplicationPlugin)

• Plugin providing number of services:

• ‘Serve’ gadget XML from Moodle

• ‘Match’ gadget user to Moodle user

• Provide secure connection to Moodle web services from gadgets

• Manage OAuth certificates/keys

iGoogle Gadget containing text from Moodle JSON web service

Inserted by Moodle

Request sent to Moodle

Moodle validates and checks user

has authenticatedResult from Moodle web service call

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Gadgets

Signed requestfrom gadget

Moodle validates

Check container enabled

OAuth Certificate

Add user id

Call web service

Return result

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Gadgets

Gadget list

• Generated after a number of brainstorming sessions

• Gadgets will be promoted to students for use in iGoogle as part of personalisation of the VLE

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Gadgets

Gadget list

1. Study Planner (Sep)*

2. Collaborative tools alert (Sep)*

3. Module suggestion (Sep/Dec)

4. Assignment buddy (Dec)

5. Study buddy (Dec/Mar)*

* Dependant on other developments

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Gadgets

Paper prototype

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