Moodle Server for Digital Media Arts Program

Kenneth Buis
ETEC 565, June 2011

Introduction

I developed a Digital Media Arts program to provide adult students, many of whom are recent immigrants, with opportunities to participate as digital citizens within the global networked society. The main goals of the program include the provision of a stable learning platform upon which to build the digital literacy skills required for 21^st century workplace and learning, as well as the integration of social media and web 2.0 tools.  According to Tu and Bloche(2008), these tools enhance mediated knowledge creation, provide for information sharing opportunities in personalized environments for collaboration and content creation.  The Digital Media Arts program goes beyond the traditional goals of skill transfer based on media arts production.  Rather, it is designed to the develop skills and provide opportunities for self-expression and a more reflective use and understanding of media, or critical literacy and media creation as described by Buckingham(2007).

While the program is supplemented by external tools such as Twitter, Tumblr and a class blog, a stable, independent learning management system (LMS) is required to provide course content delivery, internal discussions, social media integration, forums and interaction with and construction of knowledge.  The program courses are delivered in a blended mode of workshops and digital media arts production.  In order to provide for the social needs of students working within and outside the classroom, a community of practice is required, according to the theories of Lave and Wenger(1991).  This is vital, since according to Hung and Yuen (2010) student motivation and achievement increases dramatically when students work in a cooperative learning group with a higher sense of community.  There are currently 180 students registered in my program, of which 50% need to work online and remotely, because of work, family and living situations.  This requires a blended learning environment to supplement their learning needs.

Rationale

I have created a core of 6 courses including Digital Media 11 and 12, Visual Media Arts 11 and 12, and Applied Digital Communications 11 and 12.  The course content is currently hosted on our VSB Adult Education Moodle host.  While we have a Moodle server for the entire Adult Education system in the Vancouver School Board, there is limited access to the source code and the server, so customization is not possible.

In order to integrate more advanced functionality, develop a community of practice, flexible access through various devices and deeper integration of the existing external elements such as Twitter, Tumblr, and blog; an individual Moodle Server is necessary.

My past experience with Moodle has been positive, and I view this expansion onto a new server as cost-effective, since the LMS has no licensing fees, and can be installed on various servers, modified and distributed (http://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodle).

An individual Moodle server can be customized to the needs of Digital Media Arts adult learners which require, according to Bates and Poole (2004), a range of varied media and technological skills and literacy if they are to survive in the knowledge based economy.  Since many of my students are new immigrants with high levels of education, it is vital to assist them in building the repertoire of skills required to survive in the global network society, in which Vancouver plays an important role.

Moodle continues to be the right choice for the program, since it supports constructivist learning and the needs of 21^st Century Learning as outlined in the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS, 2007)  If the Digital Media Arts program is to become a community, as based on its level of interaction between learner, instructor and content (Anderson 2004), a stable, cost-efficient LMS is required.

SECTIONS Analysis of Moodle

Bates and Poole (2003)

Student Support Moodle provides opportunities for a variety of learner activities in a range of media to allow for universal remote access and interaction with course knowledge Ease of Use With its intuitive interface, Moodle is organized according to subject topics, with possible plugins to make it easy to use and learn for students and instructors.  Themes provide standardization and similar look and feel. Costs Moodle is an open source product, so there are no licensing costs.  Hosting and hardware is required, as is technical ability to manage the server, and MySQL databases. Teaching and Learning Moodle allows for content delivery, community access and interactive linking, submissions, webpage capability, blogs, wikis and more.  Real time chat and forums provide a layer of community, while workshops in Moodle 2.0 allow for peer editing and group work opportunities Interactivity Asynchronous and synchronous communication possibilities, along with surveys, authentic content and links, as well as support for interactive animation and responsive design elements Organizational Issues Organizational support for Moodle is strong, as is evidenced in its thousands of registered courses listed on Moodle.org and educational literature support of its constructivist and LMS design Novelty Moodle is a well-established learning system founded in 1995. Its design is founded on constructivist principles and collaborative learning opportunities to provide effective, accessible learning support. Speed Since the LMS runs on Apache, MySql and PHP, speed is derived from server data storage and client computer compliance.  Course development is efficient and intuitive with a wide range of authoring tools.  Support is provided for all types of file uploads, and all computer operating systems.

Moodle Tools Available Support SECTIONS Framework

Bates and Poole (2003)

LMS Inclusions provided by Moodle

Course entry point

Webpage creation

Links to internal and remote locations

Asynchronous forums

Threaded discussions

Real time chat

Users privileges and definitions

Collaboration

Personalization and themes

Authoring tools

Weekly or topic blocks

Assignment upload flexibility in numbers of files and timing

Grade book with email connection

Real time data logs

Updates and plugins

Moodle community support

Surveys

Blogs

Wikis

Glossary

Groups

Workshops (Moodle 2.0)

Total Cost of Ownership and Technical Requirements

While Moodle is open source, the real costs exist in the hardware, hosting, and technical expertise needed to build an effective server.  The proposed server can reside at the Vancouver School Board however due to frequent downtimes I would suggest that it be hosted with a company recommended by Moodle.org.  This is more cost effective than buying an individual server at a cost of up to $5000, along with installation of the software and building of the databases.

After a review of the recommended organizations, Lambda Solutions in Vancouver BC, offers the best solution with shared hosting solutions for $750 annually which includes 3 GB of hosting space and 10GB of bandwidth, as well as space for up to 2500 students. Lambda’s reputation is well-founded since it has provided online training support for organizations such as VanCity, BC Hydro and Blast Radius.  This seems to be the most economical method of setting up a Moodle Server.

We have been using Moodle in the Adult Education division of the Vancouver School Board for more than 8 years, and I have developed at least 25 courses and have trained many teachers in its use, so training is not an issue.  Since our students and teachers are accustomed to the Moodle Interface, switching to a proprietary LMS is more expensive and would require a great deal of training and adaptation.

System Requirements
PHP	5 or later
Databases should be one of the following: MySQL PostgreSQL MS SQL	5.3 or later 9  or later 2005 or later
Any standards-supporting browser:	Firefox 3 or later Safari 3 or later Google Chrome 4 or later Opera 9 or later MS Internet Explorer 7

Conclusion

In order to supplement the growing needs of my Digital Media Arts classes, and to provide students with 21^st Century learning skills to become active digital citizens, it is necessary to upgrade to an individual Moodle server.  Our learning platform needs to be flexible, with easily customizable code that is open to integration of social and web 2.0 resources in order to build a strong Community of Practice.  Moodle is long established, and used in academic institutions around the world. It is stable, easy to navigate, simple to upload assignments while supporting course access and development.  Secure access provides a safe learning environment and tools and features available support the Bates and Poole (2003) SECTIONS framework for selecting and using technology.  Access to course logs and the opportunity for group peer assessment work with the newest version makes interactive and collaborative learning more possible.  Given my experience in working with Moodle, course development, as well as my need to innovate to provide social networking and community of practice integration, I would suggest that this growing program be provided with its own Moodle server.

References

Anderson, T (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anders & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp 33-60). Athabasca, Alberta: Athabasca University Press.

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education; Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Buckingham, David(2007). Media education goes digital: an introduction. Learning, Media and Technology, 32: 2, 111 — 119.  DOI: 10.1080/17439880701343006

Lave, J., and E. Wenger (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Moodle, <http://moodle.org/?lang=en>; accessed June 7,2011.

• Moodle – About, available at: http://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodle
• Moodle Accessibility Standards, available at: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_Accessibility_Specification
• Moodle Course Formats / Templates available at: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Course_formats
• Moodle Design Philosophy, available at: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Philosophy)
• Moodle Features, available at: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Features
• Moodle Finding and Selecting a Webhost available at: http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Finding_and_Selecting_A_Web_Host
• Moodle Support, available at: http://moodle.org/support/

National Educational Technology Standards for Students. Retrieved June 6, 2011 from: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

Tu , Chih-Hsiung, Blocher, Michael and Roberts, Gayle (2008). Constructs for Web 2.0 learning environments: a theatrical metaphor. Educational Media International, 45( 4), 253–269.