General help

Often the first question is how to host it: on site or purchase a hosting plan. If you host it on site you will need IT staff to support the server. If you purchase hosting you can buy cheap hosting from many sources that offer fantastico instant installation of Moodle. However, you won't get any Moodle support. If you want someone to call/email with support or upgrade questions, then you should look into an official Moodle Partner to host.

I recommend your start with a cheap pilot program in which you manually create users with a file upload (or even have them create their own accounts). Have them try out a simple class with a few resources and activities. That will give you a better understanding of what Moodle can do when you design and monitor your full fledged courses.

Apart from the technical issues mentioned above, an important thing to consider is the Change Management issue. This is true in whether you already have another learning environment working in your organization, and more so if this is your first real effort at introducing a virtual learning environment.
We are in the process of inroducing Moodle to our organization and are managing it according to a chnage managent process and framework. I you lack experience in managing organizational changes, I would suggest consulting with your internal function responsible for organizational development, or an Human Resources function. If none are available, an external consultant might prove valueable.
Personally, I like John Kotter's change management framework so you might want to read about it.
Good luck!
Amir

Hi Stephen,

You've found the best place to find discussions on Moodle (i.e. forums!). Having said that there are a few issues I think you might want to look at:

a) what are you trying to achieve? This is not trivial - are you testing for specific compliance with regulations, just updating skills or ... The answer to this will help you shape your response to Moodle. For example, if you want to ensure that each person complies with legislation for, example, health and safety, then you need to look into the technical side of Moodle where you can lock down the IP address of the student to a known machine. If you're involved in general training then you might want to explore the various theme options to give you the right approach (e.g. topic vs weekly).

b) how are your in-house skills/time/budget? Moodle is highly customisable but that comes with a price tag - just factor it in when you put in your budget.

c) definitely have a test site. Let the trainers use it and report back. Get a few test students to try it also. Get feedback. Listen to feedback. Act on feedback!! If people don't like the site you won't have effective change management.

Hope his helps,

Paul