General help

Becta are about to start consultation on the UK Learning Platform Functional Specification. The functional specification will be the criteria against which learning platforms for UK schools will be assessed. If Moodle meets these criteria then Local Authorities will be able to use dedicated funding to provide Moodle as the learning platform for schools in their areas, directly or through an RBC. If Moodle doesn't satisfy the requirements then, for the time being at least, schools will still be able to use it, and fund hosting, support etc, out of their own devolved funding. However, those supplying ICT services to BSF schools will only be allowed to supply approved learning platforms.

As a member of Becta's Learning Services Technical Subgroup, I've the opportunity to comment on the draft requirement consultation document before the consultation proper starts, and have permission to share this with folk for "discussion and development purposes". Becta wish to make it clear that this document "is not [to be] read as policy or as final specifications, on which developers start coding".

The deadline for comments is fairly close, 28th January, so if we do want to have our say on the document that forms the basis for the consultation, then now is the time! I've set up a Moodle course for this over at UK Schoolforge's Moodle , do please enroll if you'd like to be part of this process.