General developer forum

I do agree. One important thing is to start developing business models for Open Source software, such as Moodle. Very interesting question to talk about, and lots of things to be discussed.

Hi Marc,

Take a walk on the wildside at,
MOODLE - Standard Slide Presentation - for Promotion
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=1745

This forum is trying to address the promotion of MOODLE to include help with presentations for Moodlers (academic & business) along with the creation of subject "cartriges". Probably business type interest "cartriges" would also be useful.

It does not, that is it does not yet, deal with certifications, payment capabilities but you might get some info that might be helpful in the development of a MOODLE Business Forum if you visit there.

You sound like you would have a lot to offer there.

Check it out.

WP1

I agree Marc,

We discussed the same topic in the german language forum two weeks ago.

Hi Martin, can you add such a forum. Thanks

Hello, I thought I would introduce myself to the group.  I'm an instructional designer / technology trainer at a growing enterprise software company.  Over the past four years I've been primarily responsible for developing highly-technical training on Motives products for our customers and deployment consultants.  In the past this has largely been ILT (instructor-led training) held at our campus in Austin, Texas or at customer sites around the world (USA, Canada, Europe and Australia).  Two years ago we began producing asynchronous self-paced web-delivered courses to deliver content to certain audiences.  I also began lobbying for a deployment system (LMS) to better manage and report on both our web-based and bricks and mortar training.  We went through an elaborate evaluation process of commercial LMSs and finally secured a budget even though I had a lot of trouble adequately justifying a six figure project (license and services) based upon our current or projected training volume.  Because of this, when push came to shove, the project was delayed and then canceled because other projects with better demonstrable return won the day.

Facing the business reality I then began to look at other options - including available open-source platforms. We did an evaluation of eight competing platforms and, in consultation with our IT department, recently settled on Moodle.  While it is not a perfect platform, the consensus was that it met most of our needs and had the best support (in terms of product design, commercial support, documentation and community).

We have been using a Moodle prototype for both training delivery and rapid content creation since November of last year.  In the second quarter of this year we will expand the use and support of this platform for training internal audiences.  We will use this proof-of-concept to capture performance metrics and develop ROI that will justify a greater training infrastructure investment in the future (see graphic).  In the meantime we will attempt to expand the capabilities of the Moodle platform to see if we can fill in some of the product gaps.

That's enough for an introduction on who I am and what my company is doing with Moodle.  I am interested in exchanging information and building a community with other users who are using the Moodle platform in business. 

Regards,

Chris

I'd certainly be interested.

Is there anyway to be advised when such a forum is setup?

In the meantime I have a query:

I'm proposing to setup a Moodle space for an organization that provides weekend trainings and wants to keep connected with all their alumni.

It would have just one main course (a followup to the training weekend) with many groups setup for each "class". So the content is singular and shared.

I'd also like to create a way for all the alumni to then cross-connect, so that there's a small group that each person trained with, perhaps larger regional groupings for further get-togethers, and one big group area for all alumni.


Anyone have suggestions, ideas (in general) and for pricing and/each of the following?:

-setting up moodle (install, theme adjustment, initial course setup -- 6 weeks of basic followup material: surveys, resources, etc)

- one-time staff training on moodle use

- possible ongoing hosting of entire moodle setup (includng SQL)

- periodic group setup (approx every 3 weeks) to assist with uploading pictures, orientation, etc

- ongoing general tech follow-up/support


Thanks for any input.

Cheers, angel

Moodler's!

If Martin does not object, I will create a new "Topic" for business trainers and organizations within the Moodle Documentation Project area.  I am one of the documenation managers, and working on creating presentations and other helpful materials to promote Moodle.  I would be very pleased to see more business users get involved, and have a place where we can steer this population when  they first visit Moodle.org.  You folks are also the ones needed to help out with the creation of new "How To" presentation modules and other professional looking materials needed.  Let's make this a snazzy experience for the business decision maker.

Bryan 

I would like to participate. I am currently doing a demo for a company that trains and screens potential employees for companies. They operate many locations and if it comes together they'll be using a lot of sites. Since they train and screen employees for a large amount of business, they will also be demonstrating Moodle to a large number of potential Moodle business educators.

I could also use some feedback. I have a new site, www.edusite.us. It's setup to be an intro and a demo of Moodle, offering installation, training etc along the lines of this discussion. I've priced the various services separately and even have "per user" rates. I invite your comments.

Marc,

I would like to suggest a format for the Moodle business course area more in line with the overall purposes of Moodle.org, and one which Martin may look more favorably upon. The strength of Moodle.org is that it is an information conduit for people at many levels of pedagogical support (i.e., teachers, trainers, support technicians etc.) who look for solutions to a variety of problems, and to find novel ideas on how a certain feature can be used. 

People are drawn to Moodle for many reasons, but as they learn how and why this program was designed they get very excited. The Moodle.org business forum should transmit and facilitate this excitement, just as it does for teachers.  A simple reading of their posts explains this excitement.  Moodle empowers a teacher in a way that speaks to the very reason for why they decided to become a teacher. 

The constructivist foundation of Moodle is oriented toward a process, more so than relative outcomes. This is a fundamental shift in thinking for a business trainer, who is almost exclusively oriented toward outcomes. Additionally, the majority of business trainers are not prepared for their pedagogical roles in the rigorous way in which a teacher is.  In many instances a trainer migrates into that role at some point during his/her career because they possess a specialized knowledge in their field.  They need the instructional guidance that both professional trainers and teachers here at Moodle.org can offer, as well as presentation help from others within their particular area of expertise. The business course area can serve this purpose.

With this said, here are my recommendations:

1. The Social format you have chosen is perfect. We should consider adding a calendar of upcoming events where regional and national conferences and tradeshows for trainers are taking place, and especially trumpet Moodle presentations.  I suspect we will soon have Calendar implementation at Moodle.org, and if Jon has his way it can be turned on and off in certain areas. 

2. We should encourage those enrolled to develop professional looking documentation for Moodle, using the short "How-To" format which Martin has recommended. These presentations could range from how to mine data at Moodle.org and connect with teachers in specific disciplines, to details on how to build a course on a certain topic.

3. Topic areas of discussion could be created for:

• Corporate Mission
• Engineering/Process Management
• Sales/CRM
• Technology
• HR
• Health & Safety
• Medical/Wellness
• Motivation 

Create a Choice activity that will help members identify what each other does.  Results can be published showing names and their choices.

4. Create a Glossary where each of us can add terms as well as tips and tricks for using Moodle.

5. Occasionally schedule Chat sessions for various types of trainers (see categories above) where you invite an expert to participate and answer questions. I may soon be in a position to offer my Elluminate room for a small number of participants, where we can invite an expert to deliver a kick-ass train the trainer, much like they do at LearningTimes, on various Moodle scenarios.

6. Create Assignment activities that lead participants to resources about online training and course development.

7. Top of the list activity should steer participants to a read of Martins paper, A journey into Constructivism.

The business plan side of Moodle can be handled in a more appropriate venue than Moodle.org.  Let's be imaginative here and see how we can create something that will empower the business trainer to use Moodle in his/her own way, and find enrichment through Moodle fellowship.

Bryan