Migration from an elearning software to moodle

Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Sreeraj KS -
Number of replies: 9

We had an E Learning software which we developed here.So
now we are migrating to moodle. We have an entirely different database
here with assigments, quiz, resources...etc.
I want to port these data from my old software to moodle the newest and
sharpest..
I tried many ways for porting but didnt work..

Which is the best way to port data?

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In reply to Sreeraj KS

Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Mary Parke -
Can I inquire which eLearning software you were using prior to Moodle?

I've worked with publisher software, WebCT, and home-grown LMS systems.

I've found that if there isn't an export from the old/import to the new tool then the options are:

- create a .zip file of the course in the old (if possible) and then upload it to Moodle (Files) and unzip it. You should have your documents inside Moodle now. But, then you have to redesign layout (build your course anew in Moodle).

- as for quizzes, if they were available in MS Word format, then M/C questions could be converted to Aiken format and imported into Moodle.

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If your old eLearning software had the ability to create an IMS or a SCORM package, then at least your content could be imported into Moodle using the "Add an activity-->SCORM" tool. It would maintain the look and feel of the old courseware, but you'd have to learn a little about SCORM in order to be able to update the content (you can't update SCORM inside Moodle - it's easier to do on your desktop and then reupload to Moodle).

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The other option (or to be used in conjunction with the above options) is to have two windows open - one with your course in the old software and the other with a new Moodle shell in the new system. You'll wind up copying and pasting from one to the other and building from scratch again (which may work for quiz questions and assignments, but you'll likely run into errors with formatting for text copy/pastes in Moodle).

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Course conversion can be done - and you may get a working "course layout" with content in Moodle - and on average it took me about a week's worth of work if I knew logically how the course should flow. It's about mapping and scaffolding the content for Moodle's navigation compared to the old system's navigation.

Getting quiz questions into Moodle takes longer depending upon the number of questions and question types. Indeed, the way quizzes are setup in other systems do not always map 1-1 with the way quizzes are setup in Moodle, so you have to go to the individual questions level (and not just the "question banks"). If you can export questions from your old software in one of the Moodle Quiz question import formats, that may be your first option.

If you have more questions - please email me back (or respond to this thread).

- Mary
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Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Richard Enison -

SKS & MP,

You (MP) answered SKS's question around the time I started researching it. I think he implied his s/w is home grown. I was planning to say essentially the same kind of thing, though you included info I'm not familiar with. The most surprising thing you said was that the quiz questions would be the hardest to import, because I had come to the opposite conclusion (see below).

The bottom line is, SKS, as MP has said, it would be impossible to give a complete answer without knowing in detail the data format your old s/w used. But there are certain types of data, including quiz questions, which, if you can get them into a text file in the right format, Moodle can import automatically. Here are the docs pages and a forum discussion describing these files:

http://docs.moodle.org/en/GIFT_format
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_XML_format
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Upload_users
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Flat_file
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=13289

Hopefully if you put MP's answer together with mine, you can take care of most of your data fairly painlessly. smile

RLE

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In reply to Sreeraj KS

Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Anthony Borrow -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
My response would be to get familiar with Moodle and look at the table structures for the various resources you want to bring over. Then sit down with your own data and map out how you can get there. Such things are just like giving directions. Your question is like asking how to get to San Francisco; however, it depends on where you are starting from. If you are in Berkeley, you can take public transportation; however, if you are in Hawaii you will need either a boat or plane. You will have to decide what the best way to get from where you are to where Moodle is. Some tools as already mentioned may be helpful. I have typically used phpMyAdmin as a way of manipulating the data in the tables. Best of luck and if you have specific questions as you begin mapping out a plan for each type of resource feel free to let us know. Peace - Anthony
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In reply to Sreeraj KS

Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Sreeraj KS -

ThankYou for the quick response.

old sotware is which we developed here.. We are using it for about 2 years.. We have all data including exam history, resources,assignments etc.

I saw an option in moodle for import /export which is not in our old software. Moodle is creating a zip file when we export a course.Inside that zip file, an .xml file is there.

So I thought to create an .xml file like that. Dont know its foolish or not..

Can anyone help me in this..

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In reply to Sreeraj KS

Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Richard Enison -

SKS,

I would say no, it is not foolish, especially since the Moodle docs have a web page on exactly that: creating an XML file (for quizzes) so it can be imported into Moodle. I gave you a link to it in my previous post. Here it is again:

http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_XML_format

Now your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to follow AB's game plan and see how the data structure of your old program relates to Moodle's so you can write the code for exporting your data into an XML file. Is there s/w for writing XML files? Yes. Exactly how you do that depends on what programming language you use. It would probably be best to use the same language your old program was written in. I don't know whether that was php, perl, java, c++, or what. For example, in php I think you would use the XMLRPC functions described in chapter CXVII (117) of the php manual. There may be specific functions in Moodle for creating the kinds of XML files it uses. So study those, study the XML files you find in your Moodle installation as well as the database tables, as AB said, and become familiar with their structure.

I personally think it would be easier to program putting quiz data into GIFT format (see my previous post), but it's your choice.

RLE

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Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Sreeraj KS -

Thanks RE,

 I want to port not only the quiz but all the details of course.. ie resource, assignments etc.. I think for this we can use xml ..right?? Our old program is a J2ee/Mysql based. I am comfort with PHP also. So how to use XMLRPC for creating xml files. can you just give me an example f it..

Ofcourse questions we can port in GIFT format. But i have to port the details of attempted quiz also..  can xml do that also?

can anyone show me an example for using xmlrpc.

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Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Sreeraj KS -

I thought to port using Kettle software.. But the thing is that when i added a course to course table, it is not shown properly in the UI. I have addded many resources via table.ut it also didnt show in UI. So I think someother table is also getting updated while creating activities under a course..

Can anyone guide me if this is a good idea to port via kettle software.

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Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Richard Enison -

SKS,

I'm not familiar with Kettle, but from what I have seen (http://kettle.pentaho.org/), yes, I think it could be used for that purpose. But you need to understand the data structures of both the old CMS and Moodle so you can program Kettle to do the transformation and transport of data correctly.

As for XML-RPC, it is the only set of functions in the PHP manual that generates XML code. There are other XML-related functions, but they read rather than write XML. There is virtually no documentation of the individual functions, and the manual page contains a warning that the extension is experimental. For details it refers you to http://www.xmlrpc.com/ and http://xmlrpc-epi.sourceforge.net/. The functions that actually write XML code are xmlrpc_encode and xmlrpc_encode_request. There are supposed to be examples at http://xmlrpc-epi.sourceforge.net/xmlrpc_php/index.php, but that file seems to be missing. Go figure.

I was in the process of trying to investigate your questions using my own Moodle installation, but I am having problems logging in. So here is my suggestion: follow the Moodle teacher docs (http://docs.moodle.org/en/Teacher_documentation) and create a course or two, and add some resources. See what if any XML files appear in your file structure that weren't there before when you do that (so far I have 44 XML files in my Moodle folder tree), and see what changes appear in the database. That is where I believe Moodle keeps track of resources and everything else. I would concentrate on tables with names beginning (assuming your table prefix is the default mdl_) mdl_course, mdl_modules, and mdl_resource.

RLE

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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: Migration from an elearning software to moodle

by Richard Enison -

SKS,

I have Moodle 1.8.2 on my PC. I have attached a list of all the PHP files in it with "XML" in their pathnames, together with all the XML files, in this Moodle folder tree. You will find functions that generate XML code in some of these PHP files.

RLE

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