Dear All
I'm getting moodle going in a UK secondary school. Some teachers and pupils are using it and finding it useful. The school's now had a look at Talmos and are talking about changing to it. The attraction is the tighter integration with SIMS (class sets, timetabling information etc) and the website all coming under one roof. Technically I can implement most of what they've seen and find alternatives for what I can't, but they've asked for an alternative pitch from me that makes the case for moodle (and other open source solutions) for the VLE, management information system, website etc. Is there anyone out there in the UK (secondary sector) who has such a setup that could give me advice and show me / the school's senior management what they've done, maybe that we could visit?
Thanks
In reply to David Willington
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by Tim Hunt -
Try contacting one of the UK Moodle partners.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by David Willington -
Thanks - good idea. I've been on to a couple.
In reply to David Willington
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by David Willington -
Dear All
Just to let you know how I got on. I've started putting together a web portal based around cmsmadesimple with links to Microsoft web outlook (only available over the school's VPN at the moment) and moodle, and entry for parents, teachers, students and extended schools. The school likes what it's seen but asked for more development. I've also been using the ILP moodle module, mentees block and defining parent and tutor roles. Details about exactly what is offered by Talmos are hard to come by (they should be emailing me something), but it seems they're offering a web portal, SIMS webparts and some direct access to the SIMS api from their VLE, but unfortunately no demo site I can play with. It looks like the way to go will be
Just to let you know how I got on. I've started putting together a web portal based around cmsmadesimple with links to Microsoft web outlook (only available over the school's VPN at the moment) and moodle, and entry for parents, teachers, students and extended schools. The school likes what it's seen but asked for more development. I've also been using the ILP moodle module, mentees block and defining parent and tutor roles. Details about exactly what is offered by Talmos are hard to come by (they should be emailing me something), but it seems they're offering a web portal, SIMS webparts and some direct access to the SIMS api from their VLE, but unfortunately no demo site I can play with. It looks like the way to go will be
- to use the SIMS import scripts that are being developed by various people to import classes and users,
- get these running nightly as a cron job,
- find out exactly what's needed in terms of marking and reports by the school, suggest using the moodle gradebook for marking and custom reports (moodle 1.9) to write grade data back to SIMS via SIMS' existing functionality (do this termly),
- use the ILP module for reports (subject and personal)
- use the Capita webparts to provide web-based access to SIMS and the vpn to provide access via the normal client
In reply to David Willington
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by Christoph Ruda -
Hi David,
Many thanks for the update. I have been following what you wrote with interest as our school is striving to implement an integrated solution. The aim is to do everything to do with data in SIMS and everything to do with learning in Moodle embedded in a SharePoint.
Have you been able to make progress with your SIMS-to-Moodle script as discussed here?
Christoph
In reply to David Willington
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by Dark Nova -
Hi David,
Have you got an update on how far you got with you Talmos alternative?
Cheers
DK
Have you got an update on how far you got with you Talmos alternative?
Cheers
DK
In reply to Dark Nova
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by David Willington -
Things are on a bit of a go slow at the moment. I'm trying to get NTLM SSO working (moodle 1.9.1 on LAMP server) and am tearing my hair out, although I suspect I'm only a key stroke away. Senior management at the school's not got much time to talk about it, but it looks as though a solution using moodle, SIMS webparts, Eclipse webparts (for the library), cmsmadesimple and a web-based email solution (possibly gmail) might be the way forward, although I don't know if gmail could be incorporated into a single sign on.
All the best
David
All the best
David
In reply to David Willington
Re: Advice from a UK secondary school that's well advanced
by Carol Booth -
Hi,
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'm would like to build a local community of schools using Moodle in the North East of England. We are just starting out and I think there is a great value in sharing experiences in person. Is there a good way to find and contact nearby Moodle schools?
Carol
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'm would like to build a local community of schools using Moodle in the North East of England. We are just starting out and I think there is a great value in sharing experiences in person. Is there a good way to find and contact nearby Moodle schools?
Carol