Buy in Moodle Installation/Setup Services?

[duncane]

Does anyone know anyone in the West Yorkshire/Kirklees area who specialise in setting up Moodle servers?

We're looking to set up a Linux-based Moodle 2.0 server, themed to our school's websites look-and-feel.

We've set up Moodle for a smaller school in the past, but we're looking for someone to set up the whole system for us (due to time pressures).

[beeswax]

This lot are based in Keighley - Moodle Learning Platform for Schools VLE by School Anywhere Moodle Services

[GrumbleDook]

Do you really want Moodle 2 yet? Are you already using 1.9? Some companies are not rolling out Moodle 2 yet until folk are happy with themes, file storage, etc.

[duncane]

Do you really want Moodle 2 yet? Are you already using 1.9? Some companies are not rolling out Moodle 2 yet until folk are happy with themes, file storage, etc.

They've expressed a preference for 2.0 because it will be set up from scratch on a new server, and be in for the "long haul" - about 5-years.

Basically, I think if they can be re-assured that 1.9 support is going to be around for quite some time, that would go a long way to affecting their decision.

Thanks.

[rpwillis]

Have a chat with Guy Thomas of Citricity. Small company in West Yorkshire specialising in Moodle.

http://www.citricity.com/

[brudinie]

I set up Ossett School's Moodle VLE using Fedora Core Linux.

IF YOU WANT TO DO IT YOURSELF:

Its relatively easy to do providing you don't take all your Windows knowledge for granted and expect Linux to work just the same.

Also, you need to understand that Linux is only secure if you use it correctly.
This means you need to invest a bit of time learning about file system security - i.e. make sure your web readable folders are not all set to 777 permissions, etc.

Besides that, Linux works great (better than windows in my opinion).
I've had near 1 year uninterupted uptime with Linux servers.

Windows is apparently a lot better than it used to be for hosting php and mysql these days - especially now that there is a php fast-cgi module available for ISA servers.

IF YOU WANT SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT

I work with a company called Overnet data (I'm not an employee).
If you want them to put a Moodle server into your school they can give you a very advanced linux set up.
The entire linux stack is compiled from the ground up with only the components necessary to make Moodle and the necessary plugins work.
This means the threat window is especially low and the performance is high.
You can also buy this service from Web Anywhere in Keighley who offer the same solution but with adittional support.

Alternatively, if you want an off the shelf distribution of Linux running Moodle I could look at assisting you with this as I have done it before.

I can also talk to you about Moodle integration with SIMS if that is something you are interested in.
My email address (obfuscated to stop web crawlers) is:

b~r~u~d~i~n~i~e~@~g~m~a~i~l~.~c~o~m

(simply remove the tilde characters in the above to get my email)

Personally I think that putting a Moodle into your school is better than hosting it on the "cloud".

If you connect to the internet via your LA/Regional Broadband Consortium you will probably be well aware of the (un)relaibility of such services.

When I worked at Ossett school there were plenty of times that the internet went down and because we hosted Moodle ourselves everyone could continue to use it.

Also, we were able to provide students and teachers with remote access to network shares via Moodle by using the "windows share web client" block for Moodle.

[rpwillis]

Personally I think that putting a Moodle into your school is better than hosting it on the "cloud".

If you connect to the internet via your LA/Regional Broadband Consortium you will probably be well aware of the (un)relaibility of such services.

When I worked at Ossett school there were plenty of times that the internet went down and because we hosted Moodle ourselves everyone could continue to use it.

Slightly off topic, but conversely, if locally hosted and the internet connection goes down, then external users won't be able to access Moodle.

You'll need to consider whether internal or external use is greater e.g. is it used mainly during lessons, or mainly for homework after school, and the reliability of your connection before deciding local or cloud.

[duncane]

Basically, I think if they can be re-assured that 1.9 support is going to be around for quite some time, that would go a long way to affecting their decision.

We're fickle - we've decided going with 1.9 is the best option. We don't want a situation to arise where staff can't do something in 2.0 on the shiney new VLE that they couldn't do on the old one. If we do decide to migrate from 1.9 to 2.0 in the future there should be a growing body of people who have done it already, who can make us aware of any potential pitfalls and minimize any disruption.

Thanks,
Duncan.

[john]

Im about to embark on a major Moodle project with The Cutter Project, they have been exceptionally helpful in the planning stages and we will be building an even closer relationship with them over this project and are very much looking forward to working with them on it over the next 12 to 18 months or so

You've got @linescanner (Andy Trevor) on here as well as @kmount (Kim) who are both Cutter so ping them a line and see if they are able to help

[Marci]

Another nod here for Guy Thomas / Brudinie... stellar chappy...

[monkeyx]

We have decided to stay with 1.9.x and so has this organisation Collaborative Liberal Arts Moodle Project - Building tools and sharing solutions for liberal arts colleges

They release a 1.9.x version of moodle with TinyMCE integration and a few other extras.

We are in the process of testing this version and it seems to work very well.

Tim

[brudinie]

Excellent point!

[Marci]

Just to save a click-n-wander to their site...

CLAMP’s Moodle 2.0 Status Report, May 2011
Posted on May 17th, 2011 by Staff in News, tags: moodle 2.0, reports

After careful assessment, CLAMP has concluded that Moodle 2.0.1 is not production ready. This assessment is based on extensive testing conducted at Moodle Hack/Doc Fest VII at Furman University in January 2011 as well as a re-evaluation of Moodle 2.0.x progress in April 2011. CLAMP recommends using Moodle 1.9.x during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Our full report outlines notable improvements to Moodle 2.0, as well as progress since January 2011, known blockers, possible blockers and other potential issues that affect its production readiness. Download the full report [PDF]

Source: Collaborative Liberal Arts Moodle Project - Building tools and sharing solutions for liberal arts colleges

[brudinie]

I need to clarify this post:

Overnet data do not sell directly to schools - if you want their solution (which is excellent in my opinion), then you will have to purchase it via Web Anywhere who are also an excellent company with plenty of Moodle knowledge and experience.