judyB

I agree with previous posters - technically getting it up and running is just the start - winning hearts and minds is a long term job. We started using moodle about 4 years ago and even now there is a way to go. However it does depend on your approach - we didn't at any point force staff to use moodle - we just encouraged and gave training. We let staff come to it in their own time and gave them a lot of freedom to structure courses however they wanted. I'm not saying this is the right approach, as it does cause some problems, however it suited our institution. I know some institutions have IT staff creating the courses, or they have SMT or quality managers requiring staff to have materials on a VLE. This gets things up and running quicker but at the cost of staff losing ownership and involvement. If you're talking about technically getting everything set up then your deadline seems reasonable, especially if you're paying for a VLE so will receive some training and support from the company. If your talking about an institution-wide shift in attitude...then be ready for the long haul. Best of luck!

As far as I'm aware you're not allowed to use ActivStudio with a competing board - a warning message pops up if you try to. It works fine but it's not permitted under the license. It used to have a water mark on the flipchart when it didn't detect a board - can't remember if ver 3 still has this. Also the handwriting recognition doesn't work. However ActivInspire is the latest version of the software and there is a free download version that you can use with any board. There are some feature differences that are listed on the promethean website, but from using it I've never come across any major features missing. If you have other promethean products (voting pads etc) then you can upgrade to the full version of ActivInspire and use that legally with any board.

I don't know why it would cause that problem but you could try checking the pen mode on the driver settings - it should be "mouse" for XP and "pen" for Vista. I've had odd problems that that's solved in the past.

I think the main problem with the moodle interface is the whole uploading files process. This is the first thing most teachers want to do - get existing resources available online. However the interface is non-intuitive and needlessly tedious. This leads them to get discouraged. However this is probably the hardest task - adding forums, glossaries and quizzes is a doddle in comparison, so once they're over that hurdle it gets easier. And the good news is that the file uploading has had a major facelift in Moodle 2.0 (due sometime in June - hopefully!) as well as many other aspects of the interface. i love moodle - but i wouldn't say (in it's current state) it's very easy to use. However it has the advantage of total versatility and customisation - so as long as you have appropriate training and support in place I don't think it's any less likely to be used than another VLE.

You supposedly can write on them with "good quality" board markers, and if you had some of the proper cleaning stuff on hand in case of problems....it could work. We don't encourage it at our place though - like ozzy says, better in the long run to encourage them to use the software.

Looks great! Good theme for a "virtual staffroom". one thought -maybe each topic box down the middle looking like a separate note? (if the theme is applied to a course as oppose to the front page) But love it- thanks for sharing!

You should include a good glossary. I always find it helpful to spend a bit of time at the beginning of any training defining terms and jargon - like you say they're usually happy with attaching files by clicking on a paperclip because "attach" is a familiar word, but "upload" is a scary computery word that causes panic. A good understanding of terms like upload/download, profile, VLE, forum etc is half the battle - and is transferable.