migrating to moodle: lessons learned from recent csu migrations
DESCRIPTION
In this presentation from the US West Coast Moodle Moot 2011, leaders from California State University that have recently migrated to Moodle discuss their campus decision-making process, the processes and technologies used to migrate content, and their process of implementation. The speakers represent campuses migrating from both Blackboard and WebCT, and a mix of small and large FTE campuses. Activities that benefited from multi-campus coordination and resource sharing are also be discussed.Presenters: David Levin, CSU NorthridgeBarbara Taylor, CSU San MarcosModerator: John Whitmer, CSU Office of the ChancellorTRANSCRIPT
Migrating to Moodle: Lessons Learned from Recent CSU Migrations
PresentersBarbara Taylor, CSU San MarcosDavid Levin, CSU Northridge
Facilitator: John Whitmer, CSU Office of the Chancellor
CSU San Marcos
Barbara Taylor, MS., MA
Instructional Developer
Instruction and Information Technology Services
Campus Environment
Centralized Technology FTE students – 9722 (Fall 2010) Full-time faculty: 230 (Fall 2010) Instructors using Moodle: 524 (Spring 2011)
How CSUSM Uses Moodle
Academic Courses– Create containers for all courses
Spring 2010: 2086 created– ~1200 actually were used
Fall 2011: 1736 Non-academic
– Departments, Committees, Campus Organizations 138 containers
CSUSM Switch to Moodle
What lead to switching from WebCT to Moodle? Process for making the decision
– Compare process of converting to Moodle/BB– CIO formed a team to evaluate Moodle
Database admin Server admin Programmers Instructional Developers
– Faculty Pilot (Spring 2010)
Timeline
Decision to move to Moodle: October, 2010 Actual migration:
– Courses: 2.5 weeks
– Assessments: 3 weeks Pilot: Spring 2010 Fully Live: Summer 2010
Migration From WebCT 6 to Moodle
Tools– None for WebCT CE 6 to Moodle 1.9
Now what?– What did we really need from WebCT?
Determined we needed all files, Learning Modules, Folders, Discussions, Links, Glossary, Assessments
Video extracted to be streamed in Mediasite Didn’t need student data
– What can we put together to migrate material? APIs Respondus
Migration Process
Developed a website for instructors Website for conversions Converted about 50 courses
– Quality assurance for course– Tweaked script
Converted ~150 courses – Quality assurance– Everything was as good as we could get it
Begin converting newest version of each course for all instructors going back 6 semesters
Finished Conversion
Timeline– Approximately 2.5 weeks to complete conversion
Statistics– Migrated ~1800+ with less than 100 errors
– Courses with video: 171
– Courses with assessments: 391
Lessons Learned
Team approach is critical Create a project plan – realize it will change
throughout the process – be flexible Training is vital to success
– Database admin– Server admin– Instructional Developers– Instructors– Students
Lessons Learned
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate– Keep everyone on the team updated
– Inform instructors on how to pull out student data they might want later (ie: assignments, DB)
Test, test, test before moving to production
CSUN Campus Overview
Third largest California State University campus Almost 36,000 students Large commuter population Over 2000 faculty members
– Approximately 50% part-time Lecturers
– Instruction six days a week
– Classes from 6:30 AM – 10:00 PM
CSUN Migration Timeline Pre-Moodle LMSs – WebCT and Blackboard July 2008-June 2009 – Evaluation June 2009 – Selection of Moodle and decision to host
with Moodlerooms Summer 2009 – Build environment, begin migration of
content, begin training Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 – Run both Moodle and
WebCT in production; complete migration of course content
Summer 2010 – 100% Moodle
Some Migration and Implementation Details
2545 WebCT courses migrated to Moodle Create Moodle shell for all courses Integrated Elluminate, Respondus, TurnItIn,
ASCIIMathML 1668 courses using Moodle in Spring 2011
(35%)
Lesson One: Planning
Team Approach– Instructional design
– Instructional technology
– Authentication team
– Student Information systems
– Moodlerooms Project management Weekly meetings and reporting
Lesson Two: Communication
Early and often Listen to your users – students as well as faculty Keep faculty informed of upcoming dates The fact that you said it does not imply that it has
been heard– Although we have been telling faculty for two years
that WebCT would not be available after June 30, 2011 we had a faculty member turn up last week asking for access to a WebCT course.
Lesson Three: Open Source
Licensing fee versus added support cost Vendor support versus community support Flexibility and supportability
Lesson Four: Collaboration
Major key to our success Within our university Within the California State University System Within the Moodle community With our hosting provider
Lesson Five: Support and Training
Provide a variety of support and training options For different groups: faculty, students, support
staff In different modes: workshops, QuickGuides,
user guides, videos, webinars, etc. Sandboxes for faculty
QUESTIONS?
Contact Information
Speaker Campus Email
Barbara Taylor CSU San Marcos [email protected]
David Levin CSU Northridge [email protected]