1. Surry Online (powered by Moodle):
Moving to Moodle: One College’s Approach
Dr. Candace Ring Helen Dollyhite
Distance Surry Community College

2. …a bit of history
In 1998, Surry Community College adopted Blackboard 4 as its official course management system (CMS).
Many faculty are happy with Blackboard, but found that information got lost due to having to “drill down” to find information.
Aug. 2006: In conjunction with NCCCS, Surry participates in the Moodle pilot project, ncmug.net, for UNC and NC community colleges provided by Bill Randall of the NCCCS.

3. …a bit of history
Spring 2008: 40 faculty members attend “hands-on” workshop opportunities. Surry contracts with Remote-Learner for hosted Moodle instance, branded ‘Surry Online.’
Summer 2008: 10 faculty participate in pilot project , committing to teach a course in Moodle in Summer Early Childhood courses phased over to Moodle.
Fall 2008: Surry Online offers 20 courses on Moodle, with 65 in Blackboard 7.3. Training/migration continues.
Spring 2009: 50 active courses with 1000 active users. Training/migration continues.
Fall 2010: Migration is complete. All courses converted and taught on Moodle.

4. …(perceived) pros and cons
Commercial
Open Source
Stable(ish)
Scalable
Supported/”someone to sue”
Documentation/Training
Perception of “safety & stability”
Turn-key solutions
Lack of customization
Mandated patches/upgrades
Proprietary content
Prohibitive cost
Customizable
Upgrade/Versioning autonomy
Faster integration of new technologies
Open standards
Integration with other services
NCCCS/corporate/homeschool tie-in
Substantial cost savings
Loss of some functionality
Fears of instability & scalability
Lack of support/”someone to blame”
Hidden costs – hosting, support, new hires?
Requires developers, programmers

5. …expectations management
Facing the fears:
Loss of functionality (esp. gradebook, selective release)
Migration (“…you mean I have to start over?!?)
Training & Support
Integration
Getting “Buy In” From Faculty
Brought in people who had migrated to Moodle to conduct initial training.
Faculty has positive attitude toward change
Faculty like flexibility of features
Faculty like student reporting and data features

6. Key to Success: Support Faculty & Students
…training & support
Key to Success: Support Faculty & Students
Candace Ring and Helen Dollyhite conduct workshops, provide training materials and technical support to faculty
Provide technical support to students
In the process of creating online training option for faculty and student orientation
Developing technical support website

7. …training & support
Surry now conducts monthly workshops for full and part time faculty
Includes one-on-one option
Divisional sessions
Campus-wide sessions
Day & evening training options
Open source downside: No one else to call. No one else to blame.
Hosting services like MoodleRooms, Optimized Learning, and Remote-Learner can help ease the transition and provide admin support.

8. …integration
Working on integration with Datatel through Open Source Collaborative
The “community model” saves the day!
Similar solutions in place for Datatel (CPCC) freely gives Datatel integration scripts to colleges who ask
Guildford Technical CC has auditing report
South Piedmont CC has “block student” authentication
The moodle.org forums host a vibrant community of users/ admins/developers, all of whom believe in the open source model

9. …timeline Moodle 16 live courses Complete migration & training
Moodle “official” CMS
Blackboard no longer available
Moodle 16 live courses
16 faculty/ 320 users
Bring Con Ed aboard -10 courses
Blackboard support continues
Blackboard training as requested
Spring08/Summer Fall Spring 09 /Fall Fall 2010
Continue migration & training
50 courses/1500 users
Add 4 more Con Ed courses
Blackboard support continues
Develop training material
Conduct workshop series
Teach Moodle 10 courses
Blackboard support continues

10. …migration Faculty migration needs are diverse Migration tools
“I just want my files.”
“I have 2800 questions in a database, and 25 quizzes.”
“Can’t you just move my entire course? All I’ve posted is a syllabus.”
Migration tools
Zip/Unzip
bFree
Respondus IMS_QTI personality
LSU’s Blackboard Moodle Conversion Tool

11. Blackboard Moodle Resources Assignments Quizzes Glossary
mapping Blackboard to Moodle
Blackboard
Course Documents
Course Information
Assignments
Discussion Board
Tests
Glossary
Announcements
Moodle
Resources
Assignments
Quizzes
Glossary
Label or Forum

12. …administration LAMP experience is good Tools
Linux
Apache
MySQL
PHP (in this case)
Tools
cPanel
phpMyAdmin
dir layout is logical, if you like SSH and command line
Has required some professional development on our parts
Learning new skills = always a good thing
Having to solve the problem yourself = always a strong motivator
Larger community = more shared solutions
A “we can make this work” attitude = indispensable

13. Questions? Dr. Candace Ring Surry Community College
Phone:
Helen Dollyhite
Phone: