1. WebLearn Beta An overview of the new improved WebLearn service
by Matthew Buckett, OUCS
Disable growl. Adium off. Caffeine on.
Developer, previously worked on Bodington.
Team of 6.

2. Topics Current Service Beta Service Transition Timescales Features
Migration
Demos
Questions
Survey of audience.
Know of WebLearn? Know about the beta? Involved in the pilot?
VLE CMS LMS

3. What is WebLearn?
Integrated set of tools for teaching, learning ,collaboration and research.
Tools (discussion forum, assessment submission, tests/quiz, content)
Inside one framework (shared users, authorization, events, content)
Integrate together well with similar design.
Content = files.
Example tools.
Events – tracking
Typically in one framework
Calendar entries from assessment appear in central calendar.
Search works across all tools. Content store is used by all tools.
Blackboard, WebCT, Moodle.

4. Current Service http://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/ Based on Bodington source
Physical metaphor
Content is in a tree
Dwindling community
Fewer development resources locally
Not everyone likes the physical metaphour.
Tree is very rigid.
Leeds, UHI, Manchester are contributing members of community.
Team is the same so not many new features for Bodington.
Quick demo?
MyWebLearn personal space.

5. WebLearn Beta http://beta.weblearn.ox.ac.uk/ Based on the Sakai source
Main concept is a site
Large community
Currently in pilot
Sakai conference in paris recently. Over 300 attendees.
More work done outside Oxford.
WebAuth/LDAP enabled.
Level of service (SLA), uptime.
MyWorkspace personal site.

6. What’s Better Cleaner interface Better usability and accessibility
Simpler access control
Community Documentation
More tools
Good integration
Good search
WebDAV
Integration Talk about RSS output, and Link Tool.

7. Transition Timescales
Pilot program starts in earnest now
During next year new features introduced
Full production service starts Jun 2009
2011 current Bodington service becomes read only
Looking for pilots (Fawei?)
Jun 2009 will have everything under same URL (weblearn.ox.ac.uk), existing URLs will still work.
Turn bodington off?

8. New Local Features Hierarchy of Sites Nice URLs Devolved Admin
Control of Public Access
Tools to support migration
Integration with Oxford groups.
Looking to make these part of the standard Sakai codebase

9. Migration Support Lots of content can timeout Export/Import of content
Migration of assessments
Reuse of groups
Redirects for existing content
Not providing automatic tools because granulatiry of sites/resources
IMS CP includes descriptions (HTML).
Timeout = Wait to no longer be relevant (eg forum posts).

10. Demos Should I have had a backup? Cover Sites Hierarchy Public Access
Tools (Assignments, Announcements, Resources, Wiki, Mailtool, Archive).

11. What’s coming? Sakai 3.0 Lots of client side development (AJAX)
Integrating with social networks (Facebook)
Scalability improvements
AJAX because it lowers the barriers to development.

12. Quesitons? What would you like from the new service?
How do you currently use WebLearn?
If you don’t what would have encouraged you to use WebLearn?
Become part of the pilot?
Enterprise
Similar institutions
Sakai is SOA
Similar featureset

13. Notes http://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/ http://beta.weblearn.ox.ac.uk/