Don't forget to register for IOL 2006! The UT TeleCampus is hosting the second annual Innovations in Online Learning conference on June 1 and 2, 2006 in Austin to celebrate and spotlight innovations developed by faculty, staff and students of the University of Texas System. Some specific sessions you may be interested in:
- Technical Staff Perspectives on Web-based Learning Across the UT System – Doug Hale and James Olson, UT Permian Basin
- Advanced Technology in the Online Teaching of Mathematics – Charles Wakefield, UT Permian Basin
- Addressing the Needs of Visually Impaired Students in Online Courses – LaVonne Grandy and Kendall Tew, UT San Antonio
- Organizational Strategies and Tools for Successful Course Production – Alexandra Hernandez, UT Southwestern Medical Center
- Courseware "Shoot-Out" – THE hot topic of the courseware world this year: the merger of WebCT and Blackboard. The event will have both companies demonstrating their newest products and features.
See you there!
April 27, 2006 at 10:20 am |
Is it really a “Shoot-Out” if both participants are on the same side?
Anyway, it would be nice to see Moodle or Sakai thrown into the mix, especially since some UT schools have considered one or both, and some have even installed and implemented them on a trial basis. But this will be an interesting and informative session, even if there will no longer be any blood shed.
April 27, 2006 at 3:32 pm |
I guess this would be a good time, Matt, for us to approach Bb and give them our list of WebCT features we absolutely can’t live without. “Please don’t take away my selective release. Or my ability to see and manipulate the list of files I’ve uploaded to my course.”
I know you guys are using Moodle for some courses. Do you know of any schools actually using Sakai for it’s courses? Speaking of Sakai, I stumbled across a site that actually has a Sakai demo — http://www.sakaitestdrive.com. You can create an account and start uploading assignments, quizzes, etc. Interesting for those who are curious about Sakai.
April 27, 2006 at 4:22 pm |
Well, i talked to some people at TxDLA that were using it. But I can’t remember who they are. It seems like someone in the UT system was saying they were using it. I’ve slept too many times since then.
I like Sakai, but I don’t like that it is written in Java. Sure, you can get into the source code and modify it, but who has enough time to learn Java? I think it takes less time to learn Chinese than Java. And Chinese is more useful.
I do support anything open-source. Here is good look at Sakai vs. Moodle:
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=38661
May 3, 2006 at 9:09 am |
UTSA is implementing Moodle right now. I’ve met with the contractor who has been doing the code customizations to tie it to their LMS and would be happy to share what I learned. Sakai is ultimately more flexible than Moodle or ATutor–but as Matt says, you need to be a formal OO programmer (C++ or C#) to move quickly into the Java world. UT Austin has written an assessment extension to Sakai.
May 3, 2006 at 11:02 am |
Ultimately, wouldn’t all open-source stuff have unlimited flexibility (only limited by your knowledge of the source code)? I’m curious to know how Sakai is more flexible. Not that I disagree – I am always interested in these types of comparisons.