(photo by freeparking)

In order for us to track a one-to-one relationship between a Moodle course and an Elgg community we first need to create a mapping table.  The table definition I used is as follows:

															<TABLE NAME="block_eportfolio_course_map" COMMENT="">
	<FIELDS>
	<FIELD NAME="id" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="true" UNSIGNED="true" SEQUENCE="true" ENUM="false" NEXT="courseid"/>
	<FIELD NAME="courseid" TYPE="int" LENGTH="10" NOTNULL="true" UNSIGNED="true" DEFAULT="0" SEQUENCE="false" ENUM="false" PREVIOUS="id" NEXT="eportid"/>
	<FIELD NAME="eportid" TYPE="char" LENGTH="128" NOTNULL="true" SEQUENCE="false" ENUM="false" PREVIOUS="courseid"/>
	</FIELDS>
	<KEYS>
	<KEY NAME="primary" TYPE="primary" FIELDS="id" COMMENT="Primary key for block_eportfolio_course_map" NEXT="courseid"/>
	<KEY NAME="courseid" TYPE="foreign" FIELDS="courseid" REFTABLE="course" REFFIELDS="id" NEXT="courseid_uniq" PREVIOUS="primary"/>
	<KEY NAME="courseid_uniq" TYPE="uniq" FIELDS="courseid" PREVIOUS="courseid"/>
	</KEYS>
	</TABLE>
	

Since our code already supports single sign-on, we just add to that to track whether an Elgg community needs to be created.  Let us reuse the signupredirect.php page and just add an extra variable that tells the system to create a corresponding community.  The significant section is as follows:

View full post

(photo by maxinstosh of flickr)

I attended the 2-3-98 Open Discussion on Technology in Education conference last week. In many cases, Open Source is becoming just another option when evaluating software for use in education. Of course, there are still objections from some, but more and more software in compared on the solution it can provide, without regard for the license. One day of the conference was devoted to Moodle, and it was clear that Moodle was regarded as a superior solution by those that chose it. There was not any bias in choosing open source or proprietary solutions noted by those that chose Moodle. That is, they chose Moodle for the the features it provides.

View full post

I will be presenting a workshop on Collaborative eLearning at this year's Grassroots Use of the Internet Conference.  It's always a great conference. Here is the description of our specific workshop:

The internet is a great source of information, but how do you move from putting your information out there to really supporting learning online?   In the past people have moved from static web pages, to multi-media presentations that use the “listen-and-read, then answer questions model”.  However, learning is a social activity.  People learn best together.  As the web becomes more social and collaborative so can online learning.

In this workshop you will get hands-on experience using an open source learning tool (LAMS) to support collaborative learning.  We will explore a bit of the theory behind learning and try out some collaborative activities. 

LAMS is a tool that allows the creation and sharing of online sequences of activities.  Using easy drag and drop tools to facilitate the online equivalent of lesson planning it encourages a real focus on the structure and theory of learning (pedagogy). 

The goal of the workshop is not to focus on the how-to of any particular technology but to inspire new ideas for making online learning effective, engaging and collaborative.

View full post

(photo by NYT May 29, 2008)

  The New York Times wrote an article on Walter Blender's split with OLPC.  What bothers me is the black and white mentality about Linux.

Sugar is based on Linux - but that does not make it the same as most Linux desktops.

Sugar was made to support constructivist learning in small children.  That's great, but does anyone know if it works?  It's a great thing to try to do, but personally I find it hard to use.  Now I'm not a non-literate small child, whereas a co-worker's 4-year old pre-reader can navigate the system intuitively. Does anyone know what research they have done on the effectiveness of Sugar vs. a more traditionally laid out operating system for different age groups? One of the unique things about OLCP is they are focusing on 1st graders.

View full post