Evaluation against Minimum Requirements and Extensions

A literary review on Virtual Learning Environments, looking what Virtual Learning Environments are currently available, assessing their advantages and downfalls.

This minimum requirement has been completed as it detailed within the background reading (chapter 2). A definition of what a virtual learning environment was is given, along with what features they should have, and what benefits they should bring to an education establishing making use of one. Three open source virtual learning environments where also examined, look at their main features. Their advantages and disadvantages where examined within requirement capture (chapter four), when selecting which vir- tual learning environment Danum school should implement.

Detailed user requirement documentation, following consultation with the relevant people at Danum School.

Throughout this project two main end users, Mr. Ron Hale and Mr. Peter Hayton have been involved in deciding the project requirements. All the requirements captured are detailed in chapter 4. Due to the iterative nature of the project, there where three main set of requirements. The first set relevant to what functionality a virtual learning environment should for use when selecting which open source envi- ronment to implmeneted (iteration zero). For iteration one of the project the second set of requirements where defined for what changes need to be made to the virtual learning environment and the develop- ment of Danum schools own theme to use on the virtual learning environment. The third and last set of requirement documented where gathered during iteration two of the project and address the changes to user privileges and the development e-portfolio’s.

Implement specific functionality required by Danum School discovered during iteration one of the project (i.e. include core requirements).

All the requirements from iteration one of the project have been implemented. A specific theme for Danum school has been developed using the school Internet website as a template. Other changes to the appearance of the virtual learning environment have also been done, including spacing issues on forums, the removal of the jump to drop down menus on all pages. The second main requirement was to include category (department) descriptions, this has also been fully implemented using the current database setup and HTML Editor within Moodle. The last requirement of reducing the number of setting on the edit course page has also been completed, using JavaScript to show and hide the advanced setting.

It is important to note that the minimum requirements have been exceeded, as requirements from the second iteration of the project have also been implemented. These included the development of an e- portfolio system and making the necessary changes in regards to users.

7.2.2 Evaluation of chosen Methodology

Overall the choice of using a mixture of the traditional waterfall model and the unified software develop- ment process methodologies work out well. By using the ideas behind the unified software development precess, many of the drawfalls of the waterfall model where overcome. Also because of the iterative nature of the method used, the end users where involved heavily, leading to better more relevant require- ments being captured and therefore a better finished product. If an iterative methodology had not been used, some requirements such as issues with choice of link colour, etc. would not have been discovered, meaning that the end product may not have gained fully user satisfaction.

7.2.3 Suggestions for Further Work

From a developers point of view, there are several areas of work that could have been carried out. Cur- rently within Moodle, a pupils can only view their results within a specific course, ideally a pupils should be able to view their grades all in one place, i.e. link from the profile.

Also the e-portfolio system is still in its very early stages, and could be developed further. As present permission for the e-portfolio system are control separately from Moodle, one approach may be to in- tegrate the two system further details, so that permission for the e-portfolio system can be control from Moodle user permission setup.

Lastly a fully usability evaluation of Moodle should be carried out, as there are some functionality which are very confusing for user to use, i.e. lack of visible system status, poor error handling etc.

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Appendix A - Personal Reflection

Now that the project is complete and the final system has been handed over to Danum school, it is pos- sible to reflect on my personal experience of the project and look at some of the lessons learnt over the course of the project.

Firstly I feel that split of modules taken over the two semester the project ran other was wrong for my- self. I had a 40:40 split giving me an equal work load in each semester. If I was to undertake the project and the third year again, I would have probably opted for a 50:30, as more time is needed in the second semester for project work. Once of the most important part of the project is the plan appropriately so that more time taken on the project when other course work commitments are low i.e. after the January exams.

When it comes to dealing with end users, the best approach it to try and be as flexible as possible when arranging meeting. Throughout the project four different meetings where required to discuss require- ments, demonstrate the system and gain feedback. Any student completing a project for a external end user must appreciate that they are very busy people, and may not be able to see them at the most suitable time for the student. Most importantly it is vital that if student are doing an interview for example, they have to be well prepared, i.e. know what questions they are going to ask, what information they must gather. This helps keep the interview focused on the main issues and leads to better use of the limited time of the end user.

Lastly, looking back, since the project was started, I wished I had started the main report write up early, as I believed I under estimated the tasks of the write up. However I am glad I took the time early within the year to make use of Latex, as I believe from using it for the final project write up a more professional

year to use Latex early on to gain the necessary skills to use it effectively.

Although the project was alot of work, taking many hours, it has proved to be both interesting and en- joyable. The skills I have learnt from carrying out the project will come in useful during my professional working life. It was also nice to be able to apple some of the theory learnt from the various modules I had taken throughout by time at Leeds University into real life situations.

Appendix B - Schedules

Appendix C - End User Interviews

This Appendix details the three main interviews which occurred with the end users at Danum school.

Interview One - Initial Requirements / Fact Finding

Date: Wednesday 8th November 2006

Present: Daniel Watson (Developer), Mr Ron Hale (ICT Coordinator)

Aim: To gain an understanding of what requirements / functionality a purposed virtual learning environ- ment should have. What experiences Mr. Hale has of VLEs, and what advantages he believes using a VLE will bring. Also to gain an understanding of the structure of the ICT department.

Question 1

What previous experiences of Virtual Learning Environment have you had i.e. have you seen any demos, used any VLEs. Which ones stud out and why, and where there any problems or issues with them.

Currently Mr. Hale is investigating virtual learning environment, and has visited several schools making use of them as well as adding demonstration session run by commercial developers of virtual learning environments.

The main ones Mr. Hale has seen in action include, Moodle, Microsoft Sharepoint, Blackboard, Frog, RM Kaleidos.

Mr. Hale commented on the significant costs of the licenses for the commercially available VLE. For example RM Kaleidos, costs around 8 per user per year, for a school of Danum size, this would cost them around 19,000 per annum. Also none of the system provide a single log on i.e. they all require a

of the ones available could pick up the user login details automatically from the user logging onto the computer. Mr Hale also

Question 2

What features would you expect any implemented VLE to have?

There are many potential features any potential VLE should have, they include: • Offsite Access should be permitted to content by the VLE

• The VLE should make sure of forum to allow staff staff to post notices to students, and where student can post questions and discuss problems and issues.

• Course material should be able to be hideen / shown so that lesson can be planned in advanced. • The VLE should offer electronic submission and grading of assignments.

• Teachers should be able to view class grades for specific assignments and exercises • The VLE should also users to be categoried into teaching groups.

• The use be as easy and simple as possible to use to reduce training requirements. • The VLE should have a calendar function, so events can be displayed to users. • The system should be as secure as possible.

• There should also be good documentation and support for the chosen VLE.

Question 3

What advantages to do you believe implementing a VLE will bring

Mr. Hale mention several advantages he believed implementing a VLE would bring, they include: • Will enable flexible working

• Easier to plan and deliver cover lessons. • Easier monitoring of pupils

Question 4

How are ICT lessons currently taught in the school, what scheme of work does the department follow i.e. syllabuses, exam boards etc.

ICT is a compulsory subject for year 7 to 9, for years 10 and 11 (GCSE level) ICT can be taken as an option, and for sixth for students ICT is also an optional A-Level.

For Key Stage 3 teachers, the ICT department follows the Key Stage Three ICT Strategy. For gcse (year 10 and 11 pupils) the edexcel applied gcse ICT course and lastly for a-level the department follows the OCR Applied GCE ICT Syllabus.

Question 5

Who would be responsible for continued maintenance / updating of a VLE?

This issue is currently in disuccsion, and depends very much whether the school decides to adopt a open source or commerically available VLE.

Teachers and Heads of Departments would be responsible for upading the resources and courses available on the VLE. Most likely a member of the ICT technical staff would be responsible for the general management of the VLE, i.e. adding users, assigning roles etc. though this is not fully decided.

Interview Two - Requirement Gathering for Iteration One

Date: Tuesday 12th December 2006

Present: Daniel Watson (Developer), Mr Ron Hale (ICT Coordinator)

Aim: To deomonstrate the Moodle as the chosen Virtual Learning Environment. Discuss a possible theme for the VLE plus identify any addition changes that are required by the end users.

The various features of Moodle where demonstrated, including changing the block setup of the front page, creating courses, using forums, adding course materials, setting assignments and adding new en- tries into the calendar.

Several comments where made by the end user Mr. Ron Hale. Firstly it would be benefical that Danum have their own bespoke theme to use on the VLE. The colour scheme should match the schools website design. Other appearance issues need to be addressed, such as the jump to drop down boxes, not very useful and they are currently covering login information. Also when using the forum areas, the search forum optoin was presented, it was believed this option was not necessary for the school due to the lim- ited number of users that would probably make use of the forum.

While demonstating the course pages, i.e. uploading resources, editing setting several issues where raised. Firstly the number of setting on the edit course page may confuse inexpereience users, it was suggested that advanced option / option used rarely could be hidden and only the most relevant options being shown. Also from examining the default setting, it was felt some of the default where not correct for the school. For example default for lesson structure was to arrange them in weeks by date. Ideally topcis format should be the default as it is more flexible for teaching staff.

The last main issue discussed related to the categories page on the VLE. When a user view all available courses they are arranged by department. When the user clicks a specific department, they are taken to apage displaying all the courses that department has to offer. It was noted that a department description would be nice to give the user a few details about the department they where currently viewing i.e. teachering within, what years within the school it funs courses for etc. This department description should be able to be updated by authorised teaching staff or administrators.

Interview Three - End of Iteration One Demonstration / Requirement Gath-

ering for Iteration Two

Date: Wednesday 21st February 2007

Present: Daniel Watson (Developer), Mr Ron Hale (ICT Coordinator), Mr Peter Hayton (ICT Head of Department)

Aim: To demonstrate and get user feedback from the changes implemented during iteration one of the project. Discover end user requirements for iteration two of the project.

Demonstration of Current Virtual Learning Environment

Outline of Project Demonstration:

• Show Front page and discuss changes that have been made to the overall look and feel of the VLE • Show various forum areas, and the changes that have been made

• Show the moodle calendar system,

• Show basic course structure and activities such as adding resources, editing setting etc. • Discuss changes made to adding courses to the VLE

• Discuss changes made to the categories areas of the VLE Comments made by end user:

• Impressed at new look and feel of the VLE, all changes need to be consistent throughout the various part of the VLE.

• Look at possible link colour change on blocks and navigational bar.

• Will the VLE be able to handle the uploading of podcasts of lesson topics, the maximum upload value will need to be checked.

• Changes to adding / editing a course, the numbers of topics should be shown and some defaults need changing.

• Space between forum description and top navigational bar needs increasing.

• On categories page, space between categories drop down menu and department description need increasing.

Issues Surrounding Users

Several issues where raised during the demonstration in regards to users on the VLE:

• Students should not be able to edit their own details/profile; these details should be set by the administration when users are added/uploaded onto the VLE

• Pupils shroud not be able to change their passwords

• A general pupil user will need creating (new user profile), this user will be able to access resources, but cannot submit work or write on forums

• Number of settings on editing / adding new user need to be cut down, i.e. in same way as add / edit course.

• Privileges for all user groups / roles need examining

E-portfolios

E-portfolio part of the system will be completely new and need to be written from scratch. The main idea is that students can maintain their own portfolio where they can display a few personal details and show examples of work they have completed. The main requirements are:

• Students should be able to modify their own e-portfolio,

• Basic details about the students and a picture should on the e-portfolio,

• The portfolio’s need to be accessible to people / organisations outside of the school.

• Administrators should be able to upload and display example pieces of work they have completed within their own e-portfolio.

• The e-portfolio system should be integrated with the VLE.

Deployment within School

Deployment of the VLE within Danum School will take place during week beginning 26th March, a