Mark Drechsler, James Strong, Rebecca Andary, Ashley Holman
NetSpot

Moodle 2.0 first impressions – Functional focus

Moodle 2.0 has introduced a range of new functions, some of which have been long awaited since the early versions of Moodle, some of which are new innovations to take Moodle in new and exciting directions. NetSpot have been researching the new features of Moodle 2.0 in order to support large clients who are considering timing and urgency for an upgrade to their existing Moodle sites, and this presentation will give an overview of some of the new features reviewed, their benefits and drawbacks, and which ones are proving to be the most critical ones from an end user perspective.

Moodle 2.0 first impressions – Technical focus

Moodle 2.0 has introduced a range of new functions as well as having received a significant internal overhaul in terms of how its code is structured. Although many of the new features will obviously make Moodle more attractive to many, consideration also needs to be given to the technical impact of the upgrade. As part of its support role for existing large Moodle 1.9 clients, NetSpot have been performing trial upgrades of large Moodle sites to investigate elements such as the performance of Moodle 2.0 in comparison to 1.9 when large numbers of users and courses are involved, as well as reviewing the impact of upgrading other components such as the common plugins for Moodle which are not included in the core code update. This presentation will give an overview of some of the main findings of this research, and is a must for anyone considering an upgrade to Moodle 2.0 in the medium to large scale.

Moodle 2.0 first impressions – Business focus

The desire by many learning and teaching staff to upgrade to Moodle 2.0 as soon as possible is going to be inevitable given the range of new features, but what are the business considerations of upgrading to Moodle 2.0. NetSpot have been actively working with clients to map out a migration path which takes into account not only the technical aspects of the upgrade, but also the key business drivers behind upgrading and when the ‘right time’ is to upgrade – if at all. This presentation will focus on the business decisions to be made when considering an upgrade to Moodle 2.0.