Lessons Learned in Managing ICT Systems for Online Learning

1. Lessons Learned in Managing ICT Systems for Online Learning Eng. Lalith Liyanage Project Manager DEMP/NODES Sri Lanka

2. Outline INTRODUCTION STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS TECHNOLOGIES SELECTED MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING OF ICT SYSTEMS NODES MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

3. 1. Introduction • Population base of 20 million • 250,000 sit for university entrance exams annually • 125,000 obtain minimum qualifications • 20,000 get into 17 conventional universities • Thus, only 14% of those who qualify are admitted. • 86% of qualified students left out every year!

4. GAP between students qualifying A/L and selection to universities

5. Distance Education Modernization Project (DEMP) To expand post-secondary education enrolment by developing a modern, high-quality, human-resource base using distance education and the latest technologies • Funder: Loan from Asian Development Bank • Project Cost: US$60 million • Dates: November 05, 2003 - December 31, 2009

6. Stakeholder Expectations continued

7. NODES Enterprise Model NODES Enterprise Model Partner Institutions NODES Access Centres Students DNAC CDU NOC

8. Technologies Selected continued Considerations • Network latency - duration of online interactiveness • Strict adherence to assignment deadlines • Online real-time evaluations including online exams • Main servers accessible 24/7 • Scalability • System responses must be within human tolerable limits • Accessibility requirements: anywhere, anytime

9. Technologies Selected continued Considerations • Connectivity across country through NODES Access Centres (NACs) • High bandwidth for video conferencing • Archiving of online activities, e.g., online forums • And, all the above at an affordable recurrent cost

10. Technologies Selected continued Our Design • Deploy a mix of proven open source software, e.g., Moodle, FreeBSD and Linux, Apache Web Server, Postfix SMTP server, PostgreSQL Database, Nagios Network Monitoring software, Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) • Use some commercial software,e.g., Windows Active Directory Server for authentication and access control, Orion NPM • Purchase hardware including network equipment and servers • Employ redundant configuration for increased resilience • Establish DR Site for redundancy and the backup of all services

11. 4. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems • Sri Lanka Telecom promises that it will provide NODES with 99.9% backbone availability (<44min/month) • Last mile to Colombo NACs 99.5% (<3.65 h/month) • Last mile to outstation NACs 99% (<438min/month = 7.3 h/month) • NODES service level agreements with partner institutes promise 99% availability (<87.6 h/year or <7.3 h/month)

12. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) to monitor network traffic on VPN and Internet links

13. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued MRTG continued

14. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued Open Source Nagios Network Monitoring Tool detects availability of services on all ICT systems within the NODES VPN

15. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued Nagioscontinued

16. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued Nagios – Separate services on each of the servers

17. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued Orion Network Monitoring Tool visualizes complete network with real-time indication of any failures

18. Orion continued

19. Orion continued

20. Cisco Worksfor ease of managing Cisco equipment in the network

21. Bluecoat Reporter for content filtering and monitoring Internet access

22. Management and Monitoring of ICT Systems continued • The above tools keep Network Operating Centre (NOC) engineers informed of network conditions and potential failures. • If engineers are absent from a site, they are notified regarding network conditions via GSM modem gateway. • NODES management personnel must be aware of potential network failures and take corrective action before clients experience poor or interrupted service.

23. National Online Distance Education Service (NODES) www.nodes.lk • NODES is a service/organization created by DEMP. • 50 online degree / diploma programs are currently running. • The NODES Network Operation Center (NOC) capacity is • 155 Mbps IP/VPN with a 55 Mbps Internet bandwidth. • 27 NODES Access Centres (NACs) have an operating capacity of 10 Mbps IP/VPN when connected to NOC. • Moodle is the learning management system (LMS) employed.

24. National Distance Education Network

25. AMPARA ANURADHAPURA KURUNEGALA MONARAGALA MATARA

26. 5. NODES Management Information System (NMIS) • SIS – Student activity management • PNMS – Partner institutions and NACs management • LMS – Moodle LMS integration • FIS – Financial functions management • DMS – Document management • SysAMS – System administration management • CRM – Customer relationship management • HRM – Human resources management

27. NODES Management Information System (NMIS) continued

28. NODES Management Information System (NMIS) continued

29. NODES Management Information System(NMIS) continued

30. Conclusion • A paradigm shift in education occurred – from face-to-face to online learning. • A high-end NODES ICT infrastructure was established to meet current and future needs of education. • NODES stakeholder expectations are higher than in face-to-face settings. • Network capacity, scalability, and reliability are vital. • Maintaining the system is mission critical. • Proactive actions have been taken to avoid every possible network failure.

31. All of the above mentioned efforts were meant to build the confidence of all stakeholders as without them, the system will not be sustainable.

32. What we have done @ NODES is just a drop in the ocean. Stakeholder confidence will move the system forward.

33. Thank you! Co-contributors: Ajith Pasqual (Sri Lanka) Clayton R. Wright (Canada) lalith@nodes.lk www.nodes.lk