An Evaluation of the Supporting Infrastructure for Deployment of the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at 8 Afri

1. An Evaluation of the Supporting Infrastructure for Deployment of the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at 8 African Universities Brenda Mallinson and Greig Krull e/merge online conference 11 – 13 July 2012

2. Background - *PHEA ETI • This initiative aims to support interventions in universities to make increasingly effective use of educational technology to address some of the underlying educational challenges facing the higher educational sector in Africa. • The proposed strategic objectives of the PHEA ETI are to: • Support teaching and learning initiatives which integrate educational technology; • Promote collaborative knowledge creation and dissemination; • Get core institutional systems to work so that they support teaching and learning more directly; and • Research and report on educational technology activity in African universities by means of a long term project. • 26 distinct sub-projects across 7 HEIs over 3 years * The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) was a joint project of Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation.

3. Participating Higher Education Institutions • Kenyatta University, Kenya (KU) • The University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (UDSM) • The University of Ibadan, Nigeria (UI) • The University of Education Winneba, Ghana (UEW) • The University of Jos, Nigeria (UJ) • The Catholic University of Mozambique, Mozambique (UCM) • Makerere University, Uganda • The *Open University of Tanzania (OUT) * OUT was not part of the PHEA ETI, but were included in the Moodle survey.

4. Motivation for survey – Risk mitigation • In order for the Educational Technology Initiatives to be sustainable, appropriate supporting technologies needed to be successfully implemented • Failure to correctly implement and optimally maintain these systems would result in initiatives not succeeding • Each institutional Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) provided supporting technology for the deployment of online courses

5. Implementation of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) • A pre-project implementation baseline survey on the state of educational technology use at each participating HEI was not undertaken • During the project planning phase, it was agreed to adopt or migrate to the open source VLE, Moodle • Enabled the Saide project support team to draw on previous experiences in order to support implementation, maintenance and end use of this system at each participating HEI

6. Use of Moodle • Free, open source (OSS) e-learning platform • A vibrant user and developer community (http://moodle.org) • The Moodle Community is an network of over one million registered users who interact through the community website to share ideas, code, information and free support Currently 66,617 active sites registered from 215 countries • Typical features • Learning activities types include forums, quizzes, assignments & wikis • Communication tools include journals and instant messaging • Access to Resources include embedded web pages, internal linked files, external links to web sites • Administration tools include user authentication, grading, learner enrolment

7. Research Aim • Collect and evaluate data concerning the respective site deployments of the institutional VLEs • Establish the associated strengths and weaknesses • Collate lessons learned into a set of guidelines relating to implementation and maintenance procedures

8. Data Collection • Instruments for data gathering were developed within the identified focus areas for evaluation • Evaluation consisted of: • an analysis of policy documents • structured interviews with relevant university staff • as well as reviews of the system infrastructure • and general site observations • Used follow-up email questions for additional information required

9. Evaluation Focus Areas • Server hardware and software including security, network access and end-user devices • Server maintenance and backups • Approaches to updates and upgrades • Institutional policies and procedures • Staff and student user support and training

10. Evaluation Findings Note: The data was gathered over the period September 2010 – October 2011 by James Swash of NBA, a project partner.

11. General Findings • Previous experience of using technology to support teaching and learning varies considerably • Some institutions were early adopters and others only recently starting to engage in e-learning practices • Resulting in a wide range of general status of the various Moodle installations • Ability exists to share the specific server and infrastructure successes and failures of the early adopters with the more recent ICT adopters, thus providing the potential for fast tracking uptake

12. 1. Hardware, Software & Network Findings • Hardware and software: • Two institutions had insufficient memory to support the growing number of student users • Data redundancy not always built in (i.e. lose data if hard drive fails) • Sufficient hard drive space available for course files • Network access and end-user devices • Universities did not factor in additional internet usage for practical sessions in campus computer laboratories • Connection via fibre optic trunk is more stable than via relaying switches, although does require costly expertise for initial installation • Wireless hotspots – routers overloaded if maximum users connected • Insufficient lab space for all students

13. 2. Maintenance and Backup findings • One university only conducts backups on a monthly basis • Backup servers not in place at the majority of institutions at that time 3. Approaches to updates and upgrades • Updates and upgrades performed at different timings across institutions • Usually lag behind latest available version of the VLE

14. 4. Institutional policies and procedures • Only one (of eight) institution has a comprehensive e-learning VLE policy • Several institutions were in the process of drafting a policy • Considerable time is taken for policies to be drafted and adopted at an institutional level • Policies are not always disseminated and understood by staff • Institutions with more mature installations may share lessons learnt with institutions with more recent deployment

15. 5. Staff and student user support and training • Initial staff training performed by external providers • External project support team focused on staff capacity building • Further internal support team training for staff and students • Only 4 out of 8 institutions have dedicated e-learning support centres / units

16. Suggested Guidelines

17. 1. Hardware, Software & Network Guidelines Suggested Optimal Server Specifications

18. 2. Server Maintenance and Backup Guidelines • Maintenance policy in place should include: • HDD & DB defragmentation • Checking logs • Optimizing server performance • Monitoring server usage and free resources • Plan for upgrades, installing updates etc • Backups: • are tested for their integrity • to be restored in the shortest time possible, minimise downtime • stored on writable DVDs • performed nightly

19. 3. Update and Upgrade Guidelines • Updates / upgrades should be done on a monthly basis • When installing / upgrading Moodle, the latest “stable” versions should be used and not the development versions • Consideration is given to the consistency in the use of themes that influence the look and feel of the website

20. 4. Institutional Policy & Procedure Guidelines • Comprehensive VLE policy needs to cover: • Dedicated systems administrator • User groups and permissions • Staff support and training • Fair usage regarding band with • Establishment or management of E-learning Unit / Centre • A successful policy environment should include: • Complete and comprehensive policy for VLE server • Easily accessible • Policy should be enforced by the institution • Policy creation & update process defined & implemented

21. 5. Staff and student user support and training • Adequate support setup for different users • Staff to be able to create and maintain courses • Students to be able to interact with platform • Technical staff capacity (e.g. administrators) need to build sufficient skills • Linux, PHP, MySQL, networking, website hosting etc • Moodle Platform capacity • Website administrator & assistants, course creators, eLearning unit, academic staff, students, training staff

22. Conclusion • While the number of HEIs participating in the PHEA ETI project increased the planning and implementation complexity, the benefits of gathering and sharing information of this technical nature across institutions were noteworthy. • It is anticipated that these guidelines could lay a foundation in the provision a robust, stable, secure and sustainable hosting environment for the participating PHEA ETI HEI campus VLEs and would also be relevant to other HEIs in Africa.