26 December 2015 Moodle Implementation at The University of Waikato The Good, The Tough & Lessons Learned

26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO2 Outline of presentation Where we are now Why we changed What we did Critical decisions Success factors Lessons learned

Where we are now Production Moodle Environments elearn site + back-up environment Moodle Innovation site Moodle Train staff professional development site Range of Moodle customisations Users and Courses 17,000 users (12,000 active) 2,500 papers / courses (750 active) 800 Editing Teachers Waikato Centre for eLearning 4 permanent staff Mostly happy people 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO3

Why we changed Previous LMS - ClassForum In-house system built on webcrossing platform Negative reasons Limited functionality Unstable Problems with performance No longer supported Positive reasons Re-capture standard of eLearning practice Re-establish The University of Waikato as leaders 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO4

26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO5

What we did - overview Moodle Implementation Phase 1: March 07 – March 08 Objective: Deploy Moodle as the University’s LMS with appropriate support structures, develop policies and practices around management of the LMS and provide staff with adequate training Moodle Implementation Phase 2: March 08 – March 09 Objective: Complete transition to Moodle, enhance the environment, increase usage and decommission ClassForum 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO6

Expected Challenges Performance problems The Great ClassForum crash of 2001 Inability to migrate content Resistance to change Insufficient support Gap in functionality Differences in structure Less functionality in some activities 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO7

26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO8 Project Milestones – Phase 1 MilestoneCompleted by Establish project and team6 March 2007 Test Environment deployed13 April 2007 Exploratory Workshops11 May 2007 Live environment deployed (1.8)31 May 2007 Live PilotsDuring B semester Upgrade live environment (1.9)August 2007(?) Academic staff training (for setting up papers in Moodle) During B semester Moodle live for all online papers1 November 2007

26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO9 Project Milestones – Phase 2 MilestoneCompleted by Establish project and teams28 March 2008 Complete transition to Moodle11 July 2008 Implement Innovation and Staff Development Moodle sites 16 May 2008 Innovation PilotsB Semester 2008 Establish Professional Development programme 16 May 2008 Report on institutional eLearning Practice 1 October 2008 Complete Moodle development15 December 2008 Decommission ClassForum1 December 2008

Work Breakdown & Project Teams 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO10

Critical project decisions during Phase 1 Full university-wide rollout - not phased implementation Staged approach Exploratory workshops -> pilots -> summer school -> semester A Developed to ensure no loss of functionality No migration of content Delayed encouraging changes in teaching practice till Phase 2 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO11

26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO12 Stage 1 – Exploratory Workshops Two hour sessions over two weeks 75 staff from across all schools, Library and ITS Goals Not training but listening Gather User requirements for initial configuration of Moodle Gather User requirements for feature enhancements Map ClassForum use to Moodle environment Familiarisation Gain a feel for training requirements

Stage 2 - Pilots Moodle 1.8 with no customisation 25 papers from all schools One-to-one assistance Gathering feedback Student surveys Interviews with staff Research project 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO13

Stage 3: Full roll-out Summer School (starting after 1 st November 07) Smaller number of papers Semester A – all go! 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO14

Decision: to not lose functionality Why? Limited resources for support Painless as possible Required 1.9 functionality Groupings Headache !!! - creeping roadmap dates When to upgrade current production? Which version of 1.9 beta? One Moodle environment or two? Action: Go-live with 1.9 beta & cherry pick bug fixes 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO15

What we developed Contracted Catalyst Groups Groupings Automated creation Interface options Workbook – dialogue Course based individual dialogue between teacher and student Automatic creation of open dialogues for each student Automatic update when course membership changes 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO16

What we developed - continued Assignment submission Assignment receipting Bulk download Forum changes Reference numbers in chronological view Snippet of previous post “Show replies” link Anonymous posts Turnitin integration (Phase 2) Assignments submitted via Advanced File upload assignment 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO17

Group allocation 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO18

Assignment Receipting 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO19

Decision: No migration of content Why? Difficulty of task Moodle has a very different structure Positive spin Encouraged staff to learn the new system Provided one-to-one assistance Vital importance of managing expectations 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO20

Decision: No pedagogical change Why? Limited support resources Spread disruption Provided mapping of functionality Delayed focus on teaching practice till Phase 2 Via department review processes Via Professional Development Hosting opportunities to share experiences Sponsoring staff to MoodleMoot! 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO21

Success Factors Hand picking team members Contracting Catalyst – sanity check, training, development Establishing high level Steering Committee Establishment of Waikato Centre for eLearning (Nov 07 – Feb 08) Minimised disruption by developing functional gaps Employment of additional staff during transition 5 people (2fte) to provide one-to-one support during transition Constant communication of expectations Respecting academics as experts in teaching practice Involving distributed IT consultants Responsiveness to requests for change 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO22

Lessons Learned Don’t trust Moodle roadmap time frame! Develop relationship with third party consultants as early as possible Establishing trust with staff is vital Involve key institutional decision makers One-to-one support is greatly appreciated 26 December 2015© THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO TE WHARE WANANGA O WAIKATO23