VLE Workshop

This is the event page for a planned workshop to be held 9 November 2013, to cover the WMUK Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This workshop is scheduled provisionally (as of September 2013), since development work is ongoing on the system. It will be better to postpone the workshop, than to try to run it before the VLE is fully configured.

Of particular interest to:

• WMUK trainers;
• Moodlers and those addressing ways to integrate Moodle and MediaWiki;
• Anyone who is working on improving the newcomer editor experience on Wikipedia.
• Anyone who follows technology as applied in education, and would like to understand the issues in this case.

Background

WMUK have had a prototype VLE run under Moodle since the end of 2012. The stated purpose of the VLE is to support the WMUK training workshops, by giving a chance to those who have attended a workshop to study further. The main content of the VLE consists of 16 courses, comprising 81 modules. It gives a training option that is online, but not on an open wiki.

Work in 2013

The following steps represent the main efforts on the VLE in 2013.

• Assessments of the prototype (five solicited and received).
• Configuration of authentication software for a single sign-on system (this is purpose-written free software).
• Look-and-feel: one new skin ("Moodle theme") to replace the default. Further work is ongoing to have: (a) a purpose-written skin; (b) images, video clips, and screen captures, (c) some graphical design.
• Migration to WMUK's own hosting.
• (Ongoing) A transclusion system from ModuleWiki, a dedicated support wiki. This involved adaptation of a Moodle plug-in written for Wikiversity, and configuration in a MediaWiki+Moodle system allowing for flagged revisions.
• (Ongoing) Updating the existing content to reflect the numerous technical changes on Wikipedia in the last year.
• (Ongoing) Adding quiz material.
• (Ongoing) Full documentation on ModuleWiki, covering the technical and community aspects of the entire system.

Workshop programme

The workshop will cover both the educational and the technical sides of the project.

It will start, naturally enough, with detailed explanations of what has been done so far, and where the VLE is heading. It is certainly intended that participants will have some hands-on experience of editing the VLE via ModuleWiki, using the new transclusion system, which should then be "in beta". The use of the VLE in training terms will be discussed, and the possible other applications of the type of system that is being configured.

More information will be posted nearer the time, on this page and via links to the VLE's own wiki. Please sign up below to express interest. The workshop organisers are User:Charles Matthews and User:Stevie Benton.

Potential participants

• Charles Matthews (talk) 11:23, 3 September 2013 (UTC)