NC Community Colleges Moodle Cloud Service NCCCS Learning Technology Systems Team: Wanda Barker Kathy Davis Tom Hill Jonathon Sweetin In partnership with
Agenda NC Moodle History RFP Summary What is the service? Why is the service being offered? What are the benefits? What services are included? Questions
Moodle History in NCCCS Compared to College Adoption 33 12 0 3 5 2006 May, 2008 Aug, 2009 Aug, 2010 May, 2012 NC Moodle Users Group Established Open Source Collaborative (NCCCS & UNC GA) Approved 1 st Moodle Assessment Report Published 2 nd Moodle Report (Feasibility Study) Published Moodle Hosting RFP Awarded
Moodle Hosting RFP Process July, 2011 - The Moodle Hosting Needs Assessment Survey sent to colleges. Jan, 2012 - NCCCS opens the Request for Proposal for a Moodle hosting vendor and selects representatives from 6 different colleges to serve on RFP evaluation committee. May, 2012 - Remote-Learner.net was named as the winner of the Moodle Hosting RFP.
What is the NCCCS Moodle Cloud Service? It is the official vendor managed hosting service funded by NCCCS System Office and provided by Remote-Learner.Net.
Why is the SO offering this service? NCCCS Office pays the Blackboard LMS license fees for all NCCCS colleges who chose to use the Blackboard LMS. Moodle requires no license fee and in accordance with the NCCCS Open Source Collaborative Moodle Assessment Feasibility Study s Recommendation One: Two LMS Solution The System Office is encouraged to provide funding to support both Moodle and Blackboard installations, providing NC Community Colleges with a funded LMS choice.
What are the benefits of the Cloud? Security each college has their own environment with dedicated server resources; colleges do not share any resources with other colleges Higher availability includes hardware independence. If a server fails the service will immediately switch your service to an available, working resource Scalability Remote Learner can quickly and easily upgrade a college s hosting level without moving Moodle sites and incurring downtime
Benefits of the Cloud cont Support Improves Remote Learner s ability to support colleges requirements and deliver maximum uptime Control Allows colleges to retain control of the administration of their Moodle site including upgrades and configuration Statistics Improves Remote Learner s ability to provide colleges a clearer view of their usage
Why is the service needed? This vendor is needed in order to: 1) provide funding support colleges who have chosen to use Moodle as their colleges official LMS, 2) provide uniformity in Moodle hosting services/ support and 3) take advantage of economies of scale.
Who can use the service? This service is available to any NCCCS college that qualifies. General Qualifications: College must not have previously stated a need for a Blackboard license (LMS Planning Survey, Mar. 2011) College must agree to the terms of service from Remote-Learner and NCCCS System Office.
How can a college participate? The System office will be sending out survey to request participation. A phased approach will be implemented according to the project plan and contract terms. The service is projected to begin August, 2012.
Where will the Cloud be located? This cloud service will be managed by Remote-Learner.Net but hosted at the Microcomputing Center of North Carolina (MCNC) which is located on the NCREN network in Raleigh.
What version of Moodle will be available? Colleges will begin the cloud service with the most current stable release of Moodle certified by Remote-Learner and maintain a N 1 standard. (per State IT requirements) Example: If Moodle 2.2.x is current RL certified release, all instances must be 2.1.x or higher.
Hosting Services Included All college Moodle instances completely separated from each other. (no shared admin) 99.99% server uptime guaranteed at RL datacenter at MCNC. Access to a least 3 separate instances of Moodle. Fully customized branding instances using Remote-Learner s Theme Engine. College Moodle Admin access to 24/7/365 online, phone, and knowledge base helpdesk support
Hosting Services Continued Data Storage size based on college FTE Live 2 hour (12 x daily) snapshot back up for entire instance and course and daily (30 x month) snapshots. Off-site storage of all backup files per Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity requirements Moodle Admin access to sftp (limited) and MyPHPAdmin access to back end.
Training Services Included Administrator Training: Face-to-Face and online training resources will be available for college s joining the service. Faculty Training: Face-to-Face and online training resources will be available for college s
Reporting Services Included Enterprise Learning Intelligence System ELIS (helps manage courses, curricula and group enrollments) 10% Census Report: This report will be maintained by the System Office and provided freely to all Moodle colleges (including those not using this hosting service).
Integration Services Included Ellucian (Datatel) integration including both Datatel s Intelligent Learning Platform Portal and Remote-Learner s Integration Point. North Carolina Learning Object Repository Moodle Module
Integration Services cont. All Remote-Learner Golden and Golden + Modules (see full list at http://remote-learner.net) User Authentication Services (i.e. LDAP, Open ID etc.)
Questions? NC Community Colleges