Free Technology Tutorials

The research report attached to this post was published in the “International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management, January-June 2011, Volume 4, No. 1, pp. 233-238“. It covers some major security flaws in Moodle that will not surprise anyone who has been following Moodle security issues for the past few years. I no longer need to use Moodle, but for those of you who do rely on it, don’t be fooled…just because I’m no longer dedicating time and effort to publically demonstrate major security flaws in the Moodle code and design, don’t take that as a sign that those problems no longer exist! I know of at least two major security holes in the latest version of Moodle and one of them is just as bad as this one I publicized not long ago…and like that vulnerability, it has been discussed in the Moodle forums for months and has received no attention by the devs. If that security issue is not addressed in the next few months, then I may do another “open demonstration” for the public…that seems to be the only way to force action by the Moodle lead dev.  Read more... (516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

WARNING: This report is (NSFMD), Not Safe for Moodle Disciples. Read at your own risk!

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~n51ls801/MoodleTwoNCSUCoursesFall2010Web.pdf

This is a “must read” report for anyone in a decision making position considering adopting Moodle as an institutional Learning Management System (LMS).

The very first line in the Introduction section of the 61 page report should serve to alert any reader that this is not your typical “I’m a blind Moodle lover and can’t see the flaws” type report that is prevalent on moodle.org.  Read more... (936 words, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

In the video above I demonstrate how to close a WordPress blog to the public and make it available only to members who have a username and password created for them by the blog administrator. The site I demonstrate has 49,500 members that I created and bulk uploaded in about an hour. I show the plugin I used for the bulk upload of users. I’ll create a follow-up video in a week or so demonstrating how I used Excel to create those users from a file with nothing but first and last names. If you have need for a private blog/website to share with a few people or tens of thousands of people, this should help get you started.

I created a video a couple years ago demonstrating how to create multiple WordPress blogs using a single database and I still get lots of email asking various questions about that process. However, since the release of WordPress 3.0 and the merging of WordPress and WordPress Mu, that process is no longer needed. You can now create multiple blogs using a single install of the base WordPress code. Although I no longer actively create WordPress tutorials for the general public, I decided to do an update so that people wouldn’t be following the old procedure and unnecessarily uploading multiple copies of the WP code-base to create multiple blogs.  Read more... (141 words, estimated 34 secs reading time)

WordPress 3.3.1 is now available. This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Upgrade now, but if you are not extremely tech-savvy, then view this first!

In the video above I demonstrate how to do some basic editing on the default WordPress themes (Twentyten and Twentyeleven) to reduce the header size and remove some of the items that, in my opinion, take up way too much space in the header. In the process, I show the basics of setting up a child theme and provide a glimpse into how I use local copies of WordPress running on my computer to make theme editing a lot quicker and simpler. I also demonstrate how to preview changes in Firebug and then copy those changes into your theme css file. This tutorial is intended for non-techies…if you are an expert, then this isn’t for you. Enjoy!

I thought for sure we were headed for a showdown of Blackboard vs. Moodle. However as time progressed, even months before the RFP went out I could tell that there was a big buzz about Canvas. So much that Moodle fell right off the radar of pretty much everyone.

Source: http://blog.usu.edu/kevin/2011/11/04/getting-ready-with-canvas/

Moodle: 1990′s technology in 2011

In the video below I demonstrate how to take a full backup of your WordPress blog before upgrading so that you will have everything you need just in case the upgrade breaks your site and you need to get back to where you were. One of the biggest mistakes people make when upgrading their site is to just trust that everything will go well and fail to make a good backup. Don’t be a victim…you may make a hundred backups you never need, but one day you will need one.

I am a senior this year and getting to know a new program just to check my grades and post papers is ridiculous. Blackboard had become a friend to me; I knew everything about it and how to get to where I needed to be. Moodle is a stranger, one that I care not to know. You may say I am one of those people who does not like change, which is wrong: I love change, just not when it deals with my school work.  Read more... (195 words, estimated 47 secs reading time)

Experienced users will appreciate the new drag-and-drop uploader, hover menus for the navigation, the new toolbar, improved co-editing support, and the new Tumblr importer. We’ve also been thinking a ton about what the WordPress experience is like for people completely new to the software. Version 3.3 has significant improvements there with pointer tips for new features included in each update, a friendly welcome message for first-time users, and revamped help tabs throughout the interface. Finally we’ve improved the dashboard experience on the iPad and other tablets with better touch support.

Read more here

If you don’t currently have your WordPress blog configured to render on mobile devi ces, then watch this video for directions on using the WPTouch plugin. In only a few minutes you have configure your blog to render very nicely on a variety of smartphones.

This is  becoming an everyday thing now. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with all the colleges, universities, and K12 systems that have decided to dump Moodle and move into the 21st century with their LMS, but whether I post about it or not, the move is happening.  Read more... (318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

I’m reminded of a line in that commercial…Lost another to Ditech, aka, Moodle lost another to _____________ you fill in the blank

A learning management systems task team composed of 20 faculty, four from each of the colleges, chose Instructure Canvas over Blackboard Learn 9.1 and 10 other systems during the summer.

“We took 12 proposals from various learning management system vendors and narrowed it down to two,” Usha Venkat, director of information and communication technologies, said Sept. 19.

Source: http://www.theranger.org/canvas-program-to-replace-blackboard-vista-1.2639275#.TooNN7K3N2J

Moodle = 1990′s technology in 2011!

The switch to Canvas represents “a really necessary upgrade to kind of move into the 21st century,” he added.

After analyzing over 1,000 faculty and student survey responses and listening to feedback from focus groups, CIS opted for the Canvas platform. When the committee tested different systems in front of groups of students in the Sharpe Refectory last spring, the response to Canvas was overwhelmingly positive, Kagan said.

In many ways, the new system will be like “a blank canvas,” facilitating the addition of new tools as they emerge as well as having multimedia capabilities, Bergeron said.  Read more... (148 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

Hawaii Department of Education Selects Blackboard Learn 9.1 to Replace Open Source LMS.

The Hawaii Department of Education’s Extended Learning Opportunities and Student Support section has chosen Blackboard Learn™ 9.1 to replace an open source learning management system (LMS) Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) announced today. The platform provides online courses for over 1,200 students through the Hawaii Virtual Learning Network-ESchool (HVLN-ESchool) and over 500 teachers annually through the HVLN-Project Inspire program.  Read more... (178 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

NMSU will be replacing Blackboard CE 8 with Instructure Canvas as its learning management system (LMS) for the Summer 2012 semester.  View announcement here.

In a lengthy evaluation process at NMSU, Canvas received the highest evaluation marks from faculty and students and met the University’s evaluation criteria better than any of the other available options.

According to Steven Leask, senior project analyst for Instructional Innovation & Quality, who managed the evaluation process, the university’s LMS Task Force came to “unanimous agreement on what would be recommended. And there was no second choice.” The task force comprised about 25 faculty, students, learning specialists, and technology administrators from the Las Cruces and Community College campuses.  Read more... (202 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

After nearly 12 years of using Blackboard’s WebCT to run online components of the classroom, the U will be switching to a new online program, Instructure’s Canvas, which will be fully adopted in the summer of 2012.

“Comparing Canvas to Blackboard would be like comparing an iPhone to a cellphone made in 1998,” McGhie said.

If Blackboard is a 1998 cellphone, then that makes Moodle about the equivalent of a Model 28 teletypewriter

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Moodle with its outdated 1990′s technology didn’t even make the short list by the evaluation committee at Auburn. I applaud their decision to adopt a true “web 2.0″ platform reflecting the technology of this decade.

Below are some highlights from the full article here: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2011/07/14/Auburn-U-Moves-to-Open-Source-Canvas-LMS.aspx?

Auburn University, with about 25,000 students, has decided to move off of Blackboard Vista and onto Instructure Canvas following a multi-months evaluation process.

The LMS evaluation was done by a working group composed of IT people and faculty members. Along with Canvas and Blackboard Learn 9.1, other contenders included Moodle, Sakai, and Desire2Learn. The short-list consisted of only two products: Canvas and Desire2Learn.  Read more... (220 words, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Today is the first time I’ve looked at the forums over in moodle-land in a couple of months and it seems not much has changed. Moodle 2 is still a disaster, or in the words of the very first post I read, a “semi catastrophe”. This was supposed to be the summer of upgrade to Moodle 2 after it being declared “stable” for a year new. Other than single user hobby sites, I doubt 1% of the real production sites out there have upgraded. Maybe Moodle 3.0, due to be released in 2020 will solve everyone’s problem . For now, it looks like 1.9 will be around for a very long time….officially supported or not.  Read more... (303 words, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

Have you ever had someone tell you they were planning to do something and before they even finished their thought, you knew they were on the road to disaster? Well, if not, read Mr. Lewis Carr’s blog post here and just sit back and wait! Looks like he posted part 2 here and may have already figured out what a mistake he was making…nothing for a couple months now.

Lewis, if you are reading this, take my advice and stop while you’re still ahead and have a functioning Moodle site…yea, using Moodle 1.9 is like using 1990′s technology, but at least it works…well, kind of.  Read more... (112 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)

Just looking around moodle-land today and it only takes a couple minutes to see that Moodle 2 is still a disaster and is as unpopular as ever. With summer coming up, and many organizations facing the decision “to upgrade or not to upgrade, to Moodle 2″ I think the answer is clear–Upgrading to Moodle 2 could be the worst decision you make all year.  Read more... (1185 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)