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Moodle Implementation Guide: Sqooltechs, LLC 331 Fairview Drive Union, Mo 63084 800-516-0544
Moodle Implementation Guide: Sqooltechs, LLC 331 Fairview Drive Union, Mo 63084 800-516-0544
SqoolTechs, LLC
331 Fairview Drive
Union, MO 63084
800-516-0544
admin@sqooltechs.com
http://sqooltechs.com
Table of Contents
Objective …....................................................................................................................... 1
References …......................................................................................................... 1
Pricing …........................................................................................................................... 8
Objective
The objective of this document is to assist school leaders in implementing Moodle, an open
source, learning management system. It will guide you through all the stages of the
implementation process and suggest solutions for important decisions.
Why Moodle?
The push for reform in education is coming from many sectors. Educational practices in the
United States must change to meet the needs of society. In July of 2009, the U.S. Department
of Education released the results of a study with the headline “Study Finds that Good Teaching
can be Enhanced with New Technology” (U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good
Teaching can be Enhanced with New Technology, 2009). The study, a meta analysis, points to
evidence that instruction that combines components of both online and face-to-face instruction
had a greater benefit when compared to instruction that was delivered either entirely face-to-
face or entirely online (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2009).
References:
Hargadon, S. (2008). Implementation Study #3: Moodle . Retrieved November 2, 2008, from
http://www.k12opentech.org/implementation-study-3-moodle .
Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of Evidence-
Based Practices in Online Learning A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning
Studies. Retrieved August 13, 2009, from www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-
based-practices/finalreport.pdf
U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good Teaching can be Enhanced with New
Technology. (2009, June 26). Retrieved August 17, 2009, from
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/06/06262009.html
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Implementation Plan
Year One:
Year Two:
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Phase One: Needs and Goals
During this phase, you will determine the needs and goals of your school or district that can be
addressed using Moodle software.
In addition, SqoolTechs provides a demonstration site for you to get hands-on experience with
Moodle before you commit to deploying it in your school or district. Visit demo.sqooltools.com
for more information.
During this phase you will make decisions regarding deployment of Moodle software. Now is
the best time to plan for backups, maintenance, upgrades, and branding through theme
customization. Possible solutions for software deployment include installation on district
servers or hosting on SqoolTechs' optimized servers. Both of these solutions assume that your
school or district currently has adequate Internet access and sufficient bandwidth to access the
Moodle for the desired number of users. The solutions are detailed below.
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Solution Two: SqoolTechs's staff can install Moodle software on district-owned
servers. This solution assumes that the school or district will provide a server with
sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of the Moodle implementation.
During this phase you will make decisions regarding administrative training, Moodle
configuration, account and course set up and initiate course and user management strategies.
SqoolTechs can provide training for the designated Moodle administrator(s) in your school or
district. This training will prepare Moodle administrator to successfully administer a learning
management system by addressing all aspects of Moodle configuration including site layout,
organizational structure, site policies, course creation, and user account management.
SqoolTechs' LDAP and Active Directory services can simplify the process of account creation.
Moodle user accounts (student, teacher, and administrator) can be created manually or the
process can be automated. Automation of account creation is achieved by connecting Moodle
to the school or district student information system through the use of LDAP (Novell) or Active
Directory (Microsoft).
This phase requires that you make decisions concerning staff professional development and
the level of ongoing support needed. You will consider such questions as:
SqoolTechs can provide professional development training materials, deliver the professional
development on site, and train the staff members designated to train the teachers. Each of
these professional development components is describe below:
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On-site Professional Development
Any Moodle training on-site or at a central location will require the district or location to
provide computers for participants, ample Internet access, and a projection system.
Training Materials
SqoolTechs has a variety of training resources available to assist districts in delivering
professional development. These training resources can be installed in your Moodle.
Each of the training resources is described below.
FAQ Tool
This tool is installed in your Moodle and provides quick answers to commonly
asked “how to” questions. The FAQ was built using the standard Moodle glossary
tool so it can be edited to meet the needs of your teachers. The FAQ can be
searched by keyword or browsed by category.
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Advanced Training Course
This five-part course is for teachers who have mastered the basics and are ready
to use some of the advanced features of Moodle.
On-going Support
Annual contracts are available for support and maintenance of locally hosted Moodle
implementations. Support contracts can be purchased in blocks of $500.00 and
additional blocks can be purchased as needed. Our annual support contract offers two
tiers of service, Regardless of the type of support that you need, you will receive a
response within 24 hours. Your organization can determine the number of users
authorized to utilize our support services.
In this phase you will assess the progress that has been made toward meeting the goals and
needs of the school or district. Surveying key stakeholders can provide valuable insights into
the progress of your implementation. SqoolTechs can provide a bank of survey questions from
which you can create a survey that meets the specific needs of your implementation.
SqoolTechs can also provide consulting services to examine your Moodle implementation and
make recommendations using a spectrum of use tool. This will allow you to make decision
about further customizations and determine the need for additional training.
During this phase you will determine the customizations, if any, that are needed to the basic
Moodle installation. A vast array of 3rd-party modules and integrations can extend the basic
Moodle installation. Possible customizations include additional modules and plugins, or
integration with other applications such as Google Apps, Mahara, etc.
SqoolTechs can give you access to our demonstration Moodle so that you can experiment with
plug-ins before having them installed in your Moodle. SqoolTechs can install plug-ins and
complete integrations to ensure compatibility with your Moodle version.
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Phase Seven: Continued Professional Development
Why SqoolTechs?
The company was started in 2007 by a team of Missouri educators with expertise in using
Moodle as an instructional tool in the K-12 environment. SqoolTechs, LLC is an educational
technology company whose mission is "Supporting Quality Online Opportunities for Learning."
We believe that all students deserve the benefits of a 21st century education. Our goal is to
simplify the process of integrating web-based technologies while at the same time keeping
costs down. In pursuit of our mission, we provide services to schools and districts related to
learning management systems built with Moodle open-source software.
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SqoolTechs, LLC
331 Fairview Drive
Union, MO 63084
Phone: 800-516-0544, Fax: 888-467-8241
Email: admin@sqooltechs.com
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Standard Services
The items below are billed at a flat rate for both hosted and locally installed Moodle Software solutions.
Theme Modification
Modification of a standard theme using district/school colors and logo (provided by district $150
in a web-friendly format)
Additional theme customizations $100/hour
Moodle SoftwareTraining
Training Description Hours Cost
Introduction to
This day long training gets teachers who are new to using Moodle
Moodle Software for 6 $1,800
up and running.
Teachers
This day long session introduces Moodle users to advanced
Advanced Moodle
topics such as Groups, Meta-courses, Plugins, Lesson Module, 6 $1,800
Software for Teachers
and embedding content.
This session will prepare this person(s) to successfully administer
Moodle Software for a learning management system. It will provide an opportunity to
3 $1,000
Administrators develop an understanding of how Moodle works by exploring the
various settings in the site administration panel.
This training is intended for the individual(s) who will be charged 6
Train the Trainer with instructing the teachers in your school or district how to use $1800
Moodle as an instructional tool.