Fr-10:00-Vortmann-MoodleNet as an OER platform @ BFH

Fr-10:00-Vortmann-MoodleNet as an OER platform @ BFH

par Stephan Robotta,
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MoodleNet as an OER platform @ BFH

moodlemootDACH 2024
10:00 Vortmann Hörsaal

Stephan Robotta | Berner Fachhochschule (BFH) (EN)

The MoodleNet idea

Product of Moodle HQ.
Not to confuse with the Moodle LMS.
An OER platform with the ability to exchange lerning material beween users -> the Napster for "educational resources".

Current situation in Switzerland

  • Great interest in OER.
  • Policies often not yet defined.
  • One national platform by Switch.

Why MoodleNet?

It's open source!
Good experience with Moodle LMS.

MoodleNet software stack

  • Node.js
  • React
  • ArangoDB
  • Docker (default)

Development history

Current version is 4.3.
Major rework beween 2 -> 3 (no optical changes).
Gamification added in 4.

MoodleNet Product

Current status: 1 developer, no product manager.
Product -> Research project.
Federation was not on the wishlist of users.
Rumours that it will become a product again.

Situation at the BFH

Promotion as the OER platform for our lecturers.
Adaptation to our needs.

Where is the difference?

MoodleNet current release: https://moodle.net/

Version at the BFH: https://oer.virtuelleakademie.ch

  • Multilanguage
  • BFH CI
  • edu-ID Login (SSO via SAML)

How did we achieve this?

Hacking the core
Creating branches, and an extra module.

Experiences from a Node.js developer

The Saml authentication modules was developed by an experienced Node.js developer.

Limits of the approach

  • Upgrades are painfull because of merging branches.
  • Build process of own modules is tricky (no automated scripts).
  • Using the built dev artefact at production.

Whishlist

  • more configurable modules
  • better abstraction of concepts
  • handling of admin tasks
  • Moodle course vs. activity

Documentation

Documentaton lacks at the moment.
Great support from the developer in the form: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=8806
My documentation: https://github.com/srobotta/moodle-net-prototype

Notes from the Etherpad

BFH decided to use MoodleNet as the platform for their leturers to share OER resources.
"Napster for educatonal resources": federation is the idea to search in one place and find the results of all connected instances.
 
Lots of interest in the potential of OER in Switzerland, but for now mostly just interest.
 
Currently SWITCH promotes eduSharing https://edu-sharing.com
 
SWITCH does a national Shibboleth authentication Identity Providing Service (SWITCH edu-ID IDS)
 
BFH MoodleNet https://oer.virtuelleakademie.ch is translated and has a language switch to german/french/english, respects the BFH CI/CD (Corporate Identity/Corporate Design) and supports the SWITCH edu-ID SSO login.
 
As of now the modifications are on Stephans GitHub https://github.com/srobotta/moodlenet
 
Guy Thomas talks about the expericence of developing a SAML authentication module. Because of the lacking documention development was very very tough. But once understood it is comprensible and the fact it is written in Node is an advantage. Node is bigger than PHP and packages are plenty to be found.
 
Soft launch 1.5 years ago with V2. Now on V4 and have been promiting it for ~6 months. Use still quite low.