Technology Long Range Plan: Learning Platform Recommendations

Learning Platform Recommendations

We have discussed the pros and cons of using a commercially developed product vs. developing something ourselves. Rhonda reported on conference discussions from the Learning 2.0 conference in Shanghai October, 2007, and on discussions on the EARCOS tech director list serve. Todd has experience with Druple, an open-source software package that would require specialized knowledge and skill to use to develop a learning platform. Murray contacted tech people in Europe for suggestions. A suggested solution was to use finalsite develop a learning platform. Rhonda has communicated with Yokohama International School and North Country School, a small private school in NY about their finalsite websites. We contacted finalsite for a phone conference and demonstration.

Cost Analysis:

A finalsite-based website will be expensive to maintain. The cost will depend on the modules selected to use and the amount of digital storage space allocated to students and faculty.
It will decrease the number of servers needing to be maintained over the next few years.
It will require less retraining as new people move in to manage the system,

Recommendations

Determine our requirements
1. Investigate the following: who is entering and managing information, where is it stored and backed up, who can access it and use it, how is it being used, and how do people receive training in all of these areas. We also need to see if our information management systems are meeting our needs, or our projected needs.
  1. We have identified other problems within the current system. These include the difficulty of creating and editing a newsletter for the www site, the single calendar that is out-of-date, no automated notification system for events, and parents say it is difficult to find information.
2. Communicate with teachers, students, parents, administrators, alumni, etc to see whether the current information systems are perceived as meeting needs.
3. Decide what additional functions should be added to develop it into an effective learning platform and communication system for students, teachers, administration, parents, and the CA community.
  1. Students need a digital storage locker on-campus. This should be expanded when possible to allow availability from off-campus.
  2. Student should login when using any computer on campus to allow access to their storage area. This should be expanded when possible to a complete personal workspace available from both on and off campus, and from any computer with Internet access.
4. Determine who has the skills necessary to develop an effective learning platform, and decide what additional training is needed.
5. Establish a team to develop the communication system portal to support the learning platform. (Main Team = (1) Rhonda to communicate with ES/MS/HS, the admin team, parents, students; (2) Steve to support the technical development;(3) Murray and Todd to facilitate design)
6. Select the tool to use. Determine the timeline needed to implement the tool. (Finalsite: including an alerts manager, athletics manager, blogs & forums, calendar manager, faculty & staff directory, intranet groups, forms manager, multimedia manager, news manager, and possibly teacher and faculty port modules.)
  1. Finalsite website: http://www.finalsite.com/ Finalsite can be used to develop a basic website like our www site, or it can be used to develop a more complete learning platform. Examples
  2. Yokohama International School: http://www.yis.ac.jp/
  3. The American School of Bombay: http://www.asbindia.org/
7. Review and revise policies and protocols to support the learning platform.
  1. The CA Publishing Protocols need to be evaluated and expanded to include developing Web 2.0 tools, or simplified to a set of general statements covering a broader set of communication tools.
  2. The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for for MS/HS levels was updated.
Begin planning
1. Set goals
  1. Define: What we want to achieve
  2. What specifically will the learning platform provide?
  3. Define the opportunities and threats for future maintenance and development.
2. Determine the telecommunication network requirements.
3. Estimate the cost of development and implementation.
4. Establish a timeline for design, implementation, and training for use.
5. Determine how we will ensure the safety and security of the users of the learning platform.
6. Determine how we will ensure the security of data on the learning platform.
7. Communicate the plan to students, teachers, administrators, parents, and the CA community.
Implement the plan.
1. Identify key individuals to test and to promote the learning platform.
2. Organize training to ensure full use of new learning platform tools.
3. Determine how we will assess the effectiveness of the learning platform.

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