From 2014 Stellenbosch University’s electronic learning management system will switch from Vista and Blackboard to Moodle, an  open source eLearning system. The switch to another system was necessitated from a change in the University’s strategy and shortcomings in the existing system that could not be corrected. The decision was based on a thorough investigation. Henceforth Moodle will be the standard eLearning system of the University.

A task team (Johann Kistner, drs Antoinette van der Merwe & JP Bosman and ms Marinda van Rooyen) facilitated the evaluation, including consulations with academic, administrative and support services staff. The success of systems, as well as the scale on which they were used by other universities, were also looked at. In the end a decision was made based on a set of predefined, weighed criteria. The following was taken into account:

1. Off-campus access to the system must be reliable, because of the significant growth in the use of e-Learning Technology from outside campus:  service courses,      postgraduate modules, and students working from their homes.
2. A reliable assessment component, because e-assessment is increasingly  used.
3. A mobile interface that works on all equipment, due to the huge increase in the use of mobile devices (phones, tablets, laptops) to access the learning        management system.
4. An accurate tracking system, because the tracking of students’ progress are critical for student success.
5. Off-line functionality, which is very important in the (South) African context. The system must provide for students learning materials and other information to easily sync to their devices while on campus or via the network, and then to work at home without having to be online all the time.
6. A more flexible licensing model, because community involvement and working with schools and other universities, especially on the African continent (e.g. in the CHEC courses and schools support) means that restrictive license agreements is not sustainable.

On a practical level this means that Moodle will be used for all modules from January and Vista and Blackboard will only be available for 2013 modules until March 2014. (until after the  last exam opportunity)

The short time span before implementation is planned presents substantial challenges for lecturers to migrate information in time and also for IT to ensure that servers are ready for the change. The project is currently being defined and the team is sticking to a tight time line to ensure that this goal will be achieved.

More information will also be communicated in future editions of Bits & Bytes.