Collaborative Liberal Arts Moodle Project

Recently, Moodle.org announced a security advisory about a potential vulnerability involving course backups. The specifics of this vulnerability were included in an email to Moodle server admins, but in a nutshell, when doing full course backups, Moodle backs up local users and their passwords. Read the rest of this entry »

One of CLAMP’s core tasks is develop and maintain new code projects for Moodle. This brown bag will provide an overview of the types of projects we tackle and then focus in on development of a particular project: Simple File Upload. It will be held at 12 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009.

Leading the event will be Caroline Moore, Admin/Courseware Developer at Smith College, and will be held in NITLE’s Elluminate conference room. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

• Register for the brown bag now.

We’ve release a security update to the Moodle: Liberal Arts Edition. v1.0.1 includes a critical security fix backported from Moodle 1.9.6.  You can get the update by downloading the full LAE v1.0.1 edition or the standalone update from the project home. Go to the Moodle Liberal Arts Edition v1.01 home page.

“The Collaborative Liberal Arts Moodle Project: A Case Study” is available on AcademicCommons.org. The case study looks at our efforts to transform our informal Hack/Doc Fests into a more formal organization with the help of a grant from the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE).  The case study is part of the September 2009 issue, which features a number of case studies provided by NITLE schools.

Moodle Liberal Arts Edtion v1.0 is available for download. The project’s home page includes the full Liberal Arts Edition v1.0 package, as well as its components broken out for individual download. It also includes links to a number of recommended extensions that a number of CLAMP schools use, but need further development before they are folded into the LAE.

Included in the initial LAE release are:

• TinyMCE 2.x: A WYSIWYG editor that replaces the outdated HTMLArea editor that ships with Moodle. TinyMCE offers a streamlined interface, DragMath support, and better cutting and pasting from Microsoft Word.
• SimplePie RSS: A replacement for the deprecated Magpie RSS parser that included with Moodle. SimplePie RSS supports a greater variety of feeds than Magpie.
• Quickmail: An simple block that allows faculty to quickly send an email to students in a class. This replicates functionality founding other LMS systems.
• Filtered Course Block: A block that allows administrators to display a list of courses based on the current and future terms.

Visit the Moodle Liberal Arts Edition v1.0 page to download the full package or its individual components.

Update 11/4/09: There is a security release available for this version of the LAE.

At Hack/Doc Fest we set a release date of July 31, 2009 for Moodle: Liberal Arts Edition v1.0, a packaged version of Moodle which incorporates our most-used modules, bug fixes, and home-grown and add-ons. Go to the Liberal Arts Edition v1.0 for a complete inventory.

The release date has been delayed until August 7, 2009 in order to give us more time to test code and put the finishing touches on our Subversion repository. Most of the LAE is completed, and we plan to start releasing stand-alone code next week. A test version of the final LAE build will be available on Wednesday, and the finished version will be available on Friday.

Those who have access to Redmine can download the current development version of the code through Subversion (and we welcome the additional testers). Instructions for doing so can be found in the Development project.

CLAMP is currently 14 official members strong and growing.

We are on target for releasing the CLAMP version of Moodle 1.9.5 near the end of July.

More soon!

The Collaborative Liberal Arts Project is now accepting registrations for the 2009-2010 academic year. Read more about CLAMP, learn how to get involved, or sign-up using our online registration form.

All of the NITLE schools attending Hack/Doc Fest are eligible for reimbursement of food, travel and lodging expenses of up to $1,200. Requirements for reimbursement are as follows:

1. The reimbursement deadline is June 17, 2009
   • Your receipts must be received by Lafayette by this date.
     
2. We are following the Lafayette College reimbursement rules for food, which allow $50 per diem, including one alcoholic beverage. You may include tips in your reimbursements.
3. The milage rate is .55.
4. Your receipts for lodging and travel must show a zero balance, which means that the receipt should include:
   • the cost of your ticket or hotel stay
   • the credit card charge (or other payment) showing your paid the bill
   • a final balance of $0.
   • Note: This usually means you need to use your final bill, not the confirmation (which typically shows the cost, but not your payment).
5. You must include all your original receipts. Printouts (e.g. for airplane ticket purchases) are ok.
   • Note: Scans of the receipts aren’t ok; we need the originals. We recommend that you make copies of your receipts before sending in the originals.
6. Mail your completed reimbursement to:
   • Kenneth Newquist
   • David Bishop Skillman Library
   • 710 Sullivan Road
   • Lafayette College
   • Easton, PA 18042-1797

The reimbursement form:

• Hack/Doc Fest Reimbursement Form (Excel/xls format)

Contact Information

• Ken Newquist
• newquisk@lafayette.edu
• 610-330-5759

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