Solution Implementation and Student testing

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the final system was developed as a series of stages each of which were implemented into the final system after creation, testing and demonstration on a testing platform. This chapter documents how the final LPS Moodle system was implemented, tested through use by the ICT teachers and students at School and the problems that occurred during this process.

LPS Moodle Implementation

During a discussion with the Head of ICT, it was decided that due to the complexities and work required to install and maintain a web server, the most appropriate method of hosting the LPS School moodle installation would be via an external web host. Several web hosts were considered using the following criteria:

• Cost – The hosting should be inexpensive at this stage to avoid unnecessary costs to the school should the final outcome of the project be unusable.
• Features – Moodle requires that MySQL and PHP be available on the web server.
• Bandwidth – As the system will contain a large amount of content and the possibility of real time chat sessions, the system may require a large amount of bandwidth which is often limited by hosts.

The final outcome of a short period of research into potential web hosts was the decision to use a company called net4domains.com. This decision was made due to the low cost (2500 per annum), high specification (MySQL, PHP), and high bandwidth provided by the company.

Having now acquired space on a web server, the next stage in the implementation was to create an identical Moodle installation to the test installation, on it. This involved creating a default installation of Moodle and migrating the created theme across from the test server. Next the files modified during development stages 1 and 2 were copied across to overwrite the default functionality and the AA Board Set Assignment created during the development stage was recreated on the new installation. At this point the test and final environments were identical.

The final operation prior to LPS Moodle going live was to create the necessary user accounts and assign the necessary privileges.

LPS Moodle Test Users

It was decided that the final implementation should be tested via usage by the current CBSE ICT classes. To allow this, details of the technical staff, teachers and students involved were provided via a comma separated file generated from the schools active directory server. This file was modified to allow the records to be uploaded into Moodle and used to create the initial user accounts. This process created accounts for the two technical staff, three teachers and thirty two student users that were all involved in the current CBSE class and the AA Board Set assignment.

LPS Moodle Testing

On Jan the 21st, the testing students were introduced to the LPS Moodle environment during an ICT class. This introduction included a walkthrough of how to log into the site, how to move around the site, how to modify the user profile and a discussion of what the system is for. Students were made aware of the forums within the environment and asked to share their problems, solutions and views with other students via them as well as posting any technical problems or issues to the bugs forum. From this point on, the LPS Moodle installation was used by the students to assist with the AA Board Set assignment.