Moodle 2 Show Stoppers - or why we have not yet upgraded
Our project has been around about 7 to 8 years now. We have upgraded several times and even migrated to new servers twice. This is the first upgrade where I have seen whole teams of university level server admins shake in their boots about upgrading Moodle. The new version is significantly different under the hood using a higher level of server and database software. Sites that have been around for several versions like ours are a particular problem because of the way the old Moodle schemas worked. The new database software doesn't seem to like null values in its database which is what it will get from these old sites. At this point, it doesn't look like it will be a smooth process to upgrade our site. There is some talk to make the upgrade process more robust for these old sites which gives me some hope. If that fizzles out, when we upgrade, there is a strong chance we will have to sacrifice user data and just export the courses themselves to a test server, upgrade them alone, and then try to start fresh with accounts. With so many year-round at-your-own-pace classes and Biology's rolling admissions design, this will take a significant advanced heads up so students will not lose their in-process work.
I must say that the new design for files has me concerned. Instead of folders like you would have in a typical computer file system design, Moodle 2 holds everything in its database and encrypts file names into one mass storage file. If you had a massive databse crash without a healthy backup you not only lose account data but you lose the ability to recover courses. Many years ago when we upgraded to 1.9 we had a surprise in than the Moodle site backup was corrupted. Fortunately, we took the precaution of having individual course backups complete with student data. We were able to put the site back together again from those. That taught us that even with a site backup, an upgrade gone sour can have surprises when you try to roll back to the stable, original version. Moodle 2 would make an emergency recovery from a surprise such as that impossible. In trying to secure a stronger emergency plan, we are considering these changes ...
Moodle 2 has been a very Server intensive release; though, it has been a focus is version 2.4 to improve the performance and server demand. It is just a bit over what 1.9 demanded, so I am about ready to remove this one from my show stopper list.
Not really a show stopper, but will require some significant focused work - Moodle 2 themes are significantly different than 1.9. We will need to rebuild our customized theme. It would be nice to have a responsive design. A few themes are out now with many responsive design elements, so perhaps we will be able to customize off of them.
I must say that the new design for files has me concerned. Instead of folders like you would have in a typical computer file system design, Moodle 2 holds everything in its database and encrypts file names into one mass storage file. If you had a massive databse crash without a healthy backup you not only lose account data but you lose the ability to recover courses. Many years ago when we upgraded to 1.9 we had a surprise in than the Moodle site backup was corrupted. Fortunately, we took the precaution of having individual course backups complete with student data. We were able to put the site back together again from those. That taught us that even with a site backup, an upgrade gone sour can have surprises when you try to roll back to the stable, original version. Moodle 2 would make an emergency recovery from a surprise such as that impossible. In trying to secure a stronger emergency plan, we are considering these changes ...
- Using SCORMS to hedge against losing Quiz Question Banks which even in 1.9 are database driven. However, the win-me-over and wishlist hopes I mention further down would be moot if we went this route. Another disadvantage is that SCORMS cause more disruptions than Moodle quizzes when you need to make updates such as fixing typos. In Moodle you can make those adjustments without disturbing student data related to that quiz. With a SCORM you have to remove and replace it with the revision. Any students having already taken the SCORM will need to have their scored recorded and manually added back in.
- Carrying most course content as webpages that can be archived and accessed off site. This will make a rebuild much easier. This holds many other advantages as well such as using advanced HTML5 capabilities such as responsive design and being able to make changes and forked versions off site. We are likely to take this route even if my confidence in the database route of storing courses is solidified since it has many other advantages.
Moodle 2 has been a very Server intensive release; though, it has been a focus is version 2.4 to improve the performance and server demand. It is just a bit over what 1.9 demanded, so I am about ready to remove this one from my show stopper list.
Not really a show stopper, but will require some significant focused work - Moodle 2 themes are significantly different than 1.9. We will need to rebuild our customized theme. It would be nice to have a responsive design. A few themes are out now with many responsive design elements, so perhaps we will be able to customize off of them.
Moodle 2 Win Me Overs
The things in Moodle 2 that tempt me to upgrade are ...
- Chrome browser works with the Moodle editor. This is great news for our students that prefer Chrome but additionally will be important as we move to HTML5 because that is the most advanced on at implementing the HTML standards.
- I love the conditional activities design. Students get to see and do things based on what they have individually viewed, completed, or scored high enough on. This will be fantastic for helping students stay focused, individualizing/ability grouping, etc.
- Drag and drop file uploads. This saves so many clicks that it will surely be my favorite feature when building a course.
- Side-docking blocks. This gets rid of clutter, may assist mobile and responsive design, and can be opted in to individually (see slideshow for what it looks like).
- Rubrics as part of core for assignments. It is integrated into grading as well. Love it! (see slideshow for what it looks like)
- You can download all the student's uploaded assignments as one zip file. That is very convenient for teachers grading by deadline. It may be less useful for me since my courses all are at-your-own-pace friendly, but I am still impressed!
Moodle 2 Tips:
These are things that puzzled me at first, but I found out how the Moodle 2 does things:
- Change the site-wide link to file default from automatic to new window so that swfs are not boxed in by the Moodle 2 window. If it cannot be changed site-wide, be sure to change it in the individual resource to new window.
- When you have something that needs multiple files, such as the html output from Captivate, be sure to select all the files in the activity file picker and then select the one that is the main file.
- Moodle 1.9 quizzes can be exported in Moodle xml format and they can be imported into Moodle 2.2 and higher. Images and all question types are intact.! Horray! I don't think it is backwards compatible though since there are more data elements you can add in 2.x than exists in 1.9 (tags for instance).
Moodle Wishlist
These are the features that I wish Moodle had:
Researching the Pros and Cons of Server Support Service for VHSG
I have been the server admin for Virtual Homeschool Group for about 6 years now. Before me, Sarah Bruce did that job. Upgrading, maintaining, migrating, and theme customizations require a pretty uncommon set of skills or a significant amount of 'desire to learn'. In the six years I have done the server-side jobs, no other volunteer has shown a bit of interest. I will not be the volunteer admin forever. Eventually the baton will be passed on to the next server admin volunteer. With so few candidates popping up, I am thinking that I need to at least look in to the possibility of a full service provider to manage all the super-techy jobs. Even for me, the migration from 1.9 to 2.x has me intimidated because I have seen entire university teams of server-side professionals quake in their boots about the upgrade. It makes me wonder if I am up to the task. I am doing a trial with Moodlerooms right now to explore Moodle 2.x and the possibilities of full-service support.