Essential ingredients of our e-learning portal

KILKENNY -- During our short dabbling with Moodle, an Open Source e-learning system, we have learned essential items concerning sustaining our vision of a viable e-learning portal. Some of these points are evangelised by students using the system.

1. The suits must support it. If upper level management doesn't care about it, you won't get money to support it.
2. You must delegate content creation. Lecturers know enough about creating quality learning materials and they need to upload, revise and archive their own materials.
3. Search is a key feature. It must be pervasive, easy, accurate and powerful. We need more search capability for our implementation.
4. Moodle must export down to a digital dashboard for students. It does not do this. Yet.
5. Moodle must enhance information flow between modules, courses, streams, and degrees. It is not just about accommodating rewarmed courseware.
6. Good e-learning portals guide users into acquiring information that matters, not just lists.
7. A good e-learning portal strategy revolves around three things: learning requirements, information architecture, metadata.
8. As Natasha Kiely is prone to advise: process mapping identifies unmet needs. When lecturers turn to Moodle, they focus on identifying how the information flow works for students, understanding technophobic stressors, and working to develop virtual signposts to ease the journey for new students.
9. We measure Moodle's success in how it connects people to content, how it connects people to people, and how it connects students to experts.
10. A good k-logging network supplements the Moodle portal experience by offering yet another route to collaboration and revision.

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