Develop and Host Your Course for Free: MoodleCloud Hosting

-->If you enjoy the flexibility of Moodle, but find that most hosting packages are too expensive for development and start-ups, or that you just do not have time to constantly add the updates, Moodle now offers free hosting through MoodleCloud (https://moodlecloud.com/en/). I used it when I was writing Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques, and I can say that the experience was very positive.  

Here are some of the highlights of my experience using MoodleCloud:

Latest version of Moodle:  I've worked with Moodle in a locally hosted setting, and also I've used cloud-based hosting solutions available online.  MoodleCloud.com was far superior. MoodleCloud has the advantage of using the latest version of Moodle, and all the updates are present. Not all the third-party plugins are available for the free version, and since you're not administering this installation of Moodle, you can't add them, but that is a very minor detail when considering all the benefits of Moodle and the solutions. 

  

Generous Package for Free:  The free version of MoodleCloud allows you to have up to 50 users, and to develop as many courses as you'd like. 50 users gives you enough flexibility to really try out a course, and to see how things will work once you start adding users. For example, using BigBlueButton for web-conferencing and webcasting works seamlessly and smoothly within MoodleCloud. This is not always the case using other hosting options.

Plenty of Bandwidth:  One problem with some hosting solutions is that they do not have enough bandwidth, or there are other routing issues that cause annoying slowdowns and time-outs.

Accommodates a Wide Range of Media: I wanted to include videos, audio, and also photos I took for the course I developed on Trends in Tourism. I wanted to focus especially on the Mexican Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Villages), which are very successful endeavors by the Mexican government to preserve historical, cultural, and natural landmarks while also stimulating economic development by means of tourism. Here's an example of a unit focused on saving endangered sea turtles. 

 Mobile-Friendly: The Moodlecloud hosting solution is mobile-friendly, which is extremely helpful since so many people now access courses using their mobile devices (phones, tablets, iPads, etc.).

Scalable:  The free solution is perfect for beta testing new courses, and also for trying out some of the plugins and features of Moodle. If your course or your institution's e-learning takes off, you don't have to change solutions. You can scale up quite easily by subscribing to a larger plan, which are quite affordable.

The only downside that I can see to MoodleCloud is that it is in a beta mode, and it's possible that they may discontinue it. I hope not! But, that said, Moodle is very popular and I think that it's possible that it will be the first-choice solution of many users.

Moodle 3.x Teaching Techniques - Now available!

 

OpenSource Webinar / Web Conferencing Software: An Update

Open Source software does not always stay Open Source, and many of the products I’ve reviewed in the past either disappeared, were devoured by other products, were acquired by companies, or simply stopped the updates (rendering many fairly unusable).

So, I’ve put together a quick list of Open Source Webinar / Web-Conferencing software. They can be downloaded, and you can customize the look and feel, as well as providing hosting in an environment that you feel is more secure than using a commercial solution.

BigBlueButton. http://www.bigbluebutton.org

Let me state for the record that I am a BIG fan of BigBlueButton. The interface is straightforward and easy to use, and it’s flexible. You can participate with a video feed, or simply use an audio bridge. Participants can instant message as well as participate with audio bridge, and, to a limited extend, with video.  I also like the fact that BigBlueButton is accessible for Moodle 1.9 and above. However, there is a minor downside – your Moodle host may not have the latest plugin installed, and they may not be willing to install it.  So, there could be bugs. 

Video: Working with BigBlueButton in Moodle... 

In that case, the following options are available:

·        Option 1:  Change Moodle to a different hosting solution. Not always a good idea, since it’s not always easy to migrate everything to a new provider, especially student records and registrations.

·        Option 2:  Download BigBlueButton on your own webhosting provider. Some, like Fat Cow and Earthlink, will let you do so. However, check for bandwidth usage and data transfer fees. They can add up quite quickly.

·        Option 3:  Use a commercial hosting service such as HostBBB.com http://hostbbb.com/ or Generic Conferencing (http://www.genericconf.com). The downside is that your web conference / virtual class will need to be rather small to be affordable. For up to 5 attendees, it’s only $12.95 per month. However, with up to 50 attendees, the price escalates to $74.95.  In this case, it starts to seem as though a “per seat” solution such as one that Omnovia (their own interface, not BBB, although similar) offers ($50 / month, and $3.50 per seat) might be more affordable. It’s hard to say, though. It depends on how often you host webinars, and how many attendees you consistently have.


Getting Started with BigBlueButton in Moodle 2.3  

Note: I used to be an empassioned Elluminate devotee, but then they were acquired by Blackboard, and essentially imprisoned within an LMS. BIG Thumbs Down! I love solutions that can be standalone as well as integrated into your LMS (OpenSource and otherwise), and of course, if web conferencing software is OpenSource, it’s even better because can be a huge driver of innovation.

OpenMeetings. http://openmeetings.apache.org/

There is a Moodle Plugin for OpenMeetings, which is good if you’re hosting Moodle on your server. If you’re not, and you’re relying on someone else’s hosting services, you may not have administrative rights / permissions to add the plugin.

In that case, you’ll need to contact the administrator and ask them to go to the Moodle Plugin page and download the latest version.  Here’s a link to the Moodle Plugins Directory : https://moodle.org/plugins/index.php

Non-OpenSource Web Conferencing Moodle Plugins

WizIQ:  http://www.wiziq.com

WizIQ has a couple of very interesting products that will work in Moodle 2.4.  There is a Virtual Classroom plugin, along with a Live Class web conferencing module / tool.