Hello Lane faculty, As the most senior member of the faculty webmaster team, I thought I'd take this opportunity to welcome you to Fall Term and inform you about some changes you can expect to see regarding Moodle this year. If you do not currently use Moodle for your students and courses or do not intend to use this learning management software, feel free to stop reading this email and delete it now. I'm sure you may have many other emails to attend to ;-) A bit of history to get us started. *********************************** In 2005, LCC was using two learning management system (LMS) software packages. The Information Technology Department announced that it would support a single LMS and faculty was free to choose the LMS. By April 2006, the faculty had voted and the decision was made to use Moodle exclusively, beginning in Fall Term 2007. With less than six months to implement the entire support system, including technical/server support, faculty training and support, and student support, your faculty webmasters volunteered to help Lane's IT Department implement the faculty support piece for the 2006-7 academic year. This temporary arrangement came to an end at the conclusion of Spring Term 2007. Lane's IT Department has been the sole support for all aspects of Moodle, technical, faculty, and student, since the start of Summer Term 2007. Lane's current and ongoing budget challenges have resulted in loss of jobs, a number of these within the IT Department. As you have already experienced with the Digitar email spam filtering, the department has begun to outsource work that they have provided in the past. Unable to provide the entire support package for Moodle at the 24 x 7 x 365 level that is necessary for the college's "mission critical" LMS software application, the IT Department has decided to outsource Moodle, beginning Fall Term 2007. What to expect Fall Term 2007 ****************************** We have upgraded to the latest version of Moodle, 1.9 and a company called Remote Learner is housing Lane's new server. There will be some changes from version 1.6 which we had been using last year. Look for Moodle introduction and update workshops offered by your faculty webmasters during Fall inservice, Thursday and Friday, September 20 & 21. Faculty support will be available in the following ways. *Get help from your own colleagues by asking and answering questions in the Moodle Class for Instructors. *Attend a Moodle workshop offered by the faculty webmasters during inservice and throughout the academic year. *Email Lane's faculty help desk at online@lanecc.edu for how-to Moodle answers. *Converse with other instructors worldwide and get answers at moodle.org *Instructors needing continual help will be given access to Moodle experts at Remote Learner. Faculty webmasters will continue to serve as consultants for faculty pedagogical questions related to Moodle, such as "to accomplish a particular learning outcome, should I use a Moodle forum or assignment?". Since no company offers direct support for students, the student help desk SHeD@lanecc.edu will continue to offer Moodle support for students. More to come ************ Your Faculty Webmasters are here to help interested LCC faculty make effective use of the web and related technologies as part of the teaching-learning process. Within this role, we are prepared to work as inform ation resources, facilitators, consultants, advocates, troubleshooters, liaisons, advisers, and leaders. And the why? Because we have a passion for teaching and a knack with technology! Your faculty webmasters for Fall Term are Meredith Keene-Wilson and Will Sarvis, as I will be on sabbatical. I'll be back Winter Term 2008. If you have any technology questions, contact your faculty webmasters first, at fwm@lanecc.edu and stay informed by bookmarking our website at https://teach.lanecc.edu Joe Escobar History Instructor Faculty Webmaster