Wanted to let folks know that the Drupal 6 and eventually Drupal 7 upgrade for the http://socialmediaclassroom.com project is going to be done in a way that will make it:

1. An optional install profile to use with OpenScholar as base

2. The features of "Blog, Forum, Wiki, Chatroom, Social Bookmarking, Learning E-Portfolio (and microblog and RSS and other data import in Drupal 6 version)" will also be features available for other types of sites if the OpenScholar install profile is run.

This will be done in a way that is coordinated with OpenScholar releases, so that Social Media Classroom is always inter-operable with OpenScholar. We're pretty excited about this, because it brings some functionality to Social Media Classroom that lots of educators have asked for, and it brings some pre-configured tools to OpenScholar.

The work on the SMC release will take place here:

http://ffproject.holocene.cc/projects/socialmediaclassroom

We'll work out in the coming months with OpenScholar team the best way to integrate install profile and .make files, themes, etc. and then we'll create a timeline/roadmap

This is all volunteer/donation, so if you want to contribute please let us know (or you can donate at http://socialmediaclassroom.com/community/ )

OpenScholar

As part of its development strategy in the Paris area, Dokeos is looking for two collaborators. One PHP/MySQL/Ajax Developer and one System Administrator.

The Developer candidate must hold a degree in Computer Science and master the Web 2.0 languages: HTML, PHP, JavaScript, advanced skills in layout and management of online interaction (Ajax, CSS, drag and drop...).

read more

Start:  2010-09-23 02:00 UTC Online meeting (eg. IRC meeting)

Drupal - Tips and Tricks!

Join OHO's tech team for a great discussion and demo of a number of 'tips and tricks' around best practices in Drupal. During the webinar, you'll hear from Langdon White, Michael Rossetti, and Akeem Williams. (Architects and senior Drupal developers/designers)

Integrating Drupal with other platforms
Using Drupal's SEO modules
Exploring multi-site options
Theming: Do's and Don'ts

Register for the no cost webinar @ http://www.oho.com/webinar

Museums

Dokeos 2.0 is now at sight distance. With mindmaps, a touchscreen interface and a new authoring tool.

Mindmapping reshapes the role of images in e-learning. Concepts, words, become space and structure. Build mindmap-based menus, broadcast visual training contents at once, despite your lack of graphical skills. Take notes in mindmaps and share them with classmates, comment on their sketches, brainstorm together.

read more

Moodle is great, but I'm still surprised by some of the clunkiness and bugs in it. It seems like it would work better and be more extensible if "ported" (not exactly) to run on top of the drupal platform.

I was just wondering if there is already a Drupal LMS install profile or bundle available. I see the active work being done on the drupal quiz and gradebook modules.

If there isn't, then perhaps some folks might want to see if there any funding for such an effort, too.

Thanks

*I see Dwight Farris at U. Arizona has done a bit on this (droodle: drupal + moodle), but nothing shared publicly: http://wiki.classroom20.com/CR20LIVE+JUL172010 http://oia.arizona.edu/content/dwight-farris

Drupal in Education

Hello,

I would love some feedback / discussion regarding security and the submission of online forms using sensitive data. I work for a small college and our website is hosting in a shared environment. There has been discussion about making the college application form, application for residence form and a few others available online. What tips / concerns can you provide to securely get the information from the user in an encrypted fashion?

My primary concerns are storage of private information on a shared server and emailing of private information in an unencrypted fashion.

How do you manage the security about collecting private information via forms?

Links to other resources, web posts, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Drupal in Education

by Helen Foster.  

Samaritans has developed a series of e-learning courses in Moodle to provide a cost-effective and convenient way for volunteers to be trained in their own homes.

Samaritans is a registered UK charity, with over 18,000 volunteers, which offers 24-hour confidential support to anyone in emotional distress.

E-learning offers great value for money, and can be organised to fit in with volunteers' personal schedules, as it can be carried out from any Internet-enabled computer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nigel Ross, Training and Development Officer for Samaritans, explains: "We extensively researched the industry standard for e-learning platforms and chose the open source learning management system Moodle because we were impressed by the robust and continually evolving platform that it offers as well as its large user base, including the Open University, NHS, local government and defence."

Moodle Partner HowToMoodle is providing Moodle consultancy, training, customisation and hosting for Samaritans.

For further details of how Samaritans are using Moodle to provide e-learning for volunteers, see the HowToMoodle Case Study - Samaritans.

Moodle Partners are a worldwide group of authorised service companies committed to financially supporting the open source Moodle project. They provide a range of optional commercial services for Moodle users around the world.

AContent 1.0 was released today. This is the initial public release. AContent is an Open Source content authoring tool and repository used to create standardized, accessible, adaptable learning materials. It can be integrated with many Web-based learning environments as a tool to author, share, and store reusable content. To try the demo, or to download a copy, visit the AContent site, and read the SourceForge news release linked below for a list of key features. *AContent Demo* http://www.atutor.ca/acontent/demo.php *AContent Development Site* http://www.atutor.ca/acontent/ See Sourceforge for the official news release. https://sourceforge.net/news/?group_id=342183&id=291028

Hi all:

I'm trying to create a digital notebook for use in my school. I'm using organic groups and Gradebook. I guess my problem have a simple solution, but I am not able to find it. I want that when a student response to one assignment, this response can only be seen by the teacher and the student himself, not by the other students. I can not do it. When a student answer the teacher's task, the response is always seen within the group. I used the content access module, but it does not work. All the students in the group can see the response. Could you give me a hand? Thanks.

Drupal in Education

Sympadia Contract Drupal Developers / Student Info System Employment type:  Contract Telecommute:  Allowed

We are seeking developers for immediate short-term (1-2 week) work, and occasional longer term on an open source Drupal-based student information system.

Seeking experts with skills including complex ahah form handling, views modifications, and custom module development.

Also seeking more junior developers who learn quickly.

Interest and experience working in open source online learning systems a big plus.

NYC-area preferred, but any location is suitable with the right qualifications. Drupal contributors preferred.

Drupal in Education

Start:  2010-09-02 01:00 - 02:00 America/New_York Online meeting (eg. IRC meeting) Organizers:  alexjl1226

Join Acquia, and Harvard’s Institute of Quantitative Social Science as we present Open Scholar, a Drupal solution for higher education.

Register Now: http://acquia.com/resources/webinars/open-scholar-drupal-solution-higher...

Built by faculty members at Harvard University’s Institute of Quantitative Social Science, Open Scholar is a free, pre-configured, and fully customizable solution that enables universities and colleges to deploy turnkey websites for professors, researches and students. In seconds, faculty members can create their own social website to publish research, share blog posts, follow and track projects, and interact with their community. With the click of a button researchers can create collaboration websites to work on projects, attract grant funding and share results in an open environment for peer review.

Partnered with Harvard University’s Institute of Quantitative Social Science, we invite you to register to learn more and how Acquia can help your institution deploy Open Scholar tomorrow. No additional resources needed!

Register Now: http://acquia.com/resources/webinars/open-scholar-drupal-solution-higher...

Attendees will:

* Watch a demonstration of the Open Scholar application * Learn how to speed deployment of microsites for faculty members, projects, and departments * Understand how Open Scholar will help universities reduce costs while giving faculty fully functional social websites * Hear how Acquia’s fully managed solutions for higher education can simplify Open Scholar deployment and management

This webinar is intended for higher educational institutions looking for an easier way to deploy social publishing websites that facilitate faculty engagement, promote research, and deploy the next generation of social networking and website publishing on campus.

Date & time: Thursday, September 2, 2010
1:00 PM EDT
Duration: 1 hour
Speakers: Open Scholar Project Lead - Ferdinand Alimadhi, Alex Lindahl, Chris Yates, Matt Ackley

Drupal in Education

Stealth Start up Technical Lead Employment type:  Part time Telecommute:  Allowed

We are a stealth silicon valley startup for the educational industry currently working with drupal developers offshore. While they are a great team to work with, as we get closer to beta, late night meetings, communication delays and lack of cultural context is slowing down our release schedule.

They have finished about 90% of the work for beta. This is what I need . . .

A Technical Drupal lead to join my team of about 5. My business model is sound and can be shared pending a signed NDA. This person would manage my offshore folks, and slowly transition the project from them locally. This lead would need to work for equity as they are entering at an opportune time when a lot of the footwork has already been done by my offshore team.

As we prepare for beta, this person would need to be agile and responsive to the feedback we receive from users. I already have several lined up. The qualified applicant would be responsible for the following:

• finalize functionality and aesthetics for beta release
• ownership of technical development and its operations
• a real interest in working for a start-up, part time is ok
• a commitment to understanding work flow and not just executing directions
• ability to meet in person in the bay area at minimum once a week.
• a big appetite for success
• a willingness to be as agile and flexible as our customers
• a commitment to understanding and then contributing to the vision
• an understanding that true success is to innovate, execute and deliver before the competition
• you must have EXCEPTIONAL written AND oral communication skills
• telecommute

What's in it for you:

Equity in a start-up (Web 2.0 environment for a non technical industry)
Experience which only comes from working in a start up environment
Great References assuming things go well
A really meaningful work experience as my service is in a great industry and much needed service at that.
An opportunity for you to really design your own role
You get to enter the start up right before beta ...I think this is the biggest perk.

Drupal for K-12 Schools

I am working on migrating our entire College site into Drupal.
We have 50+ sub sites (sub directories, not subdomains) that will need their own "site".
We will be using LDAP to authenticate users.
Each user will have the ability to edit content, upload files, add images and video, add edit and delete pages etc.

I would like to have one point of update for Drupal core files and installed modules for all sites.
I would think that having separate db's for each site makes sense, but I could also argue the other way as well.
I had multi site manager module installed, however am not convinced that is the best way to approach this.
Is Drupals multi site installation the best way to go?

What are other College/Universities doing and what problems have you ran into?

Thanks for your help/suggestions!

Drupal in Education

Austin Peay State University Assistant Director for Web and Multimedia Design Employment type:  Full time Telecommute:  Not allowed

Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, Tennessee
Assistant Director for Web & Multimedia Design
Office of Public Relations & Marketing

The Assistant Director reports directly to the Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing and is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining University's Web sites. The Assistant Director also provides training to departments for basic maintenance of departmental Web sites and formulates policy for University Web sites.

Required Qualifications
•Bachelor's degree in communications, art, computer science or information technology with emphasis in graphic design, Web design and/or development.
•Three years of experience in an internet/Web-based environment.
•Demonstrated, proven ability to implement and maintain cohesive design and navigation standards when confronted with many different design and function demands.
•Experience using MS Office and Adobe Creative Suite Premium.
•A background check will be required of the successful applicant.
•An official transcript and names, addresses and phone numbers of three (3) references will be required for the successful applicant.
Austin Peay State University, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution, is an equal opportunity employer committed to the education of a nonracially identifiable student body.

Application Process
You must apply online:
https://jobs.tbr.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=12...

https://jobs.tbr.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1281967132... Higher Education

I'm looking for beta testers for an online lesson planner I'm building in Drupal.

The site includes a lesson planner, simple todo lists, and a calendar for scheduling classes.

If you're interested in trying it out in exchange for some feedback on how well it fits your needs as a teacher, I'd love to hear from you.

Go to http://www.creativechalk.com and click the big "Join the beta" button.

Fill out the sign-up form and I'll get you set up with a beta account.

Thanks heaps,

• Stein

Higher Education

D.J. Case & Associates Web developer - conservation and environmental education Employment type:  Full time Employment type:  Part time Employment type:  Contract Telecommute:  Allowed

A career-driving fascination with wild things and wild places combined with web development and communication skills are needed immediately to advance high-profile conservation information and education initiatives. Compelled by the primary goal of doing great work for wildlife and environment, this team-focused creative communications firm stresses quality of life and work that rewards – personally and collectively. We are Midwest-based near Notre Dame University, two hours from Chicago. Our cost of living is among the lowest in the country. Our dedication to conservation, environment and quality work is the highest.

We are expanding our web development and production staff - both freelance and full-time (no agencies, please). We seek broadly-skilled, adaptable web developers with robust technical ability and a gift for making web applications communicate, not just run.

We are big into open source, both for the power of the applications and as a philosophy. We are avid Drupal users, developers and contributors.

To apply, send a resume and a link to your online portfolio.

Send your resume and materials to:
D.J. Case & Associates
317 E Jefferson Blvd.
Mishawaka, IN 46545
jon@djcase.com

P.S. our company web site does not reflect the quality of work we do - "the cobbler’s children have no shoes"

http://api.resourcecommons.org/ Using Open Data in Education

NSPRA Drupal Employment type:  Part time Employment type:  Contract Telecommute:  Not allowed

Rockville, Maryland-based education association needs hourly freelance assistance in providing insertion and arrangement of copy and photographs into Drupal-based website and e-newsletters. Drupal programming not required for this task. CiviCRM experience a plus. Immediate assistance is needed.

Send your resume, along with hourly rates, and three references to: tjones@nspra.org. Review our website at www.nspra.org

Drupal in Education

I'm pleased to announce the fourth developer release of Eduglu. Download it at http://eduglu.com/download-eduglu

For this release, we've ported to Eduglu the excellent Notebook feature from Open Atrium, a Drupal-based intranet package. This is a great example of the power of open source development, that improvements to one branch of the Drupal family tree can easily shared and reused on another branch. Expect to seem more of this as the larger Eduglu/Drupal ecosystem grows.

Along with this major addition, there was the normal assortment of bug fixes plus small visual touch-ups.

If you have feedback or find bugs, join us in the Drupal.org issue queue at drupal.org/project/eduglu and at the community.eduglu.org site.

If you're upgrading from an earlier version of Eduglu:
* Run updates at update.php
* Revert all features at admin/build/features
* Clear the cache at admin/settings/performance

Higher Education

by Helen Foster.  

Our Moodle Books database now contains over 30 books and manuals in various languages.

Recently added titles include Estratégias Pedagógicas e Estudos de Casos (free download) by Lynn Alves, Daniela Barros and Alexandra Okada, plus a number of books from Packt Publishing:

• Moodle 1.9 Extension Development by Jonathan Moore and Mike Churchward
• Moodle 1.9 Theme Design: Beginner's Guide by Paul James Gadson
• Moodle 1.9 for Design and Technology by Paul Taylor
• Moodle 1.9: The English Teacher's Cookbook by Silvina P. Hillar
• Moodle 1.9 for Teaching Special Education Children (5-10): Beginner's Guide by Vanesa S. Olsen

Packt Publishing are kindly offering Moodlers 20% off the price of all their Moodle books and 25% off selected books. See the entries in the Moodle Books database for discount codes.

Remember that buying a book from the Moodle Books database helps support Moodle development, since a percentage of all sales goes to the Moodle Trust.

Start:  2010-08-17 09:00 - 18:00 America/Los_Angeles Training (free or commercial) Organizers:  dggreenberg lobo

A comprehensive one day hands on training course covering the configuration, administration, and every-day use of CiviCRM. This event is aimed at administrators and technical users at organisations that are either using CiviCRM, or interested in evaluating it. It is also useful for staff at organisations that develop or implement CiviCRM who need a complete understanding of "out of the box" features and configuration options.

Agenda

We try to be flexible with the agenda to meet participant requirements and expectations, and the final agenda may change. Topics will include:

* Introduction to CiviCRM - what does it do and how can it help your organisation * Installation and configuration - making CiviCRM work for you * Custom data and profiles - extending CiviCRM to meet your data requirements * CiviCRM components - including event, mail, member, contribute, case, report, grant and pledge * Website integration - the whys and hows of making CiviCRM work with Joomla or Drupal * Support and the CiviCRM community - what happens after this training

If there is something specific that you would like to see covered, let us know on the event Wiki page (details in confirmation page and email).

You can register for this event on the CiviCRM web site: http://civicrm.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=72

LA Drupal