Other F/LOSS educational components for administration

Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE)

Moodle is a learning management system (LMS) that allows the users to create an online learning site which facilitates an improved educational experience (Moodle, n.d.). It allows users to categorise the information into various blocks where the first block is used for administrative purpose. It provides features such as quiz, discussion board and chat. The discussion board and chat can be useful for students to talk about the problems they are facing with the topic or discuss about certain topic to get everyone’s opinion about it. The teacher can assist the students both in online and offline session (Martin-Blas and Serrano-Fernandez, 2009). The chat in the other hand is logged and it can be viewed by both the teachers and students to look up about the live discussion that took place (Tong, 2004). The teacher can also find out about the problems student are facing by looking in the discussion forum. They can then later explain the topic in more detail in the lecture period. Apart from these two facilities, MOODLE also gives the private message option (Martin-Blas and Serrano-Fernandez, 2009). Not all the students are comfortable about asking the doubts about the topic they have publicly (Demirci, 2007). Students can use the private message option to ask about the problems they are facing privately to the tutor, who in turn can reply him privately or answer it via discussion board or even talk about it in the classroom (Martin-Blas and Serrano-Fernandez, 2009).

Due to limited amount of time for the lectures, teachers may not be able to provide the students with adequate resources. With the help of Moodle, they can post and make available unlimited number of resources (Martin-Blas and Serrano-Fernandez, 2009). All the activities (for instance downloading materials, taking the quizzes, taking part in online chat session and discussion board) are recorded and stored in the databases. This information along with the scores of the quizzes, assignments could be useful for the administration to analyse the student’s performance (Romero et al., 2008).

Koha

System librarians were facing problems and had issues and complaints about the proprietary Integrated Library System (ILS) that they have been using. To name a few of this problems; lack of support, slow updated versions, lack of flexibility were their main concerns besides start up cost for the implementation of such ILS (Bissels, 2008). This factors led them to move and adapt F/LOSS alternatives like Koha, which is an advanced an updated ILS (Chang et al., 2010). Koha offered modules for cataloguing, membership management, reserves, budgeting, acquisitions, simplified graphical user interface, tracking of orders and more. One of the most important features is the customised search which enables the search functionality for both the librarians and users easier and efficient (Tong, 2004; Koha, 2011). Koha uses dual database design which enhances its scalability allowing it to cope and perform efficiently with larger operational demands (Koha, 2011).

Open Admin

Open Admin is a web based F/LOSS package for the educational administration. Different sites is created and maintained so that every user has their own access to the information they need. Administrator uses the admin site (see figure 3) where as the teachers use the teacher site (see figure 4). Students and parents have their different site (see figure 5). The access limit to the users is defined for the security reason. For example parents use the site just so that they can view their children attendance, report card and their performance. Open Admin is being worked on so that it support a single site for all the users (RichTech, n.d. a).

Open admin offers different features; demographics, attendance, discipline, report card system, online grade book, transcript system, fees system, parent and student viewing, special needs, export and import modules and online daybook. It also allows the users the ability to print these information (RichTech, n.d. a).

Schools in Nepal using Open Admin
Arghakhanchi Higher Secondary School
Aroma college Higher Secondary School
Brihaspati Higher Secondary School
Brihaspati Vidyasadan
Butwal Eminent English School
College of IT & Engineering
Elim Kids Academy
Glorious secondary school
Himalayan Secondary English School
Himalayan Whitehouse College
Kathmandu Vidya Kunja School
Little Angels' School
Mount Edmund Secondary School
My Land Academy
Naragram Secondary school
New Holy Cross English Boarding School
Pinnacle Scholars' Academy
Radiant Academy
Rai Academy of Information & Technology
Rosebud School
Table List in schools in Nepal using Open Admin (RichTech, n.d. b).

REFERENCES
http://pravab.blogspot.com/2011/09/references.html



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