new project : can Joomdle provide the solution

Hello !

Most websites for education are either :
- a window where teachers can post ads so student can find them
- an e.learning website set up by one teacher (or school)

My idea is to blend both aspects and provide :
1- an advertising window for teachers who give lessons on an individual basis where they could set up a public profile page
2- a database so that students can search for a teacher (per location, per subject, per time-slot)
3- an interface with login for the teachers to prepare courses, lessons, tests ...
4- a different interface with login for students so they can follow the courses and take up tests
(1 and 2 would be taken care of by the CMS. 3 and 4 would be specific to the LMS, so that's where my question in this forum is centered).

In addition, I would set up :
- a payment module (registered teachers would pay a modest fee per month, 1st month being a free trial)
- teaching modules : teachers would make use of modules that are specific to their needs (e.g. drawing molecules for chemistry, writing equations for maths) and other modules that would be more general (e.g. embed a video, set up a test with radio buttons or check-boxes).

Not knowing much about Joomla/Joomble, I'd like to ask the community this LMS module can provide the tools to set up a website with the above ideas. Anything unclear, any question, let me know. Thanks in advance for your help.

Denis

Hi Denis,

What you are asking for is certainly possible. It really depends on how much functionality and what interface you wish to provide the students (and their parents possibly) with.

For 1 and 2, this is typically called matching services. As it's most basic form is a directory of teachers that can be searched across based on subjects taught, language, experience, testimonials, location if important, working hours, offline online instruction, perhaps a calendar of available times, etc.

In the western world private tuition does not have as big a play as in Asia. you can numerous such matching services in China, India, Malaysia and Singapore for example. In fact, I have one myself - but it is not fully automated as my business model is a little different.

A readily available tool in Joomla is not available today however, it would not be difficult to have one using one of the tools integrated to Joomdle. Such as K2, Sobi, or even a custom.

For 3 and 4, you are correct this an LMS. You will need to decide if Moodle's interface is one you can accept for your students and teachers as there is some level of training required in my opinion. I think this is why you see the majority of those using Moodle being schools and/or companies and not hosting providers. You will notice companies like IXL using their own. Personally, I think a hybrid approach would be great. An student interface, through Joomla, getting access to the questions without having to enter the Moodle world directly. This would need to be explored further.

Payment module is quite easy to do as there are many tools available today in Joomla. You may wish to consider a membership management tool instead or in combination with your payment tool.

The hardest part, IMO, is your teaching tools and this is where I have problems myself too. Creating a course is not always that easy, even for the teachers. Most teachers typically teach and do not create the content directly. When it comes to online this is even more so as the tools are specialised. For example drawing molecules for chemistry. For this you will need to look at your specific content. Math is no too bad for the younger ages as there are equation / math symbols available readily. However, how you you show speed questions ? Draw two cars or people running? I find science the hardest - showing chemical reactions etc. I do not see teachers doing this themselves as it typically involves some flash / animation. Setting up tests with radio buttons, drag and drop, mix and match, all of this is quite easy - the difficult again comes down to the content you wish to place around the radio buttons. Do you want to show the water life cycle stages thus need to draw clouds in the sky, lakes, evaporation, etc. Or will the teach just upload existing images?

Some of the things you need to consider:
- will teachers be creating their own content or just uploading images and videos (quite easy)
- will the teachers be creating / using animation
- will the courses be purely online or is there some offline component
- will the classes be synchronous and asynchronous
- will registration / calendars, etc. be required
- will any form of webchat (live), forums, be required
- will students be able (is there a benefit) in students belonging to a class and being able to discuss amongst themselves
- what interface / experience do you wish the students to see

I am sure there are more, just a few for you to think about