[Server-devel] MediaWiki on XS

[Martin Langhoff]

CC'ing David Leeming on this discussion - which is great to have on
this list. I am all ears...

I do have some comments on issues you mention...

On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Mike Dawson <mikeofmanchester at gmail.com> wrote:
> But in S. Asia of all places where time doesn't normally matter, I
> found that time really does matter.  So far in fact that we can't rely
> on lessons that are on the school server in case someone's wireless
> doesn't feel like it - switching now to weekly pre-load.

Hopefully, once we have a better GoogleGears/HTML5 "offline Moodle"
implementation, a regular "preload" can be done on Moodle course
content.

(If you search for "offline moodle" you'll find my technical notes on
what needs to happen. It will take a while, as it's not "low hanging
fruit", but there are some proof-of-concept implementations out
there...)

> One other thing hit us here - If it's difficult enough to deliver the
> curriculum and we don't even have time for marking existing homework
> for students, how are teachers gonna have time (being new to it
> they'll need a lot of time and guidance) make match making games, wiki
> content, etc?

Ummmmm... IMHO this happens *everywhere*. At the beginning, it is
always a bit of a struggle; one that can be overcome with a large dose
of enthusiasm and working on the teachers' curiosity. Once the
teachers and children are over the hump, they teachers will know what
things they find the laptops most useful for...

Of course getting over the initial stage is the trick.

> It appears that Mediawiki does provide some support for HTML5 based
> offline viewing - so one could do a weekly content load.

I would humbly suggest you don't focus on MediaWiki but on Moodle.
That is where most of the action and improvements are going to happen,
inc working "offline" -- and it is fantastic for hosting content and
files for groups of users ("courses" in Moodle parlance).

Of course, you can have MediaWiki alongside, for content that is
preformatted as MediaWiki content for example. Or if you have teachers
that are very familiar with MediaWiki already. If you don't have those
factors, then I think it is better to keep it simple and focus on
Moodle.

cheers,


m
-- 
 martin.langhoff at gmail.com
 martin at laptop.org -- School Server Architect
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