Update and fleet management

andrewmc

We are considering Moodlebox as a complementary means of delivering e-learning in hospitals in lower resource settings where mobile data may be expensive. It was incredibly simple to get a proof-of-principle set up.

My mind immediately turns to remote management. Imagining a fleet of devices were Web connected, does the upgrade process (https://moodlebox.net/en/help/how-to-upgrade-the-moodlebox/) achieve the same advances that would be found in new versions of the disk image?

And (just in case) do you already have a recommended set-up for remote monitoring of a group of Moodle boxes?

Thanks so much for this wonderful project,

Andrew

Nicolas

First of all, thank you for your praise. I'm proud that I can help e-learning in hospitals through this modest project, and it makes me feel good ❤️ . Particularly happy that it was simple to set up 👍️ .

andrewmc (...) does the upgrade process (https://moodlebox.net/en/help/how-to-upgrade-the-moodlebox/) achieve the same advances that would be found in new versions of the disk image?

Essentially yes. You should then also update Moodle and its plugins to get all the benefits of a new version (see https://moodlebox.net/en/help/moodle-version-update/). There are though exceptions: eg. if a MoodleBox image is based on Debian Buster, and the next one is on Debian Bullseye (as it will be the case later this year or next year), the update could take some complementary steps. I suggest you post here when this will be the case.

andrewmc And (just in case) do you already have a recommended set-up for remote monitoring of a group of Moodle boxes?

I've never thought of it. What kind of monitoring do you have in mind?

Nicolas, MoodleBox maintainer

PS. I'd be glad to have more info on your project with MoodleBox. Don't hesitate to mail me some details if you wish.
Cheers, N.

Ratna

andrewmc Reminded the brain-storming I've done for a similar sounding project proposal: https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/27-a-pool-of-moodleboxes-an-idea.

It was not implemented, so that discussion is also the latest I have. I know, it sounds complicated. The reason being that the distributed Moodle sites were required to merge themselves back to the central Moodle. You may have a different plan.

Indeed the incredibly small and cheap hardware requirements and fully open source software make MoodleBox ideal to deploy in large numbers. As you've already noticed, the one-time distribution is not the problem - the maintenance over a long period of time is the problem. As a server application MoodleBox is built on many layers: the hardware, the operating system together with the system software LAMP, the MoodleBox part and finally there is the content! As Nicolas has offered, it would be nice, if your idea develops to become a showcase application.

Ian

andrewmc Thanks for your post. I am also using the Moodlebox for remote area education and community resources although ours is church based rather than health care.
We mount the Pi to the back of a solar panel (along with battery, charge controller, fan, and UBEC) so we do not have to worry about electricity supply in the remote areas. (www.chatterbox.co.zw)
The great thing with this setup is its independance from the internet so no data costs for users, the bad thing is its independance from the internet. When I upgrade I have to either do small upgrades on site or large upgrades by swapping out the sd card. I have not found any other solution yet.
My only recomendation at present is to have your moodlebox courses as complete as possible before distribution.

andrewmc

Hello all,
Thanks so much for your replies. This is very helpful.
I have discovered for a separate project Balena cloud -- perhaps when I understand it more I can work out if moodlebox could be integrated there. This would add a layer of fleet management.
I'll report back if we make it any further!
Best wishes,
Andrew

Ratna

andrewmc Could you explain more what "delivering e-learning" means for you? How familiar are you with Moodle? I am asking because the basic building block of Moodle, the course [1], is something much bigger than what it means in the non-Moodle world. There a course is one-way, like a book. A Moodle course of course also has the equivalent, which they call resources [2]. But Moodle is built on the principle of constructivism, "From a constructivist point of view, people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environments." [3] The tools for such interactions are called activities in Moodle [4]. And activities are multi-way: student -> material, student <-> teacher, student <-> student. The analogy is the classroom.

Long story short, each Moodle course keeps on collectiong its own multi-way data (of the said interactions) and for a meaningful central management you have to take those data in to account. That was the reason why my pool of MoodleBoxes was so complicated.

[1] https://docs.moodle.org/en/Courses
[2] https://docs.moodle.org/en/Resources
[3] https://docs.moodle.org/en/Philosophy
[4] https://docs.moodle.org/en/Activities

andrewmc

Hi Ratna,

Good to hear from you. In our case, we have a monolithic modular e-learning course for individual use developed in Adapt.

Delivering it in Moodle as part of blended learning would likely mean breaking each module down into a separate SCORM module which would become an activity. There would be the potential to include group-based activities between the modules, which are didactic.

We don't need to worry about synchronising to a central Moodle, and user management can be local.

Best wishes,

Andrew