Friday, March 12, 2010

After adopting Google Apps, Quickmail wins over Email List

Since Idaho State University has adopted Google Apps for Education, Quickmail is probably a better email choice than Email List for Moodle ISU email. As a reminder Quickmail sends email though ISU email, which is now Gmail, while Email List is internal to Moodle ISU.
  • It is hard to compete with Gmail for options. Email List will never be able to compete with Google on usabilty, options, or robustness.
  • Users will have a lot more space. One of the reasons users wanted an LMS email solution was because space was severely limited on the previous email solution. Gmail provides more space than we can provide through Moodle ISU.
  • You can organize Gmail with filters and labels. Quickmail puts the shortname of the Moodle ISU course in the subject. It is easy to set up a gmail filter to apply a label to organize course emails.
  • Gmail will be less confusing for new users. One place to check email is a better choice.
  • Quickmail - Gmail will have fewer bugs, easier to maintain, and be more sustainable. Email List emails consume space on ISU servers with the accompanying costs for disks and backups.

Moodle 2.0 Roadmap Updated

The Moodle 2.0 Roadmap has been updated.

From Moodle.org: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Roadmap
The timetable is designed to deliver Moodle 2.0 in time for the new school year in the northern hemisphere and currently looks like this:
  • April 2010: Moodle 2.0 Beta release
  • May, June 2010: intensive beta testing and bug fixing (freeze on new features)
  • July 2010: Moodle 2.0 production release

You can track our current progress in detail on the Moodle 2.0 Planning document. Please remember that this document is frequently updated and details can change a lot!