As of Tuesday morning, we are ready to begin Week 3 and we have all the necessary materials up and running. We will make the Week 3 assignments and discussions due one week from today on Tuesday, Sept. 14. We will return to the Week 2 discussions when we have the materials updated and we will then assign a due date for these discussions.
I am a bit concerned that our Moodle challenge will interrupt the process of getting into the flow of the course, but I am hopeful that students will be flexible. Perhaps we can view this as an example of what to do when the technology lets you down!
Be sure to keep us informed if you have Moodle problems this week and we will work together to get things off to a good start. I was very impressed with how quickly some of you noticed our Moodle problem over the weekend----thanks for that.
Another interesting wrinkle in all of this is that the type of home internet service you have influences how long it takes for the Moodle updates to take effect. Our technical consultant just told me that those of you on Mediacom at home may not have the updates until Tuesday evening, while Qwest users have more frequent server updates.
Please share your reactions and stories about our "Moodle blip"!
Ahhh yes, technology. It is always a love hate relationship. It is frustrating but real. I remember having to deal with "issues" like this while I was teaching 6th grade. It does reiterate how important it is to be flexible and have a backup plan when you are in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteI never really trust when a piece of technology will only be down for a set amount of time. Last winter, a power outage fried the servers at the high school, and wiped out the attendance program. We were told it would be up within a week. Two months later, we were finally able to take attendance on the computer again! I hope Moodle doesn't take that long... :)
ReplyDeleteI assume we are up and running well now! It is always a joy (sense the sarcasm) when technology has issues. It is usually when you need to get something done right away.
ReplyDeleteWill we get some time to finish the discussions from week 2 because one of our group members had not even posted by Friday. Maybe they tried getting on board, but wasn't able to with the joys of Moodle this weekend.
When we are sure everyone has access to the Week 2 discussions again, we will post a new timeline for finishing the discussion, allowing extra time because you are all working on the current week's assignment and discussion also. And I look forward to getting all of this behind us!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the extra time on week 2's discussion. I was unable to log in until tonight.
ReplyDeleteSometimes technology problems teach us virtues of patience.....and backing things up! I think that most people will not mind being flexible, especially with the time extensions.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the server was passively telling us all to take time out from the computers and enjoy the labor day weekend :)
I have not had any issue logging in. I joined in tonight to Week 3's discussion. I did have an issue with DIIGO, I now have it cleared up. I had created multiple accounts because I forgot what email, and password I was using. I have never had a problem with this before, however, I did. I ended up getting connected with the technical support there and they were able to get rid of the extra accounts, and help my figure out which password went with which email. AAAuuhh...I can sleep better tonight, knowing I am past that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't understand the different between mediacom and quest have a different time? It isn't the same ISU moddle server we are logging into?
I agree with Marisa, I have never heard of a different time line for QwestDSL vs. Mediacom. I am very interested in the specs behind this. Sometimes we techs like to tell people things to calm them down. (wink, wink) I am hoping they did not lose the comments from the week 2 forum. We had some pretty good stuff going before the system was shut down. As Charlie Brown would say, "ARGH!" Could have been worse. Anne could have said that was too bad. Due dates are due dates, regardless of the conditions. Wouldn't that have been a bummer. Thank you Anne for being understanding! (phew.)
ReplyDeleteMy Personal Tech Specialist says that the Moodle update on ISU has probably changed the IP address of the server, and different ISPs check for that type of change on different schedules. The standard should be every 24 hours. Qwest frequently has a longer time frame than that. (My husband has PQSD flashbacks from supporting Qwest customers. - Post Qwest Stress Disorder)
ReplyDeleteDang, I just wrote a brilliant comment and tried to post it when I had a system/server error! Technology has good and bad days, just like people...we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water just because of a glitch.
ReplyDeleteI may have learned to save my discussion posts as word documents "just in case"...note that I wrote "may"!!
It is frustrating when something like this happens because there always seems to be someone who will say, "This is why you can't plan on using technology to teach."
ReplyDeleteI will admit to still being nervous about Moodle since google Chrome has a red skull and crossbones in front of the address when I access it. That can't be a good sign!