1. Swindon College – Putting Moodle into the Cloud
Background
Swindon College have updated their previous Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE) to a new Moodle, in the cloud, which has improved
accessibility and ease of use for learners and created efficiency savings.
The project is now past the design stage, staff have been trained on the
new Moodle and the previous VLE was switched off in August 2013.
After auditing the existing Moodle courses they were migrated to the
Cloud with 90% of courses now available on the new Moodle and 75%
actively used by students and staff.
Swindon College have been working with ULCC who are hosting the
new Moodle. Although sharing server space has meant that the user
experience is sometimes slower, Swindon College has set up a good
relationship with ULCC and are in discussions to move a single hosted
server in thefuture.
Key achievements
The College considers the design of Moodle and the layout for courses
as a main achievement as this has enabled consistency over all College
courses and creates recognisable course templates for students.
With management and support staff trained on the new system the old
VLE was switched off in August 2013 and with on-going support staff
have reported positive experiences with Moodle.
Moodle Zone Homepage for esy access to courses

2. Positives
As Swindon College have a good relationship with ULCC it has allowed
them to look at ways of improving the Moodle and they now hope to
upgrade to Moodle 2.6 in April 2014.
Usage data charts sent from ULCC on usage from August 2013
illustrates in the first month usage has increased dramatically for the
VLE. Students and staff have all stated how much easier it is to find
resources and activities from their course.

3. Both students and staff are reporting positive experiences using Moodle
and like the new design theme. Students have found the interactive
aspects of Moodle helpful with staff reporting better management and
communications.
Swindon College anticipate annual savings of 7% initially which will grow
as the cloud expands.
Moving forward
Further training will be provided for staff as the Moodle progresses and
when the upgrade is due early next year. The College is also
considering hosting their own server to improve speed of use.
Swindon College are currently undertaking an audit of Moodle to ensure
students are getting the most from it. This will be an on going review with
improvements sought.