A quick search for "Test Automation Tools" on Google returns 8,21,00,000 results. With new tools and technologies mushrooming every single day, it is quite obvious to get confused or feel overwhelmed when it comes to selecting the right tool or technology for your needs.
"Version 2.0
Moodle 2.0, our biggest release ever, is coming together after two years of development. It contains a huge number of core changes to the platform, most of which are designed to give 3rd party developers more flexibility, scalability and safety.
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:
* March 2010: Moodle 2.0 Beta release
* April, May, June 2010: intensive beta testing and bug fixing (freeze on new features)
* 1 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!
Draft release notes at Moodle 2.0 release notes. Please add notable items while they are fresh in your mind. The notes will be edited before the final release.
System requirements
Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.
* PHP 5.2.8 is now the minimum version supported. (We are aware that several important linux distros are still shipping earlier versions like 5.2.6, but we need at least version 5.2.x for the new File API, and there are bugs in 5.2.7 and earlier that we could not work around.) This allows developers to write cleaner code using the more recent features of PHP, and will also improve user experience.
* Databases should be one of the following:
o MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
o PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
o Oracle 10.2 or later
o MS SQL 2005 or later
* When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first.
New Community features
* Community hub - Moodle.com
Makes it easy for teachers to find other courses to download as templates fo
OER Integrated set of resources for technology-enabled learning design across disciplines developed by Grainne Conole and Uni of leicester. The resources have all been tried and tested.
"In the end, what you assess is what you get. To improve student performance we must first acknowledge that essential intellectual abilities are not accurately reflected through conventional testing, and second, move toward more authentic systems of assessment that more meaningfully measure and represent student and teacher abilities."
This interdisciplinary journal focuses on the exchange of relevant trends and research results and presents practical experiences gained while developing and testing elements of technology enhanced learning.
It bridges the gap between pure academic research journals and more practical publications. So it covers the full range from research, application development to experience reports and product descriptions.
I am wanting to take a slightly different approach to this weeks post. The past week has seen the latest round of PISA results and the media has had a field day. Headlines have routinely attacked students, educators and education systems in equal measure. The Canberra Times reported that "Australian school scores plummet on world stage", the Sydney Morning Herald led with "Alarm bells': Australian students record worst result in global tests" and The Weekend Australian went with "PISA global educational rankings: Schools fail on maths, science".