Programme meeting time again

It only seems last month when we had a programme meeting for the project. But we have one looming on this Wednesday. I'm sure that we had to do something for it, but I can't remember and I will have to sit down and go through all the emails related to it. However, at the moment this seems a very futile exercise with everything that needs to be done. I will though spend some time this afternoon sorting through and finding out.

But there is so much to be achieved in the next few days and weeks. I need to finish sorting out the few glitches in the released code. As with every release you think you have nailed it, and then you come across something that is not quite right. At the same time I am frantically trying to up date all of the manuals on the website to reflect the changes in the system. I think this is how I keep identifying the problems that are appearing. Perhaps next time I can make the changes in the documentation and then release the system. You live and learn.

Additionally, we have been invited to so many things recently that I seem to be out and about a lot. But this has the knock on effect of I need to get all my normal work done and then on top I need to prepare for the events. Next week is the most crowded. I have a work shop with the Netskills team organised by the HEA next Wednesday, followed immediately by the ACED Conference.

I would rather be this way, busy, I hate not having things to do. But at some point I will need to slow down and take some time out.

So what happened to March

At the almost beginning of march I wrote about attending the JISC Programme Meeting. Well the outcomes where that it was interesting to see that other JISC e-assessment orientated projects are having some of the same issues that we as a project have been facing. However, in other respects we are miles ahead of others in what we have accomplished. A lot of attendees where interested in how we had progressed to being open source so quickly in the project and where interested in finding out more about what they could learn from us. Also the other main area people where interested in was the IMS Award shortlist. For me the afternoon was not quite as good as it could have been, and I really didn't have much to take away with me.

The following week I was at the OSS-Watch Risk Management in Open Source Procurement. For me the key elements that I picked up on where:

• The more customisations move away from the original code the harder they are to maintain and also integrate back in
• What business reasons can we provide to show that the adoption of WebPA is beneficial
• What are the upgrade cycles for a project, as this will often help to sway a potential adopter
• What would aid our survivability, would it be via becoming a service.
• How can we best show the scalability of the WebPA system.

A lot of other topics where also covered, far too many to mention here.


In the middle of this I have damaged my hand and wrist so, somethings are becoming slightly behind as I work through the pain. I have also had to take some holiday, so that was the end of March really.

Now we are in April, I am getting back into the swing of things. However, I still have a list as long as my arm that I need to complete soon, as well as, preparing for the IMS Awards next month, which is only 5.5weeks away!

JISC programme meeting

Tomorrow, I am at the JISC programme meeting all day. The morning discussion will follow on from the meeting back in October were a lot of the discussion was related to the evaluation plans for the projects and where based around a lot of work completed by Glenaffric. This is followed by the small group discussion. For the following parallel session I will be with the Life long learning group of projects.

This may seem strange for a project who's emphasis is on the assessment of students in Higher Education (HE). As a project we were funded under this strand, but we should not have to limit ourselves to just HE, especially as we are open source and therefore any one in any of the Life-long Learning networked(LLN) and Further Eduction(FE) colleges can also use to tool. Our community also has to be open to these groups of potential users.

We also need to be able to define how we will operate within the Life-long Learning arena. Well to do this the benefits of the tool need to be considered. Some of the benefits of the tool are related to the teaching of key sills that will benefit the students using the system when in the wider world. Other benefits can be linked to the development of skills for employability. However, we must recognise that in developing these, often seen as distinct skills groups, we are also providing the students will skills that will encourage Life-long learning. Some of the more powerful skill that should be developed through the use of the WebPA tool include; self evaluation and reflection, leading to the understanding of the need to improve and learn from mistakes made. These skills are often intangible and over looked.

Anyway the other sessions that I will be attending, is the informal networking. This will give me a chance to find out in greater detail the problems that other projects are facing and see if there is anything that we can learn form them. I also will be on the lookout for people who may be interested in collaborating with the WebPA project, hopefully to help identify others who may pilot the tool as well as people who would just like to be come part of the wider community developing around the project.

Hopefully, I will be able to report back later in the week on the information that I have gathered.