Forum LAMS Newsletter: Newsletter 8, 13th Nov, 05

By: James Dalziel

[ Forward ]

Big week for LAMS!

The past week was a big one for LAMS, with four major announcements in a combined media release that went out Thursday. You can find the text of the release at: http://www.lamsfoundation.org/news/index.html#8

In this newsletter, we explain what each announcement means for both teachers and system administrators.

(1) New Version of LAMS released (V1.0.2)

For Teachers: The new version includes the new "HTML Noticeboard" tool that allows you to use HTML to incorporate rich web content into LAMS Noticeboards - content such as images, animations, audio and video. Another feature is direct integration between your LAMS account and the LAMS Community (this link will appear in the bottom half of your "Welcome" screen). There are also hundreds of improvements and bug fixes.

For Administrators: The new version includes an updated installer and a new upgrader to make it easy to install or upgrade to V1.0.2. The upgrader also includes new backup and restore features. The installer is smaller (as it no longer bundles JDK or MySQL), and has a comprehensive installation walkthrough (including instructions for JDK and MySQL). There are now installers for Windows, Mac OS X and various Unixes. Downloads and instructions are available from http://www.lamsfoundation.org/downloads/

(2) LAMS Integrations released

For Teachers: It is now easy to use LAMS in conjunction with an LMS (including Moodle, Blackboard and Sakai now, and WebCT, .LRN and uPortal in the near future). In essence, teachers can access LAMS via the course authoring page of their LMS by choosing LAMS sequences from a drop down list - once chosen, a sequence becomes available to students as a URL link on their course page. Teachers can also access LAMS authoring to create new sequences (which can then be added to a course page); teachers can also access LAMS Monitoring to track student progress through sequences added to a course page.

For Administrators: Detailed information about integration with Moodle, Blackboard and Sakai is available from http://www.lamsfoundation.org/integration/ - including source code, animated walkthroughs and technical documents. Once you have set up the link between your LMS and LAMS, teachers can access LAMS as described above. LAMS can be run on a separate server, or even hosted offsite, with a secure link to your LMS.

(3) LAMS International releases details of hosting and support packages

For Teachers: It is now possible to purchase LAMS hosting from LAMS International (the services and support company for LAMS) - this will be particularly helpful where teachers want to use LAMS, but don't have access to technical staff to install their own server. There are also technical support packages available for organisations that manage their own server locally. New training packages have also been announced. For details, see http://www.lamsinternational.com/product/

For Administrators: It is now simple to purchase packages for hosting LAMS, or getting technical support for local LAMS installations. These packages can be for stand-alone LAMS, or LAMS integrated with an existing LMS. For details, see http://www.lamsinternational.com/product/

(4) LAMS International joins Moodle Partner Network

For Teachers: Due to the great interest in LAMS from the Moodle Community, LAMS International has joined the Moodle Partner Network to help provide support for combined LAMS/Moodle installations.

For Administrators: LAMS International is now an official Moodle Partner Network member, and will be working closely with Moodle Partners to ensure that organisations that use Moodle and LAMS together will be able to get excellent support from relevant Moodle and LAMS experts. For details of LAMS/Moodle services, see http://www.lamsinternational.com/product/moodle.html


So.... an exciting week for LAMS and all LAMS users. We look forward to your feedback on the new version, installers, integrations and Moodle Partnership.

Posted by James Dalziel