Overview
Background
The WebPA (Web Peer Assessment) tool is used to generate peer moderated marks for group work. Students undertaking work within a group are normally all given the same group mark by their tutor, which can lead to tension when members feel they have contributed differently to their peers. WebPA allows students to score each of their peers within the group, using a series of questions and scales provided by the tutor. These scores are then applied to the group mark from the tutor and an individualised mark for every student in the group is provided.
The WebPA tool was introduced at Edinburgh via 2 JISC funded projects that sought to prove LTI integration with the VLE. The number of courses using the tool was modest, though the tool has been important to those courses using it.
Over the last 2 years usage of the tool has expanded, and it is now under consideration for use by the Undergraduate Medical programme. WebPA has proven to be a useful and important part of the portfolio but there are too few staff in IS LTW with knowledge of the service to be confident that we can grow it in its current form. We wish to move WebPA from its current hosting environment (CHOST) to a more managed LAMP environment, and bring it under the application management and change control processes provided by IS Apps Production Management, benefitting from improved monitoring, longer backups, and a larger pool of colleagues who can assist in supporting it.
WebPA is an open source tool developed by Loughborough University. It is a PHP application that relies on a MySQL database. It is not EASE authenticated – the only access to the tool for users is via an LTI connection from the Learn or Moodle VLEs. No changes are required to this.
WebPA is used for assessment during the teaching term and so a suitable date for migration of data and live switchover will need to be determined. This is likely to be June or July 2016. Migration should not be technically complex. The software has minimal technical requirements.
Scope
The scope of this project is simply to migrate an existing, stable service to a more controlled infrastructure such that it can continue to grow, and to remove the reliance on a small number of staff in IS-LTW and normalise ongoing support, backup, monitoring etc in line with other applications supported by IS Applications.
The service has been exceptionally stable and is technically not complex and we would anticipate that the technical migration will be relatively straightforward.
It should be noted that due to time constraints this project can only focus on the bare minimum to get the platform moved "as is" on a compatible version of PHP. That in itself may present some support challenges, however moving to a more recent version of PHP (and spending development effort modifying the code) is not viable.
No EASE integration is required.
Objectives & Deliverables
O1 | Allow the WebPA service to grow, and remove the risk of reliance on a small number of individuals within IS LTW |
D1 | Migration of the live version of WebPA to a change controlled server infrastructure managed by IS Applications. |
D2 | Suitable Dev and Test environment set up |
D3 | Standard backup process in place to improve upon the current 3 day backup process available on CHOST |
D4 | OLA developed for the service outlining roles and responsibilities between IS Apps, IS LTW and IS USD. |
D5 | Current code-base put under source control for future change management. |
D6 | Test the integration with the migrated site through the Learn and Moodle VLE integrations |
Benefits
- Removes risk around reliance on small number of IS LTW staff.
- Allows service to grow, with security around change control processes.
- Allows service to benefit from standard monitoring on corporate infrastructure.
Success Criteria
- Service successfully migrated with minimal user impact, and service availability ongoing is at least as good as currently available on CHOST.