Open Learning for YMIS

Most of the YMIS course content will become open and available in 2009-10 through a 'wiki' like web shell. Each section is built on joomla articles, and you can search content by set categories, search box and a tag cloud. Anybody can seek to contribute by clicking the Do you have a suggestion!, button in the top right corner of the site. The decision to do make content free and available for a 'fee for service' course might be seen by some as unprofitable. Well that's not the point.

Firstly, YMIS course material is both useful for our fee-paying students and the broader community and we believe in sharing the great resources we have with the world, especially if it helps those in youth work. Our 'qualifications' still cost money as does to a degree the mentoring and training support we provide, but there is as an advantage to all involved in an open learning approach to our courses.

Secondly, we are adding value to the YMIS brand, that's no secret, by doing this we are creating a global network/forum for discussion around faith based youth work. WE are also creating pathways to other training and resources apart from our own, so this is a very win-win situation for YMIS.

The URL for this open learning resource will be ymiscentral.com.

Joomla Moodle MashUp - jfusion

For a YOUTH WORK training course that I manage, we wanted our online learning portal to have the best of Moodle and the best of Joomla, hence the Joomla/Moodle MashUp we could but won't call Moomla. Joomla does now have a LMS componant called Joomlalms, but we are happy with and loyal too Moodle but also want the great design and plugin aspects of Joomla.


We achieved this Moomla site by using jfusion http://www.jfusion.org, see tutorial below.