Chamilo LMS & MOOC-specific optimizations

by Yannick WarnierPresident

Chamilo AssociationChamiluda Madrid 2013

The Chamilo project

Community

Educationalplatform

AssociationPartners

Empleo

Software (libre)

4 companies / 2 universities

+300 personas alrededor del mundo

Trademark, R&D, events

6,700,000 users

Adaptable / without license costs

MOOC

MassivelyOpenOnlineCourse

Required attributes* easy to use* not many pages to get to the content* auto-evaluation* participation with others

Suggested attributes* optimized* secure (HTTPS: 10-20% extra load)* measured

How massive could it be?

Chamilo Free Campus

Chamilo Free Campus

260,000 users15,000 courses

177 countries in 2013

Chamilo Free Campus

260,000 users REGISTERED700 simultaneous users top

Different coursesNot MOOC

Community

Dokeos (9y)

Chamilo (4y)

From the evolution, it is bound to happen to us...

● University San Ignacio de Loyola, Peru● 3,500 simultaneous users → OK for MOOC

● Instituto Cultural Peruano – Norte Americano● 612,000 users registered → not really MOOC

● Académie d'Aix-Marseilles, France● 230 schools, differt portals→not really MOOC

● Ministry of Education – National exam – Peru● 9500 users taking an exam at the same time

● Not really MOOC (but technically MOOC)

Some real cases...

The MOOC's issues

● High number of simultaneous students in course Requires:● Ease of use (no need for support)● Automated processes (no need for coaching)● High efficiency (no need for extraordinary hardware)

Ease of use

● Chamilo LMS excels in● Fewer steps to get to content● Registering to platform → registering to course● Automated redirection to course

● Hide unused tools● Courses' introduction● Introduction per tool● Guided learning paths

Automated processes (1)

● Learning paths w/ prerequisites● Drives students in established path

● Exams (without free answer)● Automated evaluation● Immediate feedback

● Surveys

Automated processes (2)

● Gradebook● Build learning objects● Certificates

● Programmed announcements● Prepared links of interest● Course agenda

Other advantages of Chamilo

● Documents tools● Courses description

● Customizable presentation

● Light/Fast● Boostable

Efficiency & boosts

● 14MB per loaded page (average)● Reduce media sizes (png, jpg, videos)● Zip transfers (zlib)● Use APC or Zend OpCode

● Much more efficient with very high # of users

● Remove “online users” option● Or use optimization.html to put it in cache

● Optimize SQL queries (or remove them)● Use fixed values (PHP)

More efficiency boosts

● Remove code for documents total size● Use your/one language as default (hack into

end of global.inc.php)● 7KB weight (300KB first load → Expires,

Headers)● ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 day"● Header unset Set-Cookie● Header set Cache-Control "max-age=86400"

● MySQL indexes and/or tables in memory

Chamilo LMS ideal for MOOCs

● 1500 simultaneous users, with little optimization● 4GB RAM● 3 cores (3GHz)

Contact

Yannick Warnier

President – Chamilo Association

Manager - BeezNest

        @ywarnier        @chamilonoticias

Contacto: info@chamilo.org