Lessons Learned in Managing ICT Systems for Online Learning

Eng. Lalith Liyanage Eng. Lalith Liyanage Project ManagerProject ManagerDEMP/NODESDEMP/NODES

Sri LankaSri Lanka

1. INTRODUCTION

2. STAKEHOLDER EXPECTATIONS

3. TECHNOLOGIES SELECTED

4. MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING OF ICT SYSTEMS

5. NODES MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

Population base of 20 million 250,000 sit for university entrance exams annually 125,000 obtain minimum qualifications 20,000 get into 17 conventional universities Thus, only 14% of those who qualify are admitted. 86% of qualified students left out every year!

Development of the university system in SL (2001-2006) UGC

2001 A/L

2002 A/L

2003 A/L

2004 A/L

2005

A/L

2006

A/L

2007

A/L Actual

Increase

Fore-cast

next 10 Years

Number qualified 98432 92252 93353 108357 117435 119869 121259 22827 155441

Number and percentage selected for university admissions

12813 13196 14260 14850 16292 16598 17196 4383 23250

13.02% 14.3% 15.28% 13.7% 13.9% 13.85% 14.2% 14.96%

Number and percentage not selected for university admission in Sri Lanka

85619 79056 79093 93507 101143 103271 104063 18444 132191

86.9% 85.6% 84.7% 86.2% 86.12% 86.15% 85.82% 0.9% 83.7%

Funder: Loan from Asian Development Bank

Project Cost: US$60 million

Dates: November 05, 2003 - December 31, 2009

To expand post-secondary education enrolment by developing

a modern, high-quality, human-resource base using distance education and the latest technologies

NODES Enterprise ModelPartner Institutions

NOC

StudentsNODES Access CentresCDU DNAC

NODES Enterprise Model

ConsiderationsConsiderations• Network latency - duration of online interactiveness• Strict adherence to assignment deadlines• Online real-time evaluations including online exams • Main servers accessible 24/7• Scalability• System responses must be within human tolerable limits• Accessibility requirements: anywhere, anytime

ConsiderationsConsiderations

• Connectivity across country through NODES Access Centres (NACs)

• High bandwidth for video conferencing

• Archiving of online activities, e.g., online forums

• And, all the above at an affordable recurrent cost

Our DesignOur Design• Deploy a mix of proven open source software,

e.g., Moodle, FreeBSD and Linux, Apache Web Server, Postfix SMTP server, PostgreSQL Database, Nagios Network Monitoring software, Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG)

• Use some commercial software, e.g., Windows Active Directory Server for authentication and access control, Orion NPM

• Purchase hardware including network equipment and servers• Employ redundant configuration for increased resilience• Establish DR Site for redundancy and the backup of all services

• Sri Lanka Telecom promises that it will provide NODES with 99.9% backbone availability (<44min/month)

• Last mile to Colombo NACs 99.5% (<3.65 h/month)• Last mile to outstation NACs 99% (<438min/month = 7.3 h/month)• NODES service level agreements with partner

institutes promise 99% availability (<87.6 h/year or <7.3 h/month)

Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) to monitor network traffic on VPN and Internet links

Open Source Nagios Network Monitoring Tool detects availability of services on all ICT systems within the NODES VPN

Nagios continued

Nagios – Separate services on each of the servers

Orion Network Monitoring Tool visualizes complete network with real-time indication of any failures

Orion continued

• The above tools keep Network Operating Centre (NOC) engineers informed of network conditions and potential failures.

• If engineers are absent from a site, they are notified regarding network conditions via GSM modem gateway.

• NODES management personnel must be aware of potential network failures and take corrective action before clients experience poor or interrupted service.

• NODES is a service/organization created by DEMP.• 50 online degree / diploma programs are currently running.• The NODES Network Operation Center (NOC) capacity is155 Mbps IP/VPN with a 55 Mbps Internet bandwidth.•27 NODES Access Centres (NACs) have an operating capacity of 10 Mbps IP/VPN when connected to NOC.• Moodle is the learning management system (LMS) employed.

24

AMPARA ANURADHAPURA

MATARA

KURUNEGALA

MONARAGALA

25

• SIS – Student activity management• PNMS – Partner institutions and NACs management• LMS – Moodle LMS integration• FIS – Financial functions management• DMS – Document management• SysAMS – System administration management• CRM – Customer relationship management• HRM – Human resources management

• A paradigm shift in education occurred – from face-to-face to online learning.

• A high-end NODES ICT infrastructure was established to meet current and future needs of education.

• NODES stakeholder expectations are higher than in face-to-face settings.

• Network capacity, scalability, and reliability are vital.• Maintaining the system is mission critical.• Proactive actions have been taken to avoid every possible

network failure.

All of the above mentioned efforts were meant to build the confidence of all stakeholders as without them, the system will not be sustainable.

Co-contributors:Ajith Pasqual (Sri Lanka)

Clayton R. Wright (Canada)