I was working on a project today that involved developing some material using a virtual learning environment tool I was fairly unfamiliar with (Lessons in Oxford’s ‘WebLearn’ implementation of Sakai for VLE geeks out there). There turned out to be less online documentation than I had expected so I went back to a recording from a user group meeting I attended early last year where it was showcased.

I discovered the neat trick of being able to play back the recording at almost double speed, compressing the time it took to revise it but one of the questions sounded like it was about usage tracking, which was one of the key points for using the system, so I slowed down and played that section again. D’oh! It turns out it was my own dulcet tones asking about how usage could be tracked and the answer was that the tool was quite primitive in that respect. Now I know who to blame for that bright idea!

Actually, it isn’t quite as bleak as that. One of the other people at the meeting did chip in a couple of possible ideas and, after some experiments this afternoon, I think I can accomplish what I need. Just as well because I’ve optimistically promised a talk at the user group towards the end of this term on what I was confident I would manage to do! Past-self, I’ll let you off the hook for now; future-self, if you’re reading this, I’d be grateful for any tips you could throw back this way!