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  • News forum
  • Research Grants & Prize Awardees 2011~2013 Page
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  • The Constitution of the Moodle Association of Japan specifies that 50% of the net annual income of the association shall be donated to the Moodle Trust (Moodle HQ), 40% spent on local research and development projects with just 10% being apportioned for operating expenses. Here is information on how you can participate by calling attention to a person or project worthy of a recognition award or to request a grant from MAJ to further enhance the operationality of Moodle as an educational tool.

  • Note: You need to be enrolled in this course in order to submit proposals or add your ideas to the Wiki.  Click here to enrol!

  
  
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  Recognition Awards（Best Moodle Innovation Award)

  • Each year awards will be made for the best developments related to Moodle by members of MAJ. These might be the development of a new module or block, or even a suggested patch to the current code which adds greater functionality to a current version. The development itself need not be specific to Moodle as used in Japan.

    Once nominations have closed, MAJ members will then cast their votes, the results of which will be announced at the 2013 MAJ Moot.

    • People can nominate themselves or be nominated by others.
    • Any current member of MAJ, apart from those on the vetting committee are eligible to receive the award.
    • The innovation must have been submitted to moodle.org as contributed code in some form or manner, such as a contributed module, block or theme, or as a suggested improvement to the base code via the Tracker.
    • A description of the innovation is to be submitted by 25 February 2013 on this page.
    • The innovation need not have been newly introduced in 2012, as long as it has been updated and supported in the past year.
    • The innovation must be usable on at least one Moodle version that has been released within the past 18 months.
    • MAJ members will then cast their votes at the Moot.
    • The R&D committee will then determine the awardees, based not only on the votes, but also on comments accompanying the votes and the R&D panel's own expertise.

    These awards will be presented annually at the MAJ Moot:

    • Best innovation of the year
    • 2nd Best innovation of the year 2012
    • Honorable mention
  • Best Moodle Innovation for 2012 -- Nomination Form Questionnaire
  • 私が望む改良　Improvements I'd like to see... ADD YOUR IDEAS HERE! Wiki

  
  
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  Recognition Awards (Best Open Courseware)
  

  Dear Moodle Association Members,

  Reminder:  A few days remain to upload your best Moodle course for the “Best Open Courseware Awards”.  The deadline to receive your course is February 25^th, 10pm.

  Your course will be shared with MAJ members and the public at this site here:  http://hub.moodlejapan.org

  The purpose of the Hub is to collect and distribute free, open courseware for any school or teacher using the Moodle learning management system. The MAJ Hub is intended to focus on Japan-related courseware, produced in Japanese, English and other languages.  (Note: samples of commercial content that are provided for free distribution, may also be available through the Hub)

  A four-person courseware judging panel has been selected (and kept secret). J They will start reviewing your courses on February 25^th according to the following criteria:

  • The course is taught in Japan, and would be useful for other teachers in Japan.
  • The courseware is free and has no commercial licenses or fees.
  • The media in the courseware is public domain and requires no permissions or royalties to use it.
  • The courseware is interesting, engaging, and innovative.
  • The courseware contains sound assessment systems,
  • The courseware is appropriate for the ages and levels of the students.

  Then on February 28^th, the judging panel will meet by skype and decide the winners:

  First prize, Second prize, Honorable Mention (x2).  A framed certificate with your name as the author will be awarded at the MoodleMoot closing plenary, 4pm on Sunday.

  Special Bonus:  Mug Cup for all contributors

  Any one who contributes and uploads a course during the next five days will receive an MAJ Moodle mug cup as a prize at the Moot. We are especially looking for courses in fields such as Math, Science, Computer skills, Music, Corporate training, and High school subjects.

  How to send your course:  you can follow the instructions on the MAJ Hub site to upload your course. However, the fastest way is to send your course as a backup file (.mbz or .zip) directly to Don Hinkelman (hinkel@sgu.ac.jp).  If your backup file is over 10mb, you should put it in a Dropbox folder or other cloud folder and share that folder with me for downloading.

  
  
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  R & D Grants

  • Grant applications will be accepted until 15 January 2013.

  • Grant submissions　補助金申し込みフォーム Assignment

  • Criteria
    
    Applications will be accepted from individuals, groups or commercial developers. Any current member of MAJ, apart from those on the vetting committee are eligible to apply for and receive an award.
    
    The application must:
    

    • Describe the functionality.
    • Explain how the functionality would ameliorate a specific problem.
    • Provide a timeline for its development, which includes specific times to report progress along with the target starting dates of the alpha and beta stages, projected maintenance costs as future versions of the core Moodle code are released.
    • Provide a chronology concerning attempts at development so far.
    • Specify the desired amount of support and provide a rough breakdown of how the funds would be spent.
    • Mention your MAJ membership type and the expiry date of your membership.

    
    Procedure
    

    • The awardee will receive the amount determined by the judging committee with no strings attached. (We assume that the funds would mostly go towards payment for time spent on the development, although other uses such as paying for hosting services, or travel to Moodle Headquarters, etc. could also be considered legitimate uses.)
    • An application form on this page will ask for the specifics mentioned above, as well as other basic information -- personal data, CV, previous development experience.
    • Priority will be given to projects that would improve the functionality for use in Japan or other Asian areas. See the "Improvements I'd like to see" wiki for matters of current concern.Applications may be made in either Japanese or English
    • See the MAJ site (=this page) for the guidelines and application deadline.
    • All applications shall be vetted anonymously by the vetting panel.
    • Be released as GPL code and posted for distribution on the moodle.org plugins database and any appropriate Moodle Japan sites within one year of acceptance.

    Applications will receive particularly favorable consideration if they:

    • provide a functionality that is particularly needed in Japan.
    • build a closer relationship between Moodle Japan and Moodle HQ (i.e. involves an internship, visit, or coordination with Moodle HQ)
    • show a plan for ongoing maintenance and improvement without continued MAJ support.

    The deadline for submission for MAJ Grants is: January 15, 2013.

    Announcements of the decisions of the Research & Development Committee will be announced at the annual MAJ Moot, to be held at Tokyo Kasei University on 2-3 March, 2013

  
  
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