I am teaching Mambo at the University of Zululand, within a module (course) called Web Computing, which is run over two semesters (terms) and explores the role of new media and technology in communication. This accounts for 2 of 48 modules towards a degree in Communication Science.
We have had fun and games trying to teach what-was-Mambo in a computer laboratory environment, with 85 students logged in simultaneously, and have some lessons & questions to share with anyone who may be doing the same or thinking of venturing down this (unbeaten?) path.
We have taken the Administration Manual as one of our prescribed texts, and are all logging into one website, as administrators, with me lecturing using MSAS on a large screen to enhance speed, which tends to deteriorate when everybody is logged into one site.
We tried sharing 85 mambo sites on one linux box, but that crashed the server, which is only 350Mhz as there is nothing else available at the moment. Our network administrator managed to duplicate the default mambo installation and corresponding database for each student thanks to his knowledge of linux, which will be their main practical component / assignment for the course.
I am now trying to set up a dedicated network drive to host a unique MSAS application for each student, so that they can install modules, components and mambots that are downloaded from Mamboforge as an alternative to the shared hosting option, hoping that this will not put such a load on the network, until I can fund another server with appropriate spec's.
I too would be grateful for some type of certification / accreditation, firstly as a trainer / educator and secondly for my students, so that they graduate as qualified / certified what-was-Mambo administrators / developers.
Last term we learnt how to create blogs, using Blogger, which was lots of fun and gave them a real sense of achievement, as most of them had never published anything on the web before. They now have the perfect tool for their writing portfolio, which will certainly be an interesting resume' for prospective employers.
Do contact me if I may be of assistance with your what-was-Mambo training accreditation ideas, or if you would like to collaborate on delivering what-was-Mambo skills formally.
Thanks to the what-was-Mambo community, the best CMS software in the world is accessible to many who would never have considered anything along the lines of website development / management.
Having thought more about it, I think that I will register an official research project with the university where I am employed, so that I can access funds and seek other funds in a broader context to do this thing properly. I have send a proposal outline to the Shuttleworth Foundation , who are promoting open source software initiatives in Africa, and am looking for other potential funders.
I have also been contacted by Cecilia from Four/Four and am planning an article to publish with them. ( Is this advisable after the Miro / Mambo debacle
)Please know that I am fairly new to what-was-Mambo (one year or so) and may not be the best representative on the technical side, but them parhaps that is what making what-was-Mambo available to the masses is all about - the fact that with a little training one can manage a mambo site, making it accessible to Public Relations Managers, Communications Executives, Conference Coordinators, Teachers, Lecturers, small business owners etc.
Do read more about our efforts at formal what-was-Mambo instruction and let me know how I can assist you.
PS. Glad you turned up here Manuman (I thought I might have been snookered by the Miro bunch!)
