My Classroom 2.0

I’ll start with a little background on my experience with web software. More of a confession. I am a hack with the web. I have worked with Wordpress numerous time in the past and over the last couple of years I have worked with XOOPS a lot. I also have installed Mediawiki and Joomla in test installs. I have installed and run a couple of different installations of Moodle. I believe I have the basics of installing and configuring PHP-based CMS software. My CSS and PHP editing is sloppy, basic and rather uninformed and ususally involves a lot of cutting and pasting code and a lot of trial and error. But installing the CMS, its plugins and themes with basic adjustments of each are well within my grasp.

I am facing a lot of options with the software for next year. I feel confident that Moodle will be a major component of the class, but I am looking for other options. I am trying to build a student community, so I think that the functionality I am going for is a little too complex for XOOPS. Also I really can’t stand the way the Wordpress for XOOPS stuff lags so far behind the standalone version. I have been looking at Joomla to manage the site, but if I am going to build an online community I have to look at Drupal and Elgg. The only problem with Drupal and Elgg is I am totally a babe in the woods with each of these software packages, so configuring them to fit my goals and objectives will be somewhat difficult. Then there are other, more oldschool perl-based entries to this space, Slash and Scoop, both of which have potential.

So far I know I am going to need Moodle. I may be content to use the Moodle blogs for blogging students, but may used the blogging features of other software, be it Joomla, Drupal or Elgg. Likewise I may use Mediawiki or wiki modules for some of the other CMS. I would love to use a Twitter clone, but I have yet to find an OSS version of Twitter software, though Commercial solutions are available (inexpensive but will still blow my budget). I really would love to get more resources to help make this decision. Please share your experiences and links.