 widespread in some locations, particularly developing countries. So obviously Moodle is a platform that requires an email address for a lot of its functionality and this obviously poses a problem to delivering Moodle in these countries. So what we've done is we've had a look at the problem and seeing what we can do to eliminate that use of email address and particularly around registration process. So just looking at some of the use cases we've looked at. So obviously there's a registration process. There's the login and then there's things like the password reset which is obviously something that also requires an email address and updating a mobile number. So instead of updating an email address you'd be updating a mobile number which would also require some interaction and you can see some of those cases are shared by multiple different roles in the system. So looking at the registration process in a bit more detail, these are just some of the requirement documentation that we put together as part of the process to discover the functionality. Just going through, it's very similar to actually the core Moodle email registration process but effectively you're swapping out the verification token link that gets sent via an email with a one-time password. Now a one-time password some of you may be familiar with is essentially just a short code randomly generated by a system that's unique and it's only available for a limited time. It's only valid for a limited time. So once the user enters that code and it gets verified they can then complete the registration process and they can be logged in all in a very streamlined process. So what we've actually done to build to build out this functionality is to develop two different plugins. So an authentication plugin that is the one-time password module and a messaging output plugin. So the messaging output is essentially the underlying functionality that delivers the SMS and that does it in conjunction with a third-party system. So the third-party system is essentially a messaging gateway service that's an internet-based system that will essentially receive a provides an API and you can use that to send out SMS and other text messaging protocols for delivery over a cell phone network in the user's country. So the user will connect to Moodle using either a standard web interface or even the mobile app. They'll get through to the the authentication process. They'll get their one-time password through the messaging gateway that'll be delivered to the user via SMS when they complete their registration. So just actually just back on that slide. So what the messaging gateway service we've actually used is a service called RapidPro which has actually been designed and actually came out of the UN Innovation Fund quite a few years ago now so it's quite a stable product and it's particularly designed for being used in developing countries. So just some of the other considerations that we've factored in as part of this development is around accessibility. So making sure that we're using standard Moodle form components, standard Google recapture components and even going as far as looking at the fact that you can deliver some of these one-time password codes using a voice service which is one of the advantages of the RapidPro gateway. So messaging notifications is obviously one of the other core features of Moodle that relies heavily on email address functionality. So essentially having the underlying implementation using the messaging output framework allows those features to be fulfilled by the SMS component. So things like assignment submission notifications and forum posts and even the instant messaging can be delivered over SMS. So as I mentioned before RapidPro is one of the services that we're using as a gateway that in turn actually talks to other services that provide the SMS delivery in country. So it can be a challenge to find services that do deliver in every country throughout the world. So it is a challenge but there often are services out there that will deliver in country. So I'm going to see a quick question there in the chat about costs associated and certainly is and that does vary from country to country. So you can find some countries do have a higher cost compared to others. So security and privacy concerns are another issue. Obviously SMS isn't isn't bulletproof but you know nothing is email has its own issues. So there are there are ways of mitigating some of the concerns. So obviously the one-time password is only only available for a limited time. There is an option to have a two-factor authentication process put in place. So as well as the one-time password you may need to answer another question, image verify for example. And yeah so so in essence the security concerns are also something that we feel that given the limited sort of context in which this functionality would be used we're not sort of you know dealing with you know bank accounts or anything like that and it is is purely for primarily for the registration and then you can you know you can disable the other notifications after the fact. So so the other potentially some of the other privacy concerns are the fact that the mobile phone number is actually in the Moodle system. You don't really want that to be shown to other users. So that's that's going to be hidden away and not revealed. So I guess what I was also looking to do is show you a quick demonstration of the process. So just quickly share my screen should have some time to do this I hope. And hopefully all works without any issues. So just coming up there I would hope that my screen is currently available. Okay I've started now. Okay try that again. Not sure why the screen sharing is not working. Oh it looks like it's starting now. It's working now. It's working now. Okay great thank you Carlo. Okay so I've just actually got my phone plugged in to the to the computer here. So just got a login page here for a for a Moodle site that we've got set up. So standard Moodle login and you got the create new account option at the bottom. So instead of where you get your email email address and form to be to be completed here you've got a mobile phone number. So I can quickly just put my phone number in in fact that I'm not a robot and I can then continue. So now I've got a message saying I will have received a SMS code. So that should be on its way. Hopefully in a moment I should see an SMS code pop up in my phone. There we go. So six nine eight seven seven eight and I can then click next and then it'll just ask me to fill out a few simple details about who I am. I was trying to make this very simple process to then land you into Moodle. So though I have I've got an account and I'm logged in. So I think one of the other use cases I did mention just previously was the forgotten username and password. So again that's another feature that we've built in which essentially provides you with a method of resetting your password which is followed. It's a very similar process where you'll just receive an SMS code coming up in just a moment. There we go. So the reset code is five nine four eight seven and allows me to reset my password and I'm done and then I could log in. So just wrapping that up that screen sharing. So that that was essentially the demo. I guess the next steps that we're looking to do is just to implement other messaging outputs. So including WhatsApp Facebook Messenger. There are some of the very popular messaging protocols that are used in developing countries. So that's a big priority for us. And then just some better integration with the mobile app and a few other bits and pieces to build upon this SMS functionality including potentially some interactive activity plugins that would allow more functionality to be exposed through SMS from the Moodle application. And so that's basically it from me. So if there's any questions at all be happy to ask any that I answer any that I can. Thank you very much Luke. That was really interesting. I found it very very interesting presentation. We have questions. I copy those in the chat. The first one is from Martin. Can you read those? Yeah. Yeah. So looking at the what sort of phones and apps are supported. So at the moment it's just plain old SMS which is pretty much available on any phone including your dumb phones, your old GSM 2G. But like I said we're looking to develop additional functionality based on your messaging internet protocols such as WhatsApp Facebook Messenger. I think there's already some messaging outputs for things like Telegram and Slack. So you know all those all those different messaging protocols could potentially be used in a very similar way. So the hack we implement this in an AWS hosted version of Moodle. So I mean the plugin that we've developed, the plugin code that we've developed is probably the number one component that you'd sort of need. But on top of that AWS have their own SMS gateway as well. So the plugin code might need a bit of adapting to work with AWS. But like I said we're using RapidPro. But I don't think it would take a whole whole much great deal of effort to do that. So and then the plugin's developing going to be open source. So hopefully at the moment we're still still a bit of a work in progress. And you know there's a good chance I think we will but there's still something we're discussing. At the moment yeah we're still under development. So yeah once they're ready I think there's a good chance but we'll have to work on that. What if they change the number of the registration? Yes so that was another question. That was one of the use cases and certainly essentially he's going to follow a similar process to what the Moodle email address change process works. So essentially they'll have to verify that they own the new number and once they do then they can flip to that. So obviously they've logged in that they've verified themselves and then they can change their phone number. And once they confirm that they do actually own that new phone number they will they will complete that change. The last minute question is coming from Fraser Jackson. Entering with WhatsApp. Yeah great question. Yep so yeah we are looking at doing WhatsApp. That is one of the next priority items that we're looking at implementing. There are a few technical issues around WhatsApp. A few contractual issues as well given the WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and they have a lot of terms and additions to agree to but certainly that is something that we're very interested in doing given its popularity within developing and mid-range countries. Okay thank you very much Luke. Thank you all for attending this presentation and all the presentations we have presented in this afternoon. It was a very interesting day. We can finalize the day and we wait for all of you tomorrow.