LearningManagementSystem ReviewCommitteeFinalReport Presentedto Dr.JimBreece ViceChancellorforAcademicAffairs UniversityofMaineSystem June2011
LearningManagementSystemReview CommitteeReport CurtMadison,Chair RalphCaruso,Co Chair ChargetotheCommittee TheLMSReviewCommitteewasformedasaresultofconcernsexpressedbytheChiefAcademic OfficersinearlyDecember2010.TheCommitteewasformedbyVice ChancellorJimBreecewithdesign suggestionsfromchiefinformationofficerralphcaruso.thefirstmeetingwasconvenedbychairman CurtMadison,DirectorofDistanceEducation,UniversityofMaineSystem,March11,2011. TheLearningManagementSystemReviewCommitteewillbecomposedoftwofaculty membersfromumaineandusmeachandonefromuma,umf,umfk,ummand UMPI.Thecommitteewillperformanevaluationofthecurrentsupportstructureand issuestheprimarylearningmanagementsysteminusewithinums(blackboard).the committeewillalsoconsiderpossiblealternativestoblackboard.areportintheformof apresentationwillbeforwardedtothecaosinearlyjune.curtmadison,directorof DistanceLearningandtheChairofthisCommittee,willalsoselectmembersofthe BlackboardCoreUsersgrouptoserveasstafftotheCommitteeasneeded. TheCommitteehadawiderangeofanimateddiscussionsincludingthefollowingtopics: ShouldUMSsupportmorethanoneLMSwithconsiderationof DiversityvUniformity and Localv Centralservice? WillstudentsandfacultychooseComplexityorSimplicity? Whatistheleveloflinkagestootherenterpriselevelsystems? WhatistheneedforcapacityoflocalextensionstofunctionalitywithBuildingBlocksor3 rd party software? Howcanweprioritizethestudentexperienceofcoursecontentoversoftwarefunctionality? DoesUMShavesufficientsupportstaffforANYlearningmanagementsystem? Whataretheexperiencesofourpeerinstitutions? Howlongwillittaketoselect,thenadopt,anewlearningmanagementsystem? CommitteeMeetingSchedule ThefirstmeetingoftheLMSReviewCommitteeoccurredonMarch11,2011.Thefinalfullmeeting occurredonmay27,2011justpriortotheenddateoffacultycontracts.wemeteveryfridayfrom8:30 to9:30amwiththeexceptionofapril1.allmeetingswereheldviaaudioconferencetoallow maximumparticipationfromanylocation.seetheappendixforacompletesetofmeetingagendasand aselectionofmeetingnotes. DraftLMSReviewCommitteeReport May28,2011 Page1
LearningManagementSystemReview CommitteeReport CurtMadison,Chair RalphCaruso,Co Chair CommitteeParticipants TheCommitteewasmadeupofdedicatedfacultyandstaffwhocontributedsignificantamountsoftime andeffortonaweeklybasis.notonlydidtheyhavetoconsidertheirownexperienceswiththelearning ManagementSystem,buttheyalsoroutinelyreceivedcommentsfrommembersoftheircampuses. OriginalCommittee3/11/2011 FinalCommittee 5/27/2011 CurtMadisonChair UMS CurtMadisonChair UMS RalphCarusoCo Chair UMS RalphCarusoCo Chair UMS JohnGrover UMS JohnGrover UMS BradRitz UMFK BradRitz UMFK GailGarthwait UM BrianDoore UM IrvingKornfield UM IrvingKornfield,MikeScott(alt) UM JamesSuleiman USM JamesSuleiman USM JodiWilliams UMA MaryJoJakab UMA JustinHafford UM JustinHafford UM KarenDay USM KarenDay USM KimSebold UMPI KimSebold UMPI SabineKlein UMF MarteenHester UMPI ToraJohnson UMM ToraJohnson UMM BbCoreStafftoCommittee BbCoreStafftoCommittee AnnMarieJohnson USM AnnMarieJohnson USM JoanneWallingford UMPI JoanneWallingford UMPI MarilynHudzina UMA MarilynHudzina UMA GlennLeBlanc UC GlennLeBlanc UC AndreiStrukov UM AndreiStrukov UM CommitteeLogisticalSupport CommitteeLogisticalSupport AnneNewell UC HeleneTurcotte UC Vision TheLMSReviewCommitteewrestledwiththelanguageintheoriginalchargeregarding alternatives toblackboard.obviouslyoneofthealternativeswouldbetonavenolmsatall.yetweallknewitwas importanttohavearobustlearningenvironmenttosupportstudentsuccessinthefaceoframpant emergenttechnologicalchange.notonlydoweneedtoanswerthequestionofwhichlmstohave,but wealsoneedtoaddressthequestionofhowtounderstandinstitutionalpoliciesaroundanylms, includinganycollectionoftoolsthatmayserveasanlms.thecurrentexerciseinlmsselectionwill bringtogethersignificantsectorsoftheumscommunity.itwillnotbethelasttimewewillneedto considermigrationtonewenterpriselevellearningsupportsoftwareplatforms. DraftLMSReviewCommitteeReport May28,2011 Page2
LearningManagementSystemReview CommitteeReport CurtMadison,Chair RalphCaruso,Co Chair TheCommitteedraftedthefollowingvisionstatementtoguideourwork: TheLearningManagementSystemforUMScampuses,facultyandstudentswillsupporta stable,reliable,andflexiblelearningenvironmentforstudentsuccess.thelmswilladda strategic,competitiveadvantageforums. KeyfeaturesoftheLMSinclude: accessibilityfromanydeviceincludingmobilesmartdevices, openstandardsthatallowcustomizationbyfacultyorprogramandpersonalizationby students, abilitytosupportemergingtechnologiesforawiderangeofpedagogy, abilitytoscaletoums sexpectedvolumeoverthenextfiveyears, abilitytointegrateappropriatelywiththestudentinformationsystem, stringentsecurity,privacyanddisabilityrequirements, intuitiveeaseofuseforstudentsandfaculty,and, enterpriselevel,solidreputationforsupportandqualityupgradereleases. TheLearningManagementSystemwillmeetorexceedthecurrentexpectationsofstudents, bothtraditionalandnontraditional,whoareconsideringattendingoneoftheumscampusesor pursuingadegreeprogramon line. Recommendation TheLMSReviewCommitteerecommendsathoroughevaluationcommencingSummer2011togather needs,preferences,andgapsinstudentlearningsupportfromthemajorstakeholdergroupsofthe UniversityofMaineSystem.AproposedEvaluationProcedurewithtimelineandgoalsispartofthis report. TheCommitteeunderstandsthatselectionofanLMShasasignificantimpactonthefunctioningofall campusesofthesystem.ifanewsystemisselectedtoreplacethecurrentinstallationofblackboard, themigrationwilllikelytake12 18monthsafterselectioniscomplete. ItisclearfromourdeliberationsthatcurrenttechnicalsupportacrosstheSystemisnotadequate.The committeerecommendsanimmediate,butcarefulreviewofstaffinglevelsforlmssupporttobolster responsecapacity.resultsfromthatreviewwillbecommunicatedindependentofotherportionsofthe LMSprocess. EvaluationDesign Asub committeeformedwithbriandoore,marilynhudzina,andglennleblanctoproduceadraft evaluationdesignforimplementationbeginningsummer2011dependingonthedecisionofthechief AcademicOfficers.TheTeachingThroughTechnologyTaskForceisalsodoingsimilarwork.TheLMS evaluationshouldcoordinatewiththem.seetheappendixforafulldescriptionofthestudydesign. ExistingUMSData Anearlyactivityofthecommitteewastogathersourcesofdataalreadyknownthroughoutthe UniversityofMaineSystem.Eachparticipantreviewedsourcesontheirowncampus.Thelistingisnot exhaustive,butdoesallowanoverviewofexistingpracticeregardingstaffing,systemsinuse,decision Groups,PreviousStudies,KnownIssues,andaSummary.SeetheAppendixforafullreport. DraftLMSReviewCommitteeReport May28,2011 Page3
LearningManagementSystemReview CommitteeReport Appendices Foralldocumentsseehttp://learn.maine.edu/lmscr/ CurtMadison,Chair RalphCaruso,Co Chair ProposedEvaluationDesign ExistingDataonUMSCampuses SevenThingsYouShouldKnowaboutLMSEvaluation LinkstoalternativeLMSwithanotefromJ.Shimabukuro,Univ.ofHawaii SurveyresultsfromUMPIspring2011 SurveyresultsfromProfessorKimSeboldstudentsspring2011 ExampleLMSreviewreport UniversityofGeorgiaSystemandexcerpt ExampleLMSreviewreport UniversityofMontanaSystemmemos ExampleLMSreviewreport UMassOnlinewebsite LMSReviewCommitteeAgendas LMSReviewCommitteemeetingnotesforApril2011 DraftLMSReviewCommitteeReport May28,2011 Page4