Pulling Off the Band-Aid Quickly: An LMS Transition Case Study (204840130)

8/13/2019 Pulling Off the Band-Aid Quickly: An LMS Transition Case Study (204840130)

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Pulling Off the Band-Aid Quickly

Thomas Cavanagh, Ph.D.

Associate Vice President, Distributed Learning

University of Central Florida

An LMS Transition Case Study



PROVIDE A PROVEN METHOD FOR LMS

EVALUATION AND TESTING

Will offer a process template that has worked

elsewhere.

Will not recommend any single LMS or hosting

approach.



How soon are you consideringan LMS search?



• All LMS decisions should

be driven by teachingand learning

• Least expensive may not

equal “best”

#1 RULE FOR LMS SELECTION



• Consider the next five years of

institutional need and growth

• Not just choosing for today’s students, butthe needs of tomorrow’s students

KEEP THIS IN MIND



• Included features… – Teaching & Learning

– Social media

– Collaboration (live

conferencing) – E-Portfolios

– Analytics

– Rubrics

–Mobile

– Multi-institution support

– Priority of each

COMPARE APPLES TO APPLES



• Key part of evaluating options

• Invite campus community, especially

faculty

• Transparency is vital

• Ample opportunity for questions

PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS



• Less company boilerplate, more product

demonstration

• Show key T&L features (gradebook,assignments, discussions, etc.)

• Include showcase features (e.g., social

media, analytics, portfolio)

• Video record for those unable to attend

PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS



PROVIDE

Website

•

Why• How

• When

• Demo Archives

• Transition Info

• System

Comparisons

• Training

Feedback

•

Faculty• Students

• Staff (HR, Finance)

• Paper

• Online Forms

• Focus Groups

RECEIVE

PROVIDE AND RECEIVE INFORMATION















• Pilot all finalists

– Some free, some not

• Use real classes

– Real faculty, real students

PILOT TEST ALL SYSTEMS



• Teaching and learning usability

• Integration with SIS /

Authentication

•

Admin tools testing – Granularity

• 3rd party tools

• Integrations (e.g., lecture

capture, Turnitin, Respondus)

• Publisher content, e-packs /

cartridges

• Special cases (e.g., large classes)




• Real classes will expose both good

and bad

• You won’t be able to testeverything

• You won’t be able to satisfy

everyone




• AFB Certified?

• Screen readers

• Ability to

moderate tests

• Review but verify

• Real users

• Is accessibility

part of company

ethos?

TEST ACCESSIBILITY



• Policies & procedures

• Staffing plan

• Employee background checks

• Disaster recovery & businesscontinuity

• Physical & information security

EVALUATE SECURITY



• Accounts management & access

control

• Patch management

• Network infrastructure• Remote access and VPN

• Firewall

• Malware controls

EVALUATE SECURITY



CONSIDER SETTING UP “TIGER” TEAMS

“A tiger team is a group of experts

assigned to investigate and/or solve

technical or systemic problems.”

–

Wikipedia



“TIGER” TEAMS

• One team for each system

– Faculty

– Instructional Design

– LMS Admins

– Integration Developers

– Programmers

– Technical Support (Faculty &

Student)



Associate VP

MigrationProgram Mgr

System 1Tiger Team

System 2Tiger Team

System 3Tiger Team

ID Lead

Faculty

LMS AdminIntegrations

Programmers

Support

ID Lead

Faculty


Programmers

Support

ID Lead

Faculty


Programmers

Support



BE HONEST WITH FACULTY

• Solicit volunteers for testing

• Only one system will be selected—

it might not be the one you test

• There will be challenges(technical, lack of system

knowledge) and risk of low evals:

if tenure track

• Need adventurous spirit and

willingness to be flexible



WEEKLY MEETINGS

• Technical team

– Support issues

– Communication issues

• Extended Teams

– IT

– Faculty Center

• Each Tiger Team

– Best practices

– Features and usage

– “Therapy” sessions



REQUIREMENTS CHECKLISTS & QUESTIONNAIRES

• Features

• Priority (1, 2, 3)

• Vendor comments





• Posting Documents, Powerpoints, and PDFs: 90.3%

• Posting Course Announcements: 84.7% • Posting and Calculating Grades: 77.8 %

• Emailing Students and Colleagues: 76.4%

• Sharing links to outside websites: 59.7%

• Online Discussion Board: 50%

• Delivering Online Exams, Quizzes, and Surveys: 40.3%

• The “Assignment” tool: 38.9%

• Groups (group collaboration spaces): 27.8%

• Web 2.0 Tools: 25%

•

Calendar: 20.8% • Delivering SECURE online exams: 13.9%

• Chat: 12.5%

• Creating TurnItIn Assignments: 11.1%

• Virtual Classroom 1.4%

TED CURRAN SURVEY (SAMUEL MERRITT UNIV.)

http://www.tedcurran.net/2011/02/lms-evaluation-which-tools-do-faculty-use/

Current

LMSUsage

















University of Toronto

http://testsoft.ati.utoronto.ca/wordpress/avi/files/20

13/03/LMSEvalChecklist.pdf

University of Central Florida

http://teach.ucf.edu/resources/webcourses-

migration/lms-evaluation-checklist/

Broward Collegehttp://florida.theorangegrove.org/og/items/15c2f0cb-

6e11-26a7-bc7b-79befba85922/1/

EVALUATION CHECKLISTS

http://testsoft.ati.utoronto.ca/wordpress/avi/files/2013/03/LMSEvalChecklist.pdf


http://teach.ucf.edu/resources/webcourses-migration/lms-evaluation-checklist/


http://florida.theorangegrove.org/og/items/15c2f0cb-6e11-26a7-bc7b-79befba85922/1/






















REQUIREMENTS CHECKLISTS & QUESTIONNAIRES

• Useful comparisons

• However, should be considered as

only preliminary (manyaffirmative responses)

• Not much differentiation

• Pilots are much more useful



COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION

• Impossible to over communicate

with campus community—

especially faculty

• Multiple channels

– Workshops, email, website,

meetings, etc.

• Emails often don’t get read



FACULTY INPUT VS. FACULTY DECISION

• Most important criterion

• Solicit input from all faculty

• Not a vote

• IT can override faculty preference

based on technical issue – SIS integration

– Security



• Prix Fixe (all inclusive)

• A la carte (menu of choices)

PRICING MODELS



• A la carte options

– Core platform

– Analytics

– E-portfolio – Mobile

– Conferencing

– Notifications

• All in one package

PRICING OPTIONS



• Consider future institutional needs

• With a la carte options, be sure you are

comparing apples to apples• Support

• Training resources

• Term

•

Maintenance• Escalation

• Value over price

PRICING OPTIONS



• RFP vs. Sole Source

– Depends upon your

regulations and policies

(public vs. private)

• Consortium / System pricing

– Statewide

–

Internet 2 Net+

CONTRACT OPTIONS



• Price important but must be in

context.

•

What will tomorrow’s studentsneed?

• Price must be weighed against

features and services received.

• Lowest total cost may not

represent the best value.

VALUE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRICE



If your institution is small or

has limited resources for

evaluation and implementation

planning, there are consulting

groups who can assist.

CONSULTANT ASSISTANCE



• Provider materials

• Provider sessions (live and online)

• Online materials from other institutions

• Live workshops• Open labs

• Recorded sessions

• Documentation

• Videos• Small, granular tutorials for discrete

actions

TRAINING



• “Soft Launch” as prep for wider

institutional use

INITIAL DEPLOYMENT




institutional use

• Advantages/Disadvantages to slow

vs. quick timeline

INITIAL DEPLOYMENT




institutional use


vs. quick timeline• More time for training/prep vs. rip

the Band-Aid off quickly

INITIAL DEPLOYMENT




institutional use


vs. quick timeline• More time for training/prep vs. rip

the Band-Aid off quickly

• Admins and tech staff should

eliminate as much faculty work

migrating as possible

INITIAL DEPLOYMENT



• Faculty roundtables / conference

• More faculty-driven than staff-

driven

• Focus on peer sharing

POST IMPLEMENTATION TIPS & TRICKS



Write this down…



Write this down…

You will never satisfyeveryone.



• Consider future institutional needs andpriorities

• If possible, evaluate total value over price

• Review documentation but test everything• Involve faculty at all stages

• Communicate, communicate, communicate

• Accept that you can’t please everyone

KEY LESSONS



Pulling Off the Band-Aid Quickly

An LMS Transition Case Study