Making the Big SwitchA story of learning management system change

Presenter Info

Autumm CainesAcademic Technology Specialist

Twitter: @autummacaines@capital.edu

Capital UniversityColumbus, Ohio

Lecture ToolsThis presentation was delivered at the Portland Oregon Moodle Moot on August 7th, 2013. A cloud-based interactive tool called Lecture Tools was used during the presentation to poll the audience.

http://lecturetools.com/

Polling slides for this version of the PowerPoint include the results from the Portland session.

Key Points of Importance Concerning Change

• History• Representation • Pace• Reframe • Choices• Communication/Evaluation

Icebreaker slide

History

• Understanding a product’s history at an institution– LMS at Capital• Year 2000• Recommended by faculty committee• Self-hosting• Low integration with other systems• 50 professors using in the first few years

2010

• Just starting to think of change– Things have changed since inception • Off-site hosting• AD, LDAP, and SIS integrations

– Some integrations basic in the form of automatic batch files– Users, courses, enrollments created automatically

• 300 unique professors using the system

• Note: Small number of online offerings– Most courses offered face to face

Blackboard UsageWhat Blackboard tools or functions do you use the

most?

Percentage

Posting of documents or files 69.30%Email sending 58.80%Announcements 55.30%Gradebook 43.90%Posting of or embedding links 39.50%Blackboard assignment feature 29.80%Discussion Board 18.40%Digital Dropbox 18.40%Tests 18.40%Wiki 15.80%Calendar 8.80%

2010 Faculty Senate Technology Committee’s Technology Survey

Proposing Change

Representation

• Importance of working with stakeholders– Faculty Senate Technology Committee• One representative from each school• Two representatives from IT• Reports to the Board of Trustees

Pace

• Paying attention to the pace of change– Current (2010) switch from Blackboard version 7 to 8

• Approved by committee• Learning curve in Grade Center

– Questions about moving too fast• Taking concerns seriously • Hearing constituency reservations

Reframe

• Reframing the conversations– Pace of technology– Blackboard 8 is an older version– 10yrs since looking at product• Technology changes• Market changes• Changes in pricing structures

Choices

• Struggle with narrowing choices– Maintaining• Older courses• Plug-in integrations

– Many systems considered• Close consideration narrowed to:

– Blackboard 9.1– Moodle

Why?

Why Did You Say Change is Good or Bad at Your Institution

Implementing Change

Pilot

• Decision to recommend pilot of Moodle through Moodlerooms hosting and support partnership comes mid 2011– 21 faculty volunteer one course each

• Agree to not use Blackboard for that course• Agree to give feedback and get feedback from students

• Pilot to run Spring 2012 term• 500 user block purchased• Sandbox and production sites configured• Integrations/plugins for pilot –

– LDAP– Respondus’ Lockdown Browser– Learning Objects’ Campus Pack – Turnitin

Communication

• Frequent communication to faculty and students was key– Channels

• Faculty Listserv• Presentations at faculty and department meetings• Article in student newspaper• Messages in Blackboard for pilot courses

– Directed students to Moodle (iLearn) system

– Channels to get feedback (Very low response rate)• Discussion board on front page• Town hall meetings

Faculty Impressions

Hesitant13%

Neutral19%

Optimistic44%

Excited25%

How do you feel about the moveFrom Blackboard to iLearn?

Evaluation surveys distributed after low response rates on feedback channels

Closing the Pilot

• Benefits of change– 77% savings – Savings came from:• No licensing fees in Moodle• Pricing structure based on active users

• Pictures of students in profiles• Drag and drop upload

Things I Wish Were Different

• Longer pilot– Problems with course copies

• One term pilot did not materialize this• Instructors not allowed to backup/restore

– Enrollments based on Course ID Number» Backup/Restore does not carry this field

– Integrity of naming convention not maintained

• Import is not an exact copy of all settings– Manual grade book columns do not carry– Topic settings need to be changed before import

– As a result administrators processing all course copies manually

Want all the details?• New Book!

– Cases on Educational Technology Planning, Design, and Implementation: A Project Management Perspective

• Chapter: Piloting the Change: Migrating a Learning Management System while Discovering a Project Management Protocol by Autumm Caines

• http://www.igi-global.com/book/cases-educational-technology-planning-design/74185

• 50% discount on the whole book with code IGI50

How Could Change be Managed Better at Your Institution?

Sources• Burke, J.L. (2002). Chronicle of Change: Capital University 1950 - 2000.

Columbus Ohio: Capital University.

• Eckel, P., Green, M., Hill, B., & Mallon, W. (1999). On change III - taking charge of change: A primer for colleges and universities. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

• Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. New York: Broadway Books.

• Kotter, J. (1995). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, p. 59-67.

• Schwartz, B. (2005, July). The Paradox of Choice [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html