Technology Advisory Group

This month, three Learning Management System (LMS) vendors will be coming to campus to demo their products: Desire2Learn, MoodleRooms, and Blackboard.  Thanks to the LMS Work Group, we’re all invited to sit in on the demos.

If you use Angel, please make time to scope out these new options.  While TAG has representatives on the LMS Group, these demos are the main opportunity for the faculty at large to weigh in on what system the University switches to when our Angel contract expires (2013).

Here’s the invitation from Connie Wisdo, who’s heading the LMS Work Group:

In January, the LMS Evaluation Working Group reviewed 8 vendor responses received in response to the Request for Information document sent out in December. We used the review to narrow our search down to 3 vendor finalists.  They are all scheduled to present their products to the University Community this month.

Desire2Learn will be here February 14th and 15th:

February 14 – 2 demos: 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Auditorium (228)

February 15 – 1 demo: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Auditorium (228)

MoodleRooms will be here February 23rd and 24th:

February 23 – 2 demos: 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Auditorium (228)

February 24 – 1 demo: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Auditorium (228)

Blackboard will be here February 28th and 29th:

February 28 – 2 demos: 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Board Room (500)

February 29 – 1 demo: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. — Location:  Brennan Hall Board Room (500)

Taking into consideration the results of our recent faculty LMS survey, we’ve identified the top desired features as:

1.  Mobile connectivity / application / use

2.  eMail or messaging (with some type of RSS or “push” technology)

3. Assessments

-Creation (ability to incorporate different question types)

-Import of questions, question banks or assessments from other courses (ability to upload questions from Word )

– Grading options (Easiness of grading)

4.  Dropbox (include creation and grading)

5. Discussion forums

-Viewing options (flexibility)

-Grading options

6.  Rubrics (include creation)

-Flexibility (ability to incorporate different question types)

7. Gradebook

-Intuitiveness

-Student view (publishing grades for Student View)

-Flexibility of grading scales

-Export to Banner

8. Start of Semester Procedures (SOSP)

-Rolling over courses/content

-Announcement and notifications

9. Student tracking/reporting tools

10. Gradebook – Easy interaction with Excel for import/export

11. Course Content items – Folders, pages, links, conventional files, audio/video files

12. Assessments – Assessment security

13. Browser compatibility – IE, FF

14.  Course content migration from ANGEL to new LMS

15. Orientation/Online help for faculty and students

16. Course export capability

The vendors will be directed to cover all 16 of the above, as a minimum, in their demos.  Any additional features can be demonstrated by the vendors, as time allows and/or based on audience questions.

If there are students in the audience, the vendors will be asked to begin the demo with a 15-minute overview of the “student view”.

Rating sheets will be provided to all who attend the demos, so that we can obtain feedback from both faculty and students.

Separate meetings between the vendors and our technical staff will also be conducted while the vendors are on site so that we may ask them questions and/or see demonstrations regarding integration of their software with key enterprise applications, such as Banner and Live@edu.

You are cordially invited to attend these demonstrations.  Notice of the demos will also be posted on my.scranton in the near future.