Vote to decide Blackboard replacement
USU will send a representative this Friday to vote on one of three new learning management systems (LMS) to replace Blackboard Vista, said executive director for Regional Campuses and Distance Education Robert Wagner.
“There are some exciting things in store … that we’ve not had an opportunity to have because we’ve been working with our past contract and with our previous LMS,” Wagner said. “I think it’s only positive for faculty and students.”
USU is part of a seven-institution consortium called the Utah Education Network (UEN), which hosts Blackboard. The UEN decided to put together a committee in February to find a new system, said Neal Legler, instructional designer for the Faculty Assistance Center for Teaching (FACT).
Computer-based LMS programs allow instructors to interface with their students via the Internet to post grades, disseminate notes and assign and accept homework.
“Blackboard Vista is an end-of-life learning management system,” Wagner said. “You know how software companies will go from version one to version two to version three.”
During the past summer, the FACT has been conducting focus groups and online surveys with students and faculty to help decide between the three final choices, Legler said.
The FACT has rounded it down to three programs – Blackboard Learn, Instructure, and Desire2Learn, he said. They will continue until Friday to solicit input through links posted on the current Blackboard login screen.
“The fact of the matter is that this is anyone’s game right now,” Legler said, when asked which program has gotten the best feedback. “What’s going to happen on Friday, I can’t bet on.”
Wagner said he hopes the new tools and features will encourage all faculty members to use the new system. Some professors do not use the current system because they use other effective methods of teaching.
Senior sociology lecturer Jason Leiker said Blackboard has been very useful for teaching large classes and online courses.
“When we first started distance ed it was barbaric,” Leiker said. “It was paper/pencil assignments, and they would have to mail them back. It was amazing how bad they were in terms of level of technology.”
He also said using a computer-based system safeguards against cheating because instructors are able to track IP addresses, login times and who is taking online tests.
There are some drawbacks to Blackboard, Leiker said.
“It seems like when you’re loading up 250 students into the grade book, it’s like, ‘Oh, come on, I gotta go, I mean, I’ve got things to do,'” he said. “I’m sure students experience the same thing.”
Esther Calvert, a USU junior, said she is indifferent to the change from Blackboard Vista to a new system.
She said she will comply with whatever method of teaching her instructors prefer.
“I don’t really particularly enjoy it. I mean it’s very convenient,” Calvert said, “but it also gives students a chance to not have to go to class … so they can do all of their assignments and submit them online.”
Calvert said she hopes it will not raise here tuition and fees.
Wagner said aside from student and faculty feedback, other decision-making factors include cost and the amount of technical support vendors will include in a new contract.
“As a consortium, we’re motivated to negotiate the best possible terms and balance between length of time and … fixed price so that it’s as less of an impact on the university as possible,” Wagner said.
Legler said the newer, prospective systems will be a lot less “clicky,” which he said means they will be faster and more user-friendly. There will be more options for personalization, customization and notification.
He said the new program will be more “drag-and-drop,” which should shorten the length of time it takes for something to load after it is clicked.
Criteria used in choosing a new LMS includes “ease of use and ease of learning for faculty and students, accessibility for all users, including those with disabilities, and ease of migrating courses and content from existing system,” Legler said.
“For faculty and staff this will be a really great opportunity,” Wagner said. “We’ll begin migrating to the new LMS as early as January and (the entire process) will take about 18 months.”
– dan.whitney.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu