Selecting & Implementing the Next Generation e-Learning System David Wirth, D2L Project Manager Office of Learning & Instructional Technology, UWSA

Introduction D2L Implementation Project Manager Background in Education (BS in Education from UW Madison) UW Learning Innovations Instructional Designer, Course Developer, Faculty development Technical Training for IBM LearningSpace 4, Site Administrator, SCORM Certification Auditor Academic ADL Co-Lab

E-Learning System RFP Why did we do this?

e-Learning Infrastructure Utility model, 1998- decentralized course development/deployment, and centralized system administration Learning Tech. Develop. Centers, 1999 – faculty support, instructional design, training Academic ADL Co-Lab, 2000- testing of standards and interoperability of applications

e-Learning Vision Board of Regents, January 2001 A coordinated and collaborative approach to online learning to: Extend educational reach Enhance academic program quality Enrich on-campus education Prepare students, faculty and staff for learning in the future

E-Learning Landscape 2003 Prometheus phased out by Blackboard Blackboard license expires Summer 2003 WebCT license expires Summer 2003

Key Questions Can we afford to support multiple courseware systems? Is there one product or set of products that will meet the campus e-learning needs? Where is the marketplace today? Where would we like it to go? What is the cost of academic systems?

E-Learning System RFP How did we do this?

Task Force Timeline Defining the work Feb-March 2002 Market research (RFI) April-June 2002 (32 responses from vendors) Develop RFP June-Aug 2002 (16 responses from vendors) Product evaluation Oct-Feb. 2002 (input from LTCs and faculty from all campuses) Final Recommendation March 2003 (reviewed by CIOs, Provosts, Chancellors) Contract Signed April 4 2003

The Successful e-Learning System must: Supplement traditional classroom instruction Integrate online and face-to-face instruction Deliver totally online courses and programs

The Successful e-Learning System will: Be easy to use Provide familiar interface to faculty & students Promote connectedness & community Accommodate diverse learning styles Encourage active learning Interoperate with student administration, authentication, and library systems Import & export content that can be reused Be standards based

Evaluation Criteria General requirements 10 % Technical requirements 65 % Functional = 32.5% Architecture/technical = 32.5% Cost Proposal 25 % Total: 100 %

Recommendation: Desire2Learn 4 Finalists: Blackboard, WebCT, Granada Learnwise, Desire2Learn Jan/Feb campus demos for faculty feedback D2L selected based on ease of use, range of features, and technology infrastructure

Desire2Learn Implementation

Implementation Project Management Structure Project Sponsor Ed Meachen, Associate Vice President for the Office of Information and Learning Technology at UW System Administration Steering Committee This team will play an advocacy role to help support and to assist the Implementation Team in carrying out their mission. Reviewing policy decisions made by the Implementation Implementation Team

UWS D2L Implementation Teams

UWS D2L Steering Committee

UWS System Implementation Team

UWS System Implementation Team Subcommittees Integration (Diane Landry, David Hart, Dirk Herr-Hoyman, Charlene Douglas, John Wilson) Training (Lorna Wong, Steve Boldt, Pat Fellows, Margy Ingram, Glenda Morgan, Renee Schuh) Conversion (Charlene Douglas, Bob Kaleta, Glenda Morgan, Steve Boldt, Pat Fellows, Lorna Wong, Alan Aycock, Peter Mann) Technical (Jeanne Blochwitz, Judy Brown, Dirk Herr-Hoyman, Peter Zuge) Functional Requirements (Dirk Herr-Hoyman, Bob Kaleta, Lorna Wong, Charlene Douglas) Hosting (Hal Schlais, David Wirth, Diane Landry, Charlene Douglas, Jeanne Blochwitz, Hildy Feen)

UWS D2L Utility Implementation Team

Training on Desire2Learn An update from the training subcommittee July 2003

Train the trainers D2L conducted two training workshops April 23 – May 1 for campus LTDC folks, trainers, and site administrators Over 50 representatives from all UWS institutions attended the training in Madison

Training Needs Survey The training subcommittee conducted a brief survey during the training sessions We wanted to find out the needs for training assistance at each campus The response indicated the all campus trainers plan to conduct their own D2L training Sharable training material and documentation would be helpful

Creating Training Tutorials A group of volunteers interested in creating training tutorials was formed UWS sponsored this group to attend the SCO conference in June This group is working on creating sharable learning objects that covers all major areas of D2L The 11 member group named themselves the D2LLO group (D2L learning objects)

D2LLO Plan Over 150 learning objects have been identified Each learning object will perform a small task in D2L The group has designed a common format and identified the software to use Each LO will include instructions to perform a task, screen shots and animation A collection of these learning objects will be housed on a website available to all UW campuses Granularity of these LOs will make customization of tutorials and training material very easy to do The group is hoping to deliver the first batch by early Fall pending the release of the enhanced version of D2L

Future Training Plans A second round of training is planned in August or early fall To update the trainers on the enhancements and new features released by D2L for the Fall semester To extend training to the helpdesk and support personnel on campuses Training in the web conference format using Placeware will most likely be used Re-evaluate campus training needs later in the fall and plan assistance accordingly

The People in Training Groups The training subcommittee Steve Boldt – UWLI Pat Fellows – UWC Glenda Morgan – UWSA Margy Ingram – Stout Lorna Wong - Whitewater D2LLO Group Penny Ralston-Berg –UWLI Cheryl Diermyer – Whitewater Cid Freitag – Madison Kathy Konicek – Madison Scott Reeser – UWLI Renee Schuh- Madison Nicholle Stone - Stout Molly Immendorf – Extension Mary Mielke – Stevens Point Tony Valentine – Platteville Simone Vuong – UWC

Functional Enhancements An update from the functional subcommittee July 2003

Feature Enhancements D2L is providing UW with the opportunity to suggest features Over 75 features have been submitted from UW Partners Subcommittee is responsible for prioritization

Committee Team Committee members: Dirk Herr-Hoyman Chair, Madison Robert Kaleta, Milwaukee Lorna Wong, Whitewater Charlene Douglas, Dot.edu Alan Aycock, Milwaukee Donna Raleigh, Eau Claire Sandee Seiberlich, Madison

An update from the conversion subcommittee July 2003 Course Conversion An update from the conversion subcommittee July 2003

Conversion Tools Currently the Subcommittee is working on getting functional Blackboard and WebCT import tools The Subcommittee worked with D2L to gat a Blackboard import tool working The Subcommittee is currently working through the same process to get a WebCT import tool. Both tools are being debugged on the Phase II hardware

Conversion Planning Survey want out to each institution to gather conversion plans There may need to be some coordination done by the Utility and Implementation Team to schedule conversions based on resources

Technical Infrastructure An update from the technical subcommittee July 2003

Migration Phase I was done on the D2L servers in Ontario. Testing, development, and production Phase II and all other Phases will be hosted at Learn@UW Installation done the week of June 22 All data was migrated to the hardware the week of July 21st

QA Environment There is a test or QA environment installed at the Learn@UW utility Testing new feature enhancements before they are installed on the production hardware

Communications D2L Project Web Site (http://uwsproject.desire2learn.com) Progress updates Calendar of Events Site-Reps Main Contact at each institution Coordinates with others on campus