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

2. 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

3. E-Learning System RFP
Why did we do this?

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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?

8. E-Learning System RFP
How did we do this?

9. Task Force Timeline Defining the work Feb-March 2002
Market research (RFI) April-June
(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

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

11. 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

13. Evaluation Criteria General requirements 10 %
Technical requirements %
Functional = 32.5%
Architecture/technical = 32.5%
Cost Proposal %
Total: %

14. 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

15. Desire2Learn Implementation

16. 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

17. UWS D2L Implementation Teams

18. UWS D2L Steering Committee

19. UWS System Implementation Team

20. 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)

21. UWS D2L Utility Implementation Team

22. Training on Desire2Learn
An update from the training subcommittee
July 2003

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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)

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. Functional Enhancements
An update from the functional subcommittee
July 2003

30. 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

31. 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

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

33. 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

34. 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

35. Technical Infrastructure
An update from the technical subcommittee
July 2003

36. 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
Installation done the week of June 22
All data was migrated to the hardware the week of July 21st

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

38. Communications D2L Project Web Site(
Progress updates
Calendar of Events
Site-Reps
Main Contact at each institution
Coordinates with others on campus