Helping Faculty and Students Transition to a New LMS
Ken Jarvis & Sandy King
- Learning Technologies ad-hoc team developed faulty survey to identify important aspects of LMS
- Looked for a product that would meet student learning styles, future needs, etc.
- Focus was on student learning – cost only made 30% of the decisionLMS vendors came to campus for 1 hour presentation to entire campus – very strict on equal time for each vendor
- Same questions were to be asked to each vendor
- 3 finalists were selected to give presentations to each demographic at the college
- IT people called others in IT at institutions using those systems
- Faculty called other faculty at institutions using those systems
- Learning Technologies group created extensive survey to evaluate LMS
- Sent a team to the Canvas conference
Transition
- Project teams – formed for all demographics
- Protocol
- Communication
- Education & Training
- Technical Support
- Migration
- Timlines
- Monthly view
- Went live in summer – smallest term
- Access to previous system ended June 30
- Pre-learning
- First look
- Bookmarks
- Bi-weekly emails
- Quick steps handout – hard copy laminated handouts
- What to expect in your migrated course
- Theme: It’s Your Canvas
Faculty Training
- First-look
- Mentor training
- Canvas 101: Essentials
- Special topics workshops
- Canvas express
Student Orientation – dedicated Canvas course
- Navigating canvas
- Meet the virtual campus
- Using Canvas
- Tips for success
- Resources for students
- FAQs
- Evaluation – short quiz; multiple takes
- Reference website
Support site
- Link directly to Canvas-generated content
- Embed QM standards in the support site
ReviewThis is a very pertinent topic right now because we are preparing to go through the RFP process for a new LMS. I thought this was one of the most helpful sessions at the Conference. Not only was the presentation short and sweet, but they used the extra time to show the website they created to help with the migration. Having helped with the Blackboard to Sakai migration (specifically training & support), there were many things in this session that I wish we had incorporated, and I hope that we can incorporate the next time around. Things as simple as creating a laminated handout/takeaway for faculty – fantastic! My hope is that as we start the migration process, I can pick their brain for tips & tricks.Follow-up: Here is a link to one of the surveys that they provided for faculty to evaluate the LMS: http://mevins.info/1e79yg6
The Three Faces of Great Learning
California State University Dominguez Hills
Google Hangout
- Have students create Google circles to add contacts.
- Click link on website to start Google Hangout – people can join from their phones.
Document storage
- Done in cloud storage
- Folders embedded into LMS for real-time updates
- Pushing Box instead of Google Drive
Adobe Connect
- YouTube plugin
- Timer plugins
Here is the only side they needed for the entire hour:
ReviewThis session started off very slow – giving an overview of the background and the facilities. 15 minutes into the session, they showed a video of the initial implementation of their technology – which was not really relevant when they told us they no longer use that system. 10 minutes later they were still talking about Box and pushing that over Google Drive. I’m not sure what email system CSUDH is using, but our institutional Google accounts get 30Gb of space, so I don’t see the issue there. The presenters appear not to have prepared as one kept interrupting the others, which was incredibly distracting. Overall, this was a very unstructured session. Too much information with no coherent connection between them or a sense of tying them to the title. That just goes to show that attendees should be sure to read the abstract and not rely just on the title. The only thing I took away were the plugin options for Adobe Connect, which does not even apply to my full-time gig but rather my consulting work.
Closing plenary: Engage at Every Stage with Hot Teaching Technologies and Cool Applications
Corrine Hoisington, Professor of Information Systems Technology, Central Virginia Community College
I had really high hopes for this session. Both the topic and abstract were interesting. She got started on stage with some Katy Perry in the background and had lots of energy – a great way to end the conference. But it went downhill from there. The one thing that I hate is when a presenter treats the audience like children or like they’ve never used technology before. From asking whether we know what a “selfie” is, to defining “infographics,” her language was condescending and made the session un-engaging. The one thing that I took away from this was a simple litmus test, “Does the technology put students in the driver seat?” Yes, that’s what I want. How to evaluate tools – excellent (no sarcasm). I really wanted to learn some new tools, which she did show, but her language put me off from the beginning so I’m sure I didn’t take as much away from the session.Some tools that she showed:
- Eye Jot
- Videonotes (videonot.es) – Take time-stamped notes while watching a YouTube video.
Here is a link to a funny video that she showed. The video is about adopting a dog from the pound, but it has applications to technology as well.Introducing Harvey the dog.http://youtu.be/6bRCgLCXb2sBell ringer activity in her class – discussing the story of the 3 Little Pigs and how it was modernized.http://youtu.be/RruGJfqlHDUIn conclusion, here’s a quote that she showed (and had us repeat):
“Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.” – Rabindranath Tagore
On another note – our team won the photo scavenger hunt for the 2nd year in a row! Each team member won a free ITC webinar for our institutions!
Matthew Evins 