The Current State of Affairs at Georgetown and, briefly, at Blackboard

1. The Current State of Affairs at Georgetown and, briefly, at Blackboard Common Solutions Group Princeton University Princeton, NEW JERSEY May 7, 2003 Charles F. Leonhardt Leonhardt@Georgetown.EDU

2. What about ROI? • All Hardware • All Software Licensing • All Consulting and Professional Services • A reasonable estimate of staff time costs for direct support of Blackboard or construction of interfaces (SIS, authentication) Since Blackboard was first installed at Georgetown in 1998 to present (Bb 2.x, 3.x, CIEE Beta, 5.x) for 6 Fiscal Years (1998-2003)

3. Assumptions • Indirect support costs (e.g. help desk) are NOT included • Software and infrastructure costs which were already funded (e.g. site licenses for Oracle, Solaris, Office, Veritas; LDAP server; Enterprise Identity Management; GUNet) would not be included Why not? These costs would still be there whether Blackboard was installed or not

4. The Investment (aka Cost) • $1,250,000 over 6 years including staffing (but only $272,000 in “new” costs) • 3,000 courses over 6 years = $417 per course • Without staffing, the cost goes down to $90 per course (and given the way we’ve staffed this and spread the cost over 6 years, the truth lies somewhere in the “middle”) • Cost / course decreases as adoption increases • After enterprise start up costs (initial investment and integration), our annual cost is approx. $275K including staffing.

5. The “Big” Picture on Investment • IS Operating and Capital Expenditures over 6 years: $130 Million • Blackboard cost: a very small piece of the pie • Blackboard expenses as a percentage of the annual UIS operating budget: 1.5% • As a percentage of the annual Main Campus operating budget: 0.0675%

6. The Intangible “Return” • Ease of Use; relatively low training costs • A Reasonable Set of Features (but not enough) • Very Good User Interface (too rote for some; too scary for others; AOK for the majority) • IMS compliance (for whatever that’s worth) • Standard University-wide authentication and password management • @georgetown.edu e-mail with delivery anywhere in the world • Automated Course Creation for faculty • Automated Enrollment for students

7. Other Perspectives • Relative cost of Bb vs. ERP/enterprise services • Cost Avoidance: What costs have been avoided by building course sites by hand (or alternate tools) and granting authenticated access? • The added benefits of portal and organizational functionality (even used on a limited basis) • Collaborative Partnerships (internal & external) • The potential “return” of Building Blocks • Caveat: Some avoided costs need to be dealt with (dedicated Bb staff for Building Blocks and specialized needs) and we will. . . . . .

8. What Faculty Say From the 2002 Georgetown Self Study for Middle States Accreditation: “To continue this favorable trajectory, Georgetown must continue to invest resources in information technology especially in UIS and the library, to enhance curricular opportunities and integration. It must also develop a strategy to capitalize on the convergence of e-learning with traditional learning through its newly formed Georgetown Learning Network. Finally, Georgetown must continue to develop internal centers of excellence in the information technology arena (such as CNDLS) and build additional alliances with key strategic partners (such as Blackboard).”

9. Course and Faculty Numbers Exponential Growth – over 700 courses this semester (doubling 2001 use) Nearly 500 active faculty members

10. Feature Usage More than 600 Courses in Fall 2002 and More than 700 Courses in Spring 2003 Content Management 85 % Announcements 81 % Documents 62 % External Links 41 % Discussion Board 32 % Assessments 7 % Online Grade book 34 % Group Features 12 %

11. Blackboard Users Support Group Members from all units that support the use of Blackboard Bi-Directional avenue of communication Collaborative creation of documentation and training materials

12. Intra-University Collaborations Technology – diverse units in IS working together on a single project Support – Technology, Pedagogy and Content • Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) • Libraries Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities – JesuitNet • 28 colleges and Universities • Goal to deliver online academic programs and services • First courses funded by LAAP grant • Grant activity funds hosting and development

13. Future Goals Number of Users -Increased number of returning users -Increased pedagogical depth Technological Improvements -Administrative tools -Authentication and authorization -Customization and depth of tools

14. Our Current Issues • Ability to deploy Bb 6.x (or the desire to do so) • E-Reserve Crisis • Content Management Needs • Demand for Server Resources • Ability to fund demand and “pedagogical enhancements” • Decentralized Ownership and Control • Portal Issues • I2 Middleware • Partnership with Blackboard (for all products) • How does Bb really affect teaching & learning?

15. The Current State of Affairs at Bb (from a double agent’s perspective) • “Profitable” • Blackboard 6 – It’s Really Nice on Paper. . . • Playing in the OKI Sandbox • Blackboard Developer’s Network (BbDN) • Building Blocks (B2) • Internet2 Middleware: Shibboleth – “a little talk, a little action, but they really don’t get it” • Buy the Competition (when you can) • Buy an “E-Business” / Lose and regain focus • Buy again?: Content Mgmt, E-Portfolio, E-Res • M to the max?