Making t he Big Switch

1. Making the Big Switch A story of learning management system change

2. Presenter Info Autumm Caines Academic Technology Specialist Twitter: @autumm acaines@capital.edu Capital University Columbus, Ohio

3. Lecture Tools This presentation was delivered at the Portland Oregon Moodle Moot on August 7th, 2013. A cloud-based interactive tool called Lecture Tools was used during the presentation to poll the audience. http://lecturetools.com/ Polling slides for this version of the PowerPoint include the results from the Portland session.

4. Key Points of Importance Concerning Change • History • Representation • Pace • Reframe • Choices • Communication/Evaluation

5. Icebreaker slide

8. History • Understanding a product’s history at an institution • LMS at Capital • Year 2000 • Recommended by faculty committee • Self-hosting • Low integration with other systems • 50 professors using in the first few years

9. 2010 • Just starting to think of change • Things have changed since inception • Off-site hosting • AD, LDAP, and SIS integrations • Some integrations basic in the form of automatic batch files • Users, courses, enrollments created automatically • 300 unique professors using the system • Note: Small number of online offerings • Most courses offered face to face

10. Blackboard Usage 2010 Faculty Senate Technology Committee’s Technology Survey

12. Proposing Change

13. Representation • Importance of working with stakeholders • Faculty Senate Technology Committee • One representative from each school • Two representatives from IT • Reports to the Board of Trustees

14. Pace • Paying attention to the pace of change • Current (2010) switch from Blackboard version 7 to 8 • Approved by committee • Learning curve in Grade Center • Questions about moving too fast • Taking concerns seriously • Hearing constituency reservations

15. Reframe • Reframing the conversations • Pace of technology • Blackboard 8 is an older version • 10yrs since looking at product • Technology changes • Market changes • Changes in pricing structures

16. Choices • Struggle with narrowing choices • Maintaining • Older courses • Plug-in integrations • Many systems considered • Close consideration narrowed to: • Blackboard 9.1 • Moodle

18. Why?

19. Why Did You Say Change is Good or Bad at Your Institution

20. Implementing Change

21. Pilot • Decision to recommend pilot of Moodle through Moodlerooms hosting and support partnership comes mid 2011 • 21 faculty volunteer one course each • Agree to not use Blackboard for that course • Agree to give feedback and get feedback from students • Pilot to run Spring 2012 term • 500 user block purchased • Sandbox and production sites configured • Integrations/plugins for pilot – • LDAP • Respondus’ Lockdown Browser • Learning Objects’ Campus Pack • Turnitin

22. Communication • Frequent communication to faculty and students was key • Channels • Faculty Listserv • Presentations at faculty and department meetings • Article in student newspaper • Messages in Blackboard for pilot courses • Directed students to Moodle (iLearn) system • Channels to get feedback (Very low response rate) • Discussion board on front page • Town hall meetings

23. Faculty Impressions Evaluation surveys distributed after low response rates on feedback channels

26. Closing the Pilot • Benefits of change • 77% savings • Savings came from: • No licensing fees in Moodle • Pricing structure based on active users • Pictures of students in profiles • Drag and drop upload

27. Things I Wish Were Different • Longer pilot • Problems with course copies • One term pilot did not materialize this • Instructors not allowed to backup/restore • Enrollments based on Course ID Number • Backup/Restore does not carry this field • Integrity of naming convention not maintained • Import is not an exact copy of all settings • Manual grade book columns do not carry • Topic settings need to be changed before import • As a result administrators processing all course copies manually

28. Want all the details? • New Book! • Cases on Educational Technology Planning, Design, and Implementation: A Project Management Perspective • Chapter: Piloting the Change: Migrating a Learning Management System while Discovering a Project Management Protocol by Autumm Caines • http://www.igi-global.com/book/cases-educational-technology-planning-design/74185 • 50% discount on the whole book with code IGI50

29. How Could Change be Managed Better at Your Institution?

30. Sources • Burke, J.L. (2002). Chronicle of Change: Capital University 1950 - 2000. Columbus Ohio: Capital University. • Eckel, P., Green, M., Hill, B., & Mallon, W. (1999). On change III - taking charge of change: A primer for colleges and universities. Washington, DC: American Council on Education. • Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. New York: Broadway Books. • Kotter, J. (1995). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, p. 59-67. • Schwartz, B. (2005, July). The Paradox of Choice [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html