LMS: Selecting the Right Tool
Assoc. Executive Director CT Distance Learning Consortium
Kevin Corcoran
George F. Claffey Jr.
Chief Information Officer CTDLC & Charter Oak State College
CTDLC: Who We Are
• Consortium, 50+ Members • 10 Years Experience providing eLearning Experience in Northeast • Non-Profit, State Agency, Higher-Ed Space
CTDLC: What We Do
• Provide eLearning services • Implementation, project management, and best practices consulting • Instructional Design • Tech Support (Helpdesk) • SIS Integration • Remote Management / Hosted Services • Custom Development
Who We Support
• Higher Education
– 2-Year & 4-Year – Public & Private
• • • •
K-12 and Adult Ed Program Non-Profits State Agencies Corporate (training)
What Do We Support
• Learning Management Systems
– – – –
– – – –
Angel Moodle Blackboard Vista Blackboard Enterprise Edition
Adobe Connect Elluminate iTunes U Misc. Web 2.0 (Wikis, Blogs, etc.)
• Ancillary Products
What We’ve Developed
• ePortfolio
– Multi-use portfolio focusing on the student
• eTutoring
– Collaborative online tutoring platform
• Virtual Learning Center
– CT State Virtual High School
Why Are Institutions Using LMS?
-Supporting an Online Program
-Hybrid Learning
-Augment On-Ground Courses -Informational Portal
-Prospective Students: Technological Competitiveness -Continuing Ed / Adult Learners
-Multi-Institution Partnership Programs
Catalysts for Change
• • • • • Cost / Cost Avoidance Vendor Experience / Roadmap Product Features Support / Supportability / Resources SIS Integration
Considerations
• • • • • • • Required Core Functionality Product Learning Curve Interoperability with existing systems Integration Scalability Migration Resources required
Required Core Functionality
• What are “Must Have’s”
– Multi-institutional – Portal – Branding – Portability (offline, pda, smartphone/iphone) – Adaptive Learning / Assessment – Suite of Complimentary Products
Product Learning Curve
• Faculty Adoption
– Easy to use for beginners – Rich feature set for sophisticated users
• Student Adoption
– Easy to Use – Community features
Interoperability
• Third-Party Tools (Respondus, SoftChalk, Lectora, Turn-It-In) • Publisher Content • Co-Production • SCORM and IMS Compliant
– IMS (Instructional Management Systems)- specs and standards that allow system/data integration – SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)specs and standards allowing portable course content
Integration
• Single Sign-on
– Directory Services – Public Cookie
• SIS Integration
– Real-Time (message broker vs. direct connection) – Batch – Business Rules
• Data Stream Security
Scalability
How many users are we going to connect at the same time???
Shared • Multiple Institutions on same infrastructure • Economies of Scale create significant cost savings • May Create Limits (branding, customization, etc.) Dedicated • Single Server (serves as both app and DB) • Dedicated App and Database • Clustered (Load-Balanced) • High-Availability (Redundant)
Migration
• IMS Compliant Import / Export
– Batch vs. Individual – Clean-up – Rebuild
Resources Required
• In-House
– Number of FTE to support – 24/7/365 vs Office Hours Support – OS / Server Support – Network / Security / Storage Support – Application Tier / Database Tier Support – End-User Support – Project Management – Training (Faculty & Student)
Resources Required
• ASP Support
– – – – – – – – – – – – – Additional Budget Local Project Management Local End-User Support Manager Training (Faculty & Student) Who is supporting integration? Number of FTE to support 24/7/365 vs Office Hour Support OS / Server Support Network / Security / Storage Support Application Tier / Database Tier Support End-User Support Project Management Training (Faculty & Student)
Decision Committee
• Create an Inclusive decision committee
– Can’t solely be an Academics or IT decision – Diverse group can create campus-wide buy-in – Survey all your potential users
• Document your research
– Share the findings with the stakeholders – Let them understand the ‘whys’: benefits, risks, etc. – Create a Scoring Rubric
Resources
• EduTools http://www.edutools.info
EduTools provides a great side by side comparison of the major LMS platforms available.