Learning Management System
Task Force Recommendation
Introduction
Tacoma Community College currently uses the Blackboard learning management system (LMS) for all of
its eLearning courses (Web Enhanced, Hybrid and Full Online). Our current contract with Blackboard
ends at the end of the current academic year (June 30th, 2009). Last academic year, the eLearning
department started exploring other LMS options so that we could make an informed decision regarding
an LMS for the 2009-2010 academic year. The eLearning department focused on the Angel LMS
because of previous research and the fact that they came out ahead in the State Board's LMS Request
for Proposal (RFP) process (http://www.sbctc.edu/college/_g-elccmshome.aspx). The eLearning
department also tested Moodle and Sakai. This current academic year the eLearning department
established a taskforce of experienced Blackboard users to evaluate the Angel LMS and to create a
recommendation for an LMS to use beginning summer 2009.
Process
In early Fall 2008 the eLearning department recruited 5 faculty, who had experience teaching online, to
serve on the LMS task force. The purpose of this task force was to make a recommendation for the
LMS that Tacoma Community College should use starting the 2009-2010 academic year. The task force
members were Charlene Gore - Health Information Management, John Miller - Nursing, Kim Harrington
- Biology, Scott Cochrane - Philosophy and Craig Cowden - Psychology. Washington Online graciously
created accounts and test courses for the task force members on their Angel system to allow the group
to fully evaluate the LMS. The group then had the opportunity to import one of their Blackboard
courses into Angel to begin investigating the differences in capabilities between Angel and Blackboard.
Through this process the task force members found that Angel is much more robust than Blackboard
and includes a much richer feature set out of the box. In addition, the Angel LMS allows instructors to
work much more efficiently in the system, which will significantly reduce the time spent creating and
managing courses. Specific features of interest are listed below.
Incentive to move
The incentive to move to the Angel LMS falls under four categories: robustness, efficiency, cost and
reputation.
The Angel LMS has a much more robust feature set than Blackboard right out of the box. In addition to
the LMS functionality, the Angel system also comes with an outcomes system, to assist in tracking
student outcomes, and a learning object repository for storing reusable learning objects. Some specific
features that illustrate this robustness are:
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Progress reports: Students can see their current progress in the class upon entering the online
learning environment. Instructors can see the overall progress of the class upon entering the
online classroom.
Greater flexibility in assignment design including the ability for students to turn in more than one
document to an assignment and to turn them in at different times if needed.
Ability to track assessments and tie them directly to learning objectives for quantitative analysis
of successful completion of learning objectives for each course.
Instructor ability to see the pages from a student view.
Angel has instant messaging, which Blackboard lacks.
The developers at Angel Learning have spent a significant amount of time focusing on the user interface
to their LMS so that instructors and students can work as efficiently as possible in the system. With our
current LMS, Blackboard, the design requires that instructors spend a lot of time clicking through
numerous pages in order to create and/or modify content. It can also be very difficult to generate
reports on student progress and to determine when new course work has been submitted. Below are
features that illustrate the efficiency of Angel:
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Instructors are immediately notified of new work turned in by students upon entering the
classroom.
Learning repositories so faculty and/or entire departments can share single items among
multiple courses - changes only need to be made to the item in the repository instead of in each
individual class section.
Drag-and-drop capability. This makes it much easier for the instructor to rearrange the class
elements.
Dashboard allows instructors to customize the information they see upon entering Angel. For
instance, they can see new work turned in, new discussion board postings, the grades for the
class, etc.
Interactive calendar for students. All assignments can be posted to the calendar and students
just have to click on the link to go to their assignments.
Cost is another incentive for Tacoma Community College to move to the Angel LMS. If we were to
switch from Blackboard to Angel the eLearning department could save between $40,000 to $100,000
annually. Details are listed below:
LMS and Hosting
Costs
Total
Blackboard hosted by
Blackboard
License and Hosting - $108,000
Additional Storage - Approximately
$20,000
$128,000
Angel Hosted by Angel
License and Hosting - $84,940
$84,940
Angel Hosted by
$4/active user x approximately 15,000
Washington Online (WAOL)
$60,000*
active users for 2009-2010
- Proposed Cost Model
* In addition to the savings on licensing and hosting with WAOL we would save an additional $42,000 because WAOL includes 24/7 support with
Presidium as part of their service.
The WAOL proposed cost model would provide an extremely significant cost savings for the eLearning
department at Tacoma Community College. At a time when our state is faced with a large budget
deficit and our institution required to make significant cuts, this kind of savings will have a major
impact on the LMS decision.
Another incentive to move is Angel Learning's reputation for customer service.
Parature gave out its first ever customer service award, the “Parature Legend Makers Award” and Angel
won it in April, 2008: http://www.angellearning.com/media/news/2008-04-09.html
Also, Green River College is mentioned in a press release to TransWorldNews as saying that “Angel
Learning’s commitment to providing a high level of customer service was a primary factor in Green
River’s decision to adopt the Angel LMS.” The release continues with a quote from Angel CEO
Christopher Clapp, “The emphasis Angel Learning places on service excellence makes Green River
Community College’s satisfaction with Angel service especially rewarding.”
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=71838&cat=12
EduTools.info, an independent LMS evaluation service, describes Angel Learning as “Recognized as a
leader in product innovation and as a provider of exceptional customer service.”
http://www.edutools.info/compare.jsp?pj=4&i=550
Anecdotally, everything that we have heard from other Angel customers in the CTC system has been
very positive. Angel Learning sends a team each year to every institution to listen to the customers and
solve problems, and they are responsive to issues as they come up.
Concerns
Moving from one LMS to another can be a challenging process. Learning a new system takes time and
requires additional work. Some concerns from the task force are listed below:
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Although many assignments and assessments import directly and easily from Blackboard, some
instructors will find that they need to put assignments together again in Angel. There will be a
gradual learning curve for the new system.
The system is very robust and may be overwhelming to some faculty - they don't "have" to use
all the bells and whistles - especially not at first.
Faculty who are currently teaching on Blackboard will need to spend time learning a new LMS.
Strategies
In order to be prepared for a move to a new LMS the eLearning department has developed several
strategies. The goal for the eLearning department is to make any transition as smooth and painless as
possible.
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Angel Workshops - WAOL has been providing training opportunities since Fall quarter. The
eLearning department has been involved in every session and will continue to do so. The
eLearning department will also provide workshops for Tacoma Community College faculty during
Winter and Spring quarter.
One-on-one help by faculty-to-faculty mentors - Provide incentives for faculty to become
mentors to provide assistance during and after the transition.
Create online resources for faculty and students to assist in an LMS transition.
Decision
The recommendation of the LMS task force is for Tacoma Community College to move from the
Blackboard LMS to the Angel LMS beginning Summer quarter 2009. The eLearning department will be
soliciting input from faculty and administration to aid in the final decision.