Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
Final
Report
Presented
to
Dr.
Jim
Breece
Vice
Chancellor
for
Academic
Affairs
University
of
Maine
System
June
2011
Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
Report
Curt
Madison,
Chair
Ralph
Caruso,
Co‐Chair
Charge
to
the
Committee
The
LMS
Review
Committee
was
formed
as
a
result
of
concerns
expressed
by
the
Chief
Academic
Officers
in
early
December
2010.
The
Committee
was
formed
by
Vice‐Chancellor
Jim
Breece
with
design
suggestions
from
Chief
Information
Officer
Ralph
Caruso.
The
first
meeting
was
convened
by
Chairman
Curt
Madison,
Director
of
Distance
Education,
University
of
Maine
System,
March
11,
2011.
“
The
Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
will
be
composed
of
two
faculty
members
from
UMaine
and
USM
each
and
one
from
UMA,
UMF,
UMFK,
UMM
and
UMPI.
The
committee
will
perform
an
evaluation
of
the
current
support
structure
and
issues
the
primary
Learning
Management
System
in
use
within
UMS
(Blackboard).
The
committee
will
also
consider
possible
alternatives
to
Blackboard.
A
report
in
the
form
of
a
presentation
will
be
forwarded
to
the
CAOs
in
early
June.
Curt
Madison,
Director
of
Distance
Learning
and
the
Chair
of
this
Committee,
will
also
select
members
of
the
Blackboard
Core
Users
group
to
serve
as
staff
to
the
Committee
as
needed.”
The
Committee
had
a
wide
range
of
animated
discussions
including
the
following
topics:
Should
UMS
support
more
than
one
LMS
with
consideration
of
“Diversity
v
Uniformity”
and
“Local
v
Central
service”?
Will
students
and
faculty
choose
Complexity
or
Simplicity?
What
is
the
level
of
linkages
to
other
enterprise
level
systems?
What
is
the
need
for
capacity
of
local
extensions
to
functionality
with
Building
Blocks
or
3rd
party
software?
How
can
we
prioritize
the
student
experience
of
course
content
over
software
functionality?
Does
UMS
have
sufficient
support
staff
for
ANY
learning
management
system?
What
are
the
experiences
of
our
peer
institutions?
How
long
will
it
take
to
select,
then
adopt,
a
new
learning
management
system?
Committee
Meeting
Schedule
The
first
meeting
of
the
LMS
Review
Committee
occurred
on
March
11,
2011.
The
final
full
meeting
occurred
on
May
27,
2011
just
prior
to
the
end
date
of
faculty
contracts.
We
met
every
Friday
from
8:30
to
9:30
am
with
the
exception
of
April
1.
All
meetings
were
held
via
audio
conference
to
allow
maximum
participation
from
any
location.
See
the
Appendix
for
a
complete
set
of
meeting
agendas
and
a
selection
of
meeting
notes.
Draft
LMS
Review
Committee
Report
May
28,
2011
Page
1
Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
Report
Curt
Madison,
Chair
Ralph
Caruso,
Co‐Chair
Committee
Participants
The
Committee
was
made
up
of
dedicated
faculty
and
staff
who
contributed
significant
amounts
of
time
and
effort
on
a
weekly
basis.
Not
only
did
they
have
to
consider
their
own
experiences
with
the
Learning
Management
System,
but
they
also
routinely
received
comments
from
members
of
their
campuses.
Original
Committee
3/11/2011
Final
Committee
5/27/2011
Curt
Madison
Chair
UMS
Curt
Madison
Chair
UMS
Ralph
Caruso
Co‐Chair
UMS
Ralph
Caruso
Co‐Chair
UMS
John
Grover
UMS
John
Grover
UMS
Brad
Ritz
UMFK
Brad
Ritz
UMFK
Gail
Garthwait
UM
Brian
Doore
UM
Irving
Kornfield
UM
Irving
Kornfield,
Mike
Scott
(alt)
UM
James
Suleiman
USM
James
Suleiman
USM
Jodi
Williams
UMA
Mary
Jo
Jakab
UMA
Justin
Hafford
UM
Justin
Hafford
UM
Karen
Day
USM
Karen
Day
USM
Kim
Sebold
UMPI
Kim
Sebold
UMPI
Sabine
Klein
UMF
Marteen
Hester
UMPI
Tora
Johnson
UMM
Tora
JohnsonMike
Scott
UMM
(alternate)
Bb
Core
Staff
to
Committee
Bb
Core
Staff
to
Committee
AnnMarie
Johnson
USM
AnnMarie
Johnson
USM
JoAnne
Wallingford
UMPI
JoAnne
Wallingford
UMPI
Marilyn
Hudzina
UMA
Marilyn
Hudzina
UMA
Glenn
LeBlanc
UC
Glenn
LeBlanc
UC
Andrei
Strukov
UM
Andrei
Strukov
UM
Committee
Logistical
Support
Committee
Logistical
Support
Anne
Newell
UC
Helene
Turcotte
UC
Vision
The
LMS
Review
Committee
wrestled
with
the
language
in
the
original
charge
regarding
“…alternatives
to
Blackboard”.
Obviously
one
of
the
alternatives
would
be
to
have
no
LMS
at
all.
Yet
we
all
knew
it
was
important
to
have
a
robust
learning
environment
to
support
student
success
in
the
face
of
rampant
emergent
technological
change.
Not
only
do
we
need
to
answer
the
question
of
which
LMS
to
have,
but
we
also
need
to
address
the
question
of
how
to
understand
institutional
policies
around
any
LMS,
including
any
collection
of
tools
that
may
serve
as
an
LMS.
The
current
exercise
in
LMS
selection
will
bring
together
significant
sectors
of
the
UMS
community.
It
will
not
be
the
last
time
we
will
need
to
consider
migration
to
new
enterprise
level
learning
support
software
platforms.
Draft
LMS
Review
Committee
Report
May
28,
2011
Page
2
Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
Report
Curt
Madison,
Chair
Ralph
Caruso,
Co‐Chair
The
Committee
drafted
the
following
vision
statement
to
guide
our
work:
The
Learning
Management
System
for
UMS
campuses,
faculty
and
students
will
support
a
stable,
reliable,
and
flexible
learning
environment
for
student
success.
The
LMS
will
add
a
strategic,
competitive
advantage
for
UMS.
Key
features
of
the
LMS
include:
• accessibility
from
any
device
including
mobile
smart
devices,
• open
standards
that
allow
customization
by
faculty
or
program
and
personalization
by
students,
• ability
to
support
emerging
technologies
for
a
wide
range
of
pedagogy,
• ability
to
scale
to
UMS’s
expected
volume
over
the
next
five
years,
• ability
to
integrate
appropriately
with
the
student
information
system,
• stringent
security,
privacy
and
disability
requirements,
• intuitive
ease
of
use
for
students
and
faculty,
and,
• enterprise
level,
solid
reputation
for
support
and
quality
upgrade
releases.
The
Learning
Management
System
will
meet
or
exceed
the
current
expectations
of
students,
both
traditional
and
nontraditional,
who
are
considering
attending
one
of
the
UMS
campuses
or
pursuing
a
degree
program
on‐line.
Recommendation
The
LMS
Review
Committee
recommends
a
thorough
evaluation
commencing
Summer
2011
to
gather
needs,
preferences,
and
gaps
in
student
learning
support
from
the
major
stakeholder
groups
of
the
University
of
Maine
System.
A
proposed
Evaluation
Procedure
with
timeline
and
goals
is
part
of
this
report.
The
Committee
understands
that
selection
of
an
LMS
has
a
significant
impact
on
the
functioning
of
all
campuses
of
the
System.
If
a
new
system
is
selected
to
replace
the
current
installation
of
Blackboard,
the
migration
will
likely
take
12‐18
months
after
selection
is
complete.
It
is
clear
from
our
deliberations
that
current
technical
support
across
the
System
is
not
adequate.
The
committee
recommends
an
immediate,
but
careful
review
of
staffing
levels
for
LMS
support
to
bolster
response
capacity.
Results
from
that
review
will
be
communicated
independent
of
other
portions
of
the
LMS
process.
Evaluation
Design
A
sub‐committee
formed
with
Brian
Doore,
Marilyn
Hudzina,
and
Glenn
LeBlanc
to
produce
a
draft
evaluation
design
for
implementation
beginning
Summer
2011
depending
on
the
decision
of
the
Chief
Academic
Officers.
The
Teaching
Through
Technology
Task
Force
is
also
doing
similar
work.
The
LMS
evaluation
should
coordinate
with
them.
See
the
Appendix
for
a
full
description
of
the
study
design.
Existing
UMS
Data
An
early
activity
of
the
committee
was
to
gather
sources
of
data
already
known
throughout
the
University
of
Maine
System.
Each
participant
reviewed
sources
on
their
own
campus.
The
listing
is
not
exhaustive,
but
does
allow
an
overview
of
existing
practice
regarding
Staffing,
Systems
in
Use,
Decision
Groups,
Previous
Studies,
Known
Issues,
and
a
Summary.
See
the
Appendix
for
a
full
report.
Draft
LMS
Review
Committee
Report
May
28,
2011
Page
3
Learning
Management
System
Review
Committee
Report
Curt
Madison,
Chair
Ralph
Caruso,
Co‐Chair
Appendices
For
all
documents
see
http://learn.maine.edu/lmscr/
•
Proposed
Evaluation
Design
•
Existing
Data
on
UMS
Campuses
•
Seven
Things
You
Should
Know
about
LMS
Evaluation
•
Links
to
alternative
LMS
with
a
note
from
J.
Shimabukuro,
Univ.
of
Hawaii
•
Survey
results
from
UMPI
spring
2011
•
Survey
results
from
Professor
Kim
Sebold
students
spring
2011
•
Example
LMS
review
report
–
University
of
Georgia
System
and
excerpt
•
Example
LMS
review
report
–
University
of
Montana
System
memos
•
Example
LMS
review
report
–
UMassOnline
website
•
LMS
Review
Committee
Agendas
•
LMS
Review
Committee
meeting
notes
for
April
2011
Draft
LMS
Review
Committee
Report
May
28,
2011
Page
4