MINUTES
MEETING OF THE ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES SUBCOMMITTEE
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT PEMBROKE
TUESDAY, March 10, 2009 @ 3:30 P.M.
Library Conference Room – Room 212
Mr. Robert Arndt
Dr. Jeff Bolles
Dr. Teagan Decker
Dr. Elinor Foster
Dr. William Gash
Dr. Bob Orr
Miss Tiara Washington (SGA)
Dr. Meredith Storms
Dr. Mark Thompson
Ms. Mary Helen Walker
Nicolette Campos
Dr. Chris Ziemnowicz
1. The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.
2. The Minutes of the February 2009 meeting were approved
3. The agenda for the March meeting was approved.
4. Reports
a) Mary Livermore Library (Dr. Elinor Foster)
Library Report
March 10, 2009
A gift of “100 Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan” has been received
from the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo due to a request from Dr. Annika Culver,
with supporting documentation supplied by library staff. The books will support
the new Asian Studies minor.
The Library has purchased ebrary, a searchable platform for e-books which
contains 42,300 items from more than 300 academic, STM, and professional
publishers and aggregators. Content strengths are in business and economics,
computers and technology, science, medicine, education, history, and social
sciences.
Mango Languages has also been purchased. It is a database that provides the
tools to learn 12 different language courses by immersing the user in real,
everyday conversations. This resource supports foreign languages taught at
UNCP as well as other courses of study, such as international business.
The FY 09 annual report has been distributed to deans and departments chairs
and is available online.
b) University Writing Center (Dr. Teagan Decker)
No Report
c) Division of Information Technology (Mr. Bob Orr)
Division of Information Technology Report
Academic Service Sub-Committee
March 10, 2009
Office 2007 Migration
The migration of the campus to Office 2007 by department is progressing slowly (spring
break affected rollout scheduling). A couple of minor issues with pushing out via
LANDesk have become evident; we are working on those currently. 35 individuals have
had Office 2007 installed via LANDesk, although more have been upgraded manually.
All new machines being purchased are being set up with Office 2007 automatically
before installation into offices.
Anti-Virus Update
The McAfee anti-virus dat file update has been deployed to 682 faculty and staff
machines and 237 lab and classroom machines. This update push was necessary because
the McAfee anti-virus update was not running properly and had not updated since
February 2nd.
Faculty Computer Refresh
DoIT ordered 69 new machines for the faculty refresh.
OutlookExchange/Active Directory Rollout
Client Services is in the final stage of the migration of faculty and staff to
OutlookExchange and Active Directory. One large academic department and one large
functional department are being migrated in March, and faculty and staff who missed
their appointments are being rescheduled as necessary. The project should be finished by
the latter part of March.
Virtual Computing Lab Update
The collaboration with NCSU in using their VCL to provide access to software via
Shibboleth authentication and online reservations continues.
Student e-mail
Reminder … new e-mail messages are now being sent to students’ Bravemail account
only. Access to their Webmail archive will remain throughout the spring to allow them
to forward messages they would like to keep over to their new account. Messages
addressed to their old uncp.edu account are automatically forwarded to their new
Bravemail account, but will cease at the end of the spring semester.
Training
Melanie provided the following training sessions in February.
Office 2007 Overview – 3 Workshops 25 participants
Blackboard Advanced – 1 workshop 3 participants
Turnitin – 1 Workshop
15 participants
Dreamweaver – 1 Workshop 15 participants - 3 one on one sessions
Word 2007 For Beginners – 1 Workshop
6 participants
Advanced Word 2007 – 1 Workshop
9 participants
Excel 2007 Beginner – 1 Workshop
12 participants
Blackboard – 1 workshop for Department
3 participants
Total: 10 workshops; 3 one-on-one sessions; 91 total participants
UNC Financial Institution Transformation (FIT) Project
UNC General Administration started the UNC FIT project several months ago to address
issues with financial reporting and ensure uniform processes across all campuses. The
project has five subprojects, each at a different stage of the project cycle. Most notably,
the Payroll subproject will require UNCP and eight other campuses to move payroll
processing onto the campus, with some central support provided by GA. While these
projects are led by business offices, the Applications Development and Support unit of
DoIT has and will continue to participate in these projects.
Banner 8.1
The Banner 8.1, ODS 8.1 and Cognos ReportNet 8.0 upgrades were successfully
completed on Wednesday, Feb. 25th. The upgrade was quite smooth. A few individuals
have reported sporadic problems, but no major issues have appeared.
As part of the upgrade and testing process, nearly 600 ReportNet reports were migrated
from version 1.1 to 8.0. An additional 700 were copied to 8.0 without testing.
There was a flaw in the configuration files for the Banner upgrade delivered by the
vendor. While the upgrade is working, UNCP will have to recompile all C programs
within Banner as some point. This will require a short period of down-time.
The Touchnet Student Account Center upgrade was delayed due to an undetermined issue
in Touchnet’s data center. Touchnet resolved the issue and the Student Account Center
was available on Monday, March 2nd.
Banner Finance
The Application Development and Support unit of DoIT is gearing up to provide
additional support for Banner Finance. The offices of the Controller and Business
Services have identified several issues, including:
reconciliation of Student Accounts Receivable to Finance,
reconciliation of Internet class tuition and fees,
migration of remaining accounts from the legacy Plus system, and
closing of outstanding encumbrances in Banner.
Housing Management Software
DoIT has been working with Residential Life, Business Services and Student Accounts
Payable to review housing management software. This software will enable students to
select housing options, choose roommates, manage meal plans, and pay housing fees
online. To date, the group has examined an additional product that will interface with the
campus BravesOne card system, CBORD Odyssey, and an offering by Residential
Management Systems. A recommendation is expected shortly.
Wordpress
DoIT has begun implementation of a local Wordpress site with a goal of providing more
wide-spread access to the technology. The database server is operational and work has
begun on the application server. DoIT expects to have a pilot site in operation within a
few weeks.
Access Control Software
DoIT has been working with Residential Life, Campus Police and Facilities Management
on Access Control Software. Such a system is currently in use in two residence halls.
Two options are under review.
CONTENTdm
The equipment for the Mary Livermore Library’s implementation of CONTENTdm has
arrived and is being installed. DoIT will be configuring the SAN and setting up the
server for this project during March.
Faculty Self Service Additions
DoIT has a test version of the mid-semester grade addition for advisors in place, and
expects to make it available shortly. Once this project is complete, work will begin on
the class list for faculty addition.
UNC Information Security Council
DoIT is participating on the UNC Information Security Council. This is a new
organization formed by UNC General Administration to examine issues and recommend
solutions to information security issues throughout the system.
Classroom updates
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Started working on the Jones Classroom equipment refresh.
Switched out a broken LCD projector in the BA building
Replaced 5 LCD projector bulbs that were blown
Replaced 4 Overhead projector bulbs that were blown
Repaired/Replaced 2 broken DVD/VCR combo units
Mounted 8 speakers in BA classrooms to help finish classroom refresh
Media Center Services
Provided technical assistance to 16 various workshops/events held on campus and at
Comtech facilities
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Worked with teachers with National Board certification for almost 85 hours
Conducted two workshops on Smart Board for campus
58 feet of lamination
Equipment Checkout as follows:
o Laptop Computers 16
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
LCD Projectors
11
Digital Recorders
4
Digital Cameras
7
TV’s
3
Radio
2
DVD Player
5
Digital Music Player
7
Email systems
Approximately 85% of all email accounts have fully migrated their old email messages
into the new system and have been upgraded to Outlook 2007. We currently maintain
1114 mailboxes with a total of 411GB of mail data. This is an increase from 1086
mailboxes and 360GB of mail data.
Full and incremental backups of email are occurring on a nightly basis providing the
granular ability to restore single mailboxes or single mail messages.
Active Directory
All student file storage has been migrated to the new Storage Area Network (SAN).
Faculty and staff individual accounts and departmental shared storage will be migrated
beginning now with a target date of June 30 for complete migration. We have been
testing and process streamlining for migration of individual administrative accounts and
shared folders. We will test several small pilot groups during the next few weeks to
further streamline the process in preparation for full deployment.
Virtual server environment
Expansion of the campus virtual environment continues. Four virtual server blades are
currently in production. This is an increase of one blade into the environment from the
last report. The virtual server environment provides a highly manageable platform for
providing hosted servers for central campus services as well as servers for departmental
services.
Telephony and Voicemail
Telephones did not automatically update to the new Daylight Savings Time. The system
was configured properly for automatic time change updates during the initial install and
upgrade to the new system. The problem was identified as a bug in the code. Cisco has
released a patch that will resolve the issue. A temporary workaround was developed and
deployed in the interim.
Testing of the new voicemail system, unified communications system, continues and one
outstanding issue remains to be corrected prior to migration of campus users. We are
working with the vendor on the one remaining issue. Several hours have been devoted to
this issue and we are pressing the vendor for resolution. Once migrated, users will enjoy
the ability to access their voicemail via email clients, receive missed call notifications in
their email, and access their calendar and email from any telephone on or off campus.
Wireless Networking
Network Services is working with Housing and Residence Life to install wireless
networking in Belk and North Halls. Planning has been ongoing for several months and
purchase orders have been processed. The dorms are scheduled to be outfitted in May as
the dorms are vacated following the spring exodus of students in those residence halls.
The project is online for completion by mid June.
d) Disability Support Services (Ms Mary Helen Walker)
Disability Support Services continues the changeover to Banner and is populating
that system
e) Old Business:
Passed a motion to endorse the Final Report of the UNCP Blackboard/Open Source
Committee’s report to migrate to Moodle.
f) New Business
a) Given the possibility of migrating to Moodle, the advisability of continuing the
Blackboard 24X7 Helpdesk beyond the current contract was discussed. Dr. Orr is to
bring to the next meeting a report on afterhours use of the Blackboard 24X7 Helpdesk
b) A questioned was raised about the requirements of Writing Center tutors. This
question will be raised at a later meeting
g) The next meeting will be April 14th at 3:30 p.m. in the Library Conference Room
h) The meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.
Final Report of the UNCP Blackboard/Open Source Committee
Committee Members
Irene Aiken
Sharon Bell
Ollie Bishop
Ed Damman
George Guba
Sherry Edwards
Margie Labadie
Terry Locklear
Kenneth Mentor
Cynthia Miecznikowski
Elizabeth Normandy
Maria Pereira
Marlene Powell
Alan Prevatte
Sara Simmons
Debra Thompson
Report prepared by Kenneth Mentor and Elizabeth Normandy
December 30, 2008
Summary
As UNC Pembroke continues to grow, on campus and online, and campus faculty look to
utilize technology to assist with content delivery, student evaluation, and community
building projects, the course management system (CMS) utilized by the campus becomes
an increasingly important element in efforts to serve our students and community. In
addition, the UNC system is encouraging effective use of resources, an issue that has
been amplified by the current financial crisis. These factors have led to a campus-based
effort to investigate alternative open source platforms.
Dr. Robert Orr, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Resources and Chief
Information Officer, convened the UNCP Blackboard/Open Source Committee in
January 2008. This committee was asked to evaluate open source alternatives to
Blackboard, the current CMS used at UNCP and other UNC campuses. Following the
lead of the UNC Teaching and Learning Collaborative (TLTC), the Committee began
their evaluation of the open source Moodle CMS platform to determine its viability to
enhance the instructional experience.
Following a year long process, which included several presentations to the UNCP
campus, pilot courses taught by several faculty, review of similar processes and decisions
on other campuses, and surveys of faculty and students, the Blackboard/Open Source
Committee recommends a transition to Moodle.
Introduction
This report, prepared in chronological format, describes the process through which the
committee reached their decision. As similar decisions are being made throughout the
UNC system, and across the country, we also refer to processes and decisions made on
those campuses. This chronology is followed by our recommendation.
This report begins with reference to the relevant section of the PACE report, an initial
step in the effort to assure the effective and efficient use of University resources. We then
discuss system-wide efforts of the TLTC, including an evaluation process that included
several UNCP faculty members. We then move to a discussion of evaluation efforts
specific to the UNCP campus. Our recommendation is offered, along with a list of
perceived benefits and concerns related to the recommended course of action.
Many CMS options are available, including Moodle and Sakai, two open source options,
and several commercial options. The UNCP Blackboard/Open Source Committee was
charged with the task of evaluating open source alternatives to Blackboard, the
University’s current CMS platform. Based on several factors, the Committee eliminated
Sakai from consideration. As a result, the CMS comparison was limited to Moodle and
Blackboard.
The PACE Report
UNC President Erskine Bowles commissioned the President's Advisory Committee on
Efficiency & Effectiveness (PACE) in May 2006. This committee was asked to review
the University's activities and provide findings and possible recommendations intended to
assure that resources are efficiently and effectively utilized. Item 11 of the PACE Report,
issued in November 2006, provided impetus for system-wide efforts to evaluate open
source alternatives to Blackboard and other proprietary course delivery platforms.
The PACE Report recommends replacing commercial software with open-source
versions where appropriate. The report lists efficiency and cost effectiveness as
advantages to open source software, using CMS options as an example of an area in
which savings can be quickly realized. The report encourages an examination of the
viability of 1) replacing commercial course management systems with open-source
versions and 2) hosting from central locations.
The PACE Report focused on replacement benefits, encouraging campus and state
system project teams to “assess needs and research existing options; install product(s) for
testing; perform system level as well as individual campus evaluations; do a changeover
analysis to establish what is involved in migrating existing content; select CMS; establish
notification and education plans; determine what aspects can be addressed collaboratively
at the system level (support, training, resources, etc.); establish project plan and timeline;
proceed with production implementation.”
TLTC Open Course CMS Evaluation
In response to the PACE report, the UNC Teaching and Learning Collaborative (TLTC)
assembled a group of educators interested in participating in a pilot project comparing
Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard. The purpose of the TLTC investigation was to determine
the viability for instruction and the potential cost savings for UNC campuses interested in
adopting an open source option as a replacement for Blackboard (Learning Suite or
Vista).
The Executive Summary of the TLTC CMS report indicates that vendors, service
providers, and TLTC staff completed detailed spreadsheets regarding CMS functional
features. While there are certain differences in functionality among the four CMS
options examined, analysis of the spreadsheets - as well as the fact that a number of
universities nation-wide are utilizing open source options - demonstrates that both
Moodle and Sakai are viable alternatives to Blackboard.
Sixteen faculty from seven UNC campuses assisted with the comparison of Moodle and
Sakai to their current campus CMS. Of the participating campuses, five maintain
Blackboard Learning Suite and two maintain Blackboard Vista. Evaluation results from
faculty members who taught in Moodle or Sakai during the evaluation process, including
3 UNCP faculty members, demonstrate that open source solutions provide many of the
same options, including some tools and features unavailable in Blackboard. While faculty
suggested that some Blackboard features were more robust, faculty participants preferred
the open source products.
Of these sixteen faculty participants, three opted to discontinue the evaluation because
they did not feel the open source options offered a large enough benefit in return for the
time and effort it would take to redesign their course. One participant preferred
Blackboard for overall feel and functionality and another preferred Sakai primarily for
layout, potential integration of open source portfolio, and the ease of creating a project
site. Eleven participants preferred Moodle for overall feel and functionality.
Although the elimination of the TLTC has placed the future of the system-wide
evaluation in doubt, additional information is being generated on individual campuses.
Several campuses are continuing their evaluation with results anticipated at the
conclusion of the current school year. Production courses using open source CMS
platforms are being evaluated at ECSU, NCSA, UNCC, UNCP, UNCW, and UNCG.
Each continues to evaluate Moodle. ECSU and NCSA are also evaluating Sakai.
The CMS Executive Summary of the TLTC report indicates that UNC campuses can
save, on average, $7/FTE in software costs after transitioning, with the smaller campuses
realizing larger savings. The TLTC evaluation has been truncated as a result of the
elimination of the collaborative, so the benefits of centralized hosting opportunities have
not been fully addressed. Several campuses continue to evaluate the possibility of shared
hosting, which has the potential to lower FTE costs.
UNCP Blackboard/Open Source Campus Committee
Dr. Robert Orr, Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Resources and Chief
Information Officer, convened the UNCP Blackboard/Open Source Committee in
January 2008. The Committee, primarily comprised of faculty members, was pleased that
faculty input was placed at the forefront of such an important decision.
A CMS selection requires balancing learning and management. The initial intent of a
CMS was to enable administrators and educators to manage the learning process. As
initial CMS decisions were made, the learning experience sometimes took a back seat to
the management function. In contrast, the Blackboard/Open Source Committee was asked
to focus on teaching and learning. The CMS evaluation process provided an opportunity
to discuss the pedagogy of online learning. This was a very positive experience for these
committed faculty members. We anticipate a wider discussion of pedagogy as the campus
faculty moves forward with their deliberations regarding course management systems.
The Committee began with an examination of both Sakai and Blackboard. Based on the
experience of several UNCP faculty members participating in the TLTC evaluation, the
Committee was encouraged to focus on Moodle. The Committee also discussed the basic
architecture of Moodle and Sakai, with an assessment of resources and programming
skills that would be required if we were to recommend either open source option. Moodle
is based on PHP, a programming language that is not difficult to learn. In comparison, the
Java-based Sakai platform was perceived to be more difficult to modify and administer,
possibly requiring programming skills that would be more difficult to attain.
The Committee also participated in a presentation by Lori Mathis, who originally
coordinated the TLTC CMS evaluation. Ms. Mathis offered preliminary results of the
TLTC evaluation, acknowledging the popularity of Moodle. She also discussed the
programming issue. As a result of this information, and committee deliberation about
ease of use, the Committee elected to eliminate Sakai as an option.
The Committee also completed a campus-wide survey intended to assess feelings about a
possible CMS change. Following this survey the Committee recommended a fall 2008
pilot project in which UNCP faculty would use Moodle in live classes. This pilot project
was completed, along with an end-of-semester survey of participating students and
faculty. Finally, the Committee held an open forum with Dr. Steve Breiner, Director of
Learning Technology Services at Appalachian State University, in which he discussed a
remarkably smooth and positive shift to Moodle. Each of these activities is discussed
below.
Spring 2008 Faculty Survey
Eighty UNCP faculty members responded to a survey intended to assess opinions about
online learning, Blackboard, and the potential for changing to a new CMS. Results of this
survey are available at the following link:
http://tiny.cc/UNCPsurvey
When reviewing the results it is important to know how the survey was constructed.
There were a total of 27 questions. All respondents answered the first two questions.
Based on these responses faculty were directed to 3 versions of the survey.
Thirteen faculty respondents answered “0” to question 2, indicating they had never taught
an online or hybrid class. This group answered the set of questions labeled “General
Comments.” The majority of this group plan to teach an online or hybrid course within
the next three years. Several respondents have used Blackboard. Responses indicate
general satisfaction, with one respondent expressing reluctance to use Blackboard due to
concerns about reliability.
Twenty-five respondents taught between 1 and 4 online classes. These faculty members
answered questions listed in the section labeled “Online Educators.” In order to assess the
responses of those who taught 5 or more online or hybrid classes, this group was
separated into a group labeled “Experienced Online Educators.” Forty-two faculty
respondents fell into this category. While differences between these groups are
interesting, responses are combined for the purposes of this report.
Faculty with online or hybrid experience were generally satisfied with Blackboard.
However, over 20% indicated their overall experience with Blackboard was
unsatisfactory. Concerns were raised about training, number of clicks, and grade book
functionality. Respondents were also asked about the intuitiveness of Blackboard. Again,
the response to Blackboard was generally favorable, although over 30 percent of the
respondents indicated the intuitiveness of Blackboard was unsatisfactory. Comments in
this category referred to confusing navigation and difficulties associated with
customization efforts.
Although faculty were generally satisfied with Blackboard, in terms of reliability,
intuitiveness, and general satisfaction, it is interesting to note that 42% of the respondents
indicated they were “Extremely Interested” in exploring alternatives to Blackboard. At
total of 79% expressed interest in exploring alternatives. Although “alternatives” were
not defined, the survey introduction and invitation each notified respondents that the
Committee was examining Moodle and Sakai. Respondent comments indicated a general
interest in exploring Web 2.0 tools. Other comments indicated concerns that technology
was moving forward, leaving Blackboard behind.
The survey also asked respondents about the importance of various features typically
included in course management systems. This information can be helpful as decisions are
made about features to include in any future CMS. The Committee discussed the benefits
of an open access model in a wide variety of features can be made without incurring
additional costs. An open source option would also streamline the process, allowing
decisions to be made and implemented on campus.
The survey also asked faculty to express any concerns about the possible transition.
Comments referred to training and adequate time to move content to the new CMS.
Several respondents mentioned the need to have both systems available during the
transition. Faculty also mentioned the need for a thorough overview, for faculty and
students, about the benefits of making a transition.
Overall, the Committee was encouraged by the expressed willingness to explore
alternatives. This finding provided evidence of the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit
that will serve UNCP well as the University expands their online offerings. These
findings demonstrate the need for a flexible CMS solution that does not limit faculty
creativity.
Moodle Users Survey
An end-of-semester survey assessed student and faculty opinions about Moodle. The total
number of UNCP faculty teaching in Moodle is small, and the survey participation even
smaller. Unfortunately, these results are less robust than we would like. One hundred
percent of the faculty members who taught in Moodle recommended switching, but this
was a small group. Interestingly, a similar project is ongoing at UNCW, with 100% of
that group also recommending Moodle as a replacement for Blackboard.
Faculty members participating in the Moodle pilot project also provided specific details
to the Committee. These Moodle users were asked about intuitiveness, ease of use,
reliability, and the creation of an engaging learning environment. Each participant in the
Moodle pilot project preferred Moodle. They also reported fewer technical support
questions directed to the instructor, which allowed them to focus on course content rather
than technical support. When asked to comment on editing, navigation, and a variety of
tasks associated with designing and teaching in Moodle, faculty rated Moodle higher on
every item. One faculty who did a head to head comparison of the two systems and
attended the training offered comments regarding her experience. These are included in
Appendix A.
Students who participated in this pilot project were also surveyed, with 31 student
responses. Results of this survey are included in Appendix B. Moodle was rated superior
to Blackboard in every category, with 81% of the respondents encouraging a change from
Blackboard to Moodle. Students reported that Moodle was easier to use and more
intuitive than Blackboard. Students also felt Moodle enhanced student learning. Student
respondents reported that Moodle was a more engaging learning environment, enhancing
communication with the professor and other students.
The Appalachian State Experience
Appalachian State University has recently completed the transition from WebCT to
Moodle. Hoping to learn from that experience, the Blackboard/Open Source Committee
scheduled an open forum for UNCP faculty. Dr. Steve Breiner, Director of Learning
Technology Services at Appalachian State University, discussed the remarkably smooth
and positive shift to Moodle.
Word-of-mouth recommendations resulted in demand that accelerated the process well
beyond the expectation of 20-30 courses. Instead, Dr. Breiner’s staff prepared 154
courses in the first semester in which Moodle was available. Another surprise was that
faculty support demands have been significantly reduced. Faculty report that since
Moodle is so easy to use, they are solving problems without technical support. It was also
encouraging to learn that since moving to Moodle there are virtually no support calls
from students.
Dr. Breiner reported that the course import process went well, but not without problems.
While content could be easily transferred, the imported course needed many changes
before the course was ready for use. Some of the faculty most concerned about the
transfer had nothing but a syllabus in their online classroom. The reality was that many
courses were not exemplary, so the transition process created an opportunity for
improvement.
Dr. Breiner discussed the ease in which Moodle was integrated with Banner, with
virtually no expense. When a course is classified in Banner as an online or hybrid, a
Moodle shell is automatically created and populated with students. The process used to
integrate Banner with Moodle was developed by Oakland University, another Moodle
campus, and shared through the moodle.org website. The support community, comprised
of active Moodle users, was cited as a major strength of this CMS.
Faculty members are also using the moodle.org site to identify various modules and
blocks they would like to add to their courses. Again, we see an example of the CMS
motivating faculty efforts to improve online course design. Dr. Breiner’s staff has
initiated a process through which these requests are evaluated, which is creating a very
supportive relationship with the ASU faculty. A recent faculty survey indicated that 87%
of the faculty respondents recommend Moodle.
The campus has now completed the transition to Moodle and is beginning to move from a
hosted Moodle site to a campus-based installation. Although the hosted solution was an
effective way to get started, the response to change requests was slow. Dr. Breiner’s staff
now employs a PHP programmer and 2 course developers. They are in the early stages of
discussions with UNC Charlotte about shared hosting options. Dr. Breiner has invited
UNCP to participate in this endeavor.
Recommendation
The Blackboard/Open Source Committee recommends a transition to Moodle. This
recommendation is based on the following:
Moodle Features
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Flexible structure
Intuitiveness of use for students and faculty
Encourages better/different pedagogy, potentially leading to exemplary courses
(A dissenting opinion among the Committee members held that good pedagogy is
not the result of a software product but rather of instructional design. Either
Blackboard or Moodle could create courses where the pedagogy was minimally
acceptable, above average, or exceptional.
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Reliable integration with Banner
Other Factors
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Ease of design
Designed by teachers, for teachers
Reduced need for student assistance
Reduced faculty support demands
UNCP faculty are not opposed and little resistance is anticipated
Student survey
Faculty preferences
Blackboard’s poor response to faculty concerns and suggestions
Next?
Although the Blackboard/Open Source Committee has completed their duties with this
recommendation, the Committee has discussed a number of issues to be considered as the
campus moves forward.
Assuming the faculty accepts the recommendation of this committee, UNCP has the
opportunity for an orderly transfer from Blackboard to Moodle. If Moodle is available
starting in the Fall 2009 semester we anticipate quick adoption by a number of early
adopters. This group will provide valuable information about support needs, CMS
features, and policies necessary to manage Moodle on campus servers. This group of
educators can be valuable in the effort to train colleagues, many of whom are expected to
begin a voluntary transfer to Moodle for spring 2010 courses. The 2010-2011 school year
will be the final year for Blackboard, with two platforms available during that time.
Although we anticipate peer training will remain an important element, the Teaching and
Learning Center will provide appropriate training and support to enable faculty to make
an efficient transfer to Moodle. Given the recent adoption of the Quality Matters rubric,
along with various campus efforts to focus on the quality of online learning, the timing of
this CMS change provides a rare opportunity to improve both the platform and content of
online and hybrid courses.
The Committee discussed the demands associated with simultaneously supporting two
platforms. Blackboard support calls are likely to diminish as the platform is stabilized.
Some of this has already occurred. The experience at Appalachian State indicates that as
resources shift from Blackboard to Moodle we may benefit from a reduced need for
technical support. The Committee also questioned the need for 24/7 support.
Development of complete documentation is an effective way to reduce support demands.
Adequate training for faculty, including guidance regarding course development and
facilitation, is likely to reduce technical support demands. The experience on this
campus, the TLTC pilot, and other campuses in the UNC system and throughout the
world indicate that Moodle is easier to use. When combined with effective user support
documents and a focused effort to train faculty to use the new CMS, this ease-of-use is
expected to reduce support demands.
Faculty members can also be taught to complete much of the work currently being done
by DoIT staff. For example, Banner integration allows course shells to be automatically
created. Moodle has very powerful role definition capabilities. Faculty roles can be
designed to allow faculty to backup and restore their own course content. A centralized
process for retaining classroom notes is not necessary. The same logic applies to online
course content. Faculty can easily backup and restore their own content, resulting in
significant savings of time and money.
Finally, the Committee encourages the development of a process through which faculty
can be actively involved in CMS configuration decisions. Choices regarding roles,
default settings, and features will be necessary as the new CMS is configured. Many of
these decisions will impact the way this CMS works on the UNCP campus, both from an
administrative and pedagogical basis. After these initial decisions are made, continual
upgrades will allow support of a full range of pedagogical needs. Faculty members are
likely to request CMS features that support a variety of pedagogical needs. It will be
important to develop a process for evaluating and testing requested modules and features.
Given the rapid evolution of online tools, a fixed installation of Moodle may not serve the
needs of students and faculty. Moodle allows an active role for all users, creating
opportunities for closer cooperation between technology staff and those using this
technology. The Blackboard/Open Source evaluation process has been an example of this
cooperation. We appreciate the opportunity to be involved in such an important decision
and look forward to continued involvement.
APPENDIX A
COMMENTS FROM CYNTHIA MIECZNIKOWSKI
1. As a writing teacher (especially developmental writing), I wanted to incorporate a
CMS to provide students more opportunities for response to their writing. I wanted to
create a kind of online draft workshop site that would allow students to post their workin-progress (in groups of three or four students brought together for their own series of
exchanges) as they plan, develop, and revise. I wanted students to be able to access each
other's writing and responses to it from the start of the assignment until its deadline,
whenever they wanted or needed to--and to be able to contact each other for help along
the way to make arrangements for these exchanges.
2. I was surprised to find that on BB this process required several steps--both to set up the
groups and to organize and access the postings in each. Students had difficulty "reading"
the site; it seemed more cluttered than I thought it would be and harder to follow than I
had expected. It may be that BB is too "linear" in its presentation (at least the way we
used it)--listing items according to when they were posted rather than by whom and
embedding them in ways that cluttered up the screen and made it a bit off-putting (and for
students, confusing) to look at. It just wasn't "inviting" to them, and they didn't optimize
use of it.
3. For reasons I would have to review both sites to explain more clearly, students in the
class that used MDL instead of BB--even a few who were very reluctant to get started
with Moodle--found it to be a breeze to use--easy to manage and access. I hardly had to
tell them anything at all once they got on the site--it was that intuitive. The way items get
embedded in MDL--and the way they can so easily be moved around without clicking in
and out of them several times--made for ease of use. Students told me that they really
liked using the site. They would get right on it at the start of lab classes. It was almost
more "fun" than I typically allow in my classes. :)
4. When I attended the NCSA workshop in June(I think), I learned that the "latest"
version of MDL had a "workshop" option that operated like a "wiki" (a term I didn't
know until that day). This option was not available to me for the pilot in fall 08, but if it
were--and I could combine it with an online (on site) portfolio option, I could create a
comprehensive writing course that could result in efficiencies for both faculty and
students.
5. All this said, I am not completely enamored with MDL because there is a lot on the
typical page that I don't think I would use for every course. I would prefer to customize
my MDL courses to streamline their appearance so that only what we would use would
be visible and accessible. I would be willing to learn how to do this, though, and I have to
say that the whole experience--on this committee and with comparing MDL and BB--has
made me less fearful of/intimidated by and more interested in the whole distance-learning
enterprise. I used to see CMS as a threat. I now understand how they can enhance face-toface courses and be used to create "the next best thing" online. :)
APPENDIX B
SURVEY RESULTS
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