NERCOMP Moodle User Group 2013 - Monday, February 11, 2013
Guiding Faculty Through (Inevitable) Technological Change
Fred Zinn - OIT Academic Computing, University of Massachusetts Amherst
History of LMS Change at UMass Amherst
Semester
Faculty in
WebCT
Faculty in
SPARK
Faculty in
Moodle
2006 Fall
469
12 (pilot)
Selected group of faculty tests SPARK
( local name for WebCT/Blackboard Vista)
2007 Spring
268
182
Quick transition. Courses converted administratively.
Notes
2007 Fall
529
2008 Spring
532
2008 Fall
845
2009 Spring
811
2009 Fall
1,012
Blackboard announces Jan 2013 sunset for Vista
2010 Spring
1,104
FutureLMS review begins
2010 Fall
1,151
FutureLMS report submitted to CIO & Provost.
They select Moodle as next LMS.
2011 Spring
1,110
8 (pilot)
2011 Fall
1,013
113
2012 Spring
852
400
Launched SPARK to Moodle conversion service.**
2012 Fall
124
1,270
Faculty can use SPARK with approval only.
1,193
SPARK turned off on January 11, 2013***
2013 Spring
Selected group of faculty tests Moodle*
* several of this group also tested SPARK in 2006 pilot – very typical of the “innovator” early adopter
**early adopters were happy to rebuild courses from scratch—“better to figure out Moodle”. Later adopters were
interested in the convenience of having an outside service (Remote Learner) do the work for them.
*** 10 requests for SPARK access the week after it was turned off – very typical of the “laggard” late adopter
Transition Communications
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
FutureLMS Committee of faculty and administrative stakeholders.
FutureLMS blog (http://blogs.umass.edu/futurelms/) documented reviews and final report.
Face-to-face previews of LMS options and Moodle (once selected).
All faculty emails at key points in the transition.
Announcements on LMS login pages, OIT Web site, and TeachOIT blog.
Posters in faculty mail rooms announcing transition to Moodle and end of SPARK.
Instructional Media Lab hosted workshops, one-on-one consultations, and answered questions via
email and phone.
Ongoing Communications
•
•
•
•
•
•
FutureLMS Committee transitioned to Moodle Faculty Advisory Group.
Moodle-related posts moved to OIT’s teaching technologies blog: http://blogs.umass.edu/teachoit/
Instructor Community Course in Moodle for monthly updates, forum discussions, and surveys.
Regular face-to-face workshops and community lunches for faculty using Moodle.
Growing collection of documentation on site (https://www.oit.umass.edu/moodle)
Instructional Media Lab still hosting workshops, one-on-one consultations, and answering questions
via email and phone.
OIT Academic Computing – University of Massachusetts Amherst (https://www.oit.umass.edu/instruct) – 2013-FEB-06 – fz
NERCOMP Moodle User Group 2013 - Monday, February 11, 2013
Questions for Discussion
Write down your own answers and discuss them with the people from other institutions around you.
How do you get faculty to pay attention?
What communication strategies are most successful for your institution’s faculty? How to you get
feedback and respond to faculty input?
How often do you make changes?
What release schedule do you follow? What expectations do you set for faculty at your institution?
How do you decide what to change?
How do you manage your upgrades? Do you add modules or make your own changes? How are faculty
involved in this process?
What do you think will come after Moodle?
How soon do you think your institution will be evaluating a new LMS (or something completely
different)? What do you think will come along that pushes the next major change?
Useful References
Why Does the Faculty Resist Change?
John Tagg, Change, The Magazine of Higher Learning, 2012
http://www.changemag.org/Archives/Back Issues/2012/January-February 2012/facultychange-full.html
Change in higher education: Understanding and responding to individual and organizational resistance
India F. Lane, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 34(2):35-92, 2007
http://www.ccas.net/files/ADVANCE/Lane_Change%20in%20higher%20ed.pdf
The life cycle of a technology: Why it is so difficult for large companies to innovate
Donald A. Norman, 1998
http://www.nngroup.com/articles-life-cycle-of-a-technology/
OIT Academic Computing – University of Massachusetts Amherst (https://www.oit.umass.edu/instruct) – 2013-FEB-06 – fz
Excerpted Slides from "Guiding Faculty Through (Inevitable) Technological Change"
NERCOMP Moodle User Group, February 2013, Fred Zinn, UMass Amherst, OIT Academic Computing
6/4/13&
What is your response when you hear
about an new technology or upgrade?
Fred Zinn
OIT Academic Computing
University of Massachusetts Amherst
% of the faculty population
Want more features,
willing to experiment
(D. Norman 1998, referencing E.W. Rogers 1962)
40
34
35
40
34
34
30
25
25
20
16
13.5
15
20
16
13.5
15
10
5
34
35
30
10
2.5
2.5
5
0
0
Innovators
innovators
Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
early adopters early majority late majority
(pragmatists) (conservatives)
Laggards
Innovators
laggards
(skeptics)
innovators
34
35
34
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards
laggards
(skeptics)
early adopters early majority late majority
(pragmatists) (conservatives)
LMS Adoption at UMass Amherst
Want convenience,
reliability, and no hassles
40
Early Adopters
1400
1200
30
25
20
16
13.5
15
1000
800
10
5
600
2.5
0
Innovators
Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards
400
200
0
2006
Fall
innovators
early adopters early majority late majority
(pragmatists) (conservatives)
laggards
(skeptics)
2007
Spring
WebCT
2007
Fall
2008
Spring
2008
Fall
2009
Spring
2009
Fall
2010
Spring
SPARK (WebCT/Blackboard Vista)
2010
Fall
2011
Spring
Moodle
2011
Fall
2012
Spring
2012
Fall
2013
Spring
Pilots
1&