Development of eLearning
at CityU
Eva Wong
Education Development Office
City University of Hong Kong
Presentation Outline
Brief Introduction to CityU
IT Support for Learning at CityU
Challenges and issues leading to the e-Learning project in CityU
A 3-pronged approach to implementation
 Policy
 Cross-departmental support team
 Communications & training
Progress to date
New in September 2006
City University of Hong Kong
Established in 1984
From fully Government funded to 75% GF and 25% SF by 2008
3 Faculties, 2 Schools and 1 College
 FB, FHS, FSE, SCM, SLW, CCCU
Offers full range of programmes from AD to PhD
20,000 FTE students
2500 staff (900 academic)
Ranked 178th in recent THES ranking
Top 10 Chinese universities in SJTU ranking
Situated right in the city.
Easy access.
Crowded campus.
13 hectares on expensive land.
Situated right in the city.
Easy access.
Crowded campus.
13 hectares on expensive land.
IT Support for Learning at CityU
Student Information System
SunGuard SCT Banner
i-CMS (Course Management)
 In-house developed
 Provides for all programmes and courses
• student list and information
• e-mail
• grade submission
• award classification
Library Resources
INNOPAC
Electronic Journals
Supported by ESU and ARRO
Web Based Teaching Systems
WebCT
First implemented: 1999
No. of active courses: 800
Supported by WTSS (Web Teaching Support Services)
Blackboard
First implemented: 2001
No. of active courses: 200
Supported by Faculty of Business
Web Based Teaching Systems
CCIV
ELC
MEEM
IS
FB
BST
MKT
CCIV
SOLO
intraMEL
FabWeb, Uninet
iMBA
BST e-Learning Centre
e-Student Relationship Management
Why the move to e-Learning?
Organic Adoption of e-Learning
Organic/Exploratory Adoption
Initially driven by End Users
End User Plateau
Strategic Phase necessary for continued growth
Issues & Challenges
Larger number of students
Decreased government funding
Competitive market
Globalization means education alternatives
New role statement given to the University by our funding body
(The University Grants Committee, UGC)
Over 99% of secondary school students have knowledge of
using computers (EMB 2002 survey)
CityU graduates ranked No. 1 in IT literacy by employers (EMB
2002 survey)
4-year Curriculum
The Educational Paradigm Shift
Network centred
Student centric
Experiential learning
Campus centred
Instructor centric
Directed learning
Online Interactions
Social
Presence
Cognitive
Presence
Supporting
Discourse
Interaction
w/ Peers
Interaction
w/ Content
LEARNING
Setting
Climate
Selecting
Content
Teaching Presence
Interaction w/
Instructors
Swan, K. (2003) Learning Effectiveness: What the Research Tells Us
Planned Adoption
Planned/Foundational Adoption
Initially driven by Executive Sponsor
Accelerated growth
Strategic planning upfront
Transition Management is the key to successful adoption
Adapted from Blackboard
Adoption of e-Learning
Organic Adoption
Planned Adoption
Organic/Exploratory Adoption
Initially driven by End Users
End User Plateau
Strategic Phase Necessary for
continued growth
Planned/Foundational Adoption
Initially driven by Executive Sponsor
Accelerated growth
Strategic planning upfront
Transition Management is the key to successful adoption
Adapted from Blackboard
We want to advance from
an organic adoption
to a planned adoption.
A 3-pronged Approach for Implementation
 Policies for Institutional
Adoption
 Cross-departmental Team
for Support
 Communications & Training
for both Staff and Students
Policy Formation & Project Timeline
Paper on a unified e-Learning platform to Senate sub-committee
in Nov 2003
Extensive consultation and evaluation of WebCT & Bb
Development of the Information Services Strategic Plan (ISSP)
Contract signed with Bb in Sep 2004
Pilot Bb6 courses, Jan 2005 – May 2005
Senate approval of ISSP in May 2005
Phase 1 deployment in Sep 2005
Meeting the Challenge of Change
University Strategic Plan 2003-08
“CityU has always recognized the importance of
information technologies in teaching, research and
administration.”
 Change in the University Environment
 Change in User Expectation
 Change in Technology
IS Strategic Plan 2005-2010
Focus on using information technology to improve
communications and access to information in support of
student learning, research and administrative operations.
Four key areas:
 A Unified e-Learning Platform
 Knowledge Management
 Institutional Data Management
 Web and Portal Strategy
Information Services Support for the University
(ISSP 2005-2010, the 4 Is Strategy)
Learning Outcomes
Evaluation & Assessment
of
Users’ Perspectives & Utilisation  Innovation
Supports
Immersion - Web delivery via the Portal
Supports
Integration - e-Learning system administration
Student information
System integrating
with e-Learning
software
Content
Management
(including creation)
Supports
Infrastructure – hardware, network, security
The e-Learning Project
 First emphasis of the ISSP 2005-2010
 A student-centred learning environment supported by
technology.
 Consolidation of resources with cross-functional support for a
single e-Learning platform for the University.
 Encouragement for teachers to extend their learning
resources in a step-wise fashion.
Cross-departmental Support for the
e-Learning Project
The Blackboard Steering Team
Dr J T Yu
(Chief Information Officer & Champion of the Project)
Prof Lilian Vrijmoed
(Dean of Student Learning & rep from FSE)
Prof Douglas Vogel
(Chair Professor & rep from FB)
Dr Jonathan Webster
(Department Head & rep from FHS)
Professor Steve Ching
(Librarian)
Dr Eva Wong
(Head, Education Development Office)
Ms Maria Chin
(Systems Manager, Computing Services Centre)
The Blackboard Implementation Plan
Cross-functional support from:
Academic Departments
Education Development Office
Academic Records and Regulations Office
Library
Enterprise Solutions Unit
Computing Services Centre
Blackboard at CityU
ARRO/ESU
• Banner integration
• Administration (user,
organisation, system …)
• Contract / Agreement / Purchase
CIO
+
Blackboard
Steering
Group
Support for
Blackboard
in CityU
EDO
• WebCT conversion
• User Support + Training
• Pedagogical Design
LIB
Departments + Faculties
• Library Resources
• Content Management
• Migration / conversion
• General technical support
CSC
• Hardware
• Hotlines
ARRO/ESU
• Banner integration
• Administration (user,
organisation, system …)
• Contract / Agreement / Purchase
CIO
+
Blackboard
Steering
Group
Support for
Blackboard
in CityU
EDO
• WebCT conversion
• User Support + Training
• Pedagogical Design
LIB
Departments + Faculties
• Library Resources
• Content Management
• Migration / conversion
• General technical support
CSC
• Hardware
• Hotlines
Library System
Other Campus Systems
Student Information System
File / Content Management
e-Portfolio
Learning Object Repository
e-Commerce
Communities
Assessment
Communication Tools
Course Management
Building Block APIs
The Blackboard Academic Suite
Personalized Information and Branding
Adapted from Blackboard
Opportunities
Seamless library access
Support for student portfolios
Repository of shared learning objects
Continuously updated class rosters
Dynamic monitoring and tracking of student performance (early
warning system)
Support for learning assessment
Enhanced student relationship management
Anytime, anywhere access and support
Hardware Deployment
ASP machine from Bb set up in Oct 2004 for pilot testing
7 pilot courses for 1000 students offered on the ASP from Jan
2005 to May 2005
ASP machine proved to have performance issues
Local Production system set up in Jul 05
High availability, no single point failure architecture deployed for
this mission-critical application
CityU Blackboard High Availability
Architecture (Production)
Internet or
Home Users
The Internet
Campus
Users
Campus Network
DMX 1000
(Tier 1)
CX700
(Tier 2)
F5
Big/IP
E25K
ePortal2
Load Balancing
Switch
V440
Fiber
Switches
Sun Cluster
V440
DB
Server
DL700
V440
V440
Bb Application Servers in
Load Balancing set up
(Course Management +
Portal Servers)
Switches for the
Internal network
Sun Cluster
Bb File server cluster and
Database server cluster
SAN storage
and
backup
solution for
Bb LMS and
CMS
Hardware for a Mission-Critical Application
Production System
for routine operations, expect 7x24 availability
Staging System
for upgrades and add-ons development, mirrors the production
system
Building Block System
for applications development, multi-systems admin
Archive System
for keeping old courses, works on a 1-year cycle
Communications & Training for Teachers
Briefing sessions to Schools & Faculties started in Feb 2005

10 introductory sessions to alert & excite colleagues
Intensive training in Aug & Sep 2005


Bb Instructor Training Workshops on
• Jump Start
• Teaching Functions
• Assessments
426 colleagues trained in 16 sessions
Online materials
Course Site Deployment for Teachers
Goal: Take the burden of course administration and management
away from the teachers
Convert WebCT and migrate Bb5 courses into Bb6 ones for instructors
Create course sites for credit–bearing courses for teachers






Close integration with Student Information System (SIS)
Establish basic guidelines
Systematic creation with mapping of instructional method from timetabling data
Synchronised students registration and user renewal with SIS
Streamlined requests for new course sites creation
Concept of the life-cycle of a course
Ensure teachers can easily access Library resources in the Content
Management System

Highlighted Library resources & course reserves set up for courses
Manage users efficiently to facilitate other staff-organised activities



Users from SIS with appropriate roles
Systems admin & privileged users have non-individual accounts
Guest users have special time-limited accounts under sponsors’ supervision
Communications & Training for Students
Students in pilot trained by respective teachers with
online tutorial to supplement
Intensive training for student mentors in Aug 2005
Student Orientation in Sep 2005
• Website & physical sessions
Online materials for students
Completed in Phase 1
Launched at the start of Semester A 2005-06
Production & Staging systems deployed
520 WebCT & 74 Bb5 course sites converted/migrated
24 organization sites with 4461 users on pilot use
Usage
 632 courses with Bb sites (45% of courses offered in Semester A)
 787 instructors & over 21000 students
Completed in Phase 2
Launched at Semester B 2005-06
Bb e-Portal replaced the old one existing
Upgrade to version 6.3
Usage
 821 Courses with Bb sites (55% of total courses offered)
 1130 instructors & 21340 students
New in September 2006
A Bb organisation site for each programme
All credit-bearing courses will have corresponding Bb course
sites
Chinese deployment with version 7
Emphasis on the pedagogical use of e-learning
Pedagogical Use of Bb Course Sites
Usage of e-learning according to the following classification
(Semester A 2005-06):
Course management (1.3%)
Content management (27.6%)
Student-centred activities (16.3%)
Other Uses of Blackboard
Student Orientation sites
Exchange students site
e-Portfolio for students
Hostel management
Committees administration
Departmental communications
Research collaboration
External collaboration
Other staff-managed activities
IT Support for Learning
Mission-critical at CityU
Enterprise Resources Management System (Banner)
 Database for identity management
e-Learning Platform (Blackboard)
 Course delivery & content management
Demonstration of CityU’s
e-Learning Environment
starts at 2:30pm
in CSC Room Q
Thank You!