July 2020 - Brightspace (LMS) Third Party Tools Update

As we approach the Fall 2020 Semester start, we know faculty may have more questions about Brightspace and what is available for third party integrations. The IT Service and Delivery Support team have successfully integrated over 30 solutions from requests made to date. Below is a list of the solutions currently available in Brightspace.

We encourage you to review your course needs and make any new requests for anything not listed below as soon as possible. We anticipate being able to fulfill requests before the start of the Fall semester, dependent upon their timely request, and the results of internal Security and Accessibility reviews along with the responsiveness of the third-party vendors. Please work with your local teaching & learning team and use this form to make necessary new requests. Requests placed after the semester start will be scheduled for release for the Winter/Spring Terms.

February 2020 - Brightspace (LMS) Implementation Update

Colleagues,

It is time again for our regular update on our current implementation effort for the new Brightspace learning management system. Since our last update, we have reached several milestones, including the completion of Single Sign-On configuration for users, successful launch of Spring pilot courses on several campuses, and initial migration of courses and content from Blackboard to Brightspace. Final data and system architecture design is in progress with a focus on future data integration and reporting needs. The project team is pleased to report that we remain squarely on-track with our targeted project timeline (https://etac.maine.edu/home/lms-migration/process). We would also like to remind the community that Blackboard Learn will remain the primary LMS serving the entire system through Summer 2020.

Recent Decisions:

• The UMS Brightspace URL has been updated to courses.maine.edu
• Enrollments between Mainestreet and Brightspace will be synced with improved speed; Brightspace class lists will NOT include dropped students.

Recently Completed:

• Migration of initial set of courses from Blackboard to Brightspace
• Faculty and support staff training in preparation for Spring 2020 PIlot
• Completion of Single Sign-On configuration
• 27 Learning Tool Integrations from 18 LTI providers/vendors
• Successful Launch of pilot courses:
  • 88 live courses from four campuses (UMA, UMF, UMPI, USM)
  • 172 active instructors in Brightspace (may not all be in active courses)
  • 1,749 students in live pilot courses

In Progress:

• Active course pilots, allowing staff and faculty the opportunity to work hands-on in Brightspace
• Analysis of data architecture to support further development of the integration between MaineStreet and Brightspace and future reporting needs
• Brightspace governance planning
• Continue to implement requested Learning Tool Integrations

Next Steps: February/ March:

• Additional migration of course content from Blackboard to Brightspace
• Manual migration of course content content from other systems (Synapse, Google Classroom, etc.)
• Ongoing effort to accomodate integrations with additional third-party solutions
• Training for faculty and support staff in preparation for Fall 2020 launch

Please visit the ETAC website (https://etac.maine.edu/home) for ongoing updates to the Project Timeline. This site will remain the primary source of information regarding the transition to Brightspace and will include resources for learning more about the platform, including tutorials for building courses. The site will continue to be updated with new information as more details become available.

December 2019 - Brightspace (LMS) Implementation Update

Colleagues,

We are pleased to provide an update on our current implementation effort for the new Brightspace learning management system. Since our last update, the core implementation team has been hard at work alongside vendor (Desire2Learn) resources to complete initial design and configuration decisions for the new Brightspace environment. We remain on track according to the timeline posted on the ETAC website (https://etac.maine.edu/home/lms-migration/process) and are making final preparations to support a number of pilot course offerings within the Brightspace environment for each campus in the upcoming Spring term. As noted in our previous update, Blackboard Learn will remain the primary LMS serving the entire system through Summer 2020.

Recent Decisions:

• An organizational structure for the new UMS Brightspace environment has been established to facilitate course access
• To maintain consistency of course access, students enrolled in Spring 2020 Brightspace Pilot sections will access these courses through their normally assigned Blackboard course shells.

Recently Completed:

• Initial in-depth training for administrators
• Integration with initial set of third-party solutions, including Kaltura and Zoom
• Implementation support funding has been provided to each UMS campus to assist with course migration, training support needs
• Spring course pilot planning and development
  • Selection of pilot courses
  • Initial migration of courses from Blackboard to Brightspace
  • Course shell creation and instructor enrollment

In Progress:

• Initial in-depth training for instructional design and development staff
• Initial Brightspace site design and additional configurations
• Technical integrations with MaineStreet and remaining third-party solutions, including Single Sign-On support
• Learning Strategy Consulting engagement with D2L to identify opportunities to leverage the LMS implementation effort to support system-wide strategic outcomes
• Initial migration of pilot courses from Blackboard to Brightspace

Next Steps: December/ January:

• Continued in-depth training for instructional design and development staff and faculty participating in the Spring pilot
• Scheduling Desire2Learn Instructional Design and Course Audit consulting services for select courses
• Share on-demand training resources with all UMS Faculty

Please visit the ETAC website (https://etac.maine.edu/home) for ongoing updates to the Project Timeline. This site will remain the primary source of information regarding the transition to Brightspace and will include resources for learning more about the platform, including tutorials for building courses. The site will continue to be updated with new information as more details become available.

As we announced in August, the Brightspace platform has been selected as the University of Maine System’s next learning management system (LMS), replacing Blackboard Learn. We are pleased to share the following updates with the UMS community regarding the emerging implementation timeline based on what is known at this time.

Representatives from Desire2Learn have been working with the core LMS implementation team and US:IT to finalize an implementation plan that will facilitate the seamless transition from Blackboard Learn to Desire2Learn Brightspace by the start of the Fall 2020 term. Blackboard Learn will continue to be the primary LMS serving the entire system through Summer 2020.

Training for instructional design and IT staff will begin in November to support the plan to pilot some courses in the Brightspace environment as early as the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester.

Recent Decisions:

• The Chief Academic Officers Council (CAOC) will serve as the Executive Sponsor of the LMS implementation initiative
• The Educational Technology Advisory Council will serve as the core implementation project team
• Additional consulting services available from Desire2Learn through the UMS contract will focus on the establishment of a strategic LMS governance group that will be responsible for guiding the configuration and evolution of the platform to serve all campuses
• Recently Completed:
• LMS Implementation Project Charter, including project team structure, roles, and responsibilities [https://etac.maine.edu/home/lms-migration/implementation-documents]
• Project kickoff with Desire2Learn
• Initial UMS Brightspace site deployment, configuration with UMS systems underway

In Progress:

• Completion of Implementation Project Plan
• LMS site design and initial configuration
• Ongoing consultation with the Maine Community College System regarding their current Brightspace implementation

Next Steps: November/ December:

• In-depth training for platform administrators and instructional design and development staff
• On-demand training resources will be made available to UMS faculty
• Technical integrations for third-party tools (e.g. Zoom, Kaltura)
• Initial migration of courses from Blackboard to Brightspace

DRAFT Project Timeline

Although final details are still being worked out, the generally expected timeline for implementation of Brightspace is as follows:

Fall 2019

• Blackboard Learn remains UMS’s primary learning management system
• Initial administrator and instructional design training
• Initial technical configuration and testing of systems
• Faculty access to on-demand, self-directed training resources
• Access to test course shells for faculty
• Selection and focused training and support of faculty selected to conduct spring 2020 pilot courses in Brightspace

Spring 2020

• Blackboard Learn remains UMS’s primary learning management system
• Pilot Brightspace courses offered
• Course migration process tested, verified
• Faculty Brightspace training and workshops offered

Summer 2020

• Blackboard Learn remains UMS’s primary learning management system
• Course migration process continued
• Faculty Brightspace training and workshops continue to be available

Fall 2020

• Brightspace will be UMS’s primary and only supported learning management system
• Course migration process completed
• Blackboard Learn is moved to archive status and no longer available to instructors or students

April 9, 2019 - Updated LMS RFP Timeline

The RFP was published on April 1 (http://www.maine.edu/strategic-procurement/upcoming-bids/), and the proposal process is underway. Below, please find a timeline for the proposal process that concludes with an award on or before June 7th.

The LMS Specification Feedback survey completed February 28, had nearly 600 respondents from across the University of Maine system. The feedback you and your colleagues provided directly informed how ETAC prioritized and ranked the standard features available in modern Learning Management Systems. These rankings will now be used as a method to evaluate the proposals. The narrative comments submitted also provided the context for the development of eight (8) use case scenarios that are presented in the RFP. Each vendor will be required to demonstrate and detail how their solution effectively addresses each of the eight scenarios. These combined evaluative methods, with your feedback as we move forward, will inform which proposal or LMS platform is chosen.

Opportunities to Provide Feedback

There will be both recorded demonstrations from vendors presented for feedback from the community to help select finalists. Finalists will then be invited to give live/streamed demonstrations that will allow for Q&A with the finalists.

Updated Timeline

• Phase 1 – Use Case Presentation - LMS RFP Published 4/1/2019
  • April 8, 2019 - Deadline for Written Inquiries/Questions Regarding Use Cases – Appendix G – Evaluation Scenarios
  • April 9, 2019 - Response to Written Inquiries/Questions Regarding Use Cases – Appendix G – Evaluation Scenarios
  • April 18, 2019 - Deadline for Submission of Use Case Demonstration & Sandbox Link
    • Use Case Presentation - Respondents will provide a video or screen capture which details and demonstrates a solution to each of the eight scenarios in the Use Cases document. Pg 62. These videos will be distributed broadly for feedback online. The UMA Instructional Services unit will also host several discussion forums between April 22, and May 17th where vendor recordings of each scenario will be presented for discussion and Q&A.
  • April 18 – May 17 - Faculty, Staff & Students Review
• Phase 2 – RFP Submission, Evaluation and Award
  • April 12, 2019 - Deadline for Written Inquiries/Questions – RFP Focus
  • April 17, 2019 - Response to Written Inquiries/Questions – RFP Focus
  • April 30, 2019 - Deadline for Proposal Submission
  • May 16 - Respondent's Presentations ; Live from the Faculty Institute on the UMA campus and streamed via ZOOM for remote UMS participants.
    • May 16-31, 2019 - Vendor presentations available for review and faculty feedback to inform selection.
  • On or before June 7, 2019 - Award Announcement (subject to change)

Feb 12, 2019 - UMS LMS Specifications Feedback Survey

Greetings,

The purpose of the UMS LMS Specification Feedback survey is to help inform how ETAC prioritizes and ranks standard features available in modern Learning Management Systems to best support teaching and learning across the University of Maine System.

Your input will assist in developing a rating system that will be used to evaluate vendor platforms based on their implementation and support for these features.

We ask to receive your feedback by Thursday, February 28.

You may access this survey by visiting the following link: https://goo.gl/8s9su8.

Please note: sign in with your maine.edu credentials is required.

Sincerely,

Members of the UMS Educational Technology Advisory Committee.

Feb 5, 2019 - Planning for the future of LMS (Blackboard)

Greetings,

The University of Maine System must update or replace its learning management system (Blackboard) in the next 18 months (before fall semester 2020).

We currently run an older version of Blackboard. In addition, much has changed in learning management systems as well as in the way faculty and students want to use them.

We have not conducted a comprehensive review of learning management systems for many years. Over the coming months, we will undertake the task of learning from students and faculty what they want in a learning management system as well as assess the state of art in the learning management system market.

At multiple times throughout the process, the System-wide Educational Technology Advisory Committee (ETAC) will survey and meet with University faculty, students and staff. Through these efforts we hope to understand the features desired in a modern learning management system. Your feedback in these forums will inform the development of a formal proposal to solicit bids from the leading vendors.

We expect to release this proposal in March 2019. A System-wide committee will analyze the bids beginning in April 2019. ETAC will facilitate demonstrations of the top three vendors. We hope that all interested members of the entire University community attends these demonstrations and provides feedback.

We anticipate announcing a final decision in the summer of 2019.

Once we have identified our future learning management system, we will work for approximately one year to migrate to the new system. This will include planning to convert courses, providing training, and moving existing course content to the new platform before the fall semester of 2020.

Please note: we will keep our current contract for Blackboard throughout the transition period.

From Members of the Educational Technology Advisory Committee.