Title: From a Simple to an Enterprise LMS: Upgrading to WebCTBlackboard 6'0
1From a Simple to an Enterprise LMS Upgrading to
WebCT/Blackboard 6.0
- The Center for Online Learning, Teaching and
technology
2UTPA Background
- Established 1927
- Comprehensive regional university
- Enrollment for Fall 2007 17,435 (all levels)
- 87 Hispanic Student Population
3Student Usage of WebCT/Blackboard
- AY 2005 8,792
- AY 2006 10,005
- AY 2007 11,986
- AY 2008 - 14,033
Average per Semester (Fall and Spring), numbers
do not include Summer Sessions
4Online Courses by Academic Year
- AY 2005 63
- AY 2006 57
- AY 2007 65
- AY 2008 - 99
Numbers do not include Summer Sessions
5Reduced-Seat/Hybrid Courses
- AY 2005 3
- AY 2006 6
- AY 2007 7
- AY 2008 - 11
Numbers do not include Summer Sessions
6Web Augmented Courses
- AY 2005 797
- AY 2006 1035
- AY 2007 1338
- AY 2008 - 1579
Numbers do not include Summer Sessions
7Mitigating Issues
- Number of users and courses continues to increase
- The need for a relational database
- Aging hardware (no cluster)
- Server crash
- WebCT 4.X reaching end of life
- Upgrade to next version was NECESSARY
8WebCT/Blackboard Upgrade
- Pilot program
- 13 Volunteers (faculty)
- Only one course per instructor (They decided)
- Provided them 2 training sessions of new LMS
- All volunteers used WebCT/Blackboard at different
levels - This diverse group was selected to see what they
thought of the new LMS
9WebCT/Blackboard Upgrade
- Created a Course Shell and added volunteer
faculty in this course shell. - Created a discussion topic on Bugs
- Discussion topics on their thoughts and lessons
learned from the new LMS.
10WebCT/Blackboard Upgrade (Technical)
- 2 tier hardware architecture
- Application tier BEA Weblogic
- Database tier- Oracle Enterprise DB 9i
- Relational Database
- Oracle DBA skills
- Red Hat Linux OS (both app and Db servers)
- different platform from before
11Upgrade Plan for Faculty
- Broke it down by colleges, not all colleges will
be migrated at once - First to move in the Fall Semester
- College of Arts and Humanities
- College of Education
- College of Social Behavior Sciences
- Also all new faculty teaching in WebCT/Blackboard
were immediately placed into the new LMS
12Upgrade Plan for Faculty
- Training
- Broke down the trainings into departmental
trainings - Created animated tutorials and provided them
after the training session in CDs - Provided one-on-one training for faculty new to
WebCT/Blackboard (other than the migrated
departments)
13Upgrade Plan for Faculty
- Migration of Materials
- We provided an online tutorial to help faculty
learn how to transition their material to the new
version using the Course Migration tool - Found that not many wanted to do that and needed
our assistance - But the little that did do it on their own
helped. - Middle of the Fall Semester started training the
remaining colleges - Again, departmentalized
14Upgrade Plan for Students
- Used WebCTs Student Orientation Module and added
it to every course - For Augmented/Reduced Seat Courses provided face
to face student orientations. - More Support Issues
15Support Implications
- Made students aware of the JR environment and its
importance with WebCT - Created Handouts with instructions on installing
the JR Environment - Talked to campus IT department to make sure all
computers on campus were running the latest WebCT
compatible version of JRE
16Support Implications
- Pop-Up blockers
- Created handouts on allowing popups for WebCT
- Provided students with online links on
allowing/disabling specific popup blockers
17Upgrade Plan for Tech. Support Staff
- Provided students with handouts outlining the
different new tools in the new version of
WebCT/Blackboard - Provided students with handouts outlining the
differences between the tools used in the old
version and how they are used in the new version
of WebCT/Blackboard. - Offered students to come in for 1 on 1 assistance
with the new version of WebCT/Blackboard. - Added Help Icon to all courses with contact
information and guides to solutions
18Information Technology Implications
- Batch Imports
- SCT Plus SIS Work with other entities to
customize XML extract - No Term concept when WebCT 6.0 was released
- New backup strategy
- Section backups by administrative period
- Oracle Database backup worked with IT folks to
put it in place - No Integration with SIS
19- Edgar GonzalezAssistant Director for
Instructional Technologyedgar_at_utpa.edu - Kumar RamanDirector Internet Services
kumar_at_utpa.edu - Josie HernandezInstructional Developerjdelatejer
_at_utpa.edu - Jessica SanchezInstructional Developer
jessica_at_utpa.edu - Ruben ZamoraHelpdesk Manager
rzamora8_at_utpa.edu