The LMS Review was completed in the summer of 2016. Thank you to everyone who provided their time and feedback. See our brief wrap up for more information on the decision to stay with Blackboard.
The Digital Experience Committee and Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLTech) Committee are currently conducting an LMS Review. Lesley University has been using Blackboard as our learning management system (LMS) since 2005. During this time LMS’s and elearning have changed dramatically. In July 2015, Blackboard released a brand new version of its LMS called Blackboard Ultra. Blackboard Ultra is a major redesign compared to the current version of Blackboard. Since moving to this version will be such a big change, it seemed worthwhile to revisit the LMS market to determine if another LMS would better fit the needs of Lesley University and its faculty and students.
How We Use the LMS (Blackboard):
Lesley uses the LMS as the primary classroom venue for fully online courses and to enhance face-to-face courses, allowing for students to submit assignments, collaborate together outside of class, and to bring outside resources into the classroom.
The LMS Options:
The Digital Experience Committee scheduled demos with the following vendors:
The review committee decided to eliminate Haiku from further consideration after the initial vendor demo. Pearson and MoodleRooms were also given brief consideration, but demos were not scheduled with these vendors as they did not seem to fit our needs.
Blackboard Ultra is not yet ready for us to do a full review of its platform. We are, therefore, reviewing Blackboard’s Software as a Service (SaaS) options. This would allow us to keep our current version of Blackboard/myLesley while moving to a cloud-based model that would allow for continuous maintenance with little to no downtime for upgrades.
Info on Reviewed LMS Tools
| Blackboard Learn 9.1 | Info Sheet | Quickstart Guide |
| Canvas | Info Sheet | Quickstart Guide |
| Desire2Learn | Info Sheet | Quickstart Guide |
| Schoology | Info Sheet | Quickstart Guide |
| Blackboard vs. Canvas – Feature by Feature Comparison Spreadsheet of all tools |
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Timeline
Please note that the timeline may shift due to unforeseen examples of reality at Lesley.
The Digital Experiences Committee
The Digital Experiences Committee is a cross-university group with members from Instructional Technology, eLearning and Instructional Design, the Library, and Marketing Communications.
Members include:
Robyn Belair, Instructional Technologist (UX Designer), eLearning & Instructional Support
Scott Bendekgey, Asst Director Microsoft Technologies, Information Technology
Scott Boulet, Director Enterprise Applications & Servers, Information Technology
Amy Donovan, Chief Information Officer, Information Technology
Jennifer Langley, Director of Digital Marketing, Marketing Communications
Kristina McElroy, Director of Academic Technology, eLearning & Instructional Support
Chelsea Peoples, Applications Analyst, Information Technology
Bill Porter, Learning Technologies Designer, eLearning & Instructional Support
Danielle Powell, Instructional Technologist, eLearning & Instructional Support
Heather Tillberg-Webb, Assoc Provost Academic Technology & eLearning, eLearning & Instructional Support
Constance Vrattos, Interim Dean, Library
Sue Wisniewski, Budget & Accounts Manager, eLearning & Instructional Support
The committee is guided by advice and collaboration with the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TL Tech) faculty committee.
Got questions? Want to get involved?
Email elis@lesley.edu, keep an eye on this blog for posts about the review and look for announcements from the Faculty Development at Lesley community.