UC Santa CruzInstructional Computing
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Learning Management System Assessment Status

Staff Questions & Feedback

Questions Asked

Questions for Application Solutions and Student Affairs:

  • How best to collaborate towards common goals and create service definitions?
  • Provide logistical course services for faculty (class lists, grades, evaluations, ACI?
  • Provide course information for students? (ACI, Calendar, Grades, Link to course website?)
  • Provide important institutional data.
  • Given all current LMS applications will have similar features, what are the "deal-breakers" or non-negotiable attributes that our future LMS must have? These would pre-empt decision process, should be mission critical areas. (i.e.; Open Source Application, operate in real-time integration with Student Information System, IMS-compliance, and possibly confidence in our partnerships to deploy?)

Questions for the Divisional Liaisons:

  • How best to collaborate with the divisions towards common goals?
  • How would an LMS mitigate current activities?
  • Manage course logistics?
  • Share/deliver content?
  • Facilitate online collaboration?
  • Given all current LMS applications will have similar features, what are the "deal-breakers" or non-negotiable attributes that our future LMS must have? These would pre-empt decision process, should be mission critical areas. (i.e.; Open Source Application, operate in real-time integration with Student Information System, IMS-compliance, and possibly confidence in our partnerships to deploy?)

Questions for the Divisional ITS Staff:

  • How would an LMS create efficiencies for current ITS activities and leverage faculty effort?
  • What are the "deal-breakers" or non-negotiable attributes that our future LMS must have?
  • What are the service deliverables and roles of a successful LMS implementation?

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Responses and Results

University Extension

  • Supports 12-20 classes per term, 1177 students.
  • Seeking to migrate from eCollege, how could a partnership between UnEx and UCSC emerge?
  • Concerned about how their current system will work with increasing enrollment: system must be stable & scalable.
  • Want a better help desk than with eCollege.

Library

  • Would like to reduce duplication of effort.
  • Want to help patrons be more self-sufficient.
  • Want a good return on investment.
    • "Copyright management is an important issue that would have be addressed."
    -Library
  • Also provide some technological support to faculty.
  • Where can LITs and the library work together toward solutions?
  • Want easier authentication.
  • Concerned about copyright issues.

Divisional Liaisons (DLs)

  • Physical & Biological Sciences: Want to use LMS primarily for content delivery, must be easy to use.
    • "The LMS has to be easy [for faculty] to use, with no learning curve."
    -Divisional Liaison
  • Arts: Faculty are interesting in social networking, including blogs and wikis. Currently offer extensive support for creation of rich websites for instruction.
  • University Extension: Interested in using UCSC's LMS, concerned about integration of their separate registration system
  • Need to communicate the possibilities of the LMS better to DLs.

Local IT Staff (LITs)

  • Interested in collaboration on LMS.
  • Concerned about archiving: space, reusing old materials, migration
  • Interested in portfolio management solutions. See a desire for this in the arts & humanities.
  • Want reduced redundancy across campus, including hosting and with the library.
  • Would like it to be easy to use.
  • Concerned about policies on sharing materials, tool integration.
  • Want an LMS that is content rich, editable, supports collaboration, searchable, tracking, uses meta tags.
  • Want a better method for handling photos.
  • Desire for Web 2.0-like interface and functionality.
    • "Faculty want a GUI-rich environment."
    -LIT Staff, LIT & LMS Assessment Team Discussion
  • Interested in how open the architecture will be, what is available through the open source community.
  • Want a single-sign on, easy single-sign on authentication, centralizing information. "One portal per person."
  • Interested in profiles, particularly for faculty. Feel that this would be a good way to encourage faculty use of an LMS.
  • Concerned about student privacy but while maintaining flexibility.
  • Want integration with AIS, no manual input.
  • Think the LMS could be used for other things in addition to courses: equipment training and check out for students (like the copyright education course), online placement exams.
  • Want training in LMS to be able to better help those who come to them with LMS questions.
  • Feel that the gradebook should be robust & flexible.
  • Feel that having more roles is critical, particularly a designer role that LITs have access to. Roles could help define domains such as division and department.

Applications Solutions/Student Affairs

  • Want full integration between LMS and AIS.
  • Preserve the integrity of student records, privacy compliance including with servers.
  • Do not want to duplicate portals, there should be a way you can click through the portal to LMS. "One Stop Shop."
  • Want to know how other universities have paired PeopleSoft & LMS.
  • Would like integration with ScanTron.

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UCSC Faculty Instructional Technology Center
2006-2008
Last updated 6/24/2008