DISTANCE LEARNING FACULTY TO HELP CHOOSE NEW LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Hello all Distance Learning Instructors at Lane, I hope this new year finds you well. As you may have read in the Daily, an issue of great importance to this campus is upon us. LCC instructors will be choosing a single Learning Management System (LMS) for the college. While certainly an important choice for all members of the college, it should be particularly important to you, the Distance Learning Instructors at Lane. I have therefore asked Cynde Leathers to send this email to you on my behalf. I hope you find the information valuable. As stated in an email message sent earlier today to the entire LCC employee email list, the time to choose an LMS is here, due to a number of reasons. Here are four of them: #1 In order to provide the best technical support and service, the Information Technology Department would like to support a single LMS system and have asked that faculty and staff to choose a system. Lane faculty should re-examine its existing systems and current systems available. Background #1a: For the first time at Lane, the IT Department began to administer the WebCT server in Fall 2005. Before then, it was administered over the years by Faculty Webmasters Ken Zimmerman, Mark Williams, and last year by Joe Escobar. WebCT instructors will note that MOST ALL of the login problems have vanished since David Walton, of the IT Department, began administering the server and integrating it with the Banner/ExpressLane student data. This is an example of the level of support and expertise the IT Department can bring to Lane's LMS. Background #1b: LCC now has a student help desk. The SHeD (shed@lanecc.edu) opened in Spring Term 2005 and supports Lane's online students with technical questions about their online classes in WebCT, Moodle, and other web technologies. The SHeD would also benefit by supporting a single LMS system. #2 LCC currently uses the "outdated" WebCT Campus Edition version 4. WebCT currently markets Campus Edition version 6 and WebCT Vista as its to latest, best products. Lane should decide to upgrade its current LMS system. #3 Licensing of WebCT Campus Edition version 4 will most likely change next year as WebCT pushes institutions to upgrade to Campus Edition version 6 or WebCT Vista. Our currently yearly license costs about $8,900. The new WebCT yearly license cost ranges from $35,000 - $70,000 a year. With such a large increase, it is time to re-examine Lane's LMS choice. #4 In October, 2005, Blackboard (a competing LMS system) "bought out" WebCT. On WebCT's website (http://www.webct.com) the website calls it a "merger", but it also states: * Company will remain under the Blackboard brand. * Over time, Blackboard will incorporate the best features and usability characteristics from the two product lines into a new standards-based product set. Needless to say, change is coming for Lane's WebCT Instructors. It is time to re-evaluate Lane's LMS. ************************ Lane's faculty webmasters have invited representatives from WebCT, Blackboard, and Moodle to come to campus and make a presentation to which all faculty and staff are invited. All presentations will be held in the LCC Boardroom, 3/216. The days and times are as follows: WebCT - Monday, January 23, from 11am-1pm Blackboard - Thursday, January 26, from 2-4pm Moodle - Monday, January 30, from 2-4pm Presentation attendees will be able to provide feedback which will be considered in making a recommendation to the Executive Team. We encourage all interested parties to attend. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this decision and the value of your input and feedback as Distance Learning Instructors at Lane. I hope you will find time to attend and I look forward to seeing you at the presentations, Joe Escobar Faculty Webmaster P.S. We'd also like to plan for refreshments, so an RSVP would be very helpful, although not required if you decide to attend at the last minute. Please complete the online form at: http://teach.lanecc.edu/lms