Blackboard Upgrade Pricing Proposal March 2009

DECOS Committee

Recommendation Concerning Course Management System

Recommendation

Our recommendation is to pursue a full, upgraded license with Blackboard (Bb). We recommend upgrading to Blackboard Learning Enterprise 9.0 (released in January 2009), including the Bb Community and Content Systems, hosting by Bb, with Banner integration.

Need for Change

Our existing license with Bb expires July 1, 2009. The license is for the Basic version of Blackboard 6.0, hosted here on campus. We have had significant growth in the use of Blackboard for online and face-to- face classes here at COS. Currently, there are 325 active Bb courses with over 5,000 users. Our infrastructure is stretched to its limit. For example, we are not able to use synchronous chat features in Bb without impacting our infrastructure to the point of collapse. We recommend hosting of Bb off site to guarantee stability and to enable continued growth in users and in the use of media.

Blackboard 6.0 is a four-year-old product. While it is adequate for basic operations, we are already experiencing compatibility issues with newer Internet browsers and communication and productivity applications. For example, the latest version of Internet Explorer is not compatible with Bb 6.0. Students using Internet Explorer encounter problems when interacting with Bb communication features. These problems are likely to increase with the rapidly increasing sophistication of technological tools available to our faculty and students. We recommend the investment in a newer product which facilitates the use of a variety of technological teaching and learning tools.

Exploration and Vote

In Spring 2008, Dr. Johnson charged DECOS with exploring course management systems in order to make a recommendation to the College for the adoption of a new system. DECOS investigated current course management systems available and chose three options to explore in detail: Blackboard; Desire2Learn; and Epsilen.

3/4/2009 1 We had onsite demonstrations from all three companies. All faculty were invited to attend these demonstrations. We discussed course management systems in detail after these demonstrations. We entered into a one-year exploratory license with Epsilen in which several faculty members conducted live classes using the course management system. We had reservations about using Epsilen, because the testing feature was not yet available. We had been assured by Epsilen that a testing feature would be available in the very near future, but Epsilen has not produced this essential feature.

Without a testing feature, we could not recommend Epsilen. We felt that Blackboard (Bb) and Desire2Learn (D2L) systems were similar. Many of the members of the committee felt that since we were already using Bb, our endorsement of that product would lead to an easier transition in terms of content migration and faculty training. The DECOS committee endorsed Bb in a 2:1 vote on February 25, 2009.

On February 25, 2009, the Academic Senate unanimously endorsed the recommendation of DECOS concerning our web-based course management system.

Blackboard

Blackboard released its newest version of the course management system, their Learning Enterprise 9.0, or Learn Solution, in January 2009. There are many new, Web 2.0 compatible, social networking and communication features, as well as upgraded gradebook, and student retention support features. A brief overview of Release 9.0 can be viewed at the following location: http://www.blackboard.com/release9/

Blackboard Learn Enterprise Licensing Costs

(see attached)

Transition Plan

Technical transition (Consultation with Technology Committee at next meeting: March 16, 2009)

1. Technical Requirements

2. Administration

3. Processes

a. Activation

b. Banner interface

c. Additional media storage policies and procedures 3/4/2009 2 d. Other

4. Training provided by Bb

5. Ongoing Bb management issues

3/4/2009 3 Faculty Transition*

1. Announcement (spring 2009)

2. Migration of existing content (spring and summer 2009)

3. Requests for shells for summer and fall 2009 (spring 2009)

4. Initial Training (spring, summer, and fall 2009)

a. Bb 9.0 Learn System features

b. Bb management and technical support

c. Online pedagogy

d. Instructional media

e. Other

5. Ongoing training (fall 2009)

a. Bb 9.0 Learn System features

b. Online pedagogy

c. Instructional media

d. Other

Student Transition*

1. Announcement (spring, summer, and fall 2009)

2. Orientations (online and on-site – spring, summer, and fall 2009)

3. Workshops (summer and fall 2009)

4. Online tutorials (developed spring 2009)

*Requires Distance Education Coordinator contract for summer 2009 hours

3/4/2009 4