Google Apps for the U of M was featured in the June 23 issue of U of M Brief in a story about the changing ways in which Information Technology services are delivered and how those changes will benefit the U systemwide. Read "Collaboration is the key to IT."

Posted 2:58 PM | Permalink

OIT's video solutions group recently completed a collaborative effort with the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) in support of the Trent Tucker University Scholars program. This program is a partnership with the Trent Tucker Non-Profit Organization, the Office of the Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration, CLA Connections (College of Liberal Arts K-12 Outreach Program), CLA Video Services, and W.I.S.E. Charter School. Trent's work is focused on enhancing youth development, directing mentor activities at the University, facilitating new programs in the community, and supporting existing youth development programs in partnership with University colleagues.

Students in the program were able, over the course of three weekly sessions, to create public service announcements (PSA) for the program. These hands-on sessions, which were under the supervision of staff and student employees, utilized the equipment in CLA's Studio B in Rarig Center. Producing these PSAs gave students the opportunity to see the entire production process and realize it is something they can do too.

In the words of some Tucker Scholars:

• "I learned I should be a director!!"
• "I liked the stuff we did in the room with all of the technology."
• "I liked that today was different and we were able to work together to make this a success."
• "I learned it takes a lot of work to make a PSA."
• "I learned how film makers work their magic."
• "I learned that I don't have to be scared or nervous to present something."
• "I learned that you can put your style into your commercial."

The PSAs were then shown at the "End of Year Celebration" at the University's Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center on May 5th, where the students presented Susan Tade, or OIT's video solutions group, with a giant postcard of thanks.

We invite you to watch these PSAs:

• Trent Tucker Public Service Announcement #1


• Trent Tucker Public Service Announcement #2

OIT plans to continue to work to support Trent's efforts to engage with the local community and truly make the University of Minnesota a "destination" for Twin Cities students.

Posted 2:53 PM | Permalink

Blackboard, the company that owns WebVista, will discontinue support for WebVista beginning January of 2013. However, the University supports a second course management system called Moodle. University faculty will therefore need to stop using WebVista by August 2012 and move their courses to Moodle.

In order to address these difficult decisions regarding the future of Course Management Systems (CMS) at the University of Minnesota, Vice President and CIO Steve Cawley charged a working group to explore and analyze our current use of CMS, and to recommend a strategy for the future. One of the primary questions we needed to address was whether we needed to implement a new course management system to replace WebVista or if Moodle could serve as the sole course management system for the University of Minnesota.

A thorough investigation was conducted by the workgroup that included representatives from CEHD, CLA, CSOM, Office of the Vice Provost for Distributed Education and Instructional Technology, Office of Information Technology (OIT), and UMD. This group did not recommend replacing WebVista with a new CMS system. This group recommended Moodle as the sole CMS. Based on this recommendation and increased use of Moodle, OIT has begun to increase the capacity of Moodle servers, and is working to re-architect the technical infrastructure that works with Moodle.

Students indicate a strong preference for one system. Additional assessments indicate that it is cost prohibitive over the longer term to run two CMS systems. OIT is committed to continuing its funding level and support of Moodle long term as Moodle use is rapidly increasing at the University while WebVista use is declining.

The Moodle CMS is open source, meaning its development and production is "open" and available. It has a large and diverse user community with CMS sites being used in 212 countries and territories worldwide. The University of Minnesota is one of the largest higher education users of Moodle in the U.S.

Support from across the University

The University Libraries has advocated for a transition to Moodle due to its open architecture, community development model, and potential for service integrations. The Office of the Vice Provost for Distributed Education and Instructional Technology and the Office for Education, AHC (and the AHC Learning Commons) support the transition to Moodle as the sole CMS. Recently, Senate Committee on Information Technology (SCIT) members noted that this transition will help advance the goals for an integrated, centrally supported learning platform, facilitating the broader Digital Campus vision. Some SCIT members also expressed concern about the cost of transition and support for Faculty.

Phase Two

In phase two of our effort (beginning June 2010), OIT will establish an academic working group and work closely with faculty, administrators, IT directors, and instructional technology staff throughout the University system as we proceed. This working group will include faculty members from SCIT. OIT will work in partnership with collegiate units in terms of sharing the costs and efforts to complete this migration. OIT will provide central support services, associated training, and research into identifying and implementing migration tools as needed.

As additional information becomes available, it will continue to be posted on the CMS website and on the MyU portal. In addition, an FAQ on the CMS process is available. Ongoing updates will be presented at the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC), University Technology Enhanced Learning Leaders (UTELL), SCIT, and IT Directors meetings.

If you have any questions, contact cms-trans@lists.umn.edu

Posted 2:50 PM | Permalink