Your opportunity to participate in the evaluation process for the new learning management system (LMS) and learn about the history and biology of our jacaranda tree.
The LMS is a key part of our teaching, teaching administration and student learning. Each day, thousands of students and staff are active on the LMS. The choice of the LMS represents not only a large financial commitment for the University but also a significant investment in staff time and energy. The LMS should be a powerful aid to teaching and learning.
As reported in last week’s Staff News update, staff from across the University have been involved in detailed tests of potential LMS platforms over the last few weeks. This has involved designing and building teaching scenarios. From 21 November, this testing is being extended to students who will work through tasks on each platform and score them on how intuitive and easy to use they are.
All staff are also now invited to take part in the same tests. These are available to staff from 21 to 30 November. The scores from staff and students will form part of the evaluation, ensuring that the choice of the next LMS is made by the University as a whole. We hope that you will find getting involved is both interesting and easy.
We have set up mock unit of study sites in each platform. These cover the history and biology of our jacaranda tree. You will be scoring the platforms on their ease of use and how intuitive you find them across the range of devices and browsers that are in use. The evaluation process involves three steps:
- Agreeing to the confidentiality obligations that form part of the procurement process
- Running through the learning tasks on each of the three platforms under consideration
- Completing a short evaluation survey on each platform
In order for your assessment to form part of the evaluation process, you need to complete each of these steps before the end of November. We estimate that this process will take between one and two hours, but this will depend on how intuitive you find the platforms. The evaluation is open to all staff at the University:
This post originally appeared on the University of Sydney intranet and Staff News.
LMS Transformation Timeline:
| Event | Time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RFT released to market | 02/09/2016 | Complete |
| RFT closed | 12pm, 30/09/2016 | Complete |
| Initial examination and conformance check | 30/09/2016 – 04/10/2016 | Complete |
| Phase 1: detailed evaluation | 01/10/2016 – 11/10/2016 | Complete |
| Phase 1: preparation of evaluation report | 12/10/2016 | Complete |
| Respondents shortlisted for Phase 2 | 13/10/2016 | Complete |
| Notification to short listed respondents to set up environment for demonstration and scenario testing | 14/10/2016 | |
| Phase 2a – demonstration | Week of 17/10/2016 | Complete |
| Phase 2b – scenario based testing | 24/10/2016 – 30/11/2016 | Underway |
| Final recommendation based on Phase 1 and 2 scores | 1st week of December 2016 |
If you have any questions about the LMS transformation project, please contact your Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) or email Professor Adam Bridgeman.
