WebCT OWL UpdateProject Team (OWL Flight Plan)

Jean SavageShawn Foster

Deanna GroganCorey Meingarten

Jane Winkler

Overview

• Today’s OWL• Tomorrow’s OWL• Getting There (OWL Flight Plan)

Today’s OWL

• Blackboard Learn Vista– Formerly WebCT, since 1998

• 2009– 3,996 active sections– 2,326 instructors– 42,829 students– 227,665 enrollments

• October 2009– 1,707,260 logins– 3,359 concurrent users on

Oct 13th 2009 at 10pm

Keeping The OWL Flying

• Cluster of servers handle user requests• Data stored in redundant databases• Databases hosted on redundant disk

environments

Beyond the Academic• Student Success Centre

– Summer Academic Orientation

– LAMP– Mature Students– SOCS

• Human Resources– Accessibility and Disability

Training– Occupational Health & Safety

(ex. WHMIS)– Accessibility for Ontarians

with Disabilities Act (AODA)• PeopleSoft Training

– STANG

• Campus Community Police Services– In-Service Training– Foot Patrol

• Housing and Food Services– Hospitality Training– Residence Clerks– Residence Conduct– Residents Council

Executive– Reznet

Beyond the Academic (cont.)• Emergency Management &

Response– Business Continuity Team– Emergency Responders– Emergency Information– Virtual EOCG

• Research Western– Animal Care and Training

• Admissions Testing– Music– Huron Writing

• External Collaboration– Preceptor Education Program– Interprofessional Education

• Continuing Studies– All courses offered in

dedicated institution

• Schulich– Continuing Professional

Development– Administrative Content

Sharing

Supporting Teaching & Learning

• Announcements• Assessments• Assignments• Calendar• Chat• Content• Discussions• Grades

• Group Management• Mail• Media Library• Tracking• Turnitin.com• Wiki• Wimba Live Classroom• Wimba Voice Tools

The Many Wings of the OWL

Class PhotosClass

Photos

ScanExam Results

ScanExam Results

Final Grade Export

Final Grade Export

WikiWiki

Wimba ToolsWimba Tools

one45one45

PeopleSoft HE Integration

PeopleSoft HE Integration

Turnitin.comTurnitin.com

Publisher ePacks

Publisher ePacks

Registrar Exam Schedule

Registrar Exam Schedule

Certificates of AchievementCertificates of Achievement

Library Off-Campus Access

Library Off-Campus Access

Tomorrow’s OWL

• Current platform is unsupported as of Jan 2013• Vendor roadmap is to Blackboard Learn 9• Represents a significant change technically and

to campus users• Opportunity to assess campus needs and plot

our direction

Change, change, change

• All paths lead to substantial changes• Re-do documentation & training materials• Re-train everyone• Migrate every course• Re-organize technical infrastructure• Re-do customizations and development

Other Institutions

• Many institutions considering the possibilities– Queen’s, Ottawa, UBC, Waterloo

• Some have already made the move– Brock: WebCT Sakai– Saskatchewan: WebCT Blackboard Learn 9– Wilfrid Laurier: WebCT Desire2Learn

• Major Platforms– Blackboard, Sakai, Desire2Learn, Moodle

Trends To Keep In Mind

• Mobile devices• Open Education• Virtual classrooms & virtual worlds• Lecture capture• Identifying at-risk students• Life-long learning and portfolios• Textbook publishers as digital service providers• Personal Learning Environments / Networks

TimelinesTimeframe Tasks

March 2010 – Dec 2010 •Establish project web presence•Needs Analysis

•Survey•Consultations

•Request for Information•Evaluation

Jan 2011 – May 2011 •Demonstrations•Short-listing•Selection

May 2011 – Sept 2012 •Implementation•Migration•Pilot

Sept 2012 •Future OWL goes live

Jan 2013 •End of vendor support for WebCT

Needs Analysis

• Web Presence: The OWL Flight Plan• Surveys– Staff– Faculty– Students

• Open Forum– User Voice

http://webct.uwo.ca/owlflightplan/

Questions?

OWL Flight Plan Project Teamowlflightplan@uwo.ca