Summer Course Management System Pilots
This summer, the Center for Teaching is facilitating pilots of three platforms under consideration for Vanderbilt’s next course management system (CMS). The platforms are Canvas by Instructure, Brightspace by D2L, and Blackboard Ultra by Blackboard. In April, the CFT hosted campus visits and public demos by all three vendors. Given feedback on the demos, the CMS Selection Committee decided to move forward piloting each of the three systems this summer.
The CFT is coordinating and supporting the summer CMS pilots, and is working with about a dozen instructors who are testing the platforms in summer courses. The instructors and their students will provide feedback on the platforms, which will inform the CMS Selection Committee’s final recommendation to the Provost for Vanderbilt’s next course management system.
Once Vanderbilt’s next CMS is selected, the CFT will coordinated an expanded pilot of the chosen platform this fall, while Vanderbilt University Information Technology (VUIT) and Enrollment Management Operations Support (EMOS) work with the vendor on full implementation and integration with Vanderbilt systems. If all goes as planned, Vanderbilt instructors will have the option to use Blackboard or the new system for spring courses, with a full transition to the new system during the summer of 2017.
Questions or comments about the summer pilots or the CMS selection process? Send them to blackboard@vanderbilt.edu.
Image: “Microscope,” gonzales2010, Flickr (CC)
Leave a Response