Phase II Implementation & Beyond: Migration, Communication & CMS Strategy Josh Baron Director, Academic Technology & eLearning

Presentation Overview Marist College & Phase I implementation background Phase II implementation (Fall 2006) Beyond Phase II– Next Steps (SP 2007) Beyond Phase II – Strategic Planning –Evaluation Criteria –Communication Strategy –Transition Strategy iLearnSakai Note: iLearn is Marist College

MARIST COLLEGE NOTWe are NOT a large research university! liberal arts collegeFounded 1929 – small complex liberal arts college 5700 FTEApproximately 5700 FTE student population 200 full-time faculty200 full-time faculty, 500 part-time incorporating technologyLong history of incorporating technology into the teaching and learning process

Phase I Background mitigating riskWanted to test the waters while mitigating risk Production Pilot“Production Pilot” began in March 2006 self-containedSelected self-contained fully online program –Institute for Data Center Professionals (IDCP) –Initial cohort included 25 students Added second program in Summer 2006 –Summer Game Institute for HS students

Phase II - Overview Expanded productionExpanded production pilot in Fall 2006 to include: total 75 students –Two additional IDCP cohorts (total 75 students) –New System “z” mainframe program (25 students) –4 additional instructors Upgrading to 2.2Challenge #1: Upgrading to 2.2 within a small window of “down time” begin developmentChallenge #2: Faculty needed to begin development of Fall 2006 courses over the summer

Phase II - Solutions phased upgrade planImplemented a phased upgrade plan: test system –Upgraded test system to 2.2 upon release development system –Moved our development system up to 2.2 develop courses in development system –Allowed faculty to develop courses in development system running 2.2 –Two days prior to Fall semester, we: Upgraded our production system to Migrated courses from our development to production systems

Migration issues Site DuplicationSite Duplication only copied Resources “permission” problemsImport Tool had “permission” problems import/export XMLAssessment import/export XML problems Solutions: –Duplicated sites using Admin account –Signed in under Instructor account and imported announcements, assignments, etc. –Used VI to identify HTML tags causing XML parser problems and cleaned up code

Beyond Phase II – Next Steps expand “production pilot”Plan to expand “production pilot” in the Spring semester –Adding new IDCP Cohort Project Sites –Piloting use of Project Sites for collaboration face-to-face courses –Add several face-to-face courses new discussion toolWill move new discussion tool into production pilot OSPMay begin to pilot OSP

Strategic Planning Process January 2008Decision Point Target: January 2008 Evaluation criteria are being developed for deciding: right long-term CMS solution –(a) Is Sakai the right long-term CMS solution for the College? recommended transition timeline –(b) If it is, what is the recommended transition timeline? Communication planCommunication plan will involve entire College community in the decision process Transition strategyTransition strategy is part of decision making process

Evaluation Criteria (EC) Functionality RequirementsEC #1: Functionality Requirements Available SupportEC #2: Available Support Health of the Sakai CommunityEC #3: Health of the Sakai Community Innovation FactorsEC #4: Innovation Factors Reliability & StabilityEC #5: Reliability & Stability

EC #1: Functionality Requirements Gap analysisGap analysis will compare functionality of current CMS to Sakai at a “fine grain level” Functionality filtersFunctionality filters: –Critical –Critical – Cannot deploy without it –Essential –Essential – Can deploy but will need ASAP –Desirable –Desirable – Can deploy, may limit innovation available & reliableCritical functionality – available & reliable timely solutionsEssential functionality – timely solutions

EC #2: Support Resources user supportWhat are the staffing requirements for user support and are they available? “backend” supportWhat are the staffing requirements for “backend” support and are they available? rSmart Option innovation and community developmentrSmart Option: Way of freeing up our limited staffing resources to work on innovation and community development.

EC #3: Health of the Sakai Community growing or shrinkingIs the community growing or shrinking? deadlines and goals being metAre community set deadlines and goals being met? governance structureIs the governance structure working? commercial affiliatesAre commercial affiliates coming onboard? (e.g. legal issues)Disruptive forces (e.g. legal issues)

EC #4: Innovation Factors innovation factorsWill “innovation factors” be realized? Bottom-line is not a profit margin –Built by educators, for educators Service Orientation Architecture (SOA) –Customization at low cost The crowd-sourcing factor –10,000 idiots –10,000 idiots can come up with one good idea

EC #5: Reliability & Scalability Performance testing protocolsPerformance testing protocols have and will be deployed with each release perceivedReliability: Is critical/essential functionality perceived to be reliable by users? –Perception factors: Bugs, design flaws, UI issues –If not, can we implement solutions to address issues? long-term growth projectionsIs there a enterprise solution that will support long-term growth projections?

Communication Strategy Cabinet, faculty, students, ITAudiences: Cabinet, faculty, students, IT right message for each audienceFind the right message for each audience –ROI and recognition (Cabinet) –Built by educators, for educators (faculty) –Innovative functionality (students, faculty) –Opportunity to do development work (IT) realistic expectationsSet realistic expectations and timelines rumor luncheons school and committee meetingsTips: rumor luncheons, breakfast briefings, newsletters, school and committee meetings

Transition Strategy “Opt in”“Opt in” phase for faculty over two year period Data migrationData migration planning… –What will we move and what will we ask faculty to move? –What to move and not to move? Considering movingConsidering moving: “raw” resources, exams, and syllabus but not discussion postings and assignments Policy for new program cutover New policiesNew policies will be enacted: –Faculty training will be required –Every courses at College gets a course site in iLearn/Sakai –Standards of eLearning Excellence

Josh Baron Director, Academic Technology & eLearning (845)