What product should we choose as CState’s next LMS? Your input is needed.

Academics, Faculty & Staff, Technology

Oct 6, 2023

person's hand pointing at a laptop screen with another hand touching the keyboard

Blackboard Original, the Learning Management System (LMS) currently used to support all Cincinnati State courses and to support some employee organizations and services, is being phased out by its parent company and replaced with a newer version that is significantly different from the current version.

To address this impending change in technology, in Summer 2023, as a result of recommendations from the Faculty Senate and the Academic Technology Committee, the College established an LMS Evaluation Team. This group, led by Dr. Stephanie Stafford, Assistant Dean of Online Learning, is now assessing and evaluating LMS needs and eventually will recommend a new LMS to be adopted for future College use.

All faculty users of Blackboard (and other employees who use Blackboard) are encouraged to complete a survey by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, to share your LMS insights and concerns.

To complete the survey, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LMSsatisfaction

Your survey responses will help to:

Identify areas of strength in Blackboard Original that should be preserved.
Pinpoint areas in need of improvement in a future LMS.
Understand specific LMS needs and preferences.

Other steps in the LMS Evaluation process

This semester, the Evaluation Team solicited Requests for Information from LMS vendors, and received replies from four companies:

Anthology (Blackboard Ultra)
Instructure (Canvas)
D2L Brightspace,
Cognizant

These vendors will be asked to provide information sessions about their products (open to all interested employees), and to develop three sample courses based on existing Cincinnati State course content.

Faculty and other employees will receive information about the schedule for information sessions and access to the sample courses, so you can provide feedback based on informed comparisons among the products.

The evaluation process will be completed and a new LMS will be selected during the 2023-24 academic year. Implementation of a new LMS will occur during the 2024-25 academic year.

If you have questions, you can contact Stephanie (stephanie.stafford@cincinnatistate.edu) or the other members of the LMS Evaluation Team: Jon McKamey, Julie McLaughlin, Bob Nields, Peggy Rolfsen, Frankie Baker, and Tracy Metsch.