TED Tips – Issue 7: Upcoming Training Opportunities

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Last week, I introduced the idea of “learning technologies” as the broad range of communication, information, and related technologies that support learning, teaching, and assessment. This week, I want to explore a few upcoming Learning Technology Center (LTC) activities where you can learn more about various “learning technologies”.

training

training

Welcome Back Week

One of the most important events at the start of the academic year is Welcome Back Week. Each year, ICIT hosts a Technology Open House where faculty, staff, and students explore new campus technology and technology related initiatives. This year’s Tech Open House is Wednesday, August 29 from 1:30 – 4:30 pm in UC 275. You will find hands-on interactive demonstrations, information from vendors, and can participate in a “GooseChase” scavenger hunt. There will be free food and door prizes. Complete scavenger hunt missions to win additional door prize entries. See the resources section at the end of this TED Tip for more information on how to get started on the GooseChase.

In addition to the Technology Open House, there are several Canvas workshops throughout “Welcome Back Week”. These workshops cover a variety of topics from getting started in Canvas, a look at building content, and a more hands-on approach to features like “SpeedGrader” and other ways to expedite grading and provide feedback.  These workshops will are all held in Hyland 3101.

  • Introduction to Canvas — Friday, August 24 from 8:30 – noon
  • Using Canvas for Grading and Feedback – Friday, August 24 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm
  • How to Build Content in Canvas – Tuesday, August 28 from 3:30 – 4:30 pm

LEARN Center/LTC Collaborative Workshop Series

The LTC/LEARN Center collaborative series for the 2018-2019 is on the theme of “Back to Basics to Balance Workload” and will focus on strategies to improve your teaching practice and student learning without adding to your workload. The first session “Efficient and Effective Communication Strategies,” will be Thursday, September 20 from 12:30 until 1:45 pm in UC259A. Heather Pelzel, Biological Sciences and LEARN Center and Ted Witt from the LTC will present communications strategies to help you:

  • Establish expectations and boundaries for communications between instructor and students.
  • Evaluate strategies for determining academic “at-risk” students and tips for how and when to facilitate academic interventions.
  • Explore methods to use CANVAS for additional ways to communicate with students.

The other workshops in the fall series will be on October 18th “Best practices on providing effective feedback using low-tech and high-tech options” and November 27th “Using groups to engage students and maximize your class time”.

Teaching with Technology

Searching for ways to build community with students in your online class? Looking for a way to facilitate communication and collaboration between your students in your face-to-face class? You may benefit from the Learning Technology Center’s (LTC) “Teaching with WebEx Teams Bootcamp!” Webex Teams is an app for continuous teamwork with video meetings, group messaging, file sharing and white boarding. This three part series is on Wednesdays at 3:00 pm in October.

  • Why Should I Use WebEx Teams? October 10
  • How Do I Use WebEx Teams? October 17
  • Now What Do I Do With WebEx Teams? October 24

Additionally, there are two upcoming “Poll Everywhere” information sessions. Poll Everywhere is a polling application that can enhance live interactive audience participation in class in real time. You can learn more about “Using Poll Everywhere to Engage Students” through two upcoming workshops:

  • September 26 at 3:00pm
  • October 4 at 11:00 am

Institute for Online / Blended Teaching

If you are new to teaching online or blended courses, or are interested in revitalizing a current course, the Institute for Online/Blended Teaching provides instructors the opportunity to collaborate on course design strategies and teaching best practices. This intensive and interactive series of workshops simulates taking a blended course and integrates a variety of different methods and technologies. The structure of the Institute allows participants to explore new instructional and course design methods, and participate in learning activities similar to what a student would experience. Look for registration for the Winter 2018 program early this fall.

For a complete list of upcoming events or to sign up for these events, use the ICIT signup web page using your Net-ID! https://my.uww.edu/signup/Home Find more about these and other activities on the LTC’s blog page: http://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/

Next week I want to peer into the future and explore the innovative practices, trends, and technologies for higher education as presented by the 2018 Horizon Report.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:
http://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/

Welcome Back Week GooseChase notes:

  • Play our Interactive Scavenger Hunt, GooseChase.
  • Download the GooseChase iPhone or Android app.
  • Register for an account with your “uww” email address.
  • Create a password that IS NOT THE SAME as your Net-ID password.
  • Search for and join one of the two “ICIT Tech Open House” games.
  • The missions will go live on Wednesday, August 29 at 1pm.

Fall 2018 Canvas Courses Now Available

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Beginning on Friday, August 10th, 2018 all Fall 2018 courses are now available in Canvas.  A few reminders about how this works:

  • No More Course Requests!  With Canvas, your courses will be automatically created every semester.  You no longer need to fill out a course request form.
  • Course Combinations.  Do you want to combine multiple sections of the same course into a single Canvas course?  Follow the steps in the Cross-Listing/Merging Canvas Courses guide.  If you need to combine courses that you are not the teacher for or if you have any questions please contact Canvas support.

Now that you have your course – here is what’s next:

  • Courses are Unpublished.  By default, all courses that are created in Canvas will come across as unpublished.  When a course is unpublished, it’s only visible to you – and students will not see the course.  Once you have your content loaded up into the course and ready to go, simply hit the “Publish” button in the top right corner on the course home page.  For more information see: Canvas Guide: How do I publish a course?
  • Import your content (Master Course).  If you have been working in a Master (Blank) course inside of Canvas – great!  You can easily copy that content into your Fall semester course and then you’ll be ready to go!  Follow these steps to Copy Content from an Existing Canvas Course.
  • Import your content (Desire2Learn).  If you want to pull content directly over from Desire2Learn into your Canvas course – we got you covered!  Follow these steps to Export your Desire2Learn Course and Import it into Canvas. Keep in mind, there will be some adjustments you need to make – so don’t want until the last minute.  Check out the D2L Course Complexity App for more information.
  • Canvas Support.  As a reminder, with Canvas we do have 24/7/365 Phone, Chat and Email Support (links on the login page)!  Please direct all questions to Canvas support.  If they cannot assist you, they will escalate the issue to local support at UW-Whitewater.

Many of the external applications and integrations that were available in D2L are already completed and ready to go in Canvas.  Respondus LockDown Browser has recently been completed is now available and ready for use.  For the full list of integrations, check out the External Applications Integrations list.

Want to learn more about Canvas? Join us at one of our workshops during welcome back week! Signup at: http://go.uww.edu/ltc-workshop-signup  Can’t make a workshop? Check out our Training Resources.

If you have any questions or concerns about the transition, please reach out to the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

 

LTC Staff Presented at the 2018 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

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Several Learning Technology Center staff members recently gave presentations at the 2018 Distance Teaching & Learning Conference in Madison, WI. The conference ran from August 7th to August 9th, 2018.

On Tuesday August 7th, Learning Technology Specialist Andrew Cole co-facilitated a pre-conference workshop called How Can We Apply the Science of Learning to Online and Blended/Hybrid Courses?

On Wednesday August 8th, Director of Learning Technology Nicole Weber presented an information session on Extending the LMS for enhanced communication and collaboration.

On Thursday August 9th, LMS Administrator Shane Degen and Learning Technology Specialist Andrew Cole facilitated a discussion session on Maintaining Community after Online/Blended Faculty Development “Ends.”

For more on the Distance Teaching & Learning Conference, please see the conference website. For more on the individual presentations, check out the Conference Guidebook.

For more on the Learning Technology Center, please see the LTC website.

TED Tips – Issue 6: What is “Learning Technology”?

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Technology has become more and ubiquitous in higher education.  Technology allows students to conduct research and analysis, collaborate and communicate, and to create rich multimedia experiences.  Interacting with digital learning environments help develop deeper skills like problem solving and critical thinking.

Over the last few weeks, I have introduced myself and started to explore the themes of Technology, Education, and Design.  This week I want to describe the meaning of the phrase “learning technology” and some of the context of the work we do in The Learning Technology Center.

I work in the Learning Technology Center (TLC). The LTC is a unit in the Instructional, Communication, and Information Technology (ICIT) Department in the division of Academic Affairs.  ICIT focuses on using technology to meet “educational, research, learning, organization, administrative and public service” needs. As part of ICIT, the Learning Technology Center supports faculty and instructional staff.  The LTC looks
for ways to integrate pedagogy and technology to develop effective learning experiences.

procution studio

LTC Media Production Studio

What is “Learning Technology” and how does the LTC support it?

The Association for Learning Technology defines “Learning Technology as the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that support learning, teaching and assessment”.
Learning technologies support the process, design, and delivery of education.  In addition to learning, teaching, and assessment, tools can aid faculty in other ways such as analytics that provide insights into student progress and support data-driven decision-making and intervention.  Tools that support research can also be included.

What types of topics fall into the broad category of “learning
technology”?

Digital Learning Environment The University of Wisconsin System uses a “digital learning environment” to support teaching and learning in all modes.  As we have explored over the last few weeks on this blog, the UW-System is moving to Canvas Instructure as that main platform.  The LTC supports faculty by providing training and workshops on how to use Canvas, migrate content from D2L to Canvas, and explore specific tools within Canvas. This support extends beyond how to use Canvas and its tools, but promotes the best practices and advocates for sound pedagogical approaches to using those tools.

The digital learning environment extends beyond the Canvas platform.  It include other ways to design, develop, and deliver learning materials, interactive experiences, and assessments.   For example, multimedia video has been shown to increase student engagement; the LTC has a professional media production and recording studio to help create, manage, and distribute streaming video for classroom use.

Incorporating technology into learning spaces.   Higher education increasingly incorporates digital elements into the classroom.  Learning technology can support traditional face-to-face classrooms by incorporating digital content or active learning
models.  Technology also enables the facilitation of other course modalities, for example, online classrooms or hybrid and blended spaces that fall somewhere in between.  More recently, classroom interactions often support multiple devices including mobile smart phones and the use of student response systems.

Evaluating emerging technologies.  As new technology emerges, there are different possible applications for classroom use.  The LTC supports pilot projects to help
monitor and evaluate trends related to emerging technologies for potential use at the UW-Whitewater campus.  Additionally, the LTC supports technology adoptions that meet both instructional and non-instructional needs.  For example, the LTC is currently exploring adaptive learning with instructors.

While technology can be fun and shiny and new…we believe that technology should not be used for technology’s sake or because it is considered “fun and shiny and new”!  Instead, we believe in understanding the underlying issues and trends, exploring multiple options (including possible low or no tech solutions), implementing strategies, and evaluating their effectiveness.

I hope that this week’s TED Tip elaborates on what “learning technology” means and some of the ways the LTC supports using technology to enhance teaching and learning.   Next week I will explore in more detail some of the specific services, workshops, and training opportunities the LTC offers.  I invite you to participate!

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

Resources:

https://www.uww.edu/icit/ltc

https://www.uww.edu/icit/about

https://www.alt.ac.uk/about-alt/what-learning-technology

TED Tips – Issue 5: Inspiration for Discussion

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 I want to start this week with a thought exercise. 

Rank the importance of the following free internet services.  What is most important to you?  If asked to give up one of these services for a year…what service would you be able to do without?

  • E-Commerce
  • Email
  • GPS / Maps
  • Online Streaming
  • Search
  • Social Media

Even without having the full context and background behind the question – I was engaged in it.  What internet service is most important to me?  There is clearly no “right” answer.  People value services differently.   When I starting thinking more deeply about it, I realized that each category of internet services leads to additional analysis and further places of discovery.

Talking about this topic with other people prompted additional questions.  For example, what does “E-Commerce” mean?   My first thought was, no big deal, I could do without Amazon or buying products online…   However, a colleague realized that “E-Commerce” could also extend to a variety of other activities like online banking, direct deposit, automated bill baying, and every credit or debit card transaction!  That changed my own thinking on the topic.  Could I return to a world carrying cash and mailing checks?   Do I remember how to balance a checkbook?  

This type of questioning could lead me to think differently about my own behaviors and habits.  Many of these internet services have become ubiquitous, completely integrated in our personal and professional lives.  It is hard to imagine life without search.   Google search is merely 20 years old.   Smart phones and other technologies continue to evolve changing the environment.  YouTube (via online streaming) is the number one place where many learn new things!  Social Media continues to change how we receive, create, and distribute information.  A model where these internet services are free is NOT the only possible model.  It can be a valuable exercise to challenge our own basic assumptions and expectations…and to discuss those ideas with others.  

internet services

internet services

My goal this week was to explore some tips to create good discussion board prompts!  Discussion boards are a great way to improve student engagement, encourage interaction, and expand the learning objective in different areas by getting students to think about things differently.  They can be used in face-to face classes or online.  

One of the themes of TED Tips is examine our technological environment.  Approaching questions and topics in different ways can find inspiration from different places and find new ways to connect ideas from one field or application to another.

What was the source of inspiration that prompted the starting question this week?  I encountered a version of this question on a friend’s Facebook page.  The conversation enraptured me with a variety of healthy dialogue.   Posts that prompt good discussion often inspire other prompts!  After a bit of additional search, I discovered that the question originated from a real world problem.  An economist was faced with the challenge of being assigned to a project in China – and specifically, behind the “Great Firewall of China”.  The firewall regulates the Internet within China by limiting access to foreign information, restricting internet tools like Google search and social media, and disabling many mobile applications.  What can you do to plan to be successful from an environment that does not provide the same access to technological services?  How valuable are those services?  The “Indicator” economics podcast (3:38) hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia that presented this information is embedded here and helps show us how far online streaming has evolved.  Good engaging discussion board prompts can originate from anywhere!

In conclusion, here are a few quick TED tips for writing good discussion board prompts:

  • Relate prompts to a learning objective.
  • Provide opportunity for reflection, interpretation, analysis, and problem solving.
  • Encourage open-ended exchanges.
  • Seek inspiration from everywhere!
  • Draw connections between past and present course content.  Plant the seeds for future conversations.

Next week I want to explore the Learning Technology Center and discuss the LTC’s mission and vision.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant 

Resources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/08/618162974/would-you-give-up-some-widely-used-features-on-the-internet

Would You Give Up Some Widely Used Features On The Internet?
Economics podcast The Indicator, hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia.
June 8, 2018 Heard on Morning Edition 

TED Tips – Issue 4: From D2L to Canvas

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The Canvas Migration process is well underway.  We looked last week at some of the details and training opportunities to help understand the migration process.  This week’s TED Tip examines some options to get a course from D2L into Canvas.

While UW-Whitewater strongly encourages freshman-facing courses to be offered in Canvas (specific departments and colleges may have other requirements), from Fall 2018 through Spring 2019, you can choose either D2L or Canvas for your courses.

If you want to offer your course in D2L for students, you will need to complete the normal D2L “Course Request Process”.  You may have used this process before.  In D2L, by default, courses are not created until requested.

Canvas, however, automatically creates courses for you; there will no longer be a separate course request process.   Be advised, while these courses are automatically created (and WINS enrollments and course integrations will take place), these are blank placeholder courses.  You still need to import or create content and set up the course normally.  Additionally, while these blank courses help get you started – they will remain inaccessible until you actually “Publish” them.  You can find the publish command in the “Course Status” area in upper right corner from the Home screen inside each course.  Even though the course creation process and enrollments will happen automatically, you still will have to choose to “Publish” that course to make it available.

How do I get my content into Canvas?

You can create content directly inside of Canvas.  A transition like this a great opportunity to review learning objectives, update learning activities, and evaluate assessment effectiveness.  The move from one platform to another is a great opportunity to start fresh to create the best possible student experience we can. Striving for continuous improvement increases quality.

It is also possible to import existing content from D2L to canvas.  As with all moves, a good tip is to clean up existing files and content before the move.  It is recommended to go into the “Edit Course” section inside of D2L and then purge unneeded materials through the “Manage Files” command.

Once we are ready to migrate, the Course Complexity Application is a great resource.   WINS courses from Winter 2016 through Winter 2018 that are associated with your D2L account will show up with a complexity rating.  This complexity rating provides an estimate of time needed to fix your course inside Canvas.  Not everything transfers easily.  For example, grade categories or weighted grade items do not transfer into Canvas; you will have to spend time setting up new categories or configuring your gradebook in Canvas.  Quizzes and pools of randomized quiz questions are other common items that will require your attention in Canvas.  Every course is different, but the estimates provide a good gauge of time.

How Do I Export and Import Content?

The Course Complexity Application provides an “Export course from desire to learn” command that will start the process.  Alternatively, you could work from inside of D2L directly and from the edit course option, select the “import/export/copy components” command.  This is the same place command you may have used to copy from one section of a course to another.

After you have started to create an export from either place, select the course materials.  This ultimately creates a zip package export of your course.  Save or rename this zip file appropriately.

Next, go to Canvas.  Select your specific course and then choose the “Import Course Content” command from the “Settings” button.  Select the content type select “D2L export .zip format”.   Then choose the zipped file package you created in the last step.  Select all content.  When ready, you can then click import to move content into your course.   The processes of importing from one format to the next may take some time.  A video walkthrough is linked from the resources section if you are looking for a more visual step by step guide to this process.

After import, Canvas will provide an Issue List.  Canvas flags content that did not import easily as an issue.  You may need to rebuild some content.  You may need to reconfigure some tests.  You may need to double check the gradebook.  Another tool to review is the “Validate Links” command from setting option in canvas.  Like Issues, this will generate a list of broken links inside your Canvas course that you can use to update and review.

Whether you have created the content in Canvas for the first time or imported it from D2L – it is a good practice to review and proofread your new course before your publish it.

What other help is available?

The Learning Technology Center (LTC) continues to provide workshops.  Look for “Canvas Hands-On Introduction” for beginners, “Canvas Construction Zones” for hands on step by step migration, and “Canvas Deep Dives” for more in depth looks at specific tools and concepts.  Canvas also has a 24 / 7 toll free technical support service line including phone, chat, and email options Canvas 24/7/365 Support.

Next week I want to welcome you a bit more to the LTC and introduce you to some of the services and people that can help you explore ways to enhance student learning.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

Video:  Moving a Course from D2L to Canvas

Canvas Migration Website:  http://www.uww.edu/icit/ltc/canvas-portal

Course Complexity App: http://dl.uwsa.edu

Link Validator reference: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12770-4152476605

Detailed Course Content Migration documentation: UW System Course Content Migration Documentation

D2L course request site:   http://my.uww.edu/d2lrequest

Looking for Ways to Get Immediate Feedback from Students?

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If you are interested in a tool that can allow you to receive immediate (and potentially anonymous) feedback from your students this fall, you might benefit from using “Poll Everywhere.” Poll Everywhere allows students to text answers from their mobile phones or submit answers via the Poll Everywhere website (for free) to prompts that you create. Though there is an app available, neither you or your students need to download an app to use Poll Everywhere.

In the video below, Juk Bhattacaryya (a UW-Whitewater faculty member who piloted the use of Poll Everywhere in Spring 2018) discusses using Poll Everywhere.

If you think you might be interested in using Poll Everywhere, consider attending one of the LTC’s “Using Poll Everywhere to Engage Students” sessions to learn more. Attending one of these sessions will provide you with more information on Poll Everywhere, and help get you started with your own account.

The dates/times for upcoming “Using Poll Everywhere to Engage Students” sessions are below (just click on the session to sign up; you will need to log in to register):

Tuesday July 24th, 2018 at 9:00 AM in McGraw 19A

Thursday August 2nd, 2018 at 2:00 PM in McGraw 19A

Wednesday September 26th, 2018 at 3:00 PM in McGraw 19A

Friday October 5th, 2018 at 10:00 am in McGraw 19A

If you have any questions about these sessions, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

TED Tips – Issue 3:  Canvas Migration Update at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater

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Last week we started to explore the difference between an LMS (Learning Management System) and a DLE (Digital Learning Environment).  One of the key strategic observations is that the UW-System is in the process of migrating from Desire2Learn (D2L) to Canvas Instructure as the main tool “hub”.  The emphasis is on creating a seamless, consistent, and accessible student experience.   Having said that…what does that mean for the University of Wisconsin Whitewater?  What should you expect this fall and what do you need to know?   How do you get help and support to meet your instructional needs throughout this migration?  This week’s “TED Tip” hopes to answer some of those questions.

Image:  “Migration” by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

Do we have to migrate to Canvas?

Yes.  All UW-System schools (except for Madison) are in the process of moving to the Canvas platform.  Madison has already been using Canvas.  This migration project is managed by the UW-System, with input from individuals on each of the campuses.  This does not diminish your academic freedoms; it provides a common platform for delivering content throughout the UW-System.

When does the migration affect us?

The migration process is already well underway.  Fall 2018 is the first semester that Canvas is available to use for your courses.  Spring 2019 is the last semester that Desire2Learn will be available.   Starting in Summer 2019, all courses will be required to use Canvas. Existing content stored in D2L will be accessible to instructors through Spring 2020 for migration.

For Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, you can choose what platform you want to deliver your courses.  Having said that, the choice of platform makes a lasting impact on students. As we examined last week, one of the goals of the UW-System supports a consistent Digital Learning Environment.  Because we are moving towards building this long lasting and supported environment for students, The University of Wisconsin Whitewater strongly encourages you to develop freshman-facing courses in Canvas.  This should make things easier for new students, by limiting their need to learn both Canvas and Desire2Learn.  It is possible that you will have courses in D2L and Canvas; it is possible that students will be taking courses in both D2L and Canvas.

Some courses, departments, and/or colleges may have other specific transition requirements.  If you are unsure, it is always helpful to double check.

What other help is available?

The Learning Technology Center (LTC) has been offering a variety of services to help prepare you to teach in the fall in Canvas.  Look for a series of in person, hands-on workshops.  Some are offered remotely via webinars.

If you are just getting started in Canvas, a “Canvas Hands-On Introduction” workshop is the place to start.  These introduction workshops cover the basic functions and core tools in Canvas.  These are great if you have never used Canvas.   They are interactive and provide the opportunity to ask questions along the way.

“Canvas Construction Zones” are hands-on, workshops in computer labs specifically focused on transitioning content from D2L to Canvas.  The construction zones use a course complexity application tool to help estimate the time of work you will need to put into setting up your course in Canvas.

“Canvas Deep Dives” are more in depth explorations of how to leverage specific tools or topics, often exploring various options to best meet the needs of your teaching.  These are more advanced workshops but cover fundamentals like grading in Canvas, leveraging the syllabus and calendar tool, providing feedback, and creating new content in canvas.

Colleges may also offer additional Canvas training opportunities.  For example, the College of Business and Economics, has its own Canvas Training program.  Check the University of Whitewater Event Sign up tool for additional training opportunities.  Finally, there are also a series of asynchronous recorded workshops that can help acclimate you to the environment and get address specific needs you may have.

You are not alone!

In addition to the workshops and trainings, the LTC has college-specific faculty peer mentors available to help provide assistance with the Canvas Transition.

The peer mentors are available to:

  • Help answer transition questions.
  • Provide training information and resources about the Canvas platform.
  • Work to understand different ways that Canvas can be leveraged for enriching teaching and learning.

Additional Services and Support

Canvas itself has a more robust technical support service line that includes 24 / 7 toll free hotline and live online chat interactions.  These can be reached from the Canvas 24/7/365 Support website for basic how-to questions.

This weeks TED tip covers a lot of territory regarding the status of the Canvas Migration project, the training and support opportunities available, and where to find assistance and support.  Next week we’ll focus more closely at one of these important tasks:  how exactly DO I convert my D2L course to Canvas.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

Canvas Migration Website:  http://www.uww.edu/icit/ltc/canvas-portal

Canvas Training Videos:  http://www.uww.edu/icit/ltc/canvas-portal/training

Course Complexity App: http://dl.uwsa.edu

Want to learn more about Canvas? Join the LTC at one of our online or face-to-face workshops this summer! Signup at: http://go.uww.edu/ltc-workshop-signup

University of Wisconsin Whitewater Event Sign-up tool: https://my.uww.edu/signup/Home

Peer Mentors:  http://www.uww.edu/icit/ltc/canvas-portal/peer-mentors

In Depth UW System support for the Course Content Migration: https://www.wisconsin.edu/dle/implementation/teams/uwsa-workstreams/course-content-migration/

Interested in Adaptive Learning?

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You may have heard recently about adaptive learning, but might not be sure exactly what it is. Adaptive learning is a general term that describes a variety of ways that course content and assessments can be aligned to student progress throughout a course.

If you are potentially interested in adaptive learning but do not know where or how to get started, consider attending one of the LTC’s adaptive learning information sessions. We will discuss what adaptive learning is, as well as some different ways that you could utilize adaptive learning in your courses.

Upcoming Session Dates and Times:

Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 10:00 AM

Wednesday, August 01, 2018 at 3:00 PM

(Please note that you will need to log in with your UW-Whitewater credentials to register for these sessions)

If you have any questions about these adaptive learning information sessions, or adaptive learning more generally, please feel free to contact the UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center.

TED Tips – Issue 2: What is the difference between a Learning Management System (LMS) and a Digital Learning Environment (DLE)?

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Almost every university uses a learning management system (LMS).  Think of a learning management system as the software infrastructure or the online website that delivers the “stuff” of a particular course.  An LMS can be used to present content, provide information, and manage administrative duties.  It may be helpful at tracking enrollments, attendance and grades.  The approach of an LMS often emphasizes technology – it is a “management” system.  What a Learning Management System does not often emphasize is facilitating learning.

In contrast, there is another approach, a “Digital Learning Environment” (DLE).  This approach is also known as “The Next Generation Digital Learning Environment” (NGDLE).  The scope no longer contains a single application – but an ecosystem that supports higher education.  Multiple technologies and services meet a variety of learning needs with a greater emphasis on flexibility.  It should be less a “one size fits all” but a set of tools based on common standards.

The University of Wisconsin System is also moving away from an LMS and towards a DLE.  The approach should be against the implementation of a required technology solution, but more in favor of creating a flexible set of services and tools that support teaching and learning.

To quote the University of Wisconsin System DLE strategy:

Our DLE is not a learning management system (LMS).  Rather, our DLE is a federated, online environment that includes services and tools purposefully brought together to support the needs of teaching and learning in all modes (i.e., face-to-face, blended/hybrid, and fully online).  Our DLE challenges the traditional role of an LMS as “the” platform for managing course documents, quizzes, videos, and the like.  By shifting our perspective from an LMS-based content platform, to a “digital environment” that creates information we can act upon, UW System can then realize the many benefits of an interoperable suite of services and tools that allow us to maximize student access and success.  https://www.wisconsin.edu/dle/strategy/

This allows the UW system to integrate tools through a common platform while creating and easy point of entry, a secure sign-on leveraging our “federated” identity, and services that communicate to each other while ensuring appropriate security and privacy.  Instructors will have the freedom to apply these tools to their teaching to support their students learning.

next generation digital learning can take many forms.

Underlying this belief are five key characteristics that define the UW System Digital Learning Environment. I will explore these characteristics in more detail in the coming weeks as part of this blog.  For now, I want to introduce the characteristics as the drivers behind the project.

  • Accessibility and the principles of universal design are fundamental, so that all students, regardless of ability and learning preference, can succeed in all instructional modes.
  • Provides a platform to support learning and administrative analytics, readiness and learning assessment, progress mapping, advising, and “early alerts” to trigger interventions to ensure student success.
  • Collaboration is expected, encouraged, and supported among those within and outside the institution.
  • Components are interoperable; meaning they are standards-based and work together seamlessly, not stapled together to sit side-by-side.
  • The environment is student-centered, and allows for a personalized experience for the student with regard to both content and pathways.

Within this Digital Learning Environment, a platform presents content.  The University of Wisconsin System has chosen Canvas Instructure as that main platform.  Canvas is envisioned as the main tool “hub.”  The emphasis is on creating a seamless, consistent, and accessible student experience.   Canvas integrates additional tools and services.  Tools and services are currently being evaluated for inclusion and integration within this environment.

In summary, a Digital Learning Environment (DLE) emphasizes pedagogy that then allows for the adoption of technology that supports teaching and learning.   Instead of being a single monolithic technology, you can personalize instruction through the set of tools and services to meet your course needs.  A DLE supports face-to-face and online courses.  This approach imagines The Next Generation Digital Learning Environment as both an ecosystem and a mind-set.   The DLE supports accessibility, analytics, collaboration, interoperability, in a personalized experience.

– Ted Witt

Next Week:  What is the status of the Canvas migration project here at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater?

REFERENCES:

https://www.wisconsin.edu/dle/strategy/

https://library.educause.edu/resources/2015/4/the-next-generation-digital-learning-environment-a-report-on-research

https://news.continuingstudies.wisc.edu/are-you-ready-for-the-next-generation-digital-learning-environment/

https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2015/12/eli7127-pdf.pdf

https://library.educause.edu/resources/2015/12/7-things-you-should-know-about-ngdle