Learning Management System Pilot Update

This message was shared with faculty by the UAC on LMS on October 17, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

The University Advisory Committee on Selection of a Learning Management System (UAC LMS) is excited to update you on the status of our work and efforts to evaluate and recommend a comprehensive, robust and user-friendly LMS to best meet the academic and administrative needs across Drexel University.

Over the summer, the UAC LMS developed an evaluation plan to explore the potential for Drexel adopting either Canvas or Blackboard Ultra. Our strategy takes a comprehensive approach that will help us to make an informed recommendation with the goal of enhancing the teaching and learning experience at Drexel.

This plan includes the announced fall and winter quarter pilot study and uses key metrics such as:

an exploration of the available features and functionality of both Canvas and Ultra
student feedback to compare experiences and assess overall satisfaction
insights from faculty about usability and effectiveness
evaluation of how well third-party integrations are performing
analysis of platform development roadmaps and peer institution experiences

Canvas and Ultra Pilot Updates

We had an extraordinary number of responses to our call for volunteers for the LMS Pilot for both fall and winter terms. The fall pilot includes 12 Canvas courses and 11 Ultra courses being taught in multiple modalities by 23 faculty members from 11 different schools and colleges. There are over 500 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the courses selected for the fall pilot. The winter pilot selection is currently in progress, and we hope to include an additional 12-15 faculty and 500+ students in the pilot study.

Opportunities to Contribute

Community input remains extremely important to the success of this work. While institutional contracts dictated that a limited number of courses could participate in the fall pilot, any faculty or professional staff wishing to review Canvas and/or Blackboard Ultra can request a sandbox by emailing itg@drexel.edu. A Canvas and/or Ultra sandbox is a test course that will allow you to add content, test out a variety of tools, and navigate through the course and settings without student enrollments. We encourage you to test out these LMS platforms to allow us to obtain broader feedback in addition to the pilot.

At any time, if you have questions, concerns, or want to provide additional input for our consideration, please email the UAC LMS at lmspilot@drexel.edu. We thank you in advance for your interest and participation in this important initiative and look forward to updating the University community on the outcomes of this work.

Sincerely,

The University Advisory Committee on Selection of a Learning Management System

Dana Kemery, Co-Chair, College of Nursing and Health Professions; Chair, Senate Committee on Academic Support, Faculty Senate
Johanna Inman, Co-Chair, Teaching and Learning Center
Ken Blackney, Drexel University Information Technology
Jaimie Dougherty, School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences and Health Systems
Katherine Fischer, Drexel Libraries
Tim Gorichanaz, College of Computing & Informatics
Alan Hecht, LeBow College of Business
Monika Jost, College of Medicine
Ian Kollar, Kline School of Law
Christy Love, College of Arts and Sciences
Kelly Salmon, Salus at Drexel University
Michael Shelmet, Drexel University Information Technology
Mary Jean Tecce DeCarlo, School of Education
Jervis Thompson, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Steve Weber, Office of the Provost