Parker University undertook a significant initiative to evaluate and select a Learning Management System (LMS) that would best serve its diverse campus community. This comprehensive process spanned several months and prioritized inclusivity, gathering input from faculty, staff, and students to ensure the chosen platform aligned with the university’s evolving digital learning needs. The evaluation process aimed to move beyond familiar systems and explore options that offered enhanced features and a more intuitive user experience, potentially moving away from systems like Myparker Learn Blackboard to embrace more modern solutions.
A Collaborative Evaluation Process
To ensure a holistic perspective, Parker University established several committees representing different campus stakeholders.
Faculty and Staff Committees: Defining Core LMS Needs
Faculty committees were formed to delve into specific functional areas crucial for effective teaching and learning. These areas included:
- Assessment and Grading
- Communication Tools
- Content Delivery
- Course Management
- Student Tracking (Data Analytics and Attendance)
- User Experience
These committees played a vital role in defining feature priorities. They actively engaged with LMS-provided sandboxes to test functionalities and meticulously completed sections of the LMS Evaluation Rubric.
Staff committees focused on critical integrations and organizational needs, specifically:
- IT/SIS Integration
- Organizational Courses (Human Resources)
- Registrar and Student Tracking
Similar to faculty committees, staff committees prioritized features, utilized sandbox environments, and contributed to the LMS Evaluation Rubric.
Student Committee: The Learner Perspective
Recognizing the central role of students in the learning ecosystem, a dedicated Student Committee was established. This committee provided essential feature priorities and offered invaluable commentary on the student learning experience, ensuring the student voice was central to the selection process.
Broad Campus Engagement: Virtual Demos and Surveys
To broaden participation beyond committees, Parker University organized virtual demonstrations from various LMS vendors. These demos were recorded and made readily available, allowing the entire campus community to participate remotely and at their convenience. Complementing these demos, an LMS survey was distributed to gather further feedback and insights from a wider audience, ensuring all voices could contribute to this important decision.
Key LMS Feature Priorities Identified
Through the collaborative evaluation process, several key LMS features emerged as priorities for Parker University.
Highest Priority Features
These features were deemed essential for the new LMS to effectively support teaching and learning:
- Attendance Tracking Integration: Seamless integration with Jenzabar One for efficient attendance management.
- Customizable Rubrics: Flexible rubric creation for varied assignment assessments.
- Robust Exam Question Pools: Easy question import, editing, categorization, and diverse faculty options.
- Variety of Exam Features: Multiple question types, adaptive release, partial credit, and more.
- Assessment Tagging: Question tagging to learning outcomes and cross-course tracking for comprehensive learning assessment.
- Hotspot Questions: Innovative assessment questions using image-based interactions.
- Learner Progress Data: Goal alignment, rubric data, and user-level accessibility for progress monitoring.
- Video Lecture Capability: Integrated video hosting or seamless integration with platforms like Echo360, including whiteboard features.
- Enhanced Grade Center: Streamlined grade calculations, group assessment management, and user-permission level locking.
- Intuitive Content Presentation: Content viewable within the LMS window with intuitive learning modules and simplified navigation.
Priority Features
These features were considered highly desirable for enhancing the overall LMS experience:
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Full mobile accessibility for coursework completion.
- Final Grade Integration: Seamless integration of final course grades with Jenzabar One.
- Easy-to-Use Calendar: Automatic population of due dates for student convenience.
- Template and Course Copy Management: User-friendly and easily supportable course management tools.
- Testing Accommodations: Student-level accommodation settings persistent across terms.
- Adaptive Release for Assignments: Customizable triggers for flexible assignment release.
- High-Resolution Images in Tests: Ability to incorporate high-quality visuals in assessments.
- Customizable Notifications: User-level notification preferences for personalized communication.
- Due Date Flexibility: Manual grade overrides, late submissions, and exception handling.
- Academic Integrity Tools: Rapid response to integrity concerns with plagiarism detection and AI monitoring tools.
Student-Centric Feature Priorities
Students specifically highlighted the importance of:
- Intuitive Interface: Easy content access for a smooth learning experience.
- Clear Gradebook Access: Fast and transparent grade viewing.
- Robust Calendar Functionality: Accurate population of assignments across all courses.
RFP and Vendor Selection
Following the comprehensive feedback collection, Parker University issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to leading LMS vendors, including Blackboard Ultra (Anthology), Brightspace (Desire2Learn), and Canvas (Instructure). Proposals were received from all three vendors by the deadline. Each vendor was invited to provide a live virtual demonstration using a Parker University course file to showcase their LMS capabilities in a real-world context. These demonstrations were recorded and made available for review, further ensuring transparency and broad campus participation in the evaluation. Feedback was collected at each stage, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using rubrics and discussions.
(Alt: Faculty and staff committee members collaborate on reviewing LMS features and functionalities during the Parker University LMS evaluation process.)
Recommendation and Final Decision
After a thorough data compilation and analysis of all feedback, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) team members facilitated committee input and subsequently met to formulate recommendations. Key instructional technology administrators then reviewed the CTL’s recommendations and vendor proposals. Based on this comprehensive review, a sole finalist was recommended to the Provost, and subsequently approved by the President’s Cabinet.
On October 2, 2023, Parker University announced Desire2Learn Brightspace as the selected LMS. This decision marked a significant step forward in Parker University’s commitment to providing a cutting-edge digital learning environment, moving beyond previous systems and embracing a platform designed to meet the evolving needs of its faculty and students.
(Alt: A screen displays the Brightspace Learning Management System interface during a vendor demonstration for Parker University’s LMS evaluation.)
