WEEK 6

This week's evaluation is a "behind the scenes" look at functionality and provides a recommendation between two learning management systems, Desire2Learn (D2L) and COURSEsites by Blackboard based on its stable parent company, strong support, and excellent customer evaluations. The evaluation looks at the five requirements listed below for a smooth transition from an existing LMS. Information shared from several guest speakers with experience using both learning management systems and both company's websites were used to write this evaluation.

1. Customer Satisfaction
2. Training
3. Technical Support
4. Cost
5. Analytic Data Provided From LMS

The highest customer satisfaction level of D2L is in the accessibility features. A current user addressed to our class that D2L is the only LMS-provider partnered with the National Federation of the Blind. It has a responsive design that provides full capability on any mobile devices using the Daylight Experience. Another feature our speaker discussed is the robust content-management and building system. The resilient back-end for on-premise installations allows more opportunity to customize.

The drawbacks to D2L included inconsistency in design, weak interaction and administration tools, no built-in web conferencing tools, and instability of Window IIS if not properly maintained and monitored.

In D2L, technical support through a help desk can be online or on-premises depending on the institution. There are tutorials and online resources available on their technical support website which offer help for learners, instructor, developer, and administrator.

A current user and guest speaker shared his experience that service response can be prolonged depending on the number of clients affected. The lower the number of clients the further down the list you are moved. To be transferred to quicker response time, you can purchase a Technical Account Manager to negotiate a higher spot. However, this is not guaranteed. The user felt there were issues with the instability of Windows IIS if not properly maintained and monitored. And, administration documentation is light in many areas.

The pricing of a new learning management system involves negotiation. When switching to a new LMS that is cost effective and still offers the features, reliability, and support desired by the institution, several elements need to be considered. The most significant factor is the need to change form an ERP to a Cloud-based system. Until recently, D2L was offered on-premises only due to their data center being in Canada and a law prohibiting a higher- education institution to store data outside the country. There could be a substantial difference in internet bandwidth cost. Other costs could include disaster recovery and high availability charges. Our guest speaker estimated a $10 per student charge for the D2L learning management system. This price is negotiable when adding on features or increasing/decreasing student and faculty users.

Using data analytics can be a powerful tool and benefit the institution. Our guest speaker's institution has used analytics in many areas such as advising, student success, and instructor evaluations. D2L offer a basic built-in analytic report and Insights (Performance Plus) for a fee.

Our guest speaker felt the basic analytics are not robust enough for in-depth research. He found some metrics provided were not reliable due to time spent on content. In his experience, Insights, the data analytics package, costs more money and didn't work.

Blackboard has held the most significant market share for years with Canvas and D2L gaining each year. Blackboard is in the cloud which allows for configuration but limiting to customization. The user and guest speaker commented on the grade center as being the worst feature. And, the best features are Safe Assign and not needing to download feedback. Many of the guest speakers have used Blackboard in the past and had a switch or evaluating other learning management systems.

Blackboard has many YouTube tutorials, a comprehensive training manual, and a help desk. When searching for help topics on Blackboard's website, it is very difficult to find the correct information. The YouTube videos are very good and easy to follow but limited. The user and guest speaker commented on that the most satisfied users at their institution are the ones that are beginners. The more advanced users feel more training should be available.

Excellent support for technical issues is needed when switching a learning management system. According to our guest speaker, their institution has a process that goes from the knowledge base to outsourcing support as a third step. The mechanisms that are most important in this one institution provided by a guest speaker included technology support (19%), 24/7 chat support (14%) and Self-help/JIT resources (13%). Blackboard provides self-service help in the form of a knowledge base, digital content, documentation and mobile resources. They offer an online help desk through a university package and created communities to talk with other users. Our guest speaker shared the cost of the help desk support contract averaging $20.79 per call.

Like all learning management systems, the price is negotiable. Blackboard has a web conferencing system build-in but is not available at no cost. They charge for a support contract for students and faculty to call the help desk. There is an extra charge for disaster recovery when using the cloud. Our guest speaker in the class shared the cost of $16 per user at his institution. This cost is well above D2L. Blackboard does not appear to be the most cost-effective system to offer the needed support and reliability.

As mentioned above, efficiently utilizing data can be a powerful tool used for advising and student success. Blackboard offers analytic packages for learning, predicting, and data warehousing which allow for integration into many systems. his From looking at D2L and Blackboard analytic packages, it appears they are very similar. I was unable to see the cost of the packages.