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History of the Project

The Provost’s Course Management System (CMS) Task Force convened in early Fall 2004 to determine the status of course management systems on the Norman campus and to make recommendations on how best to meet the short-term and long-term course management needs of the faculty and students.

In Fall 2004, OU was using Blackboard 5.6 for most courses, with limited use of WebCT. Shortly after the beginning of the semester, Blackboard announced that support for that version (5.6) would be discontinued on September 30, 2005, compelling OU to consider other strategies for meeting course management needs.

In order to develop appropriate strategies to meet these needs, the Task Force distributed a survey to more than 1,400 instructional faculty. Approximately 18.4% responded. Survey results indicated serious concerns about Blackboard’s reliability and lack of features. Despite these issues, however, those who had used both systems still preferred Blackboard to WebCT due to ease-of-use. Survey respondents also identified a list of key features they preferred in a course management system.

Based on survey results and discussions within the group, the Task Force developed two possible strategies in response to discontinuation of Blackboard 5.6: Option 1) upgrade to Blackboard (6.2); or Option 2) adopt an alternate course management system.

As the Task Force considered Option 1, there were major concerns about upgrading to Blackboard 6.2. Although some new features in Blackboard 6.2 may be beneficial, the interface is substantially different from Blackboard 5.6. These differences would likely result in the need for significant faculty re-training. Moreover, multiple attempts over the last year to migrate existing Blackboard 5.6 courses to Blackboard 6.2 have been unsatisfactory. In addition, technical support provided by Blackboard has been consistently inadequate. Most importantly, major Blackboard system outages during the Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 semesters caused difficulty for students and faculty alike. The survey confirmed that faculty were frustrated with the recurring Blackboard system outages.

During discussions of Option 2, adoption of an alternate course management system, the Task Force decided against proposing the adoption of WebCT campus-wide, although it is currently used in a limited number of courses. Based on faculty input, the Task Force concluded that, while WebCT offers more robust features than Blackboard, the learning curve is extremely high. This makes it unattractive to many faculty.

The Task Force then began an investigation of an increasingly popular course management system, Desire2Learn (D2L). The Task Force conducted a systematic review of D2L attributes, based on features requested by the faculty in the survey. Desire2Learn satisfied almost all features requested by faculty while Blackboard 6.2 did not.

Based on this information, and the adoption of Desire2Learn at other major university campuses (including statewide adoptions in Wisconsin and Minnesota), the Task Force decided to move forward with pilot-testing of Desire2Learn in the Spring 2005 semester. Several faculty from a variety of colleges and departments on the Norman campus are using D2L for their Spring 2005 courses. These faculty report that they have been able to easily transfer their course content from Blackboard and WebCT into Desire2Learn. Both students and faculty have responded enthusiastically to the features available in Desire2Learn and its ease-of-use.

After careful evaluation and study, the CMS Task Force recommended to the Provost that the University of Oklahoma adopt the Desire2Learn (D2L) course management system beginning in Fall Semester 2005.

If the recommendation is approved, Information Technology will acquire necessary hardware, software and licenses that will allow implementation of Desire2Learn for Fall 2005. The system will be hosted locally on the OU Norman campus. A comprehensive training program and course migration plan will be announced as soon as Desire2Learn is approved and system availability dates are known.