The University of Central Missouri is set to transition from Blackboard to a new learning management system called DesiretoLearn Brightspace. D2L Brightspace was created by the Canadian global software company DesiretoLearn, which is a learning management system where instructors can upload coursework for students to access. Students can expect to see a change to their online class resources as UCM is hoping to improve the online learning experience for students and professors.
Blackboard is currently the main online learning application tool used by UCM students and faculty to access class resources and share information regarding courses. The university began its contract with Blackboard on July 1, 2022. However, the university’s contract with Blackboard is set to expire on June 30, 2025.
“We went through an intensive review this last year, in which we surveyed faculty and students and staff, and we then put out an official request for proposals last summer. We had three companies that provided proposals to us. Our contract with Blackboard will end on June 30, 2025. So we started early so that we had time to transition if the determination was made that we were going to switch,” Carol Knight, Director of Digital Learning and Instructional Innovation, said. UCM is now looking toward D2L Brightspace to replace Blackboard when the contract expires. Some students, however, share frustrations with their experiences using Blackboard.
“There was one occasion where it shut down during a quiz and I had to email the professor. Again, the same with how professors navigate it. I have some older professors and they’ll be like, oh, this is posted and it’s not because they thought that they unlocked it for us to see,” graduate student Katie Correll said. Other students, however, share different experiences with the current system.
“I’m very comfortable [with Blackboard]. I’m an international student. I used this platform, Blackboard, in my country, as well, and it’s the same with us. For an international student, I [have] only used Blackboard before I came here,” Sohee Kweon, an international student, said. The switch, however, is aimed at helping improve the online learning experience for students and faculty. A committee of faculty and staff were responsible for making the ultimate decision to switch to a new LMS.
“On the committee, we had faculty, staff, staff from student support, deans– it was a pretty large group of us to ensure that we had every single department and everybody represented,” Ethan Gerst, Walk in Studio Experience Lead Coach at Career and Life Design said. The committee made evaluations of each of the proposed platforms based on many criteria outlined by the committee.
“Each of the providers there, or each of the companies, gave us their proposals. They were scored off of that, ensuring that they included all relevant information. We also had info sessions, both that were available to everybody in the institution, as well as private meetings and demos that were available. We scored them based off of all of that. There was also a budget and a price point that they were graded off of, as well. But we took into consideration everything when creating the total points,” Gerst said. D2L Brightspace was chosen as the university’s new LMS based on its ranking as compared to the other two platforms.
“Based on all the things that we were asking for, we thought that it outranked Blackboard in one element that we were specifically looking at was the app. We felt that it has a strong app,” Knight said. DLII has outlined a plan to help students and faculty through the transition.
“We will have a group of early adopters in the fall that will transition to Brightspace and they will teach their courses on Brightspace. So, you as a student may potentially have courses, in Brightspace and in Blackboard. So that’s our challenge right now, is just that during this year, there will be some overlap,” Knight said. The purpose of the change, however, is aimed at helping students and improving their experiences.
“I also want everyone to remember that whenever we were looking at all these companies the sole purpose was for the students. We wanted to ensure that students had the best experience possible here at UCM and with the new LMS, and so we chose Brightspace for that reason because we believe that they will be able to adequately meet our needs and be the best solution for all of us students,” Gerst said.
