FAQ
Selection Process Concluded
The LMS selection process has concluded with the selection and licensing of the Canvas Learning Management System from Instructure. From this point forward, updates to the implementation phase of the project will be available via the Canvas implementation site.
For more information on the selection process, you can access the team’s final report (UNM Net ID required, please do not share outside the institution at this time).
What follows is the archived site for the LMS evaluation and selection.
Background
UNM is currently going through a request for proposal (RFP) process to select a new Learning Management System (LMS) that can effectively support UNM teaching and learning activities. Here are some FAQs about the selection project.
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a web-based platform used by instructors to post course materials and activities online for enrolled students. Instructors can share content, administer assessments, provide feedback and grades, and facilitate communication and interaction with and among students. Blackboard Learn, branded as UNM Learn, is currently the primary LMS for UNM academic courses.
In Fall 2018, the Provost Taskforce on Redesigning the University produced a set of recommendations to improve UNM including a recommendation to re-evaluate our LMS needs. In particular, the committee recommended that the University seek a more intuitive system that simplifies faculty workflows and promotes student engagement and learning. Concurrently, the Academic Technology Advisory Board also recommended that Academic Technologies re-evaluate our LMS needs.
UNM Learn will be impacted by change no matter what direction we choose. UNM currently manages its own local instance of Learn, but Blackboard will no longer offer that as an option by the end of 2023. In addition, our current license with Blackboard expires in September 2022, which means UNM must make plans to move to Blackboard's cloud-only environment or to another system altogether. The rollout of a new LMS is a multi-year process, so UNM must make a decision this fall in order to plan the transition and complete implementation projects.
In both the recommendations from the Provost Taskforce on Redesigning the University and the guidance from the Academic Technology Advisory board, we have been asked to find a more intuitive system that allows for more focus on student engagement and interaction. The best way to know we are meeting that charge is through your feedback. UNM community feedback on the effectiveness and ease of use of these tools is the primary consideration as we move through this selection process.
Feedback from the whole University community is essential to the success of any LMS selection. In Fall 2020 a broad call for participation was announced to the UNM community via multiple channels, and over 500 people signed up. Semifinalist vendors all gave multiple virtual demonstrations of their systems, recordings of which were made available for evaluation participants who couldn't make it to the demonstrations.
In addition, sandbox and sample courses for each system under consideration were made available for interested faculty and student evaluators to conduct hands-on evaluation activities. Feedback methods included discussions with peers in Microsoft Teams, a question form for direct response from vendor technicians, and multiple user survey methods.
Course content from Blackboard Learn can be transferred to the LMS systems offered by the major LMS vendors. Depending on the content, some courses may require additional development work or fine tuning post-transfer. An evaluation of course migration services and costs are part of the overall RFP.
The RFP was issued in February 2020. An RFP scoring committee (comprised of representatives from Faculty Senate IT Use Committee, HSC, the Center for Digital Learning, and UNM IT Academic Technologies) reviewed responses in summer 2020 and recommended semifinalists. Those vendors provided sandbox spaces, and gave demos to UNM evaluators during the Fall 2020 term. Evaluation of the semifinalists includes feedback from students, faculty, instructional designers, LMS administrators, and other institutional partners. Final selection and procurement are targeted for early 2021. Instructure (Canvas) has been identified as the selected vendor, pending approval by the Board of Regents and UNM executive leadership. Implementation will begin after final approval and a contract has been signed. Please see the LMS RFP main page for a tentative timeline.
As part of the RFP, we asked vendors for information on transition and support services. More information will be available once that engagement is initiated and the implementation has formally begun.
Yes. All major LMS vendors support a protocol called Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI).
However, while most of the integrations we have in place work through an LTI integration, some of our homegrown applications may need to be reworked or replaced to the greatest degree possible.
