Progress report on replacing ACE

The team that’s working on a replacement for Angel (UW-ACE) as the university’s “learning management system” has launched a web site to report on how things are going and invite comments. The site includes frequently asked questions, a project time line, the team members, and information about what is happening and next steps. An email address provides a means for viewers to send comments and questions that will also help to build the FAQ.

“For almost seven years,” says the site, “UW-ACE, based on the  Angel software, has been the online course system for students, course instructors, and instructional support staff. Feedback from surveys and focus groups in early 2009 indicated that this LMS has been well-received. However, we are now looking for a replacement for  Angel.”

Why? “In May of 2009,  Angel Software Inc. was purchased by Blackboard Inc., vendor of a competitor LMS. While a move to Blackboard's system is one option, it would mean a significant change, so it is timely to consider the larger LMS market and determine a best fit for our next online course system. In looking for a replacement, we hope to offer the same level of functionality and also to expand the LMS capabilities to enhance learning at UW.”

Waterloo’s licence to use  Angel runs through May 2012, says the project’s leader, Andrea Chappell (right), director of the Instructional Technologies and Multimedia Services unit in information systems and technology. The project sponsor is the University Committee on Information Systems and Technology.

Chappell gives some more background: “Just before the sale of Angel, another project had completed a review of the online learning environment, gathering faculty input through focus groups and student input through a survey. While it found no compelling reason to change our LMS, it uncovered areas that could be improved. For example, the new LMS should be more mobile friendly, have more live interaction (presence indicators, chat, audio and video interactions and capture), better math tools, have a Web 2.0 feel such as drag-in tools and more user customization.

“As with  Angel, the new LMS must integrate with UW campus infrastructure that provides class lists and authentication. We want to continue to augment the system by integrating other instructional tools, currently Turnitin plagiarism detection, iClicker, eReserves, and Wimba Voice Tools. Other evolving campus activities may have links to the features and data in the LMS, including aspects of the new Student Success Office (perhaps identifying academically ‘at-risk’ students to provide intervention), outcomes-based assessments (new alignment for program accreditation), ePortfolios (student competencies and interconnections between school and life activities), and online course evaluations, among others.”

She reports that in early August a Request for Proposals was issued, “and the options are now being evaluated. The project is on track to deliver a recommendation to UCIST (the sponsor) in February 2011, followed by a pilot in Spring 2011. Migration from a well-adopted LMS system represents a significant effort for class instructors, support staff, and students already in the system. The mass migration of courses and retraining will be a large part of the planning as the selection is made."

Some 28,000 Waterloo students now use ACE, "each having on average 3.8 courses in the system", according to Chappell. About 60 per cent of the university's courses — a total of 1,233 this term — operate through the system, including 101 that are "fully online" while the rest are "blended" (online and face-to-face) or use some online services.

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Think Pink week brings shear excitement

Warrior teams and the athletics department will be holding their third annual Think Pink weekend November 12-14 and are well under way in their fundraising efforts, organizers say. The campaign is held to raise awareness and money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Ontario Chapter.

This year's campaign involves eight varsity games including the basketball, hockey and volleyball teams as well as a campus recreation soccer tournament and spin-a-thon. Over the past two years, the athletic departments has donated $12,882.72, and there's a goal of $10,000 for 2010, with more than $8,000 already taken care of.

A key volunteer for the event is Emma Glofcheski, the sports marketing co-op student in the department, seen at left in the photo. Glofcheski has agreed to let her full head of hair be shaved if a fund-raising goal of $3,000 is met. Her original threshold was $1,000, but that's been increased "as the generosity of people has been remarkable", Dan Ackerman of the athletics department says.

“It’s unbelievable how nice people can be for such a great cause,” Glofcheski says.  “It frightens me to think about what I will look like without any hair, but when I realize the overall goal and how insignificant my appearance is compared to what breast cancer patients go through each and every day, I know in the end I am making the right decision.”  

Joining her will be athletics director Bob Copeland, brandishing the scissors in the photo, whose hair will also be shaved off to support the cause and the overall goal of the Think Pink campaign. “I was inspired," he says, "by Emma’s commitment to this cause and her personal decision to shave off her hair to not only bring awareness to the Think Pink campaign but raise money for the Breast Cancer Foundation. She’s set a tremendous example that I am proud to support.”

Glofcheski will be donating her hair to the Locks of Love public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 21.  The head shaving will take place during the second intermission of the women’s hockey game on Sunday (game time is 2:00) at the Columbia Icefield to wrap up the Think Pink events.

Following along with the theme of hair removal to raise money for the campaign, women’s basketball team manager Kira Lohnes (at right in the photo) has agreed to cut her hair if her $100 donation goal is met. Her hair will also be donated to Locks of Love. She will be losing some of her hair as part of halftime during the men’s basketball game on Saturday as Waterloo battles the Carleton Ravens at the Physical Activities Complex (tip-off at 8 p.m. following the women’s game).

Details about the Think Pink campaign, including ways for individuals to contribute to the cause, are on the athletics department's web site.

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Journalist speaks Friday about Caledonia

Award-winning journalist and author Christie Blatchford will discuss her new book on the Caledonia land dispute at an event hosted by the university bookstore on Friday evening.

The book, entitled Helpless: Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us, looks at the occupation, which began on February 28, 2006, when protesters from the Six Nations reserve (an hour's drive south of Waterloo Region) walked onto Douglas Creek Estates, then a residential subdivision under construction, and blocked workers from entering. The occupation, which involved numerous violent incidents, now is in its fifth year. (Pictured: the drama department production "Differ/End" in 2008 explored the Caledonia controversy.)

Blatchford "tells the full story for the first time", says May Yan, director of the bookstore. "This is a book whose many revelations, never before reported, will shock and appall."

In her book, Blatchford makes a strong case for a failure of government to govern and protect all its citizens equally in the lands claim dispute. Throughout the occupation, Blatchford has been observing, interviewing and investigating with her outspoken sense of right and wrong, which has made her widely respected among crime reporters and others.

Blatchford is a high-profile Canadian journalist for more than 25 years, with columns covering sports, lifestyle, current affairs and crime. She started working for the Globe and Mail in 1972 and has since worked for the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun and the National Post. She returned to the Globe in 2002. She is a winner of the National Newspaper Award for column writing.

The meet-the-author event begins at 7 p.m. Friday in the Humanities Theatre. Anyone who wants to be sure of a seat should register online.

CAR

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