ACE replacement ready for 250 courses

The new Desire2Learn "learning management system" is going to be nicknamed Learn, instructors and students are being told as they get ready to use the new software for some, but not all, of this fall term's courses.

Says a memo from Andrea Chappell, director of the instructional technologies and multimedia services division: "As announced in March, Waterloo is moving our Learning Management System from Angel (the software behind UW-ACE) to Desire2Learn. The new system, called Learn, ran the first pilot of 11 courses in the spring term. Feedback gathered from instructors and students has been quite positive.

"The next newsletter from the Centre for Teaching Excellence, coming in September, will include an interview with one of the early users.

"During the spring, training courses and drop-in times were provided for instructors. The support staff members worked closely with Desire2Learn to assist with an Angel course conversion tool, to convert Angel courses into D2L format. Courses were identified for fall and converted. Some instructors opted for a fresh start in Learn, choosing to build their course from scratch in the new environment."

She continues: "This fall, about 250 courses will run in Learn (48 fully online, the remainder campus-based courses). Some courses were identified as early candidates; for others, instructors asked to move to Learn.

"To avoid confusion for instructors and students, all fall students are directed to UW-ACE. Those with courses in Learn will see a link in their UW-ACE course to take them to Learn where they login with the same userid and password.

"The license for Angel will expire in May 2012. A one year limited licence extension, without instructor or student access, will be required to maintain student course work in case it is required for a grade appeal. (The student course work cannot be migrated to D2L, only the course materials and structure.) It is important to move all courses off UW-ACE while there is still full access for instructors to easily review and compare their new course on Learn. It is not only costly to run two systems at once, but also it takes much more support. For these reasons, all courses will run in Learn starting in January 2012."

Instructors likely have questions about the move to D2L, she acknowledges, and an e-mail sent to them this week provides information about steps and support:

• Can my winter course be converted? Yes. We will be in touch by the end of September to discuss moving your course to Learn.

• How will I get assistance with my course? There will be about 20 training sessions (one or two per week) during the fall. (An early session is scheduled for today at 1:30 in the Flex Lab, Dana Porter Library.) Drop-in times will be available as well. Also, a staff member will be available to help with touch-ups and corrections for your campus-based courses beyond those you deem it makes sense to do yourself. If it is a fully online course, contact extendedlearning.help@ uwaterloo.ca.

• Can I try Learn now?  Yes. If you would like to have a sandbox (test course) to try the capabilities of Learn, email learnhelp@ uwaterloo.ca.

• Can I (as an instructor) still access my previous UW-ACE courses in January 2012? Yes, until the end of April 2012, only to view and access content. Do not update courses in UW-ACE (aside from fall 2011 courses); those changes will not be propagated to Learn.

• How can I give feedback on my experience with Learn? As in the spring term, we will solicit feedback from you and your students.

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The Hylozoic Ground Collaboration "demonstrates how a theoretical idea, propelled forward through ground-breaking research, can lead to a promising new branch of contemporary architecture." It charts the 15-year multi-continent journey of architecture professor Philip Beesley’s "Hylozoic Series” that culminated in the Canadian entry to the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2010. An exhibition about the development of the project has been running since mid-August in the Design at Riverside Gallery of the Architecture building in Cambridge. The official opening reception is scheduled for tonight at 6:30.

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Day 4 of orientation, and other notes

Orientation continues today, with the final three performances of “Single and Sexy” (9:30, 12:30 and 4:00) in the Humanities Theatre, and many other life-changing events. It’s a particularly big day for first-year engineering students, who will get down and dirty in Junkyard Wars for most of the morning, then “Meet the Tool” at Federation Hall in the afternoon. Meanwhile arts, environment and science students pretty much have the day off from organized events; those in math will tour the campus and "Earn Your Tie", and for applied health sciences it's a day-long outing to the Elora Gorge. Tonight brings the six-faculty, semiformal Monte Carlo Night in the Student Life Centre and the Physical Activities Complex. As a result, the PAC will close for recreational use, and most of the SLC will be closed to general use from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. The turnkey desk remains open (use the north entrance) and so does Tim Hortons (use the ring road entrance). Highlight for tomorrow is a morning "invocation ceremony" in the PAC, committing new students to their university as the year begins.

“The Provost’s Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation has decided to continue support for career advising services for staff,” the staff association’s latest newsletter announces. “Confidential career appointments have been available to staff since January, 2010, initially as part of a two-year pilot. This year, after seeing evidence of the pilot’s success, PACSC has opted to make the Staff Career Advisor position permanent. Staff and postdocs have accessed 420 appointments since services were launched. Over 120 of you have participated in workshops in the Centre for Career Action (Tatham Centre), and close to 130 of you have participated in custom workshops arranged by your managers. PACSC’s support means that you’ll continue to be able to meet confidentially with the Staff Career Advisor during regular office hours, and some lunch and evening appointments. You’ll be able to discuss how to plan your future career development; learn more about yourself through formal or informal assessment options; create a networking plan for uWaterloo or your network outside of campus; practice your interview skills.” It adds that there’s a new Staff Career Advisor, Rebecca Burwell, who “brings with her years of experience in individual advising and workshop facilitation, including time at uWaterloo advising alumni at various stages in their careers.” Liz Koblyk, the previous advisor, is moving to be assistant director of the Centre for Career Action.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is a major source of funding for research in Canadian universities, particularly projects that are also receiving industry support, and last week the federal agency announced $53 million in new grants under its Leaders Opportunity Fund. The money will support 207 projects “to create the knowledge, solutions and new products and services that Canada needs to compete globally”. Three of the listed projects are based at Waterloo: “Experimental Channel for River Hydraulics”, receiving $50,000; “Facility for Emerging Energy Research”, also $50,000; and “Mechanical and Spectroscopic Properties of Nanoscale Soft Materials”, $100,000. CFI didn’t give any further details of the projects or the researchers.

The information systems and technology department and the office of organizational and human development have announced that a new set of workshops in the Skills for the Electronic Workplace program is now open for registration. “Highlights of these late summer/ early fall courses,” says a memo, “include the much requested Advanced Exchange Calendar [SEW080], as well as Facebook and Twitter at uWaterloo [SEW025], and Green IT [SEW093], a look at how to use technology to reduce cost and waste and a look at future green strategies in development at Waterloo. Several more courses will be offered, such as Excel Level 2 [SEW092], Working from Home using a PC [SEW095], and Introduction to Web Accessibility [SEW026], which will assist you in learning about the new Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the resources available for your unit’s website. These courses and more can be found on the SEW Brochure website.”

CAR

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