The purpose of this document is to inform you about the process and timeline for the switch from Blackboard to the ANGEL Learning System. If you have any questions that are not addressed below, please don’t hesitate to contact Darrin Cheney, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies at 588-3678 or via e-Mail, dcheney@kumc.edu.
Important Dates and Timelines
• May 19, 2006 – Blackboard to ANGEL course conversion
ends
• May 19, 2006 – Summer course request due to TLT
by 5:00 pm
• May 22, 2006 - TLT Begins migrating content from ANGEL
pilot server to production server
• May 26, 2006 – ANGEL pilot server is shutdown at
5:00 pm
• May 27, 2006 – ANGEL production server available
after 8:00 am
• June 2, 2006 – TLT will load all courses and student
accounts for Summer by 5:00 pm
• June 6, 2006 – Summer session begins
• June 16, 2006 – Blackboard server is unavailable
to users at 5:00 pm
Why is KUMC switching from Blackboard to ANGEL?
In the Spring of 2005, the TL-Tech Planning Group made the decision
to move to the ANGEL to support current and forthcoming online
learning initiatives. ANGEL provides the capability to create,
store and search shared content in repositories or "content
libraries," and to link to this content from within course
modules. ANGEL also has an ePortfoilio system that can be used
for students to post artifacts based on learning objectives and
reflect on their learning experiences. In addition, ANGEL has
a shared white board where students could collaborate and create
concept maps in both live lectures and in small group activities.
ANGEL also has a collaborative community system to share information
with a school, class, department, research group, or project team.
After exploring adding these capabilities to our Blackboard license,
it was determined the cost was too prohibitive.
Is the Lawrence campus switching from Blackboard?
No. The main campus is staying with Blackboard. This means that
students could potentially have a course in Blackboard (KU) and
a course in ANGEL (KUMC).
When is KUMC switching from Blackboard to ANGEL?
KUMC will switch from the Blackboard to the ANGEL prior to the
start of summer classes. This will impact both the Kansas City
and Wichita campuses. Students will be able to access their courses
in the ANGEL from the MyKUMC portal or from https://elearning.kumc.edu/angel.
Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) will load all courses
and student accounts for the summer session by 5:00 pm on June
2, 2006. Please keep in mind that you will need to activate the
course in order for students to access your content. TLT can assist
you if you have any questions.
Please keep in mind that the ANGEL pilot server will remain available for faculty and students until 5:00 pm on May 26, 2006. Starting May 22, 2006, TLT will begin to migrate all of the courses and collaboration groups to the new ANGEL production server. You will receive an e-Mail when your course is loaded on the new server. All Summer 2006 courses or courses being developed for Fall 2006 will be loaded on to the ANGEL production server as a “Master Course.”
How long will Blackboard remain available for faculty
and students?
The current Blackboard system will be available for faculty and
students until Friday, June 16, 2006 at 5:00pm. After this time,
the server and content will no longer be available for faculty
or students from the Blackboard system. Please make sure you download
any course content including your gradebook prior to June 16th.
TLT will archive every course and download a gradebook for each
class.
When will my course be converted from Blackboard to the
ANGEL Learning System?
Teaching and Learning Technologies will convert every Blackboard
course to the ANGEL Learning System. The plan is to have all Blackboard
courses converted by May 19, 2006. If you have not been contacted
by a TLT designer and want to know when your course is scheduled
for conversion, please contact Teri Wright at 588-7114.
I am teaching a summer online
course. Who do I call to get access to the ANGEL to begin designing
my course?
If you are School of Nursing faculty, you will need to request a
course shell through the eTriage process. This is accomplished by
completing a request form on IntraNurse. Please contact Kim Rock
for more details. For everyone else, please go to the elearning
Course Request page and complete the form. TLT will create a
Master Course and show you how to upload your content. TLT will
also show you how to enroll support staff or other faculty to your
course. When your course shell is created, you will receive an e-Mail
confirmation from the ANGEL Administrator. All summer requests
are due to TLT by 5:00 pm May 19, 2006.
How do I access and log onto the ANGEL server?
After May 22, 2006, you will be able to access the ANGEL directly
or from MyKUMC. The URL is https://elearning.kumc.edu/angel. You
will logon with your Novel network account username and password.
If you are unable to logon to ANGEL, please contact Customer Support
at 588-7995.
Will TLT provide more ANGEL training?
Yes. TLT will present an ANGEL Learning Overview during several
brown-bag sessions scheduled during the summer and fall. You can
also request a 1-on-1 session with a TLT designer to show you
how to upload content and use the ANGEL Learning System. TLT will
also provide group training for your department or faculty group.
To request a training session, please send an email to elearning@kumc.edu
indicating the type of training needed and a list faculty/staff.
A TLT Designer will get in touch with you to discuss your needs.
There will also be documentation and “just-in-time”
resources available from the ANGEL Learning homepage.
What is a Master Course?
A Master Course is a course shell with special privileges and
rights. Master courses live within a Learning Object Repository
(LOR). The LOR is a place within ANGEL where you can create, modify,
or change content whenever and wherever you like. The content
resides in the LOR, but it can be copied into several shells for
different sections of the course. Master Courses also allow you
to include specific course settings and preferences.
Currently TLT downloads and uploads your courses into the Blackboard System. Within the new ANGEL system, TLT will import your course into a Master Course. Prior to the start of a semester, TLT will create a course shell based-upon the line number for your course and will load the instructor accounts and student accounts for that term. You will then copy your Master Course into this live course shell and activate it for your students. All future courses being developed will occur in a Master Course. This allows you to keep courses you are developing separate from courses you are teaching. This way, you will always have access to your courses and content. During the summer and fall, TLT will provide training to assist you with this process
What is a Community Group?
A Community Group is an online collaboration space in ANGEL. It
is an excellent place to share resources with a group of students,
a department, a clerkship, a project team, or a research group.
In a Community Group, you can share a calendar with your group,
post content, facilitate discussion, allow team members to submit
documents, administer surveys and tests, and create teams. Community
groups are based-upon the concept of “team Leaders”
and “members” rather than faculty and students.
How can I request a Community Group?
To request a Community Group, send an email to elearning@kumc.edu.
TLT will create your Community Group and create an ANGEL group
for your students/team and show you how to upload your content.
TLT will also “batch” enroll your users into the Community
Group. You will be able to enroll additional users and create
sub-teams. You will receive an e-Mail confirmation from the ANGEL
Administrator when your Community Group is created.
Is there an ePortfolio system I can use for my program?
ANGEL has an ePortfolio component. In the ePortfolio system, faculty
can identify program or course objectives. Students can either
import “certified” or locked artifacts from an ANGEL
course or import non-certified artifacts into their ePortfolio.
Students can then assign artifacts to an objective. Students can
also journal and reflect on an assigned topic via a BLOG tool.
To share these resources, students create a publication using
a web template. Students can then share this information with
faculty, advisors/mentors, and potential employers via an e-Mail
a link. To learn more about ePortfolio’s, please send an
e-Mail to elearning@kumc.edu.
A TLT Designer will contact you to discuss your program’s
needs.
I heard the Virtual Classroom is going away. Is this
true?
The TL-Tech Planning group requested that all online “courses”
be available to students within ANGEL. During the next year, TLT
will work with the schools of Allied Health, Medicine, and Nursing,
and the graduate school to migrate content fro the Virtual Classroom
to the ANGEL Learning System. TLT will begin this conversion process
June 2006 and will complete it by the end of Spring 2007 term.
Stay tuned for more information.
©
The University of Kansas Medical Center