3:33 p.m., Nov. 3, 2009----The University of Delaware Learning Management System (LMS) committee held its fall meeting on Oct. 21 to discuss Sakai@UD and the future focus for the committee.

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Deputy Provost Havidán Rodríguez welcomed committee members with good news about the Sakai@UD project. More than 98 percent of fall 2009 courses that use an LMS are hosted on Sakai@UD. Rodríguez noted that the University is nearly a year ahead of schedule for moving courses to Sakai@UD.

Rodríguez thanked the LMS committee and UD Information Technologies for meeting the needs of the faculty. He added that the emphasis will now be to rethink and restructure the committee to move Sakai@UD forward.

Mathieu Plourde, IT Client Support and Services, shared the actual number of courses that use Sakai@UD. For fall semester 2009, there are 978 Sakai@UD courses with only 21 courses remaining in WebCT. Plourde also updated the committee on the upgrade to Sakai@UD version 2.6 in August 2009. This version provides minor changes and addresses the slowness of the Forums tool.

According to Plourde, upcoming changes to Sakai@UD include improved scalability. At present, the system resides on one server. Soon, multiple servers with load balancing will improve efficiency and service. Other changes will include self-service creation of guest accounts, and grade reporting to UDSIS.

Kathy Pusecker, Center for Educational Effectiveness, announced two new programs: one to assess student learning from freshman through senior years using E-Portfolios and the second to support the development and implementation of graduate programs' assessments.

Pusecker said that there have been several successful pilot projects using Sakai@UD E-Portfolios. In one of the pilots, the graduate nutrition program significantly increased its students' pass rate on the accreditation test. The pilot built in a solid feedback mechanism that provided students with formative comments to enhance their learning.

There are three types of E-portfolios that faculty can consider, according to Nancy O'Laughlin, Client Support and Services. Assessment portfolios are used to gather, organize, and document materials for course-based and programmatic assessment. Students can showcase their work using personal representation portfolios, and teaching and learning portfolios incorporate reflection into the learning process.

Paul Hyde, IT Academic Technology Services, said that Sakai@UD is at the hub of H1N1 preparedness. A Web page, Technology Options for Course Continuity in Event of H1N1 Outbreak, explains that faculty can use Sakai@UD to establish a meeting point online and gives options for how course elements and communicating with students can be handled online.

Hyde also spoke about the UD Capture classroom-recording system that records lectures and makes them available for online viewing. A pilot program this semester features UD Capture in six classrooms, Hyde said.

The meeting ended with committee members discussing the evolving mission of the LMS committee. Now that the migration to Sakai at UD is nearly complete, there are new opportunities to incorporate technologies that promote the University's Path to Prominence strategic plan and to share best practices with University colleagues.