Haute Software: Juggling Open Source and Vendor Software

Jeshua Pacifici, Manager, Learning Systems

Kim Gausepohl, Assistant Manager, Online Course Systems

Virginia Tech

Copyright Statement

"Copyright Kim Gausepohl and Jeshua Pacifici 2006. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author."

Virginia Tech; Blacksburg, VA

Public research institution

8 colleges & a graduate school

25,000+ full-time students

1500+ faculty

IT Infrastructure

Learning Systems at VT

Blackboard at VT

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Vendor System

Aspects of vendor learning system support

Stability and reliability of online learning environmentTraining Help desk, help pages, documentationRelationship with vendor support managerAbility to leverage your university’s technical teams

Interest in Open Source Software

Why are we interested in open source?Elimination of vendor annual license and hosting fees

Avoid problems with vendor support and migration

Leverage University’s academic and IT resources

Institutional Goals

Ability to modify and customize functionality and interface

Scholar Screenshot

Interest in Open Source Software

Choosing a vendor or pursuing open source: when to hold and when to let go……

Know your institution’s strengths and resourcesIdentify your faculty needs and preferencesLine up upper level support Remember…without the vendor the buck stops at your desk

Interest in Open Source Software

Choosing a vendor or pursuing open source software (continued)

Open source is not free

Observers have little influence on the product

QA is essential

Concerns with Open Source Software

Migrating course data from legacy or existing LMS’s to open source LMS

Transition - moving users away from existing system

User concernsEase of use

Stability and Reliability

Support concernsLack of Admin tools

Concerns with Open Source Software

Participating in the design process (herding cats)

Coordinating developers: conflicting skills, schedules and objectives

“I’m just volunteering” mentality

Support Group Problems: Too Much to Do

No new staff

Support of more people, products, problems

New responsibilities

New Responsibilities: Part of Systems Engineering Process

Concept Phase. OCS’ new role: Developing user-system interface requirement.

Design Phase. OCS’ new role: Concept demonstration and validation by demonstrating proposed system interface to university community and making necessary changes based on received feedback.

Development Phase. OCS’ new role: Full-scale engineering development. Iterative process of evaluation and programming

Disposal Phase. OCS’ continued role. System retirement.

Operation Phase. OCS’ continued role. Production & Deployment. Operation & Maintenance

Figure 1: OCS’ roles in the Systems Engineering Process. Chart adapted from Chapanis (1996)

Support Group Problems: Not Sure How to Do It

Conflicting priorities

Disconnect between staff and upper management

Decrease in morale

Support Group Changes

Transition to “area experts”

Emphasis on QA

Expansion in training offerings

Closer relationship with faculty

Task Tracking (JIRA)

Area Experts

Division of responsibilitiesKim (QA lead)Dawn (Scholar expert)Nick (ePortfolio expert)

ProsMore efficientIndividual Staff Recognition

ConsInefficient when expert out on vacation, sick days….

Emphasis on Quality Assurance

Part of software development cycleIterative tests for OSP 2.1 (Dec 05)

Transition from random -> more formalized testing

OSP RC tests (Feb 04)

SAKAI test plans (Nov 05)

Usability testingNew for us

OCS Training Session Expansion

Emphasis on electronic format

Emphasis on pedagogy (not how, but WHY?)

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JIRA for Task Tracking

JIRA – Issue tracking & project management

http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/

Way to organize staff overwhelmed with work

Staff know what they are responsible for

JIRA Screenshot

Lessons Learned

Everyone is a part of the process

Staff need guidance to change

Keep reasonable expectations

We exist to support teaching and research – NOT technology

Recommendations

Know thyself

Find a niche

Focus on your strengths

Partner with similar institutions

Questions & Answers

Contact Information

Jeshua Pacifici jeshua@vt.edu

Kim Gausepohl kgansepo@vt.edu

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/ocs