texas state university
DESCRIPTION
Texas State University. The largest university in the Texas State University System and the sixth largest university in Texas serving over 29,000 students on a 457-acre campus located in the scenic Texas Hill Country between Austin and San Antonio. Presenters. Michael Farris - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Bye, Bye Blackboard
Texas State University
The largest university in the Texas State University System and the sixth largest university in Texas serving over 29,000 students on a 457-acre campus located in the scenic Texas Hill Country between Austin and San Antonio.
Presenters
• Michael FarrisProject lead [email protected]
• Jeff SniderDBA/Developer [email protected]
• Whitten SmartUser Support and Documentation [email protected]
Blackboard
• Adopted in 1999 • Heavily modified and aging by 2004 • Complete rewrite of the custom code required
for deploying newer version• The same rewrite required for future releases
The Goal
Provide a learning management system that:
• Placed control in the hands of the people who use it, Texas State faculty.
• Supported the development and maintenance of customization with minimal restrictions.
The Project
To deactivate the customized version of Blackboard by facilitating a voluntary migration of faculty to a more robust, agile learning management environment.
The Project Team
Michael Farris – Project lead [email protected]
Rori Sheffield – Project Assistant/User Support [email protected]
Salwa Khan – SAKAI liaison/User Involvement [email protected]
Jeff Snider – DBA/Developer [email protected]
Amy Boyd – Developer/Programmer [email protected]
Sean McMains – Software Architect and Advisor [email protected]
Yuanhua Qu – Developer/Programmer [email protected]
James Buratti – Web Support [email protected]
Jimmy Rico – User Support and Documentation [email protected]
Whitten Smart – User Support and Documentation [email protected]
Mary Cauble – Project & Change Management [email protected]
Laura Trial – Graphic Design [email protected]
Deborah Morton – Faculty Representative [email protected]
Hideo Goto – Quality Assurance
The Beginning
• Interview faculty• I like• I don’t like• I want
• Document requirements• Complete gap analysis
Critical Success Factors
• Voluntary migration• Blackboard imports• Freely modifiable code• Faculty perception
Migration Process
Blackboard
Sakai Concept Study Pilot Open Final Operations and Maintenance
Operations and Maintenance Discontinuance End of Life
Migration Control Gates
Sakai enhancement releases
(1) Early Deployment and Transition Planning
(2) Initial deployment to users
(3) Detailed Discontinuance Planning
Project Paths
Application Development
Network and Server Infrastructure
User Involvement and Change Management
Branding, Identity and Positioning
Support Structure
Training and Documentation
Quality Assurance
Sakai Foundation Tracking and Advocacy
Team Coordination
• Team meetings• Redirect the Bullet retreats• Ticket system• Project site
OverviewThe Pilot
• Fall 2005• Membership
• 10 faculty, +/- 900 students• Spring 2006/Summer 2006
• Membership• 25 faculty, +/- 2000 students
• Criteria for faculty selection• Sites in Blackboard, extensiveness of Blackboard site,
computer use• Support
• Hand holding• Survey
• Results and Lessons Learned
GoalsThe Pilot
• Recruit 1,000 users• Develop initial branding• Develop strategy for features• Create demand for TRACS• Create proactive support structure• Create effective training• Develop Blackboard, TRACS inter-application
interface• Be ready for faculty
Change ManagementThe Pilot
• Executive Support• Provost• Vice Presidents• Assistant VP• Deans
• Faculty• Chairs• Faculty Senate• Focus groups• Liaisons
SupportThe Pilot
• Fall 2005• Handholding• One on one faculty training• In class training• Documentation• Phone and e-mail
SupportThe Pilot
• Spring 2006• Workshops
• Beginning• Advanced• Gradebook and Assessments
• TRACSfacts• OTRS
InfrastructureThe Pilot
Pilot system• Virtual, since we didn’t know
what we needed
What worked• Apache &mod_jk• Multiple app servers
What didn’t work• Files stored in DB• So few app servers (They die
a lot)
Lessons LearnedThe Pilot
• What We Did Well• Identified and selected pilot faculty• Created TRACSfacts• Paid attention to branding and user interface• Had faculty recruit colleagues for next
semester
Lessons LearnedThe Pilot
• What We Needed to Do Better• Remember, the user is not us• Acknowledge the dark side and do the opposite• Revise and prioritize relentlessly• Be gracious, be humble, be honest and be authentic• Communicate directly with students• Go slow, stay low, keep moving, and don’t get too
greedy
OverviewThe Migration Begins
May-05
Jun-0
5Ju
l-05
Aug-05
Sep-05
Oct-05
Nov-05
Dec-05
Jan-0
6
Feb-06
Mar-06
Apr-06
May-06
Jun-0
6Ju
l-06
Aug-06
Sep-06
Oct-06
Nov-06
Dec-06
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Course Sites in TRACS
OverviewThe Migration Begins
• BB archive import• Curriculum for workshops and
documentation • Faculty readiness survey
TRACS Readiness SurveyThe Migration Begins
InfrastructureThe Migration Begins
• Open Migration System• What changed
• Real hardware• Several instances of the app
per server• Separate storage for files
• What didn’t work• Cheap network switches that
failed under load gave us a big black eye at the start of semester
OverviewThe Middle Years
May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-080
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Course Sites in TRACS
OverviewThe Middle Years
• Spring 2007 through Spring 2008
• Focused on reliability• Proactive in Sakai community• Expanded support efforts• Involved faculty in core team• Determined end date of Blackboard
Change ManagementThe Middle Years
• Message of the day• Faculty Steering Committee• Individual visits with the chairs• New faculty• Dean, Chair, Faculty, Student and TA messages• Published Blackboard end date • Who’s in BB, who’s in TRACS, who’s in BB and
TRACS, and different communication for each
SupportThe Middle Years
• Workshops• Training videos• TRACSfacts re-vamp• Faculty to faculty help• FAQ
SupportThe Middle Years
• Steering Committee• Role• Criteria• Support• Expectations
SupportThe Middle Years
InfrastructureThe Middle Years
• By Spring 08, average daily sessions had risen from 700 to 2500.
• Added another server capable of running four more instances of the app
• DB server load is consistently high, so we submit a request for a new server
Lessons LearnedThe Middle Years
• What We Did Well• Communicate, communicate, communicate• Offer training in every conceivable format• Steering Committee recommended end-date• Added a faculty member to the project team
• What We Needed to Do Better• No changes, no matter how “inconsequential,” right
before finals• It’s the Faculty Steering Committee• Acknowledge the obvious
The Final Days
OverviewThe Final Days
• Summer 2008
• Focus on last 5% of faculty in BB• Focus on staff project sites• Utilize targeted communications• Carryout progressive dates of BB
shutdown
Change ManagementThe Final Days
• Returned to handholding• Made telephone calls• Changed BB login page numerous times• Scheduled office visits• Insured administration awareness• Contacted project site owners
Support The Final Days
• Increase support staff• Conduct fewer workshops• Create more videos• Implement Bomgar• Improve coordination with campus
helpdesk• Deploy new telephone system
SupportThe Final Days
Jul-0
6
Aug-06
Sep-06
Oct-06
Nov-06
Dec-06
Jan-0
7
Feb-07
Mar-07
Apr-07
May-07
Jun-0
7Ju
l-07
Aug-07
Sep-07
Oct-07
Nov-07
Dec-07
Jan-0
8
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
May-08
Jun-0
8Ju
l-08
Aug-08
Sep-08
Oct-08
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
BBTRACS
Lessons LearnedThe Final Days
• What We Did Well• Use multiple methods, avenues of communication• Track the stragglers
• What We Needed to Do Better• Test, test, test• No changes, no matter how “inconsequential,” at the
beginning of the semester• Remember the students• You can’t please everyone• Remember the non-traditional courses
InfrastructurePull the Plug
• New DB server finally comes in. One day before the start of Fall.
• Old DB server is overworked.• We tried to wait until a weekend
to upgrade -- Mid-week upgrade decided for us.
• New DB server is huge. Tuned for speed. MySQL allocated 12Gb.
Pull the Plug
• Build a better system and they will come.• Take the extra steps and time.
OverviewInto the Future
• Define archive retention process• Stabilize release cycles• Increase involvement of Steering Committee• Focus on pedagogy• Deploy a knowledge base• Improve QA test process• Create task-based help
InfrastructureInto the Future
• Increase file space• Big appetite for storage• Several gigs per day
• Multiple Load Balancers• One is fine, until an app blows up• More redundancy
• More RAM for app instances• Ideally 5+ Gb each
Q&A