ACE to replace Blackboard in Spring 2011
Beginning in the spring semester of this year, University of Indianapolis students and staff will make the transition from the Blackboard 7 Learning Management System (LMS) to the recently rebranded Academic Collaboration Environment (ACE).
UIndy adopted the version of learning management system Sakai last spring, but it was retooled and rebranded into what UIndy students and staff will know as ACE.
Some professors are already implementing ACE in their courses this semester so that student and staff alike can get acclimated with the new program before it goes into widespread use. Kevin McKelvey, assistant professor of English, already has begun to use ACE in his courses, enjoying the improved interface as compared to Blackboard 7.
“As far as learning, we have a lot more tools to use, it’s a lot easier to use for students, and it gives faculty a lot more options in delivering different kinds of content to students,” McKelvey said.
LMS based upon Sakai are widely endorsed by larger universities nation-wide.
John Price, an adjunct professor in the communication department, used a Sakai based LMS called Oncourse while teaching at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
“Oncourse at IUPUI is built on the Sakai platform that Ace is built on, so when they [UIndy] were testing they allowed me to test it in my classes last spring,” Price said.
Price and McKelvey agreed that students have adapted smoothly to the change. They cited student experience with other LMS and computers to explain the ease of transition.
Price described his previous experiences with Blackboard as “a nightmare.”
“One of the big problems with Blackboard 7 is that it is old and it breaks down a lot,” McKelvey said.
While McKelvey views the switch as largely beneficial, he has one concern: timing.
“The only drawback really is the timing of it all, switching in the middle of the school year in December or January,” McKelvey said. “Everybody kind of realizes that it could be a problem, and faculty and Information Systems (IS) are working to make sure it’s not a problem.”
For students who wish to learn more about UIndy’s forthcoming LMS, three Secrets of Success (SOS) workshops will be held in October and November that deal with ACE.
