The transition from Moodle to Brightspace, Queen’s new campus-wide learning management system (LMS), will begin with a pilot phase in September when a group of faculty members make the move for their fall courses. Full implementation across campus will happen in 2016-17.

Earlier this year, the university announced the adoption of Brightspace, formerly Desire2Learn, in order to give faculty, students and other users access to a robust LMS that can enhance course delivery and the student learning experience.

“We are taking a phased approach to the implementation of Brightspace and 2015-16 will be a pilot year,” says Jill Scott, Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning). “We want to ensure that when the system goes campus-wide in 2016-17 we are well positioned for a smooth transition, in terms of the support we provide to faculty members as well as in the behind-the-scenes, technical side of the transition.”

An advisory committee that includes faculty, staff and student members is actively engaged in the Brightspace implementation process. Over the coming months, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and Information Technology Services (ITS) will work closely with faculties and schools to develop customized transition plans to support the phased implementation.

Peter Wolf, Associate Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) and Director of the CTL, participated in a similar transition to Brightspace at the University of Guelph. He says many Queen’s faculty members have already volunteered to be part of the pilot phase.

“We want to ensure that when the system goes campus-wide in 2016-17 we are well positioned for a smooth transition, in terms of the support we provide to faculty members as well as in the behind-the-scenes, technical side of the transition.”

- Jill Scott, Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning)

“I am very encouraged by the amount of interest I’ve seen from faculty members in becoming early adopters,” says Mr. Wolf. “The CTL will work closely with those individuals, as they move their courses from Moodle to Brightspace, to enable them to make the best use of its capabilities for their particular courses.”

Brightspace is widely used in higher education, and is already being used at Queen’s in the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Business and the School of Nursing. The new campus-wide licence will allow the university to integrate those separate licences and provide consistency across faculties.

Adopting Brightspace campus-wide will ensure all faculty and students have access to the same LMS, and will also support strategic teaching and learning initiatives, such as learning analytics, ePortfolios and the tracking of learning outcomes.

Faculty members interested in learning more about Brightspace and the benefits of a learning management system are invited to contact Peter Wolf and to read a Q&A available on the provost’s website.