What Does It Mean?

An email was circulated yesterday by the EVC announcing a transition to something called Canvas. Links were provided, but they don't tell you much about Canvas itself. When you poke around the web, however, Canvas appears to be a commercial platform for "eLearning." Does that mean that, given the forced shift to Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic, the plan is now to offer a substantial part of the curriculum online, even when the situation goes back to normal? Or is the plan simply to replace CCLE with a new system as the platform for traditional in-person courses? Or is the plan to have hybrid courses that are partially in-person and partially online? Or what?

Apart from the educational considerations, anything suggesting new computer systems raises the potential for another UCPath-type situation in which lots more money is expended than planned and things don't work so well during the transition. Just saying...

In any case, here's the email:

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I hope you continue to manage through these extraordinary times. You are the heart and soul of this institution and as such I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your unprecedented efforts to stay on mission this past year.

Foremost to that mission is that UCLA is committed to providing students with a learning environment and curriculum that engages them with the knowledge and skills to prepare them for future success. Critical to that success is a pedagogy that is inclusive, evidence-based, and ever-evolving. Events of the past year have amplified our need to evaluate and enhance UCLA’s learning technology to create solutions that not only meet our current needs but set the standard for teaching excellence, academic achievement, and inclusivity in the future. As we look to evolve teaching and learning at UCLA, we must create an instructional design and delivery model that meets the needs of today as well as being built for tomorrow. In this spirit, I am pleased to share that we will be implementing a new Learning Management System (LMS) as part of our broader mission.

Serving as a key enabler of a more comprehensive teaching and learning plan, the LMS will be a solution that prioritizes academic and pedagogical needs to elevate the overall faculty and student experience at UCLA, developed in close partnership between Teaching & Learning, IT Services, and the academic units. Leading the way will be a dedicated LMS program team who will work across the university, hand-in-hand with unit leadership, to facilitate the transition with minimal impact or disruption to education and research. I encourage you to work closely with this team as we advance teaching and learning at UCLA.

Building the LMS Program Team

Creating an elevated faculty and student experience takes a dedicated team of experts. To bring this vision to life, the LMS team is inviting UCLA Teaching & Learning and IT staff to apply for assignments on the project. With roles ranging from technology developers to trainers and instructional designers, there are roles for a variety of skills and needs. Detailed role descriptions are now available.

Learning More about the LMS Transformation

I understand you will have questions about the LMS Transformation. The program team will keep the campus informed throughout the implementation. To begin learning about the new LMS, which is based on Instructure’s Canvas platform, I encourage you to visit the new LMS Transformation website. The website will provide the campus with a clearinghouse of the latest news, upcoming events, and more. I encourage you to bookmark this site and visit it often. Additionally, in the coming weeks, we will host virtual town halls where you can hear from program leaders, ask questions, and gain insights on the effort. Links to sign up for the town halls will be available on the website in the coming weeks.

Implementing UCLA’s new LMS supports our pursuit of a teaching and learning experience for UCLA faculty and students that reflects our aspirations and achievements as one of the world’s best universities.

Thank you for your support.

Emily A. Carter

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

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All yours truly can say is that we look forward to learning about things to come in the town halls: