The document discusses lessons learned from migrating multiple colleges from the Blackboard LMS to the Desire2Learn LMS. It describes Colorado Community College System's initial plan to have faculty backup and upload their own courses, but challenges with that approach. The revised plan involved testing procedures, piloting with select courses, and providing varied training and support for the full migration. The key lessons were to communicate extensively, remain flexible, have contingency plans, and maintain a positive attitude throughout the process.

1. Staying Sane When Migrating to a New LMSWCET, October 2009

2. PresentersDonna HallInstructional Design Team CoordinatorCCCOnlinedonna.hall@cccs.eduDebra Warren Instructional DesignerCCCOnline debra.warren@cccs.edu2

3. Colorado Community College System 13 colleges and CCCOnline117,000+ students annually1,200 secondary, 800 postsecondary career and technical programsBlackboard (WebCT) Vista 4.2 to Desire2LearnStarted migration planning January 2009All colleges on D2L by January 2010

4. Initial PlanningCommunicate early, oftenLMS supportITAdministratorsStaffFacultyHelpdeskGet feedback from all parties

5. OriginalPlanforMigratingFacultyUnsubscribe all filesBackup, download courseUpload backup to file severStaffMigrate backup to D2LCopy migrated course into “Master” courseEnroll faculty in “Master” course

6. OriginalPlanforMigratingProsSpread work over many individualsFaculty responsible for selecting course to be migratedConsFaculty technically challengedFaculty had to be on network to upload backupUser errors

7. Test, Test, Test!Plan for challengesVerify procedures work as expectedQA all procedures (recruit guinea pigs)Example: Because of established communication and repeated tests, when the decision to change plan was made, the switch only took a week.

8. PilotCoursesPilot small number of coursesView and test as StudentHand-select pilot facultyDon’t assume everyone adapts well to changeThere will be surprises on who are early adaptorsStress “there is a reason it is called a pilot”

9. MigratingAllCoursesMentorsConference to rollout training Variety of training for all learning stylesPositive attitudeScheduling

10. Lessons LearnedCommunication is key