As a leading online university, UNE has a sophisticated set of digital platforms that make up its virtual learning environment (VLE). Most people are familiar with the various platforms – Moodle, Zoom, Echo360, Kaltura, ProctorU, Mobius and so on. What’s often not well known, however, is how and why these platforms come to be part of our VLE. Since you may have heard talk recently of ‘getting a new LMS’ – the LMS Review project currently underway – we wanted to take the opportunity to demystify the evaluation and procurement processes that guide decision-making about UNE’s digital learning landscape.
Navigating the landscape
Curating and managing a VLE can be challenging – all decisions must be made at an all-of-university level, taking into account a wide range of needs and considerations from a diverse range of disciplines, capabilities and student contexts. We invest a lot of time and energy seeking out as much input from as many stakeholders as we can, so that we can create a line of best fit for the university. Due to this, it can sometimes be hard to see the experiences and opinions of individuals reflected, but it’s important to know that all input is heard and considered and plays a role in shaping our VLE, even if it can’t always be acted on.
Creating a best fit toolkit
Platforms and tools find their way into UNE’s digital toolkit in a number of different ways, depending on scale, cost, context and need.
Smaller-scale tools projects have a more organic starting point. Mobius, for example, was trialled by S&T to cover a specific need for a STEM activity tool in their area. It has since grown to something adopted across the university and is now considered part of UNE’s VLE (and funded and supported accordingly). Pedestal3D, our 3D delivery platform, has a similar story.
Some tools, for example the recent ePortfolio implementation, started with a university wide requirement to have a single, integrated ePortfolio solution to replace some of the temporary, ad-hoc setups that we have started to see. This needed a more robust, formal process, but wasn’t large enough require a full-scale tender. Requirements were gathered, different vendors were invited to present and quote and the best fit for UNE was chosen and implemented (PebblePad).
For large-scale systems that are core platforms in our VLE, such as with the Moodle review currently underway, the process is more rigorous still in line with UNE’s procurement rules. For this project, we ran a number of focus groups, workshops and surveys as well as conversations with many stakeholder groups to make sure that we collected as much information as possible about UNE’s requirements from all involved to use in the formal procurement process outlined below.
Why an LMS Review?
Moodle has been our learning management system (LMS) for 10 years – it was implemented in semester 2 2011. UNE has changed a lot in that time, as has the higher education sector and the educational technology landscape. It’s time for us to undertake a robust evaluation to make sure our LMS is fit for purpose and that we have the best system for our needs. This applies to other platforms and tools too – it’s best practice to ensure we periodically evaluate them against our needs.
Procurement and the tender process
Procurement processes are critical to the finance, governance and legislative framework of the University. There are strict protocols that exist as part of the NSW Government Procurement guidelines that UNE needs to adhere to for both probity (integrity and fairness) and audit requirements. This means high value (i.e., $250K+) and/or high-risk supplier engagements must be tendered to the market, as is the case for key engagements within UNE’s digital platform projects.
The tender process entails a thorough review of supplier markets domestically and globally to select suppliers that achieve best value for money for the University. Value for money includes considering the total cost not just the purchase price. It considers: whole-of-life costs, fitness-for-purpose, quality, service and support, sustainability, delivery & turnaround timelines, and risk.
Each supplier proposal is evaluated by a Tender Evaluation Team (TET – made up of academic, technical and professional staff) who evaluate all responses equally ensuring consistency and fairness of process for all suppliers. Within the tender process, UNE asks suppliers to address an extensive list of user and technical requirements as well as legislative requirements such as privacy, modern slavery, risk and financial capability. These requirements are developed by a wide range of experts across the university and consider the needs of all stakeholders, including teaching staff, professional staff and students.
Stages exist within the tender evaluation process, including initial evaluation, vendor demonstrations and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of the platform. The UAT stage offers the opportunity for users of the system, both staff and students to take part in testing these new platforms such as LMS and provide feedback to the Tender Evaluation Team. Based on evaluations at each stage, the preferred supplier is selected from qualitative and quantitative weighted scores and recommended under the governance framework of the University to be engaged.
Get involved
With the LMS review, we are currently at a stage where the TET has shortlisted a number of vendors who will present demonstrations to the TET. Following this, there will be several opportunities coming up where you can have input into the LMS Review – here are some of the ways you can get involved:
Look out for user testing later this year and early next year. We will ask our shortlisted vendors to set up “sandpits” and invite staff and students to review the different options. Testing can be based on scenario test scripts we share with you, or more “free form” – it’s up to you. We will collect feedback from all involved and use that in the decision making.
If we choose a different LMS at the end of this process, we don’t simply want to “lift and shift” old content into a new LMS. Instead, we want to take the opportunity to review and improve our online content. If you are coordinating one or more units, you will be invited to complete a survey about your unit to get some feedback on what works well for your unit and where you would like to work with us on “uplifting” your unit as we potentially transition to a different LMS.
For further information, look out for updates in school meetings, or check in with our blog at https://blog.une.edu.au/diged/.