Andrea Chappell Director, Instructional Technologies and Multimedia Services (ITMS) Information Systems and Technology, University of Waterloo Office: MC 2041 Phone: 519-888-4567 x33779 FAX: 519-884-4398 chappell@uwaterloo.ca

My work history at University of Waterloo begins in 1988. Since then I have held six different positions in what was the Department of Computing Services, and is now IST.

The ITMS group web site describes our services. We're a group of 19 people who support the technnologies used in instruction. Because the same tools used for instruction can be used for other purposes, we devote resources to those other uses as well, but our primary mandate is to support instruction. The major areas of support include:

• Waterloo LEARN, our online learning management system based on Desire2Learn's Learning Environment, Learning Object Repository, and ePortfolio. We adopted D2L's LE in 2011, after using ANGEL for over 7 years. We also integrate Turnitin into our LE, and plan to integrate other products. Support for the learning environment is a collaborative and shared effort on the part of team comprised of people in ITMS, the Centre for Extended Learning (fully online courses), and the Centre for Teaching Excellence (pedagogical support, including for blended courses).
• Media productions, including audio and video recordings and editing, format conversions, and other services. We also operate a "double ender" studio that allows our campus personalities to be interviewed directly by broadcasters.
• Media resource loans, providing a wide range of videos that can be used in instruction. We share our catalogs between numerous Ontario universities so that we can borrow from each other as well.
• A/V equipment loans, providing data projectors, document cameras, audio recording, video recorders, laptops, audio set-up, and much more, to the main campus for instructional support and for events. We also provide student operators where assistance with some equipment and events is needed.
• E-classroom and a/v technical support, providing design, installation, maintenance, and support to the 110 centrally scheduled e-classrooms, to many other presentation rooms across our campuses, and to events. Support for the use of electronic classrooms involves many people, including numerous groups IST, the Faculty Computing Offices, Scheduling, Space Management, and Plant Operations. We strive to coordinate support so that the people using the classrooms, and other evolving learning spaces, are best served.

• LMS Selection and Implementation Project (June 2009 - Spring 2012) - Project Leader
  After the surprise sale of Angel Learning Inc. to Blackboard on May 6th, 2009, this project was struck to select the next learning management system for Waterloo. In March of 2010 we selected Desire2Learn, with a pilot following in May, an initial rollout of 300 courses in the fall, and a full move to D2L in January 2012.
  
• Online Learning Environment Project (October 2009 - May 2009) - Project Leader
  Having used ANGEL for about 7 years, a project was struck to consider where we wanted to be in the near horizon. Surveys of students, feedback from instructors, an environmental scan of the LMS landscape, and considerations for Web 2.0 were taken into account. The message was to stay with ANGEL and augment it with various other facilities. Two weeks later, Angel Learning Inc. was sold to Blackboard!
  
• Desktop Computer Rollover Project (November 2004 - January 2006) - Project Leader
  Put in place a centralized, regular desktop rollover process for computing equiment in the academic support departments. The project team selected Dell as the preferred vendor "partner" for the purchase of a standard desktop computer. Processes were reviewed as an IST managed rollover process was put in place, in conjunction with the departments. Successfully completed. The Faculty of Arts decided to adopt the same model, and now purchases these desktop computers for its faculty members. Other Faculties and areas followed.
  
• UW-ACE, ANGEL Course Environment (February 2004 - Fall 2004) - Project Leader
  Making available technologies and support for a general online course system. ANGEL was already in use behind a front-end, homegrown system called UWOne. UWOne was not scalable or sustainable for broad campus use. It was decided in this project to adopt ANGEL as our campus online course system. A Steering Committee was put in place, the support structure was determined and put in place, and the rollout of ANGEL to campus began with a pilot of about 30 courses in May 2004.
  

Previous Projects and Activities

• PLIANT, a CANARIE funded project - Technical Project Leader
  IP videoconferencing systems used for multiple location courses and small group work scenarios. A CANARIE funded project run by LT3.
• Course Management Software: Blackboard (Spring 2000 - Winter 2001) - Technical Project Leader
  We selected Blackboard as our campus supported CMS. We piloted some courses in Winter 2001, using two Web course management systems, WebCT and Blackboard. Blackboard fit our plans for the UW online environment better than WebCT. You can read more in this (incomplete) decision summary.
• FLEX Lab: a new kind of classroom - Technology Planner
  A computer classroom and training room shared between the Library and LT3. For LT3, it provides a staging area for some of the projects on-going in the Centre, and for special events.
• Considerations for LT3 Workstation Support model
• uPortal investigation
  Limited scope project to look at the capabilities of one specific portal technology, uPortal, in order to learn about some portal features.
• UCIST Student Email Ad Hoc Group
  

Past Activities

Old information that could be useful some day ...

• History of e-classroom activities
• Notes from Events I've Attended
• Other Groups working on TLT at University of Waterloo
• Audio (and material) capture
• IP Videoconferencing
  This is another area that crosses departmental boundaries as technologies converge. We need to investigate its use and support on campus, for the classroom, the office, and special use rooms, considering the network impacts, what services could be provided, and how.
• Audio/video streaming service(s) at UW
  • iTunes U
• LMS open systems tracking
• iWeb
  LT3 facilitates some sharing of information and experiences between Web academic course designers across campus. Begun 27 June 2000, it has a mailing list and monthly presentations.

Background

• What is TLT?
• Areas of Responsibility for TLT in IST