NSCC's Next Learning Management System

In early May, NSCC concluded the search for a new LMS with the decision to award the bid to Blackboard, Inc. This decision was reached in agreement through the Distance Education Committee and the extended LMS Task Force, as well as input received from the vendor presentations, reactions to the sandbox environments, and comments from many of faculty and staff. 

The implementation of the latest version of Blackboard Learn and the migration away from ANGEL will begin during summer 2014.  The process will take approximately a year to complete and will occur in several phases.  The working timeline is as follows:

• Summer 2014 – System set up and customization.  Academic Technology and Information Systems training and system familiarization.  Course migration process tested.  Preparation for fall pilot.  ANGEL will be operational during this time and all summer 2014 courses will be delivered in ANGEL.  
• Fall 2014 – Pilot of courses in Blackboard Learn by 10-15 faculty.  Training and course migration will occur in August.  ANGEL will be operational during this time and all fall 2014 courses will be delivered in ANGEL. 
• Spring 2015 – All online and hybrid courses will be delivered in Blackboard Learn for the spring 2015 semester.  Training and course migration will occur during the fall semester.  More information will be sent out to faculty teaching online in late summer.  ANGEL will be operational during this time and all spring 2015 face-to-face courses will be delivered in ANGEL. 
• Summer 2015 – All summer courses will be delivered in Blackboard Learn for the summer 2015 semester.  Training and course migration will occur during the spring semester.  ANGEL will be taken offline during this time and will not be used to deliver any courses.
• Fall 2015 – All fall courses will be delivered in Blackboard Learn for the fall 2015 semester.  Training and course migration will occur during the spring and summer semesters.  ANGEL will be offline and will not be used to deliver any courses.

Many thanks to all who contributed to this decision and we look forward to working with everyone through the coming year.  We will continue to update the campus community about the implementation through the Bulletin, email, Facebook, and this blog.

Please feel free to contact us at itd@northshore.edu with any questions or concerns.