The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the most recent institution added to the growing list of colleges and universities that are abandoning Blackboard to move to the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS).  This change comes after a highly successful pilot at UNC that started in the fall of 2008. The decision to move to Sakai is greater than just a change in a learning management system; it also is a major indicator of the direction of instructional technology in higher education as a whole. As more colleges and universities look to Sakai, the overall system will continue to improve and grow in a way that can only benefit the instructor and student experience.

Over the past sixyears, I have been a part of the changing landscape in higher education approaches to instructional technology.  There was a time not too long ago when an online did not have the same value, both professionally and academically, as a degree that was earned through face-to-face instruction.  Now most colleges and universities offer online degree programs, courses or certificates.  In many aspects, higher education is becoming more transparent and open.  And this transparency has led to many innovative projects and collaborations that have extended beyond the walls of one institution. A wonderful example of this collaboration is with the development and support of Sakai.

This past June, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver, Colorado and present at the national Sakai conference. Sakai is all about being open and flexible, and this conference was an excellent example of this – having the opportunity to meet and share ideas with other instructors and support staff was a great experience. As an instructional technologist, I am often faced with the challenge of figuring out how to deploy or support a new idea, and I am often hindered by limitations of the system or lack of resources. The Sakai community is a welcomed change because it allows for the sharing of code, ideas, and support. This allows for the creation of a system that can simultaneously be customized for the specific needs of a school and be open and adaptable for the various demands and needs of individual faculty.

Making such a significant transition will certainly be a test for the instructional technology community at UNC, but it is a challenge that is manageable and one that will ultimately prove to be successful. We can benefit from the lessons learned by other peer institutions that have already made the transition. Additionally, there is added benefit of setting out a 3-year migration path. This should help alleviate anxiety some instructors may have, but more importantly, it will allow us to gradually make the transition. It will be important that the University community maintains open communication throughout this process to share ideas and feedback and to make this migration path as fluid as possible.

Several of my colleagues, including Brian Moynihan at the UNC School of Medicine, and I have collaborated with UNC central Information Technology Services (ITS) on unit-specific Sakai pilots, and we will be able to share our own lessons learned with other units on campus that have not yet started to use Sakai. We will be able to showcase the faculty in our units who have already transitioned from Blackboard to Sakai to other faculty. By using this peer spotlight approach, this allows for greater support and additional participants. In order for this migration to be successful, the University will need to embrace the very foundation of Sakai and be open, collaborative and flexible.

It’s definitely going to be an exciting ride!