Illinois Compass to be upgraded this summer
By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu
Illinois Compass, the course-management software system used by about 33,000 UI students in more than 1,100 courses each semester will be upgraded this summer. So, too, will be the hardware that supports the system. Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services is upgrading the software system from WebCT Vista 3 to Blackboard Enterprise Vista 4. WebCT Vista 3 is a commercial software product owned by Blackboard that is used by universities around the world; Illinois Compass is the UI’s locally branded name for that software. During the spring semester, several instructors tried out the new software package with about 12 courses and about 2,000 students. The pilot system will be used to deliver summer 2007 courses and some continuous courses. The new Illinois Compass system will be available to all campus users for fall 2007 courses.
The new software offers smarter navigation and new teaching and learning tools, including customizable grading rubrics and social networking tools. The discussion-board function has been expanded and enhanced so instructors can create two new types of discussion topics: class blogs, which allow students to collaborate with classmates and comment on other students’ entries; and journals, which give students a private space – or a public space if the instructor desires – to explore their experiences or their reactions to lectures or discussions. The new software also allows instructors to sort discussion entries and view all the posts made by a particular student. The enhanced grading-form tool allows instructors to specify multiple grading criteria for assigned activities and define the performance levels for each criterion. Instructors can create one or more grading forms and associate them with assignments or discussions, providing clear expectations to their students and guidelines for teaching assistants or other people who might be grading students’ work. Another new tool, the peer-review tool, allows students to rate their classmates’ posts using customized scales based upon criteria established by the instructor. Instructors also can decide whether to allow students to make anonymous posts, comment on fellow students’ posts or revise their initial posts. The new version of Illinois Compass also includes social networking tools. The roster tool allows users to create personal profiles that can include a picture of themselves if they wish, an e-mail address and a brief biography. Users can view the profiles of course instructors, teaching assistants, other students in the course and any groups, such as project teams, that have been formed. The “who’s online” feature enables users to see if classmates or instructors are online and send them invitations to chat. “It’s a little more intuitive,” said Tracy Tolliver, manager and technical lead at CITES. “The look and feel of the software is a little different, the navigation’s a little different, but not so much so that someone couldn’t just get into it, start looking around and find what they’re looking for.” Robert Baird, coordinator of instructional development at CITES and a professor in the Unit for Cinema Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, taught with the pilot version of the new software this semester in his course, “Film in the Age of New Media.” Baird said that feedback from students and teachers “has been really good. They’ve said it’s fast and they really like it. People are very enthusiastic about it. We’re getting a groundswell of interest from instructors in an array of disciplines across campus.” CITES is encouraging faculty and staff members and TAs who might be interested in using Illinois Compass to attend one of the 50-minute orientation sessions CITES is offering. While the new software is being installed, the production environment of Illinois Compass will be down from May 21 to mid-June, and CITES will begin offering more extensive hands-on training in mid-June when the new system goes online. CITES will shut down the pilot environment Aug. 10. The courses that used the pilot system will be migrated to the new Illinois Compass production system in mid-August. “We’re only moving course sites that were created for timetable courses from fall 2005 to spring 2007,” Tolliver said. “We’re not automatically moving people’s old development courses, old training courses or any courses that were requested prior to the fall 2005 semester. If there’s something that someone has to have that does not fall into that group, they’ll need to work with Educational Technologies to get it moved.” CITES’ Educational Technologies staff members will provide individual consults and can attend departmental meetings or teaching academies to provide customized orientations for users. To schedule a session, e-mail edtech@illinois.edu or call 333-1078.
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