New learning technologies at UBC undergo a rigorous process of evaluation and preparation before rolling out to the wider community as an officially supported technology. These are a few of the innovative projects that have been or are currently being assessed. You can also read more about how pedagogical pilots work.
Jump to: Course Spaces Pilot | Status of All Evaluations
Course Spaces Pilot
CTLT is working on a new WordPress-based learning platform to provide a course delivery option between the functionality of a full LMS (Learning Management System) and a course blog/website. Spaces will provide a good alternative to other tools in the Learning Technology Environment.
The primary goals with this new platform are:
- Simplify the online learning experience without losing the requisite functionality
- Make a consistent, fast, mobile-first interface that displays content in a highly accessible way
- Fix many of the common problems experienced by students and instructors with existing tools
- Make open content easy to manage and access
How does it work?
Similar to UBC Blogs, instructors will set up a course website (a “space”) and manage it from an administrator interface, publishing content for students to interact with and viewing student work and interactions.
What’s next?
A beta prototype is being used to run a pilot with a handful of courses, and an evaluation will coincide with this to determine future development direction. If you are interested in trying Spaces in your course, please contact the LT Hub.
Status of All Evaluations
Piloted learning technologies are evaluated by technology experts and, whenever feasible, faculty, staff, and students in live courses as well, to assess their potential pedagogical value. The LT Hub Leadership considers the outcomes of these evaluations in addition to technical, financial, security, and privacy issues to reach a final decision on the support offered to each technology at an institutional level. Below are the statuses of recently considered learning technology.
Pedagogical Pilots
| Tool | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Ally | Decision Pending (requested budget for central funding) | Ally, a tool for increasing the accessibility of digital content, has completed its pedagogical pilot phase and a decision from UBC leadership about future central support is expected shortly. |
| Badgr | Completed Central Support & Funding | Canvas made Badgr, a tool for recognizing and tracking course achievements, available for free within the Learning Management System, so the University has adopted Badgr for badging within the LMS by default. |
| CATME | Decision Pending (waiting on a review of all centrally-supported peer assessment tools) | CATME, a tool for asking students to review the contributions of their peers in group work, has completed its pedagogical pilot phase and a decision from UBC leadership about future central support is expected shortly. |
| Course Spaces | Decision Pending (evaluation report being finalized) | Course Spaces, a WordPress-based platform for sharing course content, has completed its pedagogical pilot phase and a decision from UBC leadership about future central support is expected shortly. |
| Crowdmark | Completed Central Support, Decentralized Funding | The University has decided to adopt Crowdmark as an online platform for easier distributed exam grading on a limited basis. Support for the service is provided through the LT Hub and relevant instructional support units. However, funding for the service is provided on a per Faculty basis. Instructors who wish to use the service should check first with their respective unit to determine how much funding is available. |
| edX Edge | Completed Central Support & Funding | The University has officially adopted edX Edge for campus-based course delivery. Support for the service is provided through the LT Hub and relevant instructional support units. |
| Gradescope | Decision Pending (contract negotiations underway) | Gradescope, a tool for easier distributed exam grading, has completed its pedagogical pilot phase and a decision from UBC leadership about future central support is expected shortly. |
| Mattermost | Completed Central Support, Decentralized Funding | The University has now adopted Mattermost as a team chat tool to facilitate communication and collaboration in courses and cohorts. Support for the service is provided through the LT Hub and relevant instructional support units. However, funding for the tool is provided on a per Faculty basis. Instructors who wish to use the service should check first with their respective unit to determine how much funding is available. |
| peerScholar | Completed Central Support & Funding | The University has committed to a short-term contract with peerScholar to conduct highly customizable student peer review of peer work online. Support for the service is provided through the LT Hub and relevant instructional support units. |
| Proctorio | Completed Central Support, Decentralized Funding | The University has adopted Proctorio as an option for automated remote proctoring, enabling students to more easily take exams at distance. There is a charge for the use of this proctoring service. Instructors who wish to use the service will need to check first with their respective unit to determine how much funding is available. |