The Learning Management System (LMS) at Hogeschool Rotterdam exists of Brightspace and the applications which are coupled to Brightspace (for example: FeedbackFruits). The DLE (Digital Learning Environment) is a digital environment in which students and teachers work together to achieve the educational objectives for the courses.
The DLE is a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, which means that the HR hires the softwareas a service from an external supplier. This service is the same for all worldwide customers.
How often and when is the LMS updated?
Most SaaS applications are updated frequently. The schedule of this depends on the supplier. The updates are implemented monthly in the LMS. Most of the time users won't notice any differences after the update, but sometimes it can have consequences. A tool might not work for a while or the functionalities have changed. At HR, the planned updates are maintained by the Functional Management (FM) team. They have a change process for assessing, testing and possibly implementing changes in the applications. In addition to updates from the supplier, change requests from the institutes are also included in this process.
The Functional Manager is supported in the change process by a key user from each institute. The key user is the link between functional management and the institutes. They provide advice to business information management with practical knowledge and answer questions about the desirability of changes at the various faculties and profit centers.
What can you do if you have a request for change for a functionality in an application?
- Describe your request as clear as possible, preferably with examples.
- Contact the ICT in Education support from your faculty (TIP) or profit center and propose to them your request. They will help you solve the request via a workaround. If that's not an option, they will contact the key user. In practice the key user is often someone who also works at the TIP.
The key user will submit the request to the change process. There the request will be discussed with other key users and functional management DLE. Questions that might be asked:
- What do other faculties think of the request?
- Does the proposed change have consequences for other parts of the DLE?
- Are there more users with the same request?
- Do the other key users understand the request?
- Are there any reasons not to consider the request?
- What are the most important items to take into consideration?
Functional management determines whether they can (partly) implement the request themselves by changing the available settings in the relevant tool. When this is not possible they will communicate the request with the supplier. Functional management DLE registers the request in the Wishlist, where progress is recorded. The key users and TIP employees at the faculties have access to this Wishlist.
Whether a wish will be picked up and implemented by the supplier is uncertain. Due to the SaaS model, RU has very little influence on the development of the applications. After all, a wish from the RU may not be desirable for other customers of the supplier.