WITS
Ulwazi Update WITS ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING NEWS BITES
11 MARCH 2021
Our new Learning Management System (LMS) is known as ‘ulwazi’, which means ‘knowledge’ in isiZulu.
The road we travelled together.
In this edition of ulwazi updates, we reflect on our journey from Sakai to Ulwazi. We highlight milestones along the way, some final tips and a easy to use support page.
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WITS
The road we travelled This week we started the academic year with ulwazi as the official Wits LMS. Looking back on the road to ulwazi, it is incredible to see how far we have travelled and how quickly!. The Wits Learning and Teaching Plan 2020-2024 envisaged that there would be a steady increase in the number of students studying in a fully online mode, and that more and more courses would use a blend of contact and online modes of provision. In 2019 we started an institutional process to select a new LMS which could support this vision. The lockdown in 2020 resulted in a rapid shift from contact as the dominant mode of provision at Wits to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in an online mode. Instead of transitioning gradually to online teaching as planned, we were suddenly thrust into having to offer all of our courses in an online mode. The sudden move to ERT revealed the weaknesses of our existing LMS, Sakai. As usage of Sakai increased, it put enormous pressure on the system, on our ICT staff who had to keep Sakai up and running, and on academics who found the platform inadequate for their needs. In response, the university accelerated its plans to adopt a modern, cloud-based LMS that could operate at scale. After assessing various LMS platforms, Canvas was selected. Canvas has an intuitive and user-friendly interface, and offers a range of advanced features which support studentcentred pedagogies. In December 2020 we signed a contract with Instructure for the provision of Canvas. And we made the decision to implement it in time for the 2021 academic year. We had little choice. We knew we had to keep teaching in an online mode in 2021, and we could not risk continuing to use an unstable system. It has taken an enormous effort on the part of hundreds of staff across the university, but we are starting the 2021 academic year in a far better position than when we went under lockdown in 2020. Staff now have access to a powerful online platform to develop and deliver their courses. Students will benefit from a stable cloud-based platform, a range of learning opportunities that were not possible on Sakai, and access via a mobile app. The road to ulwazi was not only about new technology. We have also strengthened support systems, created new communities of practice for online learning, and improved coordination across a range of units and functions in the university. Like all teaching and learning initiatives, the success of ulwazi will ultimately be determined by you, the teaching staff at the forefront of the academic project. We thank you all for engaging with the transition to ulwazi, for asking questions, for attending training, and for using ulwazi to offer our students the best possible online learning experience
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Milestones include
Stage 1: Setting up ulwazi •
In late December 2020 the university purchased a new LMS, Canvas.
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On 19 January, ICT set up the Wits instance of Canvas, known as ulwazi.
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On 27 January ulwazi went live.
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The Marketing department developed an ulwazi logo and a new Access ulwazi page
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CLTD and ICT created extensive support resources for both staff and students
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Wits provided students with the 10 Gb day time, and 20 Gb night time data bundles.
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We negotiated with Mobile Network Operators to make ulwazi as close to free as possible. (Being a cloud based service used by many institutions, there are some aspects that cannot be zero rated)
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We created an agile support system, and greatly increased coordination between different T&L support structures at central and faculty levels.
• . 2: Migrating from Sakai to ulwazi Stage •
We migrated 3625 course and project sites from Sakai to ulwazi
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ICT integrated SIMS, BBB, Turnitin, Gradescope, Perusall, McGraw-Hill Connect, Pearson - Mastering Lab Connector, Cengage, MATLAB, and VitalSource into ulwazi
Stage 3: Learning to use ulwazi •
Collectively, CLTD and Faculties trained approximately 1600 staff members. Many staff attended more than one training session.
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The Learning How to Use Ulwazi site and the Helping You Learn Online site were created for students. All registered students are automatically enrolled in both courses.
• . 4: Preparing your course Stage •
Enhanced support was offered for course development on ulwazi, including hiring additional staff in Faculty Teaching & Learning units and the ICT helpdesk.
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Faculty T&L units offered academics individual and group consultations on course preparation
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Since 15 February all registered students have been receiving communications about ulwazi from the Registrar’s office.
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On 22 February postgraduate courses started on ulwazi.
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On 8 March undergraduate students started the academic year on ulwazi
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22144 students have logged into ulwazi in the past 24 hours
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1177 staff have logged into ulwazi in the past 24 hours
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TIPS: 1. For synchronous sessions, we recommend you: • • • •
Avoid data intensive functions such as webcams and shared screens Use BBB for sessions up to 100 participants (mostly zero-rated). Note that only 3500 users across the whole of Wits can access BBB simultaneously Use MS Teams for sessions up to 250 participants (uses data from the student data bundle) Use MS Teams Live Events for sessions up to 10000 participants (uses data from the student data bundle)
Contact ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za if you need access to MS Teams Live Events. 2. New Analytics is an interactive tool that helps you and your students better track performance and activity within the course. 3. Learn how to use compressions to help make files sizes smaller to reduce data usage. 4. You can save your course as an ebook (epub format) or as offline html to allow students to access the course material offline.
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Support Support with
Who can help you
ulwazi technical queries
ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za
Create new ulwazi sites
Humanities: Renee Koch: renee.koch@wits.ac.za CLM: Fiona Macalister: fiona.macalister@wits.ac.za Health Sciences: Ann George: ann.george@wits.ac.za Science: Phiwe Dlamini: phiwokuhle.dlamini@wits.ac.za Engineering: Nozuko Makhuvha: nozuko.makhuvha@wits.ac.za
Assistance in designing online/ blended courses
Humanities: Renee Koch: renee.koch@wits.ac.za
CLM: Greig Krull: greig.krull@wits.ac.za Fiona Macalister: fiona.macalister@wits.ac.za Myrtle Adams-Gardner: myrtle.adams-gardner@wits.ac.za
Health Sciences: Paula Barnard-Ashton: paula.barnard-ashton@wits.ac.za Mark Allen: mark.allen@wits.ac.za
Science Phiwe Dlamini: phiwokuhle.dlamini@wits.ac.za
Engineering Nozuko Makhuvha: nozuko.makhuvha@wits.ac.za
Instructional design
IDSupport.cltd@wits.ac.za
support
Where can I get information on: Accessibility: Accessibility checker Student Data Access: Data Access for 2021 Adding users: How to add users to a course Mobile design: Mobile App Design | Course Accessing ulwazi: Access ulwazi web page Evaluation Checklist Canvas Support: Canvas FAQ and Canvas Community Online resources: Teaching and Learning Conferences (BBB): Instructor guide Import/copy course content: Canvas How to page Gradescope: Learning Gradescope Ulwazi Conferences: Introduction to coferences Import/copy course content: Canvas How to page Learning ulwazi: Discovering Canvas 2021- Lecturer orientation