About UNT's Learning Management System Evaluation Project

Between March 13, 2007 and April 30, 2008 the University of North Texas conducted a systematic evaluation of learning management systems in planning for its future. The Learning Enhancement Planning Group (LEPG) was charged with carrying out the evaluation project and making a final recommendation to the Provost by April 30, 2008.

On April 30, 2008, the University of North Texas's Learning Enhancement Planning Group (LEPG) voted to recommend Blackboard Vista as UNT's centrally-supported learning management system. The recommendation was accepted by unanimous vote of the Information Resources Council (IRC) and subsequently approved by the Provost on May 20, 2008.

The recommendation followed the conclusion of an extensive learning management system evaluation process conducted by a committee made up of stakeholders representing all of the colleges and schools as well as campus administrative groups that provide technical and end-user support. During the research and testing phases of the evaluation project, the LEPG found that Blackboard Vista1:

• has all of the features to perform functions desired by stakeholder groups (faculty, students, and support personnel) and ranks highest in the number of features available
• is the easiest system to use for UNT course designers, faculty, and students
• integrates with current third-party tools and can be integrated with the SIS (PeopleSoft)
• along with Angel, worked best with screen readers during accessibility testing
• is the least expensive in terms of annual license and support costs
• offers 24/7 technical support options with an acceptable service level agreement for response times, number of contacts, and number of incidents per month
• rates highly among other clients in terms of satisfaction with stability, scalability, and quality of product support

1Note that Blackboard, Inc. merged with WebCT, Inc. in 2006. The product WebCT Vista is now called Blackboard Vista and is different from Blackboard's original product, Blackboard Academic Suite.

With the exception of proposals and costs, detailed information regarding the UNT LMS Evaluation Project and a list of the LEPG membership can be found on this site, which will serve as a project archive. Questions about the project can be directed to the project coordinator, Jane Himmel (jane.himmel@unt.edu), Associate Director of the Center for Distributed Learning.