Case Study: CMS in Transition: Managing Change : Campus Technology

Case Study: CMS in Transition: Managing Change : Campus Technology

Case Study: CMS in Transition: Managing Change

By Joanne Dehoney
Director, eLearning, TELR
Ohio State University
dehoney.1@osu.edu

Rebecca Andre’
eLearning Consultant, TELR
Ohio State University
andre.1@osu.edu

In a relatively short time – three years – e-Learning offerings at The Ohio State University (representing supplemental, blended and fully online courses) grew to include a significant share of total courses. In FY04, 1,643 instructors in 135 departments at the university offered 2,507 courses (3,487 sections) through WebCT. Forty-five thousand students--about 77% of the student body--had a WebCT account in FY 2004. Large first year courses in the departments of biology, statistics, chemistry, and theater depended on WebCT’s course management and testing functions – unaware that WebCT 3.2 was really not designed to manage the high load. Given the importance of robust and scalable courseware to the university’s educational mission, it was time to explore CMS options.