As part of our contract with  D2L/Brightspace, we have an option to bulk convert courses using an automated workflow. LIT will be testing this process on sample courses to fine-tune the process for our needs. Once this process is finalized, we’ll be asking faculty to identify which courses need to be migrated to Brightspace from Blackboard.

Since this migration is about content only, we’ll be asking faculty to identify which specific offering of each of the courses they teach from the past 3 years they want migrated. We do not intend to move multiple versions of courses unless there are specific versions with different content. For example, a hybrid or fully online course and face-to-face alternatives would qualify for multiple migrations of the “same” course. Multiple sections of the same course offered in the same way would not qualify to have multiple sections migrated.

We understand some instructors prefer to maintain their own content stores and upload anew each semester because they are changing out content. Bulk migration is merely an option, not a requirement.

To help prepare for this content migration, please start thinking about what courses you teach regularly that will need content migrated. We will send a survey in which you can indicate what course you want migrated, in which semester the version you want migrated was taught, and what section number was associated with that course. For merged courses, please note that we will migrate the parent course, not a child course.

Once we begin migrating courses, we will batch-process courses and provide access when the migration is complete for final clean-up. You can then use these new course sites in D2L/Brightspace to copy content into future course offerings.

We’re still in the early stages of planning this process. More information will be coming out in the weeks ahead.