Learn@UW Milestone Review (2008)

Executive Summary

In 2003, UW-Madison implemented Learn@UW, based on the Desire2Learn Learning Environment software, as its centrally supported course management system. In the past five years, usage of Learn@UW has steadily increased, making it one of the most frequently used enterprise applications at the institution.

This Milestone Review incorporated data from surveys, personal interviews with faculty, and records from various service teams to assess the current state of Learn@UW at UW-Madison.

Awareness and usage of the Learn@UW service among the faculty, staff, and students have risen significantly over time. In 2007, more than 80% of current students and more than 60% of faculty reported having used Learn@UW. About 30,000 unique users access Learn@UW each semester.

Use of Learn@UW to support timetable course instruction continues to rise steadily each semester, as does the number of total enrollments in all active Learn@UW courses. Learn@UW is used to a varying extent in all schools and colleges at UW-Madison.

Satisfaction is high:

• Overall satisfaction with Learn@UW is relatively high and has risen steadily over the years.
• Seventy-seven percent of students report having a positive experience with Learn@UW.
• Seventy-three percent of faculty members report a positive experience.

Learn@UW's impact on learning is less known, as 33% of faculty perceive that use of Learn@UW increases student learning, while 44% are uncertain of its impact on learning.

Instructors primarily use Learn@UW for help with course administration: viewing rosters, delivering course materials, and managing grades.

Students view the Gradebook as the most valuable aspect of Learn@UW. Students want to see more instructors use Learn@UW.

Instructors report problems with Learn@UW's interface and with some features such as the Gradebook and Quiz tools. Instructors have offered many suggestions for improving Learn@UW, mainly regarding these troublesome features.

The demand for Learn@UW support is increasing gradually and at a slower rate than the overall use of Learn@UW. Learn@UW users report a high level of satisfaction with the support they are receiving, though some users report frustration with the process of escalating support cases.

There is some use of other course management systems at UW-Madison, and many are in use to meet specific instructional needs. Other reasons for using other systems include greater local control of the system and greater technical flexibility.

Download the full report (pdf)