_dupe_Where to with the LMS? Rethinking digital spaces to improve engagement

Knowing that student engagement and community in digital spaces is essential to student success, we asked ourselves "what more can be done to put engagement at the center of the digital experience and empower instructors to more easily support students, especially as they increasingly spend their time off campus?".

The College has a traditional Learning Management System but found it difficult to create an engaging, supportive experience where students feel a strong sense of belonging within their courses.

A related issue, brought to us by the students, centered around a perceived communication gap between themselves and their instructors.  The College therefore set out to try an alternative approach by securing internal Innovation funding to pilot a social learning platform designed to improve student engagement, foster learning communities and improve timeliness of communication between instructors and students.

The pilot started in September 2019 and involved more than 400 students and more than 16 faculty using the alternative platform instead of the LMS. The presentation will include initial results (quantitative and qualitative) from the pilot.

The Q&A discussion will focus on the thoughts shared by participants following the presentation. The authors expect discussion to center around topics such as:

• What were the implications for the student experience of piloting a replacement to the LMS? Did it create confusion?

• Hearing from other universities about their experiences of supporting retention and success by creating a more engaging and social digital student experience.

• How did you implement this so quickly?

• What was the impact on students attitudes towards engagement, communication and sense of community?