Advantages of Using Institutional LME

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING THE INSTITUTIONAL (LEARNING MANAGEMENT ENGINE) LME AS A FOUNDATION OR PRIMARY ENVIRONMENT FOR ONLINE LEARNING?

Consistency, Security, Accountability and Sustainability
The Office of the Vice-President and Provost has emphasized the value of consistency of online learning infrastructure in order to ensure that the experience of both faculty and student is of high quality, to make certain that learning systems are robust, secure and sustainable and also to facilitate most effective use of available human and physical resources to support online learning.  Just as the university takes fiscal responsibility seriously, it must also take responsibility for the integrity of IT systems and security of data as an underpinning to online learning activities and our commitment to our students.

Student Experience
The student learning experience within technology-enhanced environments is a key consideration and coherence and reliability of online systems is paramount. Students may be disadvantaged if they are required to learn how to use and navigate multiple systems. The university provides a robust, fully supported centralized Learning Management Engine (LME) and anticipates that divisions and departments will take advantage of that system to provide a consistent Quercus entry point and common interface for students.

Institutional Coherence
Reliable technical support is available to students through q.help@utoronto.ca.  Instructors are also provided with central and divisional technical support or coaching on use of Canvas tools to ensure effective use of the Canvas system to meet pedagogical needs. Centrally supported environments remove the burden of support from the faculty member while providing administrative efficiencies and seamless user experience as they are deeply integrated with other information systems and services on campus such as ROSI and UTORMail.

Access to Institutional Information
Our LME (aka Quercus) also serves as a hub for non-course institutional information on topics like academic integrity and honesty, course evaluations, health and wellness, and access to dedicated library resources. When instructors completely bypass Quercus by getting students to log in directly to other independent course websites, social media sites, or other independent LMS products, they inadvertently make the students miss important institutional information. It’s ok to use other tools for teaching (so long as they have been properly vetted), but instructors should make every effort to have those link from their Quercus website, instead of by-passing it.