Case Study

Modernizing Learning and Preserving Educational Continuity at NJIT

The Challenge

The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a polytechnic university serving over 11,000 students, faced a critical challenge: its existing Learning Management System (LMS) was outdated, limiting the university's ability to provide a robust, modern digital learning environment.

While a pilot to replace the LMS was already underway, adoption of the new LMS was accelerated due to the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting lockdown from the pandemic required a complete and rapid transition from in-person to remote learning for hundreds of faculty and thousands of students.

The Original Business Goal

Select, pilot, and implement a modern LMS preparing the university for the future.

The Amended Business Goal

Implement the new LMS immediately to ensure educational continuity during a sudden, unprecedented global crisis.

My Role

Instructional Designer, LMS Pilot Lead and Administrator

My Approach and Solution (Pre-Pandemic)

As the LMS Pilot Lead, my approach was rooted in a methodical process. I applied a strategic, data-driven methodology that placed the needs of faculty and students at the center of the solution.

Piloting and Analysis: I led a comprehensive pilot program of the new LMS (Canvas) with a small group of faculty members. The results of this pilot initiated a phased rollout and adoption of the new LMS prior to the pandemic.

My actions included:

User Research and Analysis: I conducted interviews and surveys with both pilot faculty and students to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback on the new system's usability and effectiveness.

Data-Driven Decision Making: I researched and analyzed market share data, adoption rates, and System Usability Scale (SUS) scores from other institutions to build a strong, evidence-based case for the university's transition.

Content Design: I designed and developed the initial self-paced tutorials for faculty and students, ensuring a clear and accessible resource for the university-wide transition.

Course card as shown in the LMS for the self-paced faculty tutorial I designed and developed.

Course card as shown in the LMS for the self-paced student tutorial I designed and developed.

My Approach and Solution (During the Pandemic)

Emergency Rollout and Accelerated Adoption: With the university's swift move to remote learning, my role expanded to support the emergency rollout and accelerated adoption of the new LMS. I shifted from a research-focused approach to a hands-on, consultative one.

My team and I:

Led the Transition: My team and I were on the front lines, maintaining and protecting the university's operational continuity and uninterrupted course delivery to thousands of affected students. In this capacity, my role expanded to LMS Administrator, where I managed the entire catalog of the university's course offerings with my team. In addition, I provided ongoing, specialized one-on-one consultation and virtual group training to faculty on the new LMS. This enabled faculty to adopt the LMS in real-time allowing them to utilize a wide range of learning technologies supported by the new LMS including (but not limited to) content delivery tools, platforms to deliver lectures virtually, plagiarism detection tools, enhanced grading, and exam proctoring tools.

Provided Instructional Support: My core role as an Instructional Designer continued during this phase. I partnered with faculty on the course design process, providing consultation and support to help them transition in-person content to synchronous virtual delivery.

This is the iterative, ongoing course design process I, and other instructional designers on my team, implemented and applied when working with faculty.

The Impact and Results

The project was a profound success, delivering both a long-term strategic benefit and an immediate tactical solution during a time of crisis.

Successful Platform Adoption: The project culminated in the successful university-wide adoption of Canvas as the new LMS, providing a modern, robust, and scalable platform that continues to serve the university today.

Rapid Educational Continuity: Our efforts enabled over 300 faculty members to rapidly pivot to remote instruction, allowing more than 11,000 students to continue their education without interruption.

Award-Winning Service: For our team's critical work in leading the transition to remote learning, we were honored with the "Overseers Excellence in Service Award" during the 2020 University Convocation.

Watch the 2020 NJIT Virtual Convocation above (skip to timestamp 28:25 for the Board of Overseers Excellence Awards).

Outcome

The successful implementation of Canvas, combined with the rapid and effective transition to remote teaching, achieved several critical outcomes: it preserved NJIT's educational continuity, positioned the university as an agile organization capable of responding to unprecedented challenges, and established it as a leader in educational and technological innovation.