As a newcomer to KSU, I was bombarded with new programs from every direction. Student email, Owl Express, a new school website and the hardest to navigate by far: Georgia View Vista. The endless tabs, folders and documents were like a maze. Now, after I have just become accustomed to this confusing system, KSU has decided to replace Georgia View Vista with Desire 2 Learn. Many students are wondering why this new system is being thrust upon us.
“Georgia View Vista has reached its ‘end-of-life,’” said Dr. Elke Leeds, vice president of Technology Enhanced Learning. “The application will not be supported by Blackboard after January 2013 and is being phased-out across all of the University System of Georgia institutions that are using it.”
KSU had to find a replacement; otherwise, there would be no system at all. Desire 2 Learn was carefully chosen by the University System of Georgia Learning Management System taskforce. According to the taskforce, there were five different solution providers to choose from and the choices were looked over for several months before a final decision was made. Faculty and students were polled for input on the subject.
Desire 2 Learn comes with some noteworthy features such as mobile device support and better browser compatibility, which many students yearned for in the past from Georgia View Vista. Students will be able to access Desire 2 Learn in a read-only format from their smart phones. Better browser compatibility means no worries about constantly being kicked out of the system during a test, assignment submission or document download. Additionally, email and mobile notifications keep the user up-to-date on assignments and important messages. Built-in messaging will also make communication among teachers and classmates easier. Desire 2 Learn can even be linked to a Facebook, Twitter or Google+ account. How’s that for convenience?
“Students will be able to know where they stand in a course at any given time,” Leeds said.
More praise about the switch to Desire 2 Learn came from Symon Kimitei. Kimitei is a math professor at KSU.
“Even computer illiterate people can use it,” he explained.
Spanish professor, Julie Martin, said, “The features [in Desire 2 Learn] are much more robust than in Georgia View Vista.”
Martin thinks the switch will take some getting accustomed to and is glad the people in information technology will offer assistance to ease the transition. It’s an encouraging sign that professors and staff award Desire 2 Learn a high grade, but students, the most critical reviewers, have yet to weigh in.
“It will probably not work for half the semester,” said sophomore David Teal.
After the frustrating experience with Georgia View Vista, student expectations are not high. Despite Teal’s bleak prediction, he and other students may be in for a pleasant surprise. The taskforce put thorough research and caution into making a user-friendly, modern online learning system. Students can expect access to this new system in Spring 2013. In the meantime, students should say their last goodbyes to Georgia View Vista while they anticipate all the features Desire 2 Learn has to offer.
