Driving Organisational Change and Academic Innovation

Formed in October 2004 from the merger of The Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST, The University of Manchester is the largest single-site higher education institution in the UK. With over 40,000 students, it possesses a strategic ambition to be in the top 25 in the world by 2015. Toward that end, the institution’s strategic plan Towards Manchester 2015 articulates a goal of “Enriching teaching and learning through the provision of highly interactive on-line learning environments drawing on international best practice in elearning.”

Meeting 21st Century Challenges

Following the ambitious

merger, like most institutions,

Manchester had a learning

management system, some

excellent examples of

best practice with a select

group of champions, and

enthusiasts within every

faculty. However, online

learning was not embedded

within the professional culture

of the University nor was the

understanding of how learning

technology could enhance

educational value and promote

innovation.

With growing demand by

2007 the University became

increasingly aware of the

educational challenges and

barriers it needed to face and

overcome. First, there was no

overarching strategy to deliver

the pedagogical imperative

and benefits of online learning

articulated in the strategic plan.

Second, Manchester’s institution-

wide technological infrastructure

was not geared to support the

elearning demands of 40,000

students. Further, there was

no effective staffing model for

online learning development and

support and limited experience

in implementing an institution-

wide learning management

system impeded progress

toward attaining the institution’s

strategic goal.

It was clear that Manchester

had much work to do if it was to

drive the adoption of elearning

Online Learning at the University of Manchester

Quick Facts

• Blackboard active users increased from 3,000 in 2007 to 32,000 in 2010.

• Number of courses increased from 1,000 to 4,500.

• An average of 14,377 users log in each day.

• In 2010, usage reached a peak level of 300,000 Blackboard server requests per hour and 4 million per day.

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and enrich teaching and learning in line with the

Towards Manchester 2015 plan. It therefore set itself

the objective to move from tactical to strategic use

of learning technologies, to enhance the quality and

diversity of the student experience, enrich learning,

and strategically position the University as a leader in

higher education.

Securing Strategic Change and Success

Manchester understood it must engender

confidence in the central provisioning of virtual

learning environment (VLE) services and that it

would need to draw on executive sponsorship as

well as sourcing external expertise in the area of

deploying an institution-wide elearning environment.

Professor Colin Stirling was appointed as Associate

Vice-President for elearning and together with Sarah

Morgan, a Strategic Projects Manager in the Teaching

and Learning Support office, assembled a cross

institutional team backed up with the resources and

skills to deliver.

Given the clear challenges of deploying an

institution-wide VLE that maximizes strategic

impact and embedding online learning across

the UK’s largest institution, the Manchester team

chose to work closely with Blackboard Consulting.

Blackboard brought significant experience with

deploying an institution-wide elearning environment

and embedding its use within the institution’s

culture as well as experience in managing related

strategic, tactical, and operational challenges

and opportunities. Not only did Blackboard bring

product knowledge and technical expertise, it also

brought a deep understanding of the organizational,

educational, and change management issues that

needed to be addressed.

Working as a team, Manchester and Blackboard

developed the University’s VLE strategy, which

included developing and implementing an achievable

roadmap for the initiative, establishing a scalable

technical infrastructure, reengineering business

processes, staff development, and also helping

address the broader organisational and management

issues that required change.

Working with Blackboard helped newly implemented

organisational structures and teams work together

more effectively — facilitated cross-University

planning and implementation activities have resulted

in stronger internal working relationships, knowledge

transfer, and enhanced service provision. The

University’s decision to use Blackboard’s Managed

HostingSM Service also allowed it to focus on its core

business: improving the quality of teaching, learning

and assessment practices for on and off-campus

students.

The University of Manchester is the largest single-site higher education institution in the UK. With over 40,000 students, it possesses a strategic ambition to be in the top 25 in the world by 2015.

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“The University has made significant progress with the effective use of educational technologies over the last 3 years and has achieved genuine transformational change in online and blended learning; a position we will continue to build on to face the opportunities and challenges ahead. We faced a number of challenges in 2007 that needed solutions and we were able to work with Blackboard to find the right answers. Our partnership with Blackboard has helped the University to plan and implement the right technology solutions and to manage the many organisational changes along the way very successfully.”

Professor Colin Stirling, Vice-President for Teaching and Learning

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Strategic Benefits

The experience of working strategically with

Blackboard has fundamentally changed the way

that online learning is managed at Manchester

and helped to establish consensus and a shared

understanding of what was needed to overcome

the many challenges and secure sustainable change.

The two organisations have worked together closely

to develop a shared vision for success and achievable

organisational change that is helping the University

meet its teaching and learning goals and realize its

institutional strategy - Towards Manchester 2015.

As a result, the University has seen the number of

active users grow from 3,000 in July 2007 to 32,000

in July 2010 with currently more than 14,000 people

logging in on average each day of the week. The

positive reception is showing in higher satisfaction

ratings and positive feedback from students using

the Blackboard environment. Adoption amongst

staff has been equally impressive with the number

of courses growing from 1,000 to over 4,500 in

the same timeframe. Staff has taken on the new

technological and organisational infrastructure and

is using it to support innovation in teaching and

learning and developing new assessment solutions.

Online learning at Manchester has undergone a

radical cultural change into a position where it is now

accepted as a legitimate and strategically important

cornerstone of contemporary high quality higher

education that can deliver real benefits to students

and teachers. This will allow the institution to respond

in a more dynamic and flexible way to the changing

world and diversify its revenue streams in response

to the political, economic and social changes that

are shaping how universities will operate in the 21st

century.

For More Information

If you are interested to learn more on how Blackboard can help you and your organization increase the impact of

education, please contact your account manager or visit us at www.blackboard.com

“Over the past three years Blackboard has become a trusted part of the Manchester team providing ideas, effective practice, and solutions based on experience from across the globe, which helps to reduce risk, identify barriers and effective solutions to overcome them to support the University in continuing to drive change and offer a distinctive student experience. Importantly, working with Blackboard has helped Manchester engage with change in a more responsive and effective way which is progressively changing the culture of the organization.”

Sarah Morgan, Strategic Projects Manager