myClass (Blackboard Learn), is moving to the cloud this spring. UFV Information Technology Services (ITS) and Teaching and Learning Centre are preparing to move myClass from an existing site at UFV to a Canadian based data centre.

myClass (blackboard learn) will be unavailable from April 25 at 6 pm to May 2. You will not be able to load data or view assignments and course material, or retrieve it, from myClass during this outage window.

Once the system is back online, your user experience will look and feel the same as it does today.

Students

Before April 25:

• Download any course materials that are posted on myclass for spring semester courses before April 25 or after May 2
• Confirm your instructor’s email address to ensure communication between you and faculty members continues.

FAQ’s and two things faculty can do to smooth the transition:

Faculty

For Winter 2017, export Grades from Grade Centre prior to April 25

This outage will mean grades kept in the “Grade Centre” feature on myClass will have to be exported to Excel prior to April 25 so grades can be finalized and submitted on time. For instructions on how to do this please see our FAQ.

For Spring 2017, load course material prior to April 25

This transition will also have an impact on faculty course preparation for those teaching in the summer semester or saving material for the fall semester. It is important to load the first week of course materials and data into myClass BEFORE April 25 to ensure a smooth start to the semester on May 3. Material uploaded to myClass prior to April 25 will appear in the new version exactly as it does in the current version. You will not lose any course materials or data during the move.

“This move is a significant undertaking and requires careful planning. Making this change will provide capacity for future growth, reduce future costs, decrease downtime, boost system redundancy, and provide 24-hour support for the system,” said Maureen Wideman, UFV Director of Teaching and Learning.

The timing of the outage occurs just before the start of the spring and summer semester, however it is the least disruptive and most effective window to accomplish this transition with the least amount of disruption. We are working to minimize the impact it will have on grade submission, course material accumulation, and semester start-up.

The project team will be contacting faculty and departments to discuss how to prepare for the migration.

After the move, ITS staff will be available to focus on additional projects and moving the UFV ITS strategy forward.

Questions:

Feel free to contact online@ufv.ca for more information and we have compiled a list of FAQs for your reference.

Thank you for your patience and consideration while we work on this transition.