Discover Lamakū: Your Guide to D2L Brightspace at UH
The University of Hawaiʻi Information Technology Services is excited to announce a significant transformation in our approach to managing teaching and learning. After careful consideration and a rigorous review and evaluation, the University of Hawaiʻi has chosen Brightspace by D2L as our new Learning Management System (LMS). This decision marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to providing a cutting-edge educational experience for our students, faculty, and staff, supporting our endeavor of being Hawaiʻi's university for today and tomorrow.
Why Brightspace?
Brightspace is a modern, cloud-based LMS offering numerous advantages over our current system, Laulima (Sakai). With Brightspace, you can look forward to:
- User-Friendly Interface: Brightspace provides an intuitive and easy-to-navigate platform, ensuring a seamless experience for instructors and students.
- Enhanced Mobile Accessibility: Access your courses and resources anytime, anywhere, with the convenience of a mobile-responsive design. Additionally, Brightspace offers the mobile application Brightspace Pulse to connect with your learning materials and notifications on the go.
- Student Success and Advanced Communication: D2Lʻs Brightspace includes an intelligent agent tool to personalize and enhance communication, promote higher student engagement, and boost student retention and success efforts.
- Preparing Workforce-Ready Students: Brightspace by D2L includes badging and certificate integrations, allowing students to demonstrate a portfolio of workforce-ready skills.
- Accessibility: Brightspace prioritizes accessibility, ensuring that students of all abilities can fully participate in online learning.
- Hawaiian Place of Learning: D2L is committed to partnering with the University of Hawaiʻi to champion the principles of aloha, caring for people and place, and integrating ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi as a language option in Brightspace.
A Name Selected For UH's New LMS
The University of Hawaiʻi Information Technology Services invited the UH community to submit suggested names for our new Learning Management System (Brightspace by D2L). Four finalist name suggestions were selected based on the submissions received in consultation with the University of Hawaiʻi Lamakū Advisory Group. The UH community was then asked to cast a vote for a preferred name from the final four names.
We are delighted to share that with significant engagement, receiving 47.6% (641) of the 1,409 votes, Lamakū has been selected as the name for our new Learning Management System.
Lamakū
The literal translation of lamakū in English is torch, similar to the torch that appears in the UH logo. Metaphorically, lamakū refers to education or enlightenment, lamakū o ka naʻauao, which also works well with the name of the software - Brightspace.
Mahalo to Dr. Keola Donaghy, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, for his name suggestion.
Upcoming Opportunity to Explore Our New Learning Management System, Lamakū
The LMS Implementation Team at ITS is currently engaging with D2L to set up the configuration of Lamakū (powered by Brightspace) to serve the unique needs of the UH community. Starting in July, faculty members will have the opportunity to explore our new Learning Management System (LMS) firsthand. Users will be able to request sandbox sites to become acquainted with the functionalities and features of the new platform. While migration services won't be provided by ITS in the sandbox, faculty will be able to build content and self-migrate materials from Laulima to the sandbox environment. This hands-on experience will enable you to assess and adapt your teaching methods in preparation for the forthcoming transition. Course content built in the sandbox environment may be transferred into a future active course site. More details on how to request sandbox access will be announced as they become available.
Early Adopters - Pilot Courses in Summer 2024
The transition to Lamakū (powered by Brightspace) will begin with a pilot phase of early adopters using Lamakū in Summer 2024. This initial phase will allow us to fine-tune the system and gather valuable user feedback. Pilot FAQ Approximately 100 courses across the UH system were selected to be part of the pilot.
There will be additional opportunities for faculty and staff to explore Lamakū starting in Summer 2024 in preparation for the forthcoming transition of course content from Laulima to Lamakū.
Please address questions or comments to UH Online (uhdl@hawaii.edu), UH Information Technology Services