English Professor John Pierce has some simple, yet tough, advice for Queen’s instructors transitioning to the new online learning management system, onQ:

The upfront pain is worth it in the long run.

Dr. Pierce, who was part of the onQ pilot program last fall, says that while more organization is needed in order to get going in onQ, the system makes life much easier as the course rolls out.

“I can’t envision teaching without it now. It’s much cleaner than Moodle, organizes your files in a more effective way and saves time throughout the term,” he says. “And once I mastered it for the large undergraduate course I teach, it was very easy to adapt it to my smaller graduate class.”

onQ, which is based on the Brightspace by D2L platform, went live for the pilot phase in September 2015, when Dr. Pierce and a number of other early-adopting faculty members made the move for their fall courses. Full implementation across campus is underway for this fall.

Dr. Pierce emphasizes that many supports are available to instructors through the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and IT Services. Selina Idlas, the CTL’s onQ Educational Support, along with ITS, leads weekly workshops and drop-ins that focus on everything from the basics of using onQ, to more intense sessions into specific aspects of the system, such as the grade book or peer assessments. Different faculties also have tailored supports and consultations in place, including plans for a mobile support unit in the Faculty of Arts and Science that will help instructors settle into onQ.

Before and during the launch of his courses in onQ, Dr. Pierce worked with staff in the CTL and IT Services and found the blend of teaching and learning and technical support to be exactly what he needed. “We all came at it from different angles, and could bounce a lot of ideas off each other,” he says.

Dr. Pierce now helps other instructors get started in the system. Last fall, he began using onQ for his first-year undergraduate course of 350 students, and in the winter term, he set up his small graduate course of 12 students in the system.

The larger course required more planning, as it includes many assignments, as well as a diverse range of readings and texts, and online visual elements such as YouTube videos. With fewer students and only one major assignment, the graduate course was easily adapted to onQ. The two courses showed the range in which the new system works effectively, he says.

“I do like to encourage other instructors to come at the new system modestly. Master the basics first, and then move to using the more advanced applications, such as online quizzes and discussions. Don’t try to go too fast. That said, once you get going and comfortable, it’s very intuitive and easy to test new ideas and applications.”

Contact the CTL for more information on onQ workshops and support.