Pilot Academic Software

Pilot Packback (2022)

One of the faculty at William James College leads the undergraduate program which is taught entirely online. They use discussion boards as their classroom collaboration tool. They wanted to improve the experience by getting Packback: Packback is an AI-supported online discussion platform designed to improve student curiosity, communication skills, and critical thinking.

Challenge

The organization had not pilot a tool in a while and there was not documented process on how to lead the pilot of a software before you consider it purchasing. So, I wanted to start setting best practices and guides for software research, pilot and launch.

Tool Purchasing Process

Process adapted from one I got from my friend, Ben Mojica, Associate Director of Learning Innovation with Technology as Suffolk University

My Role

As the Director of Education Technology at William James College, my role was to be the project lead. Using a project management SharePoint site template, I created a central space where all project stakeholders could see the progress of the project as well as set the standard for how software pilot should be managed.

I maintained regular communication with the vendor to stay on track as well as the faculty lead.

I also made sure IT was involved in the process for the security assessment as well as any LTI integration issues.

Results

The pilot begins in the Fall of 2022. I left the organization before the pilot was complete.