© 2014 IRI

Seminaries and Institutes Report

2014-2015 Initiatives

Ron Schwendimanschwendimanrj@ldschurch.org

13 November 2014

© 2014 IRI

Online Seminary•4000 students in US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New

Zealand•Moodlerooms courses will end May 2015•Desire2Learn “BrightSpace” was selected as the Academic

LMS for all Church Departments (S&I, Missionary, Priesthood, Family History)

•NetDemensions is the Corporate LMS•No current efforts for Online Institute

© 2014 IRI

Learning Assessment•As part of the “Elevate Learning” initiative in Seminary

students are required to complete two learning assessments a year to qualify for graduation.

•Excelsoft has been selected to be our platform for managing and processing assessments.

© 2014 IRI

Media in the Classroom•Presentations App available for teachers since May. Public

release in 2015.•Pilot of Apple TV and Media Servers in buildings will run

through 2nd quarter of 2015.– Apple TVs will have all advertising and purchase capability removed by

Apple, only wireless projection device.– Teachers can choose a laptop, or iPad/Desktop combination. 4 year

cycle. 2/3 this year selected iPad/Desktop.

© 2014 IRI

Electronic Publishing• All materials are published in digital channels first.• New Institute courses are digital only courses and will link

extensively with other content.• New web platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and new standards

for Church web site visual design being completed in 2015.• Using more machine translation, crowd translation, and translation

memory tools in language projects.• Scripture Master App will be integrated into the Gospel Library App

Q1 2015.• More social network publishing during Devotionals.

© 2014 IRI

Network upgrades• Just completing 2nd year of 5-year upgrade cycle for routers,

switches, and wireless access points.• Wireless coverage for all classrooms, offices, and common

areas.• Seminary and institute students may use Internet connection

with personal devices for classroom activities, if desired by teacher.

© 2014 IRI

Classroom Observation• Wireless Camera observation of teachers in classrooms is in

pilot mode.• Establishing protocols and standards for use.• Evaluating cameras and software to facilitate growth of distant

observation.