Introduction 

CCCOnline has provided system-wide licenses for Respondus 4.0 and SofChalk for over ten years. With Respondus, CCCS Academic Technology (AT) has provided a way for each college’s eLearning department to pull a user license on-demand. CCCS AT also provides user licenses to SoftChalk Cloud, upon request by a college eLearning department 

Respondus and SoftChalk both play integral roles in allowing faculty and instructors at the colleges to create content more easily in their LMS (Learning Management System) course shell. Respondus 4.0 is a tool for creating and managing assessments. It saves time for instructors and faculty creating exams by giving them access to the Respondus Test Bank Network. SoftChalk Cloud is another tool that saves time, making it easier for faculty or instructors to create engaging course content in the LMS. Softchalk provides faculty and instructors with access to thousands of learning objects, and provides tools for creating interactive content without knowing advanced web development. It has been used by faculty and instructors from across CCCS to create exemplary OER content. 

Recommendation:   

The Colorado Online @ Technology subcommittee recommends that CCCS continue providing system-wide licenses for Respondus 4.0 and SoftChalk, keeping the same licensing arrangement with the same number of user licenses and support level.  

Rationale: 

Respondus and Softchalk save time and money by making it easier for faculty, instructors, and eLearning staff to create and manage their own course content and use OER materials instead of paying for publisher content.  

Factors to Consider – Benefits and Challenges 

Benefits 

  • Time savings for faculty, instructors and learning designers with creating interactive content and exams. 
  • Cost savings for colleges since they can provide content without relying on a publisher. 
  • Both products integrate with the LMS.  
  • CCCS colleges have been using it for over 10 years so there is a level of familiarity with the product. 
  • Respondus 4.0 is the only tool that converts MS Word documents to an assessment. This is a significant time-saver, and Respondus is the only vendor that provides this feature. 
  • Respondus 4.0 allows downloading exams from D2L, converting them to a MS Word document. This is also a significant time-saver. 
  • SoftChalk makes it easier to create accessible content. By default, most of the content is created in an accessible manner. 

Challenges 

  • Continue to acquire funding on a yearly basis. 
  • Training on the tool for new faculty and instructors. 

Potential Impact/Effect on Other Decisions 

If this recommendation is not approved: 

  • It impacts the ability of many faculty and instructors to manage exams.  
  • Existing content created in Respondus 4.0 and SoftChalk will be lost and would need to be recreated.  
  • Many academic programs would lose an easy and accessible way to create content. 

Training 

  • Continue training for faculty and instructors who are new to Respondus 4.0 or SoftChalk Cloud. 
  • Provide a central location for training resources for Respondus 4.0 and SoftChalk Cloud. 

Next Steps 

  • Budget request already submitted for FY23 through CCCOnline and waiting for approval. 
  • Consider in the new finance model. 

Required Resources 

  • Respondus 4.0  
  • Cost: $19,210/year (based on pricing for FY22 quote) 
  • License Arrangement: 
  • Respondus 4.0 Campus-wide License. 
  • No limit on number of user licenses and based on CCCS colleges FTE. 
  • SoftChalk Cloud  
  • Cost: $21,703/year (based on pricing for FY23) 
  • License Arrangement: 
  • Team subscription license licenses to provide SoftChalk Cloud platform access for one (1) year to the licensed number of faculty and staff at this institution, to develop content to reach 1-25,000 students at this institution. 
  • Each Licensed User account includes 2GB storage space 
  • Unlimited priority email support for all authors 
  • Live, phone-based assistance from support techs 

Communication Plan 

If the recommendation is approved, notify the Learning Technology Council.