THESIS: Technology in Higher Education in Support

of Innovation for Student Success

THESIS is a collaboration of leading institutions worldwide to enable a 10-100x improvement in the

adoption of innovative digital technologies in

support of teaching and learning.

There are so many technologies out there today dealing with digital content and learning management systems that need to integrate with the ERP system. And IMS is one entity that makes sure that theyre all going to work together.

Mike Mathews, Chief Strategist for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Lone Star College System

The Reality of Going Digital

The growing emergence of digital resources promises easier access to a variety of content and the realization of personalized learning. Unfortunately, the reality is that its a challenge to integrate these rapidly emerging resources so that they work together in a variety of software and platforms that institutions, teachers and students use.

How can higher education bridge the gap from the reality of today to realizing the full potential of digital technology to improve access, affordability and quality of education? The missing link is an open platform based on open standards. Luckily, IMS Global Learning Consortium, a non-profit member driven standards organization, provides such a platform, and IMS-enabled products are exploding into the education community through viral adoption by leading technology suppliers. Any college, university or system can move naturally over time towards an open academic enterprise by simply requiring IMS Conformance Certification as part of the procurement process.

A Collaboration to Improve Efficiency and Learning Experiences

Technology in Higher Education in Support of Innovation for Student Success, or THESIS for short, is an IMS Global initiative, developed in collaboration with institutional leaders, that seeks the commitment of colleges and universities to break the status quo of closed proprietary systems that make digital innovation a challenge. Pledging support for THESIS signifies an institutional commitment to evolve to an academic IT enterprise that is based on open standards that will enable a 10-100X improvement in the deployment time, cost, and usability of educational platforms, applications and content. The end result? Systemic technology innovation that improves the teaching and learning experience!

Join the THESIS Collaboration

Get more from your enterprise learning technology. Join leading colleges and universities who have pledged support for THESIS. Visit www.imsglobal.org/thesis/ for more information or contact info@imsglobal.org.

www.imsglobal.org

Make Costly Integrations a Thing of the Past! Institutions pledging support for THESIS are provided access to IMS staff, support forums, resources, and informational webinars to help IT and academic technology staff understand how to incorporate the adoption of open standards, including what to look for when engaged in a procurement or upgrade to advance the stated goals of THESIS.

Interested colleges and universities may submit their request to participate in the THESIS program by visiting www.imsglobal.org/thesis/thesispledge.cfm. Upon receipt of your pledge, IMS will provide you with the THESIS toolkit and access to support forums to help your institution begin to incorporate adoption of IMS interoperability.

For more information or to request a free webinar to learn more about THESIS, contact info@imsglobal.org.

Helping Institutions Get More from Their Enterprise Learning TechnologyTHESIS is a practical framework to help institutions move towards an open enterprise, and provides the support to make procurements and upgrades that advance the adoption of open standards relatively easy and at no additional cost. Specifically, THESIS is designed to:

Break the status quo of closed, proprietary systems that make the use of digital technology difficult to use for teaching and learning.

Help institutions become more productive and efficient through the adoption of proven IMS standards that will save 10-100x the cost/time to implement and support a seamless interface of educational applications, content, and data with the enterprise.

Enable an institution to become more agile in integrating new technologies and digital content to evolve personalized learning.

Enable content and data to be migrated from one platform to another platform with ease.

Help improve the consistency in the use of technology and digital resources by faculty to enhance the student learning experience.

Facilitate information sharing about innovative and sustainable uses of technology for teaching and learning.

Why Institutions Are Supporting

THESISInstitutions pledging to adopt the principles underlying THESIS will be provided the following IMS support:

Access to support forums and informational webinars that provide the support and training required for IT and academic technology staff to understand where opportunities exist today and how to incorporate the adoption of open standards, including what to look for when engaged in a procurement or upgrade to advance the stated goals of THESIS.

Appropriate wording that specifies requirements for relevant procurements.

Finally, IMS is prepared to get experts involved in the rare case that an individual institution or system encounters an interoperability issue with an IMS certified product. Typically this is not needed for products that have already been certified. But this form of troubleshooting with community involvement is an essential feedback mechanism and insurance policy.

www.imsglobal.org