CityU Digital Learning Support - Learning Management System Services at City University of Hong Kong

Learning Management System Services
at City University of Hong Kong

(last update: 24 January 2024)

Introduction
Course Site Life Cycle

2.1.Creation of Course Sites
2.2.End of Semester Arrangement
2.3.Purge of Course Sites

Organization Life Cycle

3.1.Creation of Organizations
3.2.Duration of Organizations
3.3.Purge of Organizations

Use of Learning Management System

4.1.General Terms
4.2.Handling Copyright Works
4.3.Handling Personal Data

Business Continuity Plan

5.1.Alternative LMS

Departmental Digital Learning Coordinator Scheme

6.1.Role and responsibilities

1. Introduction

This document is aimed at illustrating the services provided by the Digital Learning Support under the Talent and Education Development Office at City University of Hong Kong (CityU or the University) on the utilization of the learning management system (LMS) from the perspective of staff members.

The current unified LMS at CityU is Canvas at https://canvas.cityu.edu.hk provided by Instructure, Inc.. CityU Canvas is hosted by Amazon Web Services in Singapore under a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Users are using the latest version of Canvas with rolling updates every two weeks.

2. Course Site Life Cycle

2.1.Creation of Course Sites

2.1.1.Course sites are created and populated automatically, in the LMS, according to records on the Master Class Schedule managed by the Academic Regulations and Records Office (ARRO) and the Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies (SGS), around two weeks before the start of a semester. No request is required to create a course site unless the site is needed in advance.
2.1.2.User records in course sites are updated daily according to registration data from the day of creation to the end of the examination period of the semester.
2.1.3.One course site is created for each course with a unique course code by default. A course leader may request for different course site arrangements to facilitate specific needs. Such requests are stored as preferences/templates for future semesters.
2.1.4.All course sites are created without contents. A course instructor may upload learning and teaching materials manually or reuse course contents, in whole or partially, from a course site (or multiple course sites) of previous semester(s) which he/she has access.
2.1.5.A course instructor may manually add other CityU users to his/her course site as teaching assistants or observers according to the needs.

2.2.End of Semester Arrangement

2.2.1.Course sites turn to archive mode before another new semester starts. Student users have read-only access and teachers can no longer modify course site enrollment records.
2.2.2.A request can be made for special arrangements in an archived course site, such as enabling access for accreditation purpose.

2.3.Purge of Course Sites

2.3.1.For record keeping, course sites are retained on the LMS for seven years after the end of the semester.
2.3.2.Course sites are purged when the seven-year limit is reached. No data are retrievable after the purge.
2.3.3.Users are advised to download all relevant data themselves before the course sites are purged permanently.

3. Organization Life Cycle

3.1.Creation of Organizations

3.1.1."Organizations" is just a different term for course sites in the LMS, where they are not associated with the courses listed in the Master Class Schedule. Staff members may request to create organizations in the LMS to interact with other CityU users.
3.1.2.The organization leaders (users with a teacher role) are responsible for the management of the organization including both contents and users.
3.1.3.A request can be made to populate an organization with a well-defined group of users, such as all students in a particular programme.

3.2.Duration of Organizations

3.2.1.Unlike the seven-year limit for course sites, each organization is created with an effective period of one year or less. A request for renewal can be made one month prior to the end date. An extension of one year or less can be granted for each renewal.

3.3.Purge of Organizations

3.3.1.When the end date is reached, the organization is purged and no data are retrievable after the purge.
3.3.2.Users are advised to download all relevant data themselves before the organization is purged permanently.

4. Use of Learning Management System

4.1.General Terms

4.1.1.The LMS operates in a self-serve model. Course instructors (and organization leaders) are responsible for creation, upload, and management of all the contents and activities themselves.
4.1.2.Course sites are created for learning and teaching activities. Users must not use course sites and related functions for other purposes such as, but not limited to, promotion of any product, service, or individual.
4.1.3.Each organization is created for specific purposes to support certain activities of the University. Users must not use the organization and the related functions for other purposes.

4.2.Handling Copyright Works

4.2.1.Course instructors (and organization leaders) need to confirm that the use of copyrighted materials inside the LMS complies with the fair dealing conditions.
4.2.2.No public access should be provided to copyrighted materials in your course sites (or organizations).
4.2.3.Course instructors (and organization leaders) must purge copyrighted materials uploaded to their course sites (or organizations) within a 12-month period.
4.2.4.More information is available at Know more about Copyrights of Teaching Materials.

4.3.Handling Personal Data

4.3.1.The LMS contains personal data of staff and students by default. Additional information of students could be collected or included in course sites (or organizations). Hence, course instructors (and organization leaders) are responsible for protecting data privacy.
4.3.2.Personal data should never be shared through course sites (or organizations).
4.3.3.More information can be found at Handling Personal Data on Canvas.

5. Business Continuity Plan

5.1.Alternative LMS

5.1.1.When the LMS is out of service, an alternative system will be provided as a temporary solution for digital learning activities. The alternative LMS for CityU at this point is Google Classroom provided by Google LLC.
5.1.2.A drill is conducted annually to test the alternative LMS for business continuity of e-learning.
5.1.3.Step-by-step instruction is available at Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Google Classroom Instruction for Teachers.

6. Departmental Digital Learning Coordinator Scheme

6.1.Role and responsibilities

6.1.1.The head of each academic department nominates one or two staff members to take the role of Departmental Digital Learning Coordinators.
6.1.2.Updates and alerts are sent to the coordinators on a regular basis to keep them informed with the University's digital learning developments.
6.1.3.Coordinators are encouraged to direct consolidated feedback from the representing department to the Talent and Education Development Office (TED).
6.1.4.Coordinators are expected to attend meetings related to new digital learning policies, platforms, and services. They are welcome to provide recommendations for decision making in digital learning matters.
6.1.5.The list of current Departmental Digital Learning Coordinators can be found at List of Departmental Digital Learning Coordinator (CityU eID/Password required)