University students will not see the conversion from Blackboard to Moodle this summer as planned to allow students to settle in.

Tom Bonvillain, director of academic computing, said the conversion will not take place to allow students to adjust to changes in other areas like e-mail and Banner.

“They were hit with a lot of different things, and they wanted more time. The research we did backed that up too.”

Blackboard will be effective at least one more year, Bonvillain said, but faculty members are already being taught to convert courses to Moodle in order to be prepared. A test site is up for faculty to develop courses, and program training has been made available to every member.

“They’ve put a lot of time and effort into this. It just takes time.”

Some students may see Moodle used as part of mini term B summer sessions, Bonvillain said.

“We have a few instructors that are willing to try a little bit of Blackboard and a little bit of Moodle.”

Some Moodle courses may start in the fall semester, but the University plans to have every course converted by the spring semester.

Moodle offers the same types of features as Blackboard, Bonvillain said, but with different names. Courses can also be laid out in topics as seen in Blackboard but can also be laid out in weekly formats.