Surgient Success

Is there any way to manage a single schedule for a class in and LMS and coordinate the inclusion of the virtual lab environment for the students from that interface? We have a home grown LMS-like system that allows instructors and student to get managed into scheduled classes. It would be great to see the lab capacity and schedule as part of that system.

Thanks!

Hi there - you have asked a great question, as this is a common training requirement.  We have integrated with several LMS systems for customers.  It is all done via web services.  We have a published API set that you can use, or, if you do not find that they can do exactly what you want and how you want it, Professional Services can develop APIs to meet your very specific needs. 

 Please let me know if I haven't answered your question well enough or if you need additional information.

 Thanks!

 Jackie.

Do the APIs allow an external application to request whether a certain number of labs can be deployed at some point in time?

As long as the resources are available at that point in time, then yes.  Ultimately, the APIs pretty much allow you to do anything that you can do with the Surgient VTMS user interface.

Jackie,

I've taken a jog through some of the documentation but do not see specific reference to the Blackboard LMS. In the post prior you mentioned Surgient's Professional Services could develop APIs per spec.  Does this include Blackboard, or does something already exist that can be taken off the shelf?  For example, the ability to add links to Virtual Lab spaces would be very useful.

Sincerely, HiEdTechie

Hi HiEdTechi -

Surgient has not done a Blackboard LMS integration to date, but as you noted, APIs could easily be developed.  I will *assume* Blackboard is included, as their web site seems to indicate they are extensible and they definitely have an open set of APIs.  

The published Surgient APIs (the same set that Centra uses) can be found here:

 http://www.surgient.com/pubs/53/base/VTMS/

You must save the .chm file locally in order for this to work.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

 Jackie.

Jackie,

I've perused the Blackboard developer site [ http://www.edugarage.com ] and unfortunately there is no reference to virtualization in the context of creating linkages to a lab environment. Thus it would appear that no effort is currently being made to do this. 

I am thinking that while Blackboard is mostly used for asynchronous course delivery, the implications of virtualized environment access are vast.  I would like to see a content type building block which would enable a seamless interface between the Blackboard course and the virtual lab environment.  Goal being to use Blackboard as the means of authentication rather than a parallel system. 

I may be getting ahead of myself, but I assume that a solid business case would need to be established before the internal development team would take  this on. Has any thought been given to developing the Blackboard API pro bono - perhaps as a means to promote adoption of the Virtual Labs product?  A loss leader, if you will. Anyone hear opportunity knocking? ;o)

Best, HiEdTechie

ps. There is however a few very nice presentations on the use of virtualization technologies for the server administration team. But that is a different topic.
http://www.edugarage.com/download/attachments/13271042/DevCon_VirtualizationTechnologiesBb_Klemperer_Final_BBBC.pdf?version=1
http://blackboard.apreso.com/acmcontent/5a5888b1-f123-48af-a96b-0111ea1fe529/Blackboard_SystemAdministration_2007-07-12_10-17-AM.htm

HiEdTechie-

We've talked in the past about making a virtual lab a SCORM object so that it can be managed in the LMS in the context you are describing.

One of the things we are currently working on is documenting the web services APIs more fully so that 3rd parties can develop these sorts of integrations. Our goal is to make sure that we can focus our efforts on those things that are really differentiating in the Surgient environment and enable enough open-ness such that others can comfortably extend the environment to work with their applications.

How does all this fit into your projects in the Embry Riddle environment? If we have a more complete idea of what you are trying to do we might be able to provide more guidance or talk about how to get those things done.

Thanks! Erik

~~
Erik Josowitz
VP Product Strategy
Surgient

I will tell you that while an LMS may not have a reference to ventilation in the context of creating linkages, it may still be because it's a relatively new concept. If the LMS has the ability to integrate with other products, this may just be one more feature - instead of having a link to an example video, why not just have a link to a desktop instead? Using Blackboard as the means of authentication is completely possible - the link would pass the user to his already built lab (assuming it was scheduled).

In the meanwhile, I'll ensure that our Business Development team sees your suggestions.

Jackie.

Thanks Erik,

The ERAU environment is likely very similar on construct to peer educational institutions with notable exceptions.  We have two residential campuses; 130+ teaching locations across the US, Europe, and Mideast; and also have a fairly extensive online presence.

We are using the Blackboard (ver 7.2) LMS for course delivery of static content and have recently adopted Saba Centra (ver 7.5 sp3) this past spring. With our trial / initial deployment behind us we are now positioned to expand the use of the Centra tool. And so with the pending release of the Centra 7.6 client the Surgient Virtual Labs tool becomes available.

Our goal is to continue hosting applications but also ensure they fit into our Single-Sign-On (SSO) environment, which is based upon the Oracle directory (OID).  In fact, our goal is to provide access to all applications once persons have authenticated to our portal.

So it would be optimal if the Virtual Labs tool could be seamless from not only within Centra, but also accessible via SSO from directly within our portal and/ or Blackboard.   And so this is where I envision a Blackboard building block would come into play.

Best, HiEdTechie

 Thanks, thats great background! And the application training is MATLAB, SPSS, etc? Is it primarily these sorts of graphically intense analytics packages or are you also delivering training on productivity applications?

Oh yes indeed!  Curriculum runs the gamut between MS Office 2007 and an array of CAD applications. I sense the graphically intensive applications (e.g. Pro-Engineer, CATIA) would be a difficult fit, but perhaps not. 

I am thinking about titles such as Office 2007, SPSS, and MATLAB.  While these latter two can also have graphics elements, they are also syntax-based so we would promote access with tips on usage to promote best practices.

Best, HiEdTechie