By: Rabia Ijaz (Technical Account Manager – Optimization Services)
This community event was where we delve into the role of Learning Administration Managers (LAMs) at D2L. The session provided a comprehensive overview of the LAM role, their day-to-day responsibilities, and how they integrate within the account team to enhance client experiences. Our panel of experienced LAMs shared their strategies for managing client expectations, building strong relationships, and improving communication.
Panelists:
- Ashley Way – Learning Administration Manager
- Jace Roscoe – Learning Administration Manager
- Jeffrey Melo – Learning Administration Manager
- Matt Walker – Senior Learning Administration Manager
Agenda:
- Welcome (1 minute)
- Introduction of the Panelist (4 minutes)
- Sector-specific Q&A Panel (35 minutes)
- What is the LAM (Learning Administration Manager) Role About?
- What Does Your Day-to-Day as a LAM Look Like?
- How Does the LAM Role Fit Within the Account Team?
- How do you handle situations where a client's needs or expectations may differ from what Brightspace offers out-of-the-box?
- What strategies do you use to build strong relationships and improve communication with your clients?
- Q&A by Community members (5 minutes)
The recording of the session:
Ashley: I think the biggest challenge I’ve encountered so far in this role is helping clients with resistance to change. I’ve recently worked with a client who was moving to Brightspace from another LMS and were used to completing tasks and interacting with their LMS in a certain way. Upon reviewing their processes, I knew there would be a few tools that would prove to be real time savers for their Instructors and automate some of their repetitive tasks. The challenge was demonstrating this to the client when they are already so busy and learning a new tool seems daunting. I decided to approach these items carefully, starting with automating some of their repetitive email notifications using Intelligent Agents and showing the value of time saved for instructors with very little effort to set up the Intelligent Agent. From there, the client was more open to exploring these options and we were able to optimize their use of Brightspace tools and reduce workload for their faculty.
Matt: One of the original LAM clients' greatest need was reporting on user progress/success and using that to direct their courses going forward. At the time, this was not an offered service from LAM. To ensure they got the best experience/value out of their LMS, we worked with the Client Sales Executive to develop a Custom SOW. I designed the reports they needed using Excel and, to this day, update/maintain them on a weekly basis. As we further developed the LAM Program we've included Reporting as part of the new service levels.
Jeffrey: I was recently tasked with helping to brand course navigation and homepages by two metrics: the type of course and its modality. This translated to a matrix of 36 different ‘experiences’, which I was able to automate through a combination of tweaking the organizational org unit structure, setting up branding templates, and utilizing the course branding tool to automate the correct navbar and homepage based on the org unit relationships. This lead down a path of doing some hygiene on navbars, homepages, org units, and resulted in a leaner / more efficient system and process. The automation translated to reduced administrative overhead and created uniformity in the user experience.
Jace: Learning to work backwards (from the need to the solution, rather than picking a solution for the need first) helped tremendously. Very commonly, we see a solution we’d like to implement that peripherally solves a problem, but when we review from the problem side first (what is the root of the problem? what is the goal we wish to accomplish? what need requires fulfilling?) I’ve found we’re much more capable of right-sizing the solution to the problem rather than adopting a new or expensive tool that offers a half-fix that requires regular maintenance. Learning to holistically attack problems from a process/training/technology perspective has opened a lot of doors and helped us resolve very complex problems.
What inspired you to pursue a career in educational technology and administration?
Ashley: I spent 10 years as an Instructor in Higher Education, taking on a bigger role in helping faculty with course development and using the LMS. I taught Business Administration and have a passion for Education and Technology which of course led me to pursue a new role which would challenge me in all these areas. I understand the challenges Higher Ed’s are facing and feel I can add value to the clients by optimizing and helping them get the most out of their Brightspace. Working as a Learning Administrator provides me the opportunity to build relationships with my clients and utilize my knowledge and skills in a way that is both challenging and rewarding.
Matt: My personal interest is in client care, but in a technical environment. I like to do technical work (and I also like teaching/helping) so this was the right fit for me. I always say "doing a good job is its own reward". I get satisfaction from a job well done and being a LAM allows me to learn new things, gain new expertise, and exercise that expertise as I help my clients manage their LMS.
Jeffrey: I’ve held various client-facing roles at D2L that eventually pointed me down a path of working with customers in a more hands-on way that I felt would be a better use of my skills and ultimately provide more value to the customer. In support, I would troubleshoot issues and diagnose the problems, but didn’t have the opportunity to continue working with those customers through the projects or situations in which the problems were occurring. In my role as a Customer Success Manager, I helped define strategic goals and the path to measuring success. However, I came to eventually recognize that often it was the execution or ‘doing’ that customers needed help with. The common denominator to providing more value to customers and being able to be more creative in more role was me finding something that allowed me to be more hands-on with customers – something that would allow me to work with them from conceptualization to completion. I think I’ve found that in Learning Management Administration.
Jace: I’ve been doing customer-facing technical support work since I was 16 years old, and hopped from government, to corporate, and finally to education-based support teams. I supported Learning Management Systems for around 14 years at my last position, and during that time, gradually transitioned into the LMS Administrator role. Even in my more technology-focused roles, I’ve always found great fulfillment in supporting teaching and learning across all different sectors, and I think education in all its forms is truly one of the greatest callings a person can have. I love that I’m able to empower educators to teach and leaners to succeed in my role.
Thank you everyone for joining us! If you are interested in future events by the Optimization Services Community Group, please join our group: Optimization Services.
Attached below are the slides that were shared during the session.