[LIBRARYDIR] [msia] Status of Microsoft Imagine Academy

Mon Sep 24 10:13:24 PDT 2018

Here is Elizabeth’s letter, in case you didn’t see it

On Sep 24, 2018, at 10:10 AM, Iaukea, Elizabeth <elizabeth.iaukea at sos.wa.gov<mailto:elizabeth.iaukea at sos.wa.gov>> wrote:

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the lack of news regarding the future of Microsoft Imagine Academy (MSIA).  As many of you have become aware, Microsoft is radically changing the current online learning platform in one week (October 1, 2018) in anticipation of the launch of a new platform that may include integration with their LinkedIn business, which includes Lynda.com<http://Lynda.com> and is billed as being more employability focused. Unfortunately this new employability solution won’t be available to us until likely next July.

NO CHANGES are planned for the certification piece of our program, which has been funded through June 30, 2019; continued funding for certification resources will be part of our Legislative ask for the 2019-2021 biennium.

WSL received information about the retirement of online learning in early July, and we’ve been talking to Microsoft ever since about an acceptable solution for what we’re calling the “gap year.” We think we’re very close to a comprehensive solution, but we have still not finalized the contracts– and as you know that means things could still change over the next few weeks. Still, we think we’re close enough to some finish lines that we can share what we know with all of you.

The concise version is that WSL will continue to license MSIA for the community and technical colleges, and it will license Lynda.com<http://Lynda.com> for our public library partners (with a target start date of November 1). Our Legislative allotment isn’t enough to cover licensing for both MSIA and Lynda for both user groups, and usage of the two components of MSIA – the Member site where all the curriculum materials are served, and the online learning – is very different.  We’ve found that our CTCs primarily use the Member site (which isn’t changing) and use online learning little if at all, and for the public libraries, it’s the reverse.

This solution therefore seems to make the most sense for this “gap year.”  The big difference between the learning platforms is that the OneNote solution has none of the tracking features that make it ideal for a self-directed learning. The content, however, is still available, so it will still work for some, but it is not the stand-alone learning product that MSIA has been. Meanwhile, any setting where instruction occurs, like in the CTCs, can use the OneNote product successfully. Therefore, we are trying to cover learning in both settings with all our users statewide.

There won’t be any gap in access to the CTCs (although with the online learning being retired, you’ll have to change how and what you direct students to use– details as we know them are below), and for the 16 public libraries already licensing Lynda.com<http://Lynda.com>, you’ll receive a pro-rated refund from Lynda that will reflect the “overlap” once our statewide subscription goes into effect, as of November 1 and a simple switch (or so we’ve been told:>), to offer uninterrupted access. We will be working as quickly as we can with the other public libraries to get their Lynda.com<http://Lynda.com> access up and running after November 1.

Our efforts to take this two-pronged approach, and license two Microsoft-owned products that meet the combined needs of our libraries, have been challenging, to say the least, both as we try to fit both products into our budget, and while we attempt to treat the two companies as one, when they have been operating completely separately, despite their shared ownership. Hence, this long process of negotiation and running up to the zero hour with a solution. It has been a long and stressful two months of hammering this out, as you all can imagine.

In the next Legislative session, which begins in January, we will be making a bigger ask that we hope will allow us to license Microsoft LinkedIn Learning for both groups or to continue to make both products available, however Microsoft may or may not package them.

That’s how we think things will go, although it’s possible we’ll be able to provide access to the OneNote learning materials to public libraries as well.  That discussion with Microsoft is this week.

Here are some details about the changes to the MSIA product:

Microsoft has offered a workaround that would allow us to continue to provide access to learning materials supporting the MOS and MTA exams, as well as the computer science curriculum.  These won’t be online learning courses – they will be OneNote files, virtual ‘binders’ each containing a combination of videos and text materials that support a single exam or topic.  In some ways it will be better than what we have now – it will allow end-users to directly access not only video files but also content from the MOAC and Study Guides – materials that previously had to come through an instructor – and students won’t have to login with a Microsoft account.

There are also negatives – fewer courses, no progress tracking and in fact, very little usage data at all.  While we’re still waiting for details from Microsoft as to how exactly this will work, our hope is to make the materials available on or as close to October 1 as possible.  All that should be required on your end is changing the text of the instructions on your MSIA access page, and the link.  We’ll provide the (greatly simplified!) instructions and of course, the new link as soon as we have these.

I appreciate your patience as we’ve been trying to work though this difficult, uncertain period.  We are truly regretful that we haven’t had more definitive information to share before now, and that even now things aren’t in stone.  I also apologize for the tome-like email, and on a Monday morning no less - but as I’m sure you realize, this has been complicated, as we have unintentionally had to forge new ground with both LinkedIn and Microsoft Learning.

We will continue to send updates to these two lists as we have them.

Thank you, and please let me know if you have further questions.

ELIZABETH IAUKEA Workforce Development Librarian
Washington State Library | Office of the Secretary of State
6880 Capitol Blvd SE, Tumwater, Washington
w: 360-570-5578 | f: 360-586-7575
elizabeth.iaukea at sos.wa.gov<mailto:elizabeth.iaukea at sos.wa.gov>

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