Academic Computing and Media Services announced today that Ted, the campus learning management system used by students andd faculty for online academic resources, will be renamed TritonEd, beginning Winter Quarter 2016.
ACMS Assistant Director and Office for Online and Technology Enhanced Education Managing Director Daniel Suchy explained that because a significant amount of time has been dedicated to modifying the LMS, the opportunity presented itself to change the name to something that resonates better with the university and reflects the UCSD brand.
“In the past year, we’ve had a really big push on improving the user experience for students and faculty,” Suchy told the UCSD Guardian. “It just seemed like a good time to also rethink the name. We’re trying to bring more school spirit and make it more connected with UCSD.”
There will be no major changes to UCSD’s LMS other than the name. However, Suchy says that in the future, ACMS plans to use TritonEd to improve student performance through the use of analytics.
“We’re hoping to better inform faculty about how their students are using TritonEd,” said Suchy. “If we can identify when a student suddenly stops using it, that could be a sign that the student might need additional support. Often, there are students who are in trouble and need a little help … If we can catch them in the middle of the quarter when they’re tanking a little bit and give them the help they need, that could make a difference. For that, we need analytics.”
According to Eleanor Roosevelt College junior and ACMS/ResNet Help Desk technician Gevorg Aghabekov, the name change is welcome, because many confuse UCSD’s Ted with the globalized TED Conferences.
TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, hosts talks given by renowned presenters focusing on a variety of topics. There is no relationship between TED and UCSD’s Ted LMS.
“I think [the name change] will be better because a lot of people confuse [the UCSD] Ted with TED Talks,” said Aghabekov. “Our Ted actually stands for Triton Education.”
With regard to how students will handle the transition from Ted to TritonEd, Suchy does not think there will be any issues.
“I feel like it’s just a matter of letting students know … I don’t have any worries,” Suchy said. “I think the students are going to be fine. We’re letting the faculty know so they’re aware of what’s going on as well.”
Aghabekov believes that, should any problems arise for students when TritonEd goes live, the ACMS Help Desk will be the first to know.
“We’ll see how students respond to the change when it happens,” Aghabekov told the Guardian. “If anything, we’ll be the first to hear about the responses.”
Suchy added that the change from Ted to TritonEd was not ACMS’s first attempt at modifying the LMS name. Prior to Ted, the LMS went by the name WebCT.
“Before it was Ted, it was called WebCT,” Suchy explained. “It was the name of the company but it is now defunct. We changed our name to Ted, which stood for Triton Education, because at the same time, we changed our LMS.”
For students in the habit of using the original Ted website, the web address www.ted.ucsd.edu will automatically redirect to the new address at www.tritoned.ucsd.edu.
