The updated version of Brandeis' online learning environment, LATTE, or Learning and Teaching Technology Environment, is on track to be released at the end of October when spring courses are made available for faculty, according to Library and Technology Services Associate Director for Academic Technology Adam Lipkin.

This is the first time LATTE is receiving a new look since it was launched in 2007. "We did incremental upgrades throughout the year, so certainly security issues, fixing things that were wrong, things around those lines, but this is the first thing we can legitimately call a new LATTE since LATTE has existed," said Lipkin in an interview with the Justice.

According to Lipkin, LTS is currently finishing the testing phase, and staff members have been fixing "issues with the look and the feel of the new LATTE." The beta testing process started in July and was completed toward the end of September.

A majority of the redesign will involve a new look for LATTE. "It's going to have a much nicer look, which I know isn't a huge feature, but it is the first thing a lot of people see when they're accessing their courses," Lipkin said.

The cleaner look can be partially attributed to the newer code that can be used in the updated version of Moodle, the software that underlies LATTE. The current version of LATTE uses Moodle 1.9, while the newer version will use Moodle 2.5, according to Lipkin. "We want it to be a more elegant system, and this is just code that is seven years newer than the previous code, so it's just generally a lot better optimized," Lipkin said.

Lipkin said that a lot of the difference between the systems is stability and support. "The Moodle one series hasn't been supported or maintained in a couple of years now. It's software that was great and up-to-date in 2007 ... Moodle two just has a much cleaner feel, and it's much more efficient. It's constantly supported," Lipkin said.

In addition to creating a new look, a few new features will be available on the new LATTE. Lipkin said that faculty members now have the ability to post their syllabi publicly, so that prospective students can get a sense of the courses at Brandeis. In addition, LTS is planning to roll out a new video platform called Ensemble Video along with the new LATTE. Although Ensemble Video is separate from LATTE, faculty members will be able to take the content from Ensemble Video and embed it in LATTE.

"[LATTE] doesn't tend to be the most efficient system currently [for video and audio files] because LATTE itself isn't really designed to hold content-it's designed to be an embeddable area for other content," Lipkin said. "We haven't really had a good video server on campus that can support that, but we're going to have that come January."

Users who participate in course management will now also be able to drag and drop files into the new LATTE. "We do have the ability to integrate with Google Drive, so if you got files in your Google Drive account and you want to upload them for an assignment in LATTE, for example, you can just get it right from the screen there. You don't have to ... go through the upload screen and all the stuff like that," Lipkin said.

In terms of other specific changes in the works, Lipkin said that several faculty members have requested new plug-ins for Moodle, such as a plug-in that would allow faculty members to see if their content is accessible.

"A lot of course material or course presentation isn't necessarily optimized for students who may have visual or cognitive disabilities," said Lipkin. "There's actually a plug-in for the system that will allow people to see if their course is laid out in such a way that actually allows somebody who is using it ... to comprehend the course well."

Students, faculty and staff were all involved in the beta testing process to provide feedback. In addition, LTS recruited members of specific groups to participate, such as graduate students "who did both teaching and learning on the system, so we got a little bit of a view [of] both," said Lipkin.

Lipkin explained that LTS conducted tests both remotely, for which participants would take tests and submit feedback, and in sessions, during which a group of students discussed the system and were asked how they would go about doing certain tasks on the new LATTE.

Lipkin added that LTS will hold "workshops which are aimed specifically at faculty, for people who need to set up a class, do some of the more advanced stuff, putting the content up there." In addition, LTS will also hold a series of open houses, which Lipkin said are "for anyone on this campus who has questions about LATTE, and ... want to see it in action and just get a sense of the new layout."

Despite the changes that will be made, the legacy version of LATTE will continue to be available for three to four years after the launch of the new LATTE, according to LTS' website. "This will give faculty and administrators time to move materials from the old LATTE to [the n]ew LATTE before the old courses are archived and the older version of LATTE is taken offline," according to the website in its description of the new LATTE.

However, beginning in the spring 2014 semester, all regular, for-credit courses will be available only on the new LATTE system.