Third Party Resources

Third Party Resources

At Wichita State, we have a portfolio of technology tools that WSU has purchased to aid instruction. As you know, Blackboard Learn is our Learning Management System (LMS). We also support other solutions like Panopto, and Zoom.

These tools have been selected for a variety of reasons: security, integration with enterprise systems – including single sign on environments, broad usability, sustainability, and price, among others. Using Blackboard as the gateway for learning allows us to adhere to identity verification rules from the Department of Education and the Higher Learning Commission. That compliance is critical to maintain our Title IV funds, including Pell Grants and loans to students.

We have a commitment to provide support for our students on these platforms. By providing a limited list of products that we use, we ensure that our support teams can handle student and faculty issues with those products without difficulty and in a timely fashion.

Institutional funds, along with tuition and fees already pay for the educational technology solutions that we have and support on campus, therefore, any required educational technology that students pay for directly to a third-party vendor is discouraged.

You may be approached by vendors with alternative products to the tools we have on campus — student response tools (i.e., clickers), alternative learning management systems, classroom technology solutions, and so on. It is not acceptable to require the use of these alternative tools, especially when an equivalent exists that has already been paid for by student tuition and fees.

The Media Resources Center maintains a list of tools that are vetted and appropriate for use in our classes.


Approved for use
Blackboard Learn
Zoom (integrated with Blackboard)
Blackboard I.M.
Panopto
Brainshark
Turning Technologies Clickers
*Youtube
*Google Docs
*Google Classroom
Mozilla Backpack
ProctorU
*Skype
TopHat (free tools only)

*Approved for limited use — not approved for FERPA-sensitive data or conversations

To Be Reviewed
Turning Technologies Responseware

Not Approved for Use
TopHat (Paid tools and resources)

Criteria for Review
• Tool does not place additional, unecessary financial burden on students
• Tool does not violate or risk violation of FERPA, and passes a security review with ITS
• Use of the tool can be supported through WSU services (IDT, Tech help desk, CMS, etc)
• Tool is ADA compliant, or can be used in a way that is ADA compliant
• Tool does not duplicate the functionality of a tool we are already providing