CitySpace Switchoff Party

After 8 years of service to the University, CitySpace has been switched off.  This event was commemorated with the collection of obituary entries on this blog from staff and students and a small party.

CitySpace, formerly known as City Online Learning, used the operating system WebCT Vista and was first used on courses at City University London in September 2003.  The E-Learning Unit (ELU) comprising of two instructional designers, an office manager, a systems administrator and director was put together to work in collaboration with staff across the institution to implement the system.  Obituary comments reflect on working with the system and the team over the years.  Many tell tales of frustrations and hours devoted to making CitySpace work while wrestling with the clunky interface.  However, this is also the story of transforming teaching and learning at City University London, creating user communities across the institution, and leading the way with learning technology across the sector.

 Staff and students were invited to the CitySpace Switchoff Party on 1^st September.  Representatives from across the schools and central services attended to eat, drink, reminisce and say goodbye.  We admired the youth of the ELU team as evident in photos from the early years.  The guest of honour, Brendan Casey, now Director of Academic Services at the University of Birmingham who oversaw the initial purchase and implementation of Cityspace, gave a short speech.  He then symbolically switched off CitySpace using the professionally made (ahem) switch.

After a successful first year of implementation, Moodle will now become the University’s sole online learning environment.