Lamakū – Educational Media Center

Ed Tech, EMC, Instructional Design, Lamakū

Designing for Quality: How the Lamakū Course Starter PLC Has Evolved

The Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter Professional Learning Community (PLC) has now supported four successful cohorts of instructors in developing, transitioning, and enhancing their courses in the Lamakū learning management system (LMS). Across two cohorts in Fall 2024, one in Summer 2025, and one in Spring 2026, the PLC has helped instructors build confidence, develop high-quality course modules, and strengthen their teaching through intentional course design and consistent instructional design support and coaching.

Access the PLC flyers: Fall 2024 PLC Flyer | Summer 2025 PLC Flyer | Spring 2026 PLC Flyer

We plan to offer this PLC on a regular basis. Stay up to date: IDT Hub.

Four Cohorts from Fall 2024 – Spring 2026

Who Participated?

Fall 2024 Crew 1 (Sept 2 – Oct 13): 25 participants, 4 survey respondents (16% response rate)
Fall 2024 Crew 2 (Oct 21 – Dec 1): 19 participants, 5 survey respondents (26% response rate)
Summer 2025 (May 27 – July 6): 8 participants, 6 survey respondents (75% response rate)
Spring 2026 (Feb 17 – Mar 27): 4 participants, 4 survey respondents (100% response rate)

While Fall 2024 saw the largest overall participation (44 participants across two crews), subsequent cohorts became smaller and more engaged, reflected in significantly higher response rates. Participants who met the requirements earned a digital badge, reinforcing the PLC as both a learning experience and a form of professional recognition.

The Core Thread: 1:1 Instructional Designer Coaching

From the start, the most valued element of the PLC has been the individualized 1:1 coaching meetings with instructional designers (IDs). In Fall 2024, Summer 2025, and Spring 2026, participants consistently rated these sessions as the most effective component of their learning experience (5/5 effectiveness).

This high-touch, personalized support remains the anchor of the PLC, ensuring instructors feel guided, supported, and confident as they design and develop high-quality courses.

What We Learned in Fall 2024

The Fall 2024 crews focused primarily on helping instructors transition courses from Laulima to Lamakū. Participants attended synchronous Zoom sessions, completed asynchronous modules, and provided peer feedback through the Discussions tool.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of respondents strongly agreeing that the PLC provided essential skills and a valuable experience. However, peer collaboration received lower ratings (3.78/5), highlighting an opportunity to improve how instructors engaged with one another. At this stage, the PLC was primarily focused on supporting LMS transition, with less emphasis on formal alignment to quality standards, although there was specific reference to the Leeward DE Guidelines.

📊 View the Fall 2024 Infographic and Full Data Summary.

Iterations for Summer 2025

Based on Fall feedback and evolving needs, the Summer 2025 PLC introduced several key improvements:

Alignment with UH Quality Online Standards: The focus shifted from migration to designing “ready for delivery” modules aligned with the UH Quality Online Standards. Badge earners met at least 80% of the 36 indicators.
More Flexible Structure: Required synchronous sessions were reduced, with only one required Zoom session for peer feedback and an optional mid-PLC community session.
Enhanced Peer Feedback Model: Peer feedback moved from the Discussions tool to live Zoom sessions, allowing instructors to share their screens and receive immediate, more meaningful feedback.

Results: Peer collaboration and asynchronous resources improved (both 4.33/5), and nearly 90% of participants earned the PLC badge. Participants continued to highlight the value of 1:1 coaching, while noting some challenges with pacing and workload.

📊 View the Summer 2025 Infographic and Full Data Summary.

What We Refined in Spring 2026

The Spring 2026 cohort built on these improvements while introducing a key innovation:

Leeward Course Starter Template (CST): For the first time, participants used a Leeward-specific Course Starter Template, replacing the UH System templates used previously. This strengthened alignment with the UH Quality Online Standards while providing a more cohesive, campus-specific course design experience.
Continued Emphasis on Quality and Alignment: Participants used rubrics, checklists, and the UH Quality Online Standards to guide course design and badge completion, reinforcing a structured, quality-driven approach.
Adaptability in Delivery: Due to the impacts of the Kona Low storms, the planned synchronous peer feedback session was shifted to asynchronous discussions, demonstrating flexibility in maintaining learning outcomes despite disruptions.

This iteration marked a shift toward a more intentional, quality-driven course design experience grounded in our Leeward campus and context.

Results: All participants (100%) strongly agreed that the PLC provided essential skills, an effective format, useful resources, and overall value. Peer support and asynchronous resources reached their highest ratings to date (4.75/5), and 100% of participants earned the PLC badge. Confidence remained high, with 75% reporting they felt very confident after completing the PLC.

📊 View the Spring 2026 Infographic and Full Data Summary.

Results and Reflections Across Cohorts

Across all four cohorts, several consistent themes emerge:

1:1 coaching remains the strongest and most impactful component
Peer collaboration improved significantly after redesigning feedback structures
Confidence in course development increased over time
Alignment with UH Quality Online Standards strengthened across iterations
Badging supported persistence and completion

Explore the Data

For more information, you can access the following infographics:

Fall 2024 Infographic and Full Data Summary
Summer 2025 Infographic and Full Data Summary
Spring 2026 Infographic and Full Data Summary

Lamakū

Lamakū – Intelligent Agents

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Register: https://go.hawaii.edu/Dmg

Join us for a practical, 2 part, hands-on workshop on Intelligent Agents.

Part I: Lamakū: You will be added to our Lamakū sandbox for the asynchronous portion of our workshop to learn about how intelligent agents work.

February 9 – 18, 2026

Part II: Zoom: Walk through how you can apply intelligent agents for various situations in your course.

Thursday, February 19, 2026 1:00 – 2:00 PM

*Lamakū Intelligent Agents is an automated tool that can monitor student activities such as logins, grade thresholds, or assignment submissions. It will log a report for the instructor and/ or send tailored email to students on your behalf when specific criteria are met.

Discover how this powerful automation tool can:

Intel-bot

Help you to follow-up with students
Support student success proactively
Ensure consistent and equitable outreach

You’ll Learn How To:

Set up Intelligent Agents step-by-step
Write messages that recognize student progress
Apply Intelligent Agents in real course scenarios

If you have any questions, please contact Brent Hirata (bhirata@hawaii.edu) or Chelby Onaga (chelbyo@hawaii.edu).

Ed Tech, EMC, Instructional Design, Lamakū

Leeward Lamakū Weekly Tips (Fall 2025)

During Fall 2025, the EMC IDT unit shared weekly Lamakū tips via the Leeward Campus bulletins. Here is a summary of all the video tips shared. You can also watch the video playlist on YouTube.

Tip 1: Course Starter Template

How to find and use document templates, and how to change colors in the course starter template.

Tip 2: Course Banners

How to update the course banner image and upload a module banner image.

Tip 3: Attendance Tool

How to use the attendance tool and input grades for attendance via the Grades tool.

Tip 4: Embedding YouTube Videos and Google Slides

How to embed Google Slides and YouTube videos on a content page in the Content tool.

Tip 5: Quick Eval Tool

How to use Quick Eval to grade, update, retract, save a draft/publish, and filter by submission or activity.

Tip 6: Rubrics Tool

How to create a rubric and attach it to an activity. How to grade using the rubric in the Quick Eval tool.

Tip 7: Intelligent Agents

How to create an intelligent agent and use replacement strings.

Tip 8: Google Assignments

How to create and grade a Google Assignment in Lamakū.

Tip 9: Creator+ Part 1

How to “Insert Elements” and use “Layouts.”

Tip 10: Creator+ Part 2

How to insert Practice Questions and H5P interactives.

Tip 11: Discussions & Lumi

Using Lumi (an AI feature) to help generate possible discussion prompts that you can edit/refine.

Tip 12: Quiz Questions & Lumi

Using Lumi (an AI feature) to help generate possible quiz questions that you can edit/refine.

Tip 13: Grades – Settings

Setup Wizard vs Settings, how to change the settings, and how to change specific settings to update the gradebook.

Tip 14: Releasing Final Grades

Settings for “Final Calculated Grade” or “Final Adjusted Grade” and how to release the final grade to students.

Ed Tech, EMC, Lamakū

Lamakū Grades: A Gradebook Structure for Tracking Student Engagement/Appointments

Do you require your students to attend office hours, One-to-one check-ins, or project consultations? If so have you struggled with grading them in a meaningful way? Follow this approach to easily communicate these graded course requirements and display the date and any brief comments you have. Then enter in a summary score for the overall section of the gradebook and apply to their final grade. This easy structure, is a quick organized and transparent process to tracking this data and a step toward making participating in these required appointment important.

The first minute of this screencast is comprised of an AI (Google NotebookLM) generated podcast, generated from presenter notes, that expands on and “hooks” the listener into why this topic is important for all online instructors who do these types of activiites.

Instructional Design, Lamakū

Insights from the Leeward Lamakū Course Starter PLC

The Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter Professional Learning Community (PLC) has now supported three successful cohorts (“crews”) of instructors in transitioning to and enhancing their courses in the new Lamakū learning management system (LMS). Across two cohorts in Fall 2024 and one in Summer 2025, the PLC has helped instructors build confidence, develop at least two course modules, and strengthen their teaching with consistent instructional design support and coaching.

Access the Fall 2024 and Summer 2025 flyers:

Who Participated?

Fall 2024 Crew 1 (Sept 2 – Oct 13): 25 participants, 4 survey respondents (16% response rate)
Fall 2024 Crew 2 (Oct 21 – Dec 1): 19 participants, 5 survey respondents (26% response rate)
Summer 2025 (May 27 – July 6): 8 participants, 6 survey respondents (75% response rate)

This data shows that while Fall 2024 saw larger enrollment overall (44 participants across two crews), Summer 2025 had a smaller, more engaged cohort, reflected in the notably higher survey response rate. Additionally, those who successfully met the earning criteria received a digital badge.

The Core Thread: 1:1 Instructional Designer Coaching

From the start, the most valued element of the PLC has been the individualized 1:1 coaching meetings with instructional designers (IDs). In both Fall 2024 and Summer 2025, participants unanimously rated these sessions as the most effective component of their learning experience (5/5 effectiveness). This consistent, high-touch support has been the anchor of the PLC, ensuring instructors feel guided, equipped, and confident as they develop their courses.

What We Learned in Fall 2024

The two Fall 2024 crews (Sept–Oct and Oct–Dec) focused primarily on helping instructors transition courses from Laulima to Lamakū. Participants were required to attend three synchronous Zoom sessions, complete asynchronous modules, and provide peer feedback on each other’s work via the Discussions tool in the PLC’s Lamakū course site.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, where 100% strongly agreed the PLC provided essential skills and a valuable experience. However, we also found notable areas for growth: while 1:1 meetings and synchronous sessions were highly rated, peer collaboration was rated lower (3.78/5), suggesting the need for improvement in how instructors engaged with one another.

Iterations for Summer 2025

Based on Fall feedback and evolving needs, the Summer 2025 PLC introduced three major changes:

Alignment with the UH Quality Online Standards: Instead of focusing only on course migration, the Summer cohort emphasized creating “ready for delivery” modules aligned with the UH Quality Online Standards. To earn the Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter PLC badge, participants were required to meet at least 80% of the 36 indicators on the UH Quality Online Standards Checklist.
Shift to an Optional Community Session: Unlike Fall 2024, where synchronous Zoom sessions were required every other week, Summer 2025 offered a more flexible structure. The only required live element outside of the 1:1 coaching sessions was a single Zoom session dedicated to peer feedback, where two options were provided in week 5. The optional Community Session in week 3 allowed instructors more autonomy and acknowledged the busy schedules of faculty while still fostering a sense of community.
Peer Feedback in Zoom Instead of Discussions Tool: Rather than relying on the Lamakū Discussions Tool to manage and facilitate the peer feedback process, the Summer 2025 PLC peer feedback occurred in real time during a Zoom session. This adjustment responded directly to Fall feedback on collaboration, ensuring that instructors could give and receive richer, more immediate feedback on their course designs. With this approach, instructors shared their screen and highlighted their course design, whereas in the Discussion Tool, instructors had to rely on their peers to add them to their course site and post to the Discussion Topic on time.

Results and Reflections

The Summer 2025 PLC again confirmed the value of 1:1 ID coaching, while showing stronger ratings for peer support and asynchronous resources compared to Fall 2024 (both 4.33/5, up from 3.78 and 4.33 respectively). Nearly 90% of participants earned the PLC badge, highlighting the effectiveness of integrating professional recognition into the process.

While some participants noted the pace and volume of content as a challenge, they consistently praised the organization, expertise, and individualized support that characterized the PLC.

For more information, you can access the following infographics (Fall 2024; Summer 2025):

Instructional Design, Lamakū

2024-2025 Mission: Lamakū Transition – Complete!

Mission: Launched

Alongside the University of Hawaiʻi’s plan to transition from Laulima (Sakai) to Lamakū (Brightspace by D2L), the Educational Media Center (EMC) ID Unit (Brent, Chelby, Lauren, and Rachael) instigated a year-long initiative at Leeward called “Mission: Lamakū Transition.” This video highlights a quick re-cap of our year.

Summer 2024

As part of the first cohort for the transition, it all began in Summer 2024, when the Instructional Designers (IDs) across the UH System got together to plan how we were going to support this big transition. All the while, we had to learn how to use the new system ourselves. The all-day meeting was very productive and enjoyable to work with our counterparts on the other campuses. The synergy of the IDs in one room was amazing!

Then, we, the EMC ID Unit, began developing the “Leeward Mission: LMS Transition” initiative to support our Leeward campus. (This name later turned into Mission: Lamakū Transition once the LMS got its official name).

Also during the summer of 2024, UH launched a pilot where we supported 10 brave Leeward instructors (i.e. Eunice Brekke, Merissa Bunton, Michael Cawdery, Cara Chang, Christine Danielson, Anushka Faucci, Anika Gearhart, Jessie Hoffman, Kuʻuipo Tracie Losh, and Susan Wood) who volunteered to use Lamakū for their summer courses. It was a learning experience for everyone – IDs, instructors, and the students! We truly appreciated everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigated unknown territory together.

Fall 2024

Continuing to learn more and work with instructors and the IDs across the UH System, we improved our services and resources when the full launch to migrate began in Fall 2024. We collaborated with the IDs to create course site templates based on sound instructional design, the Lamakū Instructor Essentials course site, and online workshops to support instructors.

Meanwhile, at Leeward, we campaigned our own initiative, Mission: Lamakū Transition. We were grateful to receive a temporary position to help with the Lamakū transition and provide support. We sent out timely newsletters, created resources such as video tutorials and in-depth resource docs, and offered workshops and support for our campus. (Related blog post: Recap of Lamakū Support (Fall 2024).)

Workshop audience in classroom.

Our six-week professional learning community (PLC), “Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter PLC” was our flagship professional development workshop where we facilitated two groups or “Cosmic Crews” with a total of 45 instructors participating. (Survey results summary.) Instructors learned the basics of Lamakū and course design as we assisted them in creating their Lamakū course sites following a timeline/framework we developed to help instructors.

Additionally, we worked diligently 1-1 with instructors, and hosted a couple more innovative professional development opportunities like the “Lamakū Live: Course Build with Lauren,” a YouTube livestream event and weekly co-working sessions (a technique called “parallel working”) to provide dedicated time/space for instructors to work on their Lamakū courses and get assistance from the IDs.

People co-working.

Fall 2024 was bustling with everyone migrating and getting their courses ready to launch in the Spring semester. It wasn’t long before Spring 2025 started and it was time to implement the courses with students.

Spring 2025

In Spring 2025, we were as ready as we were to go! We continued working 1-1 with instructors and sent out timely Mission: Lamakū Transition emails with helpful reminders, information, and professional development offerings. For instance, before the semester started, we provided a final check video series for instructors to help them check that their Lamakū courses were ready. We enhanced our co-working sessions to include mini workshops, demos, or presentations featuring a helpful aspect of Lamakū from new things we learned or feedback from instructors and students.

Continuing to collaborate with UH IDs, we introduced additional features in Lamakū such as H5P interactives, Creator+, Lumi (AI), and Google Assignments integration. We provided workshops to our campus for these new features/topics.

Mission: Completed

Looking back at the year, we’re glad to have partnered with and assisted over 100 instructors and had over 250 recorded consultations. Some of the comments from our consultation survey included:

“1-1 was very helpful and they always got back to me in a timely manner.”

“Thank you so much for helping me to get my Lamakū classes put together for the spring. The 1-1 consultations were invaluable as were the other resources, particularly the YouTube videos with time stamps that allowed me to find what I needed help with so I could watch that part (sometimes several times, lol).”

“You folks are always so responsive and your willingness to help is really awesome”

We’re glad to have made an impact, and we’re proud to work with such dedicated instructors at Leeward. The change and transition to a new LMS was challenging, but we all persevered and got through it together! While this year might’ve been the year to transition, we are looking forward to building upon what we have done with Lamakū and continuing to improve and innovate in course design and support engaging ways of learning with technology.

Looking Ahead

We look forward to continuing to support your design, development, and implementation of courses using Lamakū. You can find all of our Lamakū news, workshops, and resources on our new website.

If you’re interested, we are offering our foundational “Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter PLC,” again, in the Summer and Fall 2025. Please register for our upcoming summer “crew”! This is a great time to focus on refining your courses or re-designing them now that you’ve taken Lamakū for a spin. The ID Unit is here to help, and we thrive on good instructional design! 😉

Summer 2025 Course Starter PLC flyer.

Be on the lookout in your inbox for more professional development opportunities and support from the EMC. Feel free to reach out to us for 1-1 assistance, questions, feedback, or to share your experiences with us. We hope to see you soon!

EMC, Instructional Design, Lamakū

Lamakū @ HISSI 2025

The Instructional Designers (IDs) across the UHCC System are excited to invite you to our Lamakū @ HISSI! This year, in addition to the regular program of sessions at HISSI, attendees can participate in our Lamakū workshops across three themes and participate in special sessions at our Kokua Korner.

Lamakū Workshops

Our Lamakū workshop sessions include topics from content design of modules to assessments to interactive tools. Drop in at any session that piques your interest throughout the day.

Kokua Korner

Sessions at our Kokua Korner will be during the first two time blocks at HISSI from 10:55-11:55 a.m. and 1:15-2:15 p.m., featuring:

Course Walk: Want to see how others are teaching with Lamakū? Instructor presenters will showcase their Lamakū courses in a poster/laptop session format. Move from station to station to explore various approaches to designing and facilitating your course in Lamakū. (see presenters and descriptions)
Instructional Design Support: Meet one-on-one with an instructional designer for assistance with course design, Lamakū tools, or any questions you may have. Support is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Technical Support: Have a technical question about IDAP, LTI, or related topics? Consult with our expert from UH ITS.
D2L Product Idea Exchange (PIE) Korner: Have an idea for a feature or tool D2L should consider? Share it at the PIE Korner, and we’ll submit your suggestions to D2L!

Check out the full Lamakū @ HISSI Schedule & Program.

Register for HISSI

Join the fun banner.

There’s no need to register separately…

Just Register to Attend HISSI and join us for as much Lamakū learning and fun and you care to infuse into your day at the event!

Lamakū Learning Leaders

Shout out banner.

The Leeward CC Instructional Design Unit (Brent, Chelby, Lauren, and Rachael) will be at the event sessions to support you. A special mahalo to our Leeward CC presenters who will be sharing their insights and skills!

Session Presenter:

Lauren Lum Ho (Sessions: “H5P (in Creator+)” and “Discussions Tool: Design, Engage, Assess”)

Course Walk Presenters:

Donald Carreira Ching (ENG 100)
Anika Gearhart-Edwards (PSY 212)
Anuschka Faucci (ZOOL 101)
Heather McCafferty (AG 200)

We look forward to seeing you at HISSI!

Instructional Design, Lamakū

Recap of Lamakū Support (Fall 2024)

It has been a whirlwind of a semester transitioning from Laulima to Lamakū, UH’s new Learning Management System (LMS)! The EMC’s Instructional Design (ID) unit (i.e. Brent, Chelby, Lauren, and Rachael) worked hard in a short timeframe while still learning Lamakū to provide professional development opportunities, including workshops, 1-1 support, and resources.

The ID unit branded its efforts under the theme, “Mission: Lamakū Transition,” introducing Space Pal as a friendly mascot helping everyone through. With their “Mission: Lamakū Transition” year-long theme, they emailed a newsletter almost weekly to keep the campus informed. The information included the latest news, resources we created, professional development opportunities from the ID unit and UH System, and how to get support from us at “Mission HQ” through chats, meetings, and drop-ins, both in-person and online.

During Fall 2024’s Week of Welcome, the ID unit offered a Lamakū track in their annual “Tech It Out Day” event on Monday. Needless to say, Lamakū was the hottest topic at the event. On Wednesday, at their “Lamakū Info Session” they had a full classroom of folks anticipating the latest news about the transition. Then, on Thursday, they wrapped things up with a “Lamakū Sneak Peek” hands-on workshop for instructors to dip their toes into Lamakū.

Workshop audience in classroom.

Starting in September, the ID unit offered a six-week professional learning community (PLC) called “Leeward Lamakū: Course Starter PLC.” They facilitated two groups or “Cosmic Crews” (to go with their space mission theme) with a total of 45 instructors. This professional development opportunity focused on course design and building using the Lamakū Course Starter Template that the IDs across the UH System collaborated on. It was delivered asynchronously with weekly synchronous meetings and 1-1 meetings with an ID from the EMC.

In October and November they offered the “Lamakū Exploration Fridays” series which were in-person, hands-on workshops focusing on a particular Lamakū tool in each session to demo it and show its functionalities and how it can be used, and to provide a space for instructors to start working on their courses with ID support.

The ID unit created various resources to support instructors using Lamakū. Some of these included:

A timeline/checklist to help instructors pace themselves during the semester to get their Spring courses ready.
A screencast video series on YouTube called “Lamakū Lift-Off” demonstrating the process of transitioning a course from Laulima to Lamakū, from scratch using the recommended timeline as a framework.
Resource docs with instructions and video tutorials.

On October 14th, the EMC launched a fun, innovative support session using the “build buddy” strategy, inspired by the concept of Body Doubling where you work alongside someone focused on the same task. By doing so, you can tap into a shared energy that fosters motivation and productivity. Instructional Designer, Lauren Lum Ho, live-streamed herself on YouTube transitioning a Laulima course site to a Lamakū course site over six hours. Watch the recording.

EMC staff during Lamakū Live!

The ID unit also collaborated with their ID colleagues systemwide to provide additional webinar workshops, resources, and support. The main initiatives that came out of that collaboration were the Lamakū Discovery Series (webinars), Lamakū Support Sessions (online 1-1 support via Zoom), and the Lamakū Instructor Essentials Course (a resource site in Lamakū).

Meanwhile throughout the semester, the ID unit worked tirelessly with instructors one-on-one to provide custom support tailored to their needs and situation. This was probably the most time-intensive for the IDs, but the most helpful for instructors, serving roughly 50 instructors (unduplicated) multiple times throughout the semester, not counting the time to help them with their course builds or creating tutorials to supplement the time we meet with them. There were also a few groups or departments on campus that they supported as well.

ID unit office.

Lastly, while they continue to provide 1-1 support throughout the winter break, the ID unit will also be offering “Lamakū Co-Work Sessions” to provide a dedicated time/space for folks to work on creating their Lamakū courses using a technique called “parallel working” (i.e. body doubling), a productivity-boosting technique that thrives on shared accountability and presence.

Mahalo for trusting in the ID unit to assist you in your transition to Lamakū! Brent, Chelby, Lauren, and Rachael appreciate all the kindness and support you’ve given to them. They look forward to working with you in the Spring and hearing how Lamakū is going for you and your students.