UH Mānoa is integrating a switch from Laulima to Lamakū in January. Students from their sister campuses, such as UH Hilo and the University of Hawai’i Community Colleges, have already adopted the new interface during Spring 2025. UH Mānoa will move forward with the transition throughout courses offered in Summer 2025.
The migration has been set in motion since 2022, when four learning management systems (LMS), Blackboard Learn Ultra, Brightspace, Canvas, and Sakai, were reviewed in search of a new LMS in Spring 2022. The necessity for a new learning management system became apparent after the most recent review process, determining that the open-source system used to run Laulima has slowly become outdated.
“There have been less and less institutions utilizing the system…therefore, the maintenance and upkeep of it, as well as the features and updates, were getting less and less,” said Dorothy Hirata, instructional design manager.
The University of Hawai’i System had been separated into two cohorts to manage the transition process. Cohort one consisted of all the University of Hawai’i Community Colleges, seven schools, alongside UH Hilo. Cohort two focuses on UH Mānoa and West Oahu.
Lamakū is translated as “Torch in English, symbolizing enlightenment and education, much like the torch in our university logo,” said Gloria Niles, online learning director, in an introduction video of the new Lamakū system.
The name was officially chosen following a vote by the UH community, receiving the support of 641 out of 1,409 participants.
New features, such as the Brightspace Pulse app, increase student accessibility to “courses and resources anytime, anywhere,” Niles said.
Though some students are finding the system challenging based on how responsive the faculty are in their setup of their Lamakū content, this isn’t a new issue.
Laulima also had its quirks with students, depending on how some of the content is designed and displayed in the system. These things can be amended through feedback forms, help desk, and the faculty’s further understanding of the Lamakū system.
“There’s also a weekly support session that faculty can jump into if they’re needing support,” Hirata said in response to how faculty and staff of students are being trained during this transition period. Students also have access to workshops and online resources found on the UH Online website.
The school’s aim is to complete the migration by Fall 2025.