Many students say Lamakū generally works well for them, but the constant flood of notifications has become overwhelming.

“My email inbox is flooded with updates from Lamakū and it’s getting to the point where I lose important emails,” said Anuhea McDougall, a UH Mānoa student.

As the school transitions to using its new learning management system (LMS), Lamakū, students and faculty are still adjusting to its features. 

English professor Lauren Johnson soon became paranoid. Every time Johnson edited her course on Lamakū her students would be notified, even for the smallest edits.

“I don’t want 60 people to get an email that says, ‘Hey a comma was moved.’ It’s easy to turn off but I don’t think people know how to do it,” said Johnson.

Johnson said that she attended two online trainings, “Build a Basic Lamakū Course” and “Engagement Through Lamakū,” that were offered by the Hamilton Library. 

According to Gloria Niles and Mitchell Ochi from UH Online Learning and Informational Technology Services (ITS), tutorials and how-to videos were provided to students.

Several students and staff said that Lamakū feels more modern and user-friendly compared to Laulima.

McDougall excitedly mentioned that Lamakū has a mobile app. She explained that Laulima didn’t have an app and it was difficult to sign in every time she wanted to check grades.

“Lamakū has the app Pulse and it makes it so much more convenient when I don’t have my computer on me,” McDougall said.

“You can have everything visible in Lamakū and have all the assignments, readings, and submissions easily accessible,” said Johnson. 

The project management team continues to meet weekly with D2L Brightspace to evaluate progress, address feedback, and plan future enhancements to the system.

“We’re always planning for ways that we can improve Lamakū,” said Niles.