LMS Help! What do you use, how do you like it?
60 views
Skip to first unread message
Angela Velez-Solic
Jun 29, 2011, 8:52:36 PM6/29/11
to eduMOOC
Hi everyone. This is a great place to pose this question. My
institution is undergoing an LMS review right now.... please share
with me what LMS you use, and what you think about it. We need all
the "REAL" advice we can get... especially regarding the faculty
experiences.
Thank you!!!
institution is undergoing an LMS review right now.... please share
with me what LMS you use, and what you think about it. We need all
the "REAL" advice we can get... especially regarding the faculty
experiences.
Thank you!!!
Beth Rubin
Jun 30, 2011, 12:22:03 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
Angela, we (DePaul) changed LMSs a year ago, after a 2-year process of
evaluating options. We had been a Blackboard shop for many years. The
process we followed, and tools we used, are available here:
http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/P_S_C/LMS/review.html. (The site is
out of date, but may be useful as you design your process.)
We ended up moving to Desire2Learn. Faculty reactions are mixed; those
who teach all-online courses like it the most, because it has so many
tools to support connection, integration of elements, and interaction.
Most people really love the discussion format, which has several
viewing options and automatically inserts a profile picture to enhance
social presence. The reporting capabilities are good once you find
them. Automated emails are great, but don't always work in our
implementation. (One of our current major struggles, in fact...) The
rubric assessment tool is terrific, and getting easier to use with
each upgrade.
Our biggest problems have been with D2L's upgrading policies (weekdays
only!!) and their mediocre support for our implementation. And the
other big problem, of course, is that change is really hard. For
faculty who only use the system to post a syllabus and administer
quizzes, it's hard to invest the time.
Students love it! Very broad support; it's really intuitive for them
to use.
Let me know if you'd like more information; we can connect off-line if
you like.
Beth
On Jun 29, 7:52 pm, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
wrote:
evaluating options. We had been a Blackboard shop for many years. The
process we followed, and tools we used, are available here:
http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/P_S_C/LMS/review.html. (The site is
out of date, but may be useful as you design your process.)
We ended up moving to Desire2Learn. Faculty reactions are mixed; those
who teach all-online courses like it the most, because it has so many
tools to support connection, integration of elements, and interaction.
Most people really love the discussion format, which has several
viewing options and automatically inserts a profile picture to enhance
social presence. The reporting capabilities are good once you find
them. Automated emails are great, but don't always work in our
implementation. (One of our current major struggles, in fact...) The
rubric assessment tool is terrific, and getting easier to use with
each upgrade.
Our biggest problems have been with D2L's upgrading policies (weekdays
only!!) and their mediocre support for our implementation. And the
other big problem, of course, is that change is really hard. For
faculty who only use the system to post a syllabus and administer
quizzes, it's hard to invest the time.
Students love it! Very broad support; it's really intuitive for them
to use.
Let me know if you'd like more information; we can connect off-line if
you like.
Beth
On Jun 29, 7:52 pm, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
wrote:
jmtoribio
Jun 30, 2011, 1:25:26 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
Hola estimados, en la universidad nacional de ingenieria en nicaragua
utilizamos la LMS del tecnologico de massachusset que se llama dotlrn,
tenemos cinco años de utilizarla con los recursos que dispone como:
correo masivo, foros, salas chat, preguntas frecuentes, noticias,
calendario, album de fotos, modulos de evaluacion, es un entorno
bastante amigable e interactivo con el usuario lo usamos en las
modalidades de cursos y comunidades virtuales.
utilizamos la LMS del tecnologico de massachusset que se llama dotlrn,
tenemos cinco años de utilizarla con los recursos que dispone como:
correo masivo, foros, salas chat, preguntas frecuentes, noticias,
calendario, album de fotos, modulos de evaluacion, es un entorno
bastante amigable e interactivo con el usuario lo usamos en las
modalidades de cursos y comunidades virtuales.
jmtoribio
Jun 30, 2011, 1:25:52 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
Hello dear, the National Engineering University in Nicaragua using the
LMS Tech Massachusset called dotLRN, we have five years to use the
resources available as bulk mail, forums, chat rooms, FAQ, news,
calendar, photo album, evaluation modules, is a very friendly and
interactive environment with the user use it in the courses offered
and virtual communities.
LMS Tech Massachusset called dotLRN, we have five years to use the
resources available as bulk mail, forums, chat rooms, FAQ, news,
calendar, photo album, evaluation modules, is a very friendly and
interactive environment with the user use it in the courses offered
and virtual communities.
Janina Dewitz
Jun 30, 2011, 6:10:01 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Angela,
we use Moodle at BDC because it's flexible, customisable, scalable and
robust. We've had it for nearly 8 years here and have never had any
issues with it from a technical perspective.
Faculty response to the platform is mixed: those teaching staff who
use their Moodle pages creatively and really embed the use of the
tools in their day to day teaching see a lot of student engagement
(with content and peers) outside of college hours. Those who use
Moodle merely as a repository for flat content (documents,
PowerPoints) appear to get a lot less out of the system, and most
those staff report that "our students just don't want to use Moodle".
Janina
On Jun 30, 1:52 am, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
wrote:
we use Moodle at BDC because it's flexible, customisable, scalable and
robust. We've had it for nearly 8 years here and have never had any
issues with it from a technical perspective.
Faculty response to the platform is mixed: those teaching staff who
use their Moodle pages creatively and really embed the use of the
tools in their day to day teaching see a lot of student engagement
(with content and peers) outside of college hours. Those who use
Moodle merely as a repository for flat content (documents,
PowerPoints) appear to get a lot less out of the system, and most
those staff report that "our students just don't want to use Moodle".
Janina
On Jun 30, 1:52 am, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
wrote:
buf...@verizon.net
Jun 30, 2011, 7:51:38 AM6/30/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
The best part about Moodle was left out....it is FREE!!!!
Janina Dewitz
Jun 30, 2011, 7:57:03 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
I deliberately didn't mention free, because, yes, in theory Moodle is
free, but there is always going to be some cost to it, such as
hosting, backups, maintenance, technical support and possibly
training.
On Jun 30, 12:51 pm, buf...@verizon.net wrote:
> The best part about Moodle was left out....it is FREE!!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 06/30/11,Janina Dewitz<janina...@gmail.com>wrote:Hi Angela,
free, but there is always going to be some cost to it, such as
hosting, backups, maintenance, technical support and possibly
training.
On Jun 30, 12:51 pm, buf...@verizon.net wrote:
> The best part about Moodle was left out....it is FREE!!!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
buf...@verizon.net
Jun 30, 2011, 8:02:45 AM6/30/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
to use Stallman's phrase
"free like in free speech, not like in free beer.."
you can do the hosting yourself if you want to....a terrabyte of storage is now less than $100....maintenence has almost become throw away....the community provides technical support if you seekl it....the best trainning is just using it....
Norman
Janina Dewitz
Jun 30, 2011, 8:07:15 AM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
I see what you mean. And, I do agree with you on all counts - I was
just throwing out there what I usually get thrown at me when I talk
about Moodle as being free. :)
On Jun 30, 1:02 pm, buf...@verizon.net wrote:
> to use Stallman's phrase
>
>
>
> "free like in free speech, not like in free beer.."
>
>
>
> you can do the hosting yourself if you want to....a terrabyte of storage is now less than $100....maintenence has almost become throw away....the community provides technical support if you seekl it....the best trainning is just using it....
>
>
>
> Norman
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 06/30/11,Janina Dewitz<janina...@gmail.com>wrote:I deliberately didn't mention free, because, yes, in theory Moodle is
just throwing out there what I usually get thrown at me when I talk
about Moodle as being free. :)
On Jun 30, 1:02 pm, buf...@verizon.net wrote:
> to use Stallman's phrase
>
>
>
> "free like in free speech, not like in free beer.."
>
>
>
> you can do the hosting yourself if you want to....a terrabyte of storage is now less than $100....maintenence has almost become throw away....the community provides technical support if you seekl it....the best trainning is just using it....
>
>
>
> Norman
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
buf...@verizon.net
Jun 30, 2011, 9:27:38 AM6/30/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
I understand....are you in any groups yet in this MOOC?
Dan Maloy
Jun 30, 2011, 9:29:39 AM6/30/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
I've used Angel at both of the institutions I've been at (7.3 at Mount Mercy University, and 7.4 at Kirkwood Community College). It's a decent platform, though a bit frustrating to the technologically-enthusiastic. As a basic LMS it does its job and is fairly straightforward to use, which is good for those instructors and students who are less comfortable with computers.
I've installed a Moodle instance on my own personal server at home a couple times and liked the flexibility, but never had the time to dig too seriously into what I could do with it. I would say that one requirement for an institution using Moodle would be to have good support from the IT department. Without the large, commercial organization that other LMSes have, the technology expertise (and the willingness to pass it along!) found in a good IT staff will be needed to assist instructors and students with the system.
Osvaldo Rodriguez
Jun 30, 2011, 10:16:51 AM6/30/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
Hi Angela
I recently wrote a chapter on "Moodle:
an invaluable FOSS tool for education in the developing world" for United Nation Press (in print). This shows Moodle implementations in institutions and projects in Africa and Latin America. Its not a LMS A vs LMS B which you perhaps need. But if you are interested I can email it.
Moodle, as it happens with most of FOSS software
provides lower cost, reliability, performance and security, open philosophy,
encourages innovation, can easily be adapted to local needs, and it can serve
as a learning tool by studying its source code.
George Siemens from TEKRI,
Athabasca University stated that he would nominate Moodle as the “technology
with the greatest impact on education over the last decade”
Osvaldo
Message has been deleted
Mark I. Clemons
Jun 30, 2011, 12:52:18 PM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
We at HVACReducation.net use Moodle and as faculty I love it.
But you have to use it yourself to get students to use it.
Our institution exists only online so faculty don't have any choice.
But I find discussions working just like in F2F classes except
asynchronous which is much more convenient for faculty and students.
I teach from wherever around the world I happen to be.
Just as in this MOOC l am traveling and participating at the same
time.
Mark I. Clemons
M.S. Ed., NBCT, NATE
Online Faculty with HVACReducation.net
LearningHVACR.com
Online prep for EPA & OK License Tests
HVACR Texts & Learning Materials
But you have to use it yourself to get students to use it.
Our institution exists only online so faculty don't have any choice.
But I find discussions working just like in F2F classes except
asynchronous which is much more convenient for faculty and students.
I teach from wherever around the world I happen to be.
Just as in this MOOC l am traveling and participating at the same
time.
Mark I. Clemons
M.S. Ed., NBCT, NATE
Online Faculty with HVACReducation.net
LearningHVACR.com
Online prep for EPA & OK License Tests
HVACR Texts & Learning Materials
Maureen Mulcrone Boland
Jun 30, 2011, 12:58:00 PM6/30/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Angela,
The City Colleges of Chicago upgraded from Blackboard 7.3 to 9.1 in
January.
The new users loved it, but some of the veteran faculty were
discombobulated. They were used to following certain steps in
familiar place. I liken it to having your bathroom remodeled. The
walls might be a different color and the sink may be in different
place, but you are still able to wash. New steps may be needed to do
what is needed.
Focusing on the problem of getting X done was not always easy.
Acknowledgement of rising frustration often took more than twice as
long as the solution required.
Change is always challenging.
The City Colleges of Chicago upgraded from Blackboard 7.3 to 9.1 in
January.
The new users loved it, but some of the veteran faculty were
discombobulated. They were used to following certain steps in
familiar place. I liken it to having your bathroom remodeled. The
walls might be a different color and the sink may be in different
place, but you are still able to wash. New steps may be needed to do
what is needed.
Focusing on the problem of getting X done was not always easy.
Acknowledgement of rising frustration often took more than twice as
long as the solution required.
Change is always challenging.
Arphia
Jul 1, 2011, 10:50:50 AM7/1/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Angela - we moved from Blackboard to Moodle a year and a half ago.
SUNY Purchase is actually the second campus I've helped migrate to
Moodle. We like Moodle for a variety of reasons: excellent suite of
tools to support teaching and learning: a teaching philosophy
underlying the LMS that promotes active student learning; an open
architecture that we have control over and which allows the
development of an active global community which was developed a
multitude of Moodle add-ons; much lower total cost of ownership
compared to commercial LMS's (although definitely not free); and risks
that are under our control, rather then being at the whim of
commercial decisions. You can find presentations about our switch
from Blackboard to Moodle at http://www.slideshare.net/keith.landa.
Moodle is now the foundation for a suite of open-source applications
that we are deploying to support teaching and learning.
There are now a number of SUNY campuses which are moving from ANGEL or
Blackbroad, to Moodle, which is encouraging from our perspective.
Moodle has some nice tools to allow different Moodle installations to
be networked. We will be able to set it up so that for all of the
SUNY Moodle campuses, a student or faculty will be able to sign in to
their local campus Moodle, and be authenticated to participate in
courses on other SUNY Moodle systems.
SUNY Purchase is actually the second campus I've helped migrate to
Moodle. We like Moodle for a variety of reasons: excellent suite of
tools to support teaching and learning: a teaching philosophy
underlying the LMS that promotes active student learning; an open
architecture that we have control over and which allows the
development of an active global community which was developed a
multitude of Moodle add-ons; much lower total cost of ownership
compared to commercial LMS's (although definitely not free); and risks
that are under our control, rather then being at the whim of
commercial decisions. You can find presentations about our switch
from Blackboard to Moodle at http://www.slideshare.net/keith.landa.
Moodle is now the foundation for a suite of open-source applications
that we are deploying to support teaching and learning.
There are now a number of SUNY campuses which are moving from ANGEL or
Blackbroad, to Moodle, which is encouraging from our perspective.
Moodle has some nice tools to allow different Moodle installations to
be networked. We will be able to set it up so that for all of the
SUNY Moodle campuses, a student or faculty will be able to sign in to
their local campus Moodle, and be authenticated to participate in
courses on other SUNY Moodle systems.
Jennifer Wondracek
Jul 2, 2011, 11:06:50 AM7/2/11
to eduMOOC
UF just transitioned from Blackboard to Sakai, which is an open source
platform. There have definitely been some bumps along the way, so
there are some mixed feelings about Sakai.
I am on the teaching end of the resources, and I am just finishing up
teaching my first class in Sakai. It works well and is very robust.
There have been a few issues, such as what I can see v. what the
students can see, but we have worked them out. One of the biggest
benefits that I see, though, is that all of our information, including
grades, is now hosted on UF servers rather than a vendor's.
platform. There have definitely been some bumps along the way, so
there are some mixed feelings about Sakai.
I am on the teaching end of the resources, and I am just finishing up
teaching my first class in Sakai. It works well and is very robust.
There have been a few issues, such as what I can see v. what the
students can see, but we have worked them out. One of the biggest
benefits that I see, though, is that all of our information, including
grades, is now hosted on UF servers rather than a vendor's.
Susan Nugent
Jul 5, 2011, 9:21:31 AM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Angela
We are in the same boat and the choice is not really clear because the
market is rapidly changing. I have been playing with several systems
on the market and they all have the basic features that faculty need
but like you I am concerned with how faculty will like the new system
and how much extra work will be involved for them with the conversion
process. We are currently are using WebCT 8 (aka Blackboard learning
system) and faculty have just become comfortable with the system and
now I am telling them we must change again. One big downside to being
on this system is that migration will be painful no matter what system
we choose. One system that has stood out for me is Instructure Canvas.
It is a new company (started 2008) and the developers really took the
time to built the system with the user in mind. It is very easy to use
and has great collaboration features. The software is open source but
the company is SaaS model. It is definitely worthy of investigating
in your process. With Moodle as the others have mentioned is free but
the cost of ownership can equal the other choices. Another option is
to look at the companies that host Moodle for you.There are lots of
choices out there but I think this time we plan to take a good look at
how our faculty use the system and what features are mission critical
to create and manage a great online course. ~Susan
We are in the same boat and the choice is not really clear because the
market is rapidly changing. I have been playing with several systems
on the market and they all have the basic features that faculty need
but like you I am concerned with how faculty will like the new system
and how much extra work will be involved for them with the conversion
process. We are currently are using WebCT 8 (aka Blackboard learning
system) and faculty have just become comfortable with the system and
now I am telling them we must change again. One big downside to being
on this system is that migration will be painful no matter what system
we choose. One system that has stood out for me is Instructure Canvas.
It is a new company (started 2008) and the developers really took the
time to built the system with the user in mind. It is very easy to use
and has great collaboration features. The software is open source but
the company is SaaS model. It is definitely worthy of investigating
in your process. With Moodle as the others have mentioned is free but
the cost of ownership can equal the other choices. Another option is
to look at the companies that host Moodle for you.There are lots of
choices out there but I think this time we plan to take a good look at
how our faculty use the system and what features are mission critical
to create and manage a great online course. ~Susan
bruna ori
Jul 5, 2011, 11:11:13 AM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
We've been using Moodle in our high school district for a few years.
We have it installed on our server. All went very well when the IT
director supported the use of Moodle. That changed with our new
director. We still have Moodle but it is not supported as well or
updated as often. This I think is crucial. I have seen Moodle's
popularity grow throughout the world and wish we could be using all
its new features. We are now also using Microsoft's Sharepoint. Now
there's a learning curve...wow...LOL. And that is supported
wholeheartedly by our new director and a district initiative.
We have Blackboard at the community college and that to me as an
instructor or as a student is not as user friendly. It can be
confusing. I've used Desire2Learn on some online classes and that was
OK but I found the discussions a little hard to follow at times. I do
wonder how Blackboard will change now that it has been bought out by a
Providence Equity investor group.
Along with the support of your IT department I want to emphasize that
the professional development for your staff will be very important.
Many will need one-to-one hand holding. One thing I tell my teachers
during training is that I understand that they didn't learn using
technology, may not have seen how or know how to teach with technology
or have even taken any online classes. They may feel like they are
teaching with blinders on and are nervous. And these are not always
those older teachers or faculty members. Pairing up tech savvy faculty
with those with different tech skills works very well. I like to mix
the disciplines, too.
One thing I've noticed is that our faculty at both schools often
operate under the assumption that the students will automatically know
how to use the LMS. Not true. We've added some open non-credit
sessions for students to help them learn how to navigate the LMS.
These popular sessions have been face-to-face. But using the first
week of an online class as a way for students to learn how to navigate
the LMS works, too.
Apostolos K.
Jul 5, 2011, 3:42:27 PM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
We are undergoing a similar review to replace WebCT which is end-of-
lifed.
From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
http://www.instructure.com
A runner up (for me) is desire2learn: http://www.desire2learn.com
Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
I'll have more in a blogpost soon at http://idstuff.blogspot.com
Do give canvas a try (you can do it for free) if you haven't had a
chance :-)
lifed.
From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
http://www.instructure.com
A runner up (for me) is desire2learn: http://www.desire2learn.com
Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
I'll have more in a blogpost soon at http://idstuff.blogspot.com
Do give canvas a try (you can do it for free) if you haven't had a
chance :-)
Sue Goodrich
Jul 5, 2011, 4:18:03 PM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
Beth -- rest assured that if you had stayed with Blackboard (and
upgraded to 9.1) the outcry from the faculty would have been just as
bad, if not worse.
A few of the Blackboard support folk from USM went to a Blackboard
conference where people were reporting on their beta testing of the
Blackboard 9. While they did report that some of the new features
(blogs, wikis, journals) were well received, two of them said they
would be switching to a new LMS because the changes in Bb were so
dramatic that it would require more support than switching. We
reported this back, but the powers that be insisted on sticking with
BB. Those presenters were correct. It's been so rough for us that we
are NOW investigating switching to a new LMS ... AFTER putting our
faculty through the horrid upgrade!
Sue
upgraded to 9.1) the outcry from the faculty would have been just as
bad, if not worse.
A few of the Blackboard support folk from USM went to a Blackboard
conference where people were reporting on their beta testing of the
Blackboard 9. While they did report that some of the new features
(blogs, wikis, journals) were well received, two of them said they
would be switching to a new LMS because the changes in Bb were so
dramatic that it would require more support than switching. We
reported this back, but the powers that be insisted on sticking with
BB. Those presenters were correct. It's been so rough for us that we
are NOW investigating switching to a new LMS ... AFTER putting our
faculty through the horrid upgrade!
Sue
Vickie Cook
Jul 5, 2011, 5:10:15 PM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Everyone,
I am very interested in a product that has both the LMS features, as
well as a solid portfolio that is integrated into the LMS so that
students and faculty can seamlessly move between the two products
without changing platforms. We are looking to move from ANGEL to
another LMS system. We currently use another vendor as ANGEL did not
finish the development of their portfolio connection product after the
sale to BB.
Does anyone currently have a good system in place that meets the needs
for accreditation - either institutionally, or within a field?
Thanks,
Vickie
> with me whatLMSyou use, and what you think about it. We need all
I am very interested in a product that has both the LMS features, as
well as a solid portfolio that is integrated into the LMS so that
students and faculty can seamlessly move between the two products
without changing platforms. We are looking to move from ANGEL to
another LMS system. We currently use another vendor as ANGEL did not
finish the development of their portfolio connection product after the
sale to BB.
Does anyone currently have a good system in place that meets the needs
for accreditation - either institutionally, or within a field?
Thanks,
Vickie
> Hi everyone. This is a great place to pose this question. My
> institution is undergoing anLMSreview right now.... please share
> with me whatLMSyou use, and what you think about it. We need all
Beth Rubin
Jul 5, 2011, 6:35:19 PM7/5/11
to eduMOOC
@Sue, thanks so much for your comment. One thing I think we all have
in common is that changing LMSs is hard for faculty. And the more
options from which to choose, the more difficult.
When deciding on an LMS, I think one should consider:
- Do you want to host internally? Do you have the IT resources to do
that, and is it an institutional preference?
- If internal, do your IT folks have the skill set for the "stack" of
tools they'll need to master to support a new LMS? (Or can they
develop it, or will you have to hire new people?) We rejected Moodle
for that reason, btw.
- What do faculty use the LMS for -- just to post syllabi, or to run
full-blown online courses? Is integration with a synchronous webinar
tool important? How much connection do you want people to have, and
what tools are important? What "affordances" would best support
teaching?
- How intuitive and usable do your faculty find the LMS?
- Do you use a Course Master model, in which one faculty creates a
pristine Master course that is then copied over into other teaching
shells for other people to teach... or does each faculty create his/
her own course? Or both? Some systems have a more robust back end to
support quick copying of course materials, so this can be very
important.
We conducted a study of online courses where the course materials were
standardized (readings, modules, learning activities and assignments,
discussions, etc.), but the LMS differed. We looked at faculty use of
teaching tools, Community of Inquiry and other variables. We're still
collecting data, but so far the early evidence is that:
1) When faculty use more teaching tools, students report greater
cognitive presence, instructor presence and satisfaction with the
course -- at least comparing extremes of high and low tool use.
2) Student satisfaction with the LMS has an independent significant
effect on satisfaction with the course, above and beyond the Community
of Inquiry (Cognitive, Instructor and Social Presence).
We're writing up our early findings now.
in common is that changing LMSs is hard for faculty. And the more
options from which to choose, the more difficult.
When deciding on an LMS, I think one should consider:
- Do you want to host internally? Do you have the IT resources to do
that, and is it an institutional preference?
- If internal, do your IT folks have the skill set for the "stack" of
tools they'll need to master to support a new LMS? (Or can they
develop it, or will you have to hire new people?) We rejected Moodle
for that reason, btw.
- What do faculty use the LMS for -- just to post syllabi, or to run
full-blown online courses? Is integration with a synchronous webinar
tool important? How much connection do you want people to have, and
what tools are important? What "affordances" would best support
teaching?
- How intuitive and usable do your faculty find the LMS?
- Do you use a Course Master model, in which one faculty creates a
pristine Master course that is then copied over into other teaching
shells for other people to teach... or does each faculty create his/
her own course? Or both? Some systems have a more robust back end to
support quick copying of course materials, so this can be very
important.
We conducted a study of online courses where the course materials were
standardized (readings, modules, learning activities and assignments,
discussions, etc.), but the LMS differed. We looked at faculty use of
teaching tools, Community of Inquiry and other variables. We're still
collecting data, but so far the early evidence is that:
1) When faculty use more teaching tools, students report greater
cognitive presence, instructor presence and satisfaction with the
course -- at least comparing extremes of high and low tool use.
2) Student satisfaction with the LMS has an independent significant
effect on satisfaction with the course, above and beyond the Community
of Inquiry (Cognitive, Instructor and Social Presence).
We're writing up our early findings now.
Apostolos K.
Jul 6, 2011, 9:14:02 AM7/6/11
to eduMOOC
One thing that I would add, that we learned through our process, is to
not just think about the here and now - in other words, don't just
think about how you use your LMS now, but how you COULD use the LMS in
the future to create and run more effective courses. In our
evaluation process we tried to reproduce what we do now, including the
workarounds for the current system (i.e. things that didn't work, and
the patchwork workaround we invented). If another system does
something easier and more gracefully, there is no need for the
workaround. This of the overall picture, not the specific
implementation.
Here's an example:
* The new LMS needs to be able to copy a test
* the new LMS needs to be able to hide a test from some students and
not others
* the new LMS needs to be able to hide some grading columns and not
calculate them.
What was the underlying cause for all three? Well, the current LMS
doesn't really let you give the same test to a subset of students on a
different day (nor does it allow additional time to be given in
consideration of ADA). The workaround was to clone a test, make it
invisible to all except for the accomodated student, and then you
ended up having additional columns in the gradebook which couldn't be
hidden. Well, one of the new LMSs didn't need to do all that to
accomplish the goal of giving a subset of students more time or
different test taking dates, so the above functional requirements are
moot.
We also figured out that some LMSs had features that we would LOVE to
use to improve our class design, but these features were never part of
the functional requirements because we tried to replicate what we
already did with our LMS, and not what we ought to be doing or what we
wanted to do.
not just think about the here and now - in other words, don't just
think about how you use your LMS now, but how you COULD use the LMS in
the future to create and run more effective courses. In our
evaluation process we tried to reproduce what we do now, including the
workarounds for the current system (i.e. things that didn't work, and
the patchwork workaround we invented). If another system does
something easier and more gracefully, there is no need for the
workaround. This of the overall picture, not the specific
implementation.
Here's an example:
* The new LMS needs to be able to copy a test
* the new LMS needs to be able to hide a test from some students and
not others
* the new LMS needs to be able to hide some grading columns and not
calculate them.
What was the underlying cause for all three? Well, the current LMS
doesn't really let you give the same test to a subset of students on a
different day (nor does it allow additional time to be given in
consideration of ADA). The workaround was to clone a test, make it
invisible to all except for the accomodated student, and then you
ended up having additional columns in the gradebook which couldn't be
hidden. Well, one of the new LMSs didn't need to do all that to
accomplish the goal of giving a subset of students more time or
different test taking dates, so the above functional requirements are
moot.
We also figured out that some LMSs had features that we would LOVE to
use to improve our class design, but these features were never part of
the functional requirements because we tried to replicate what we
already did with our LMS, and not what we ought to be doing or what we
wanted to do.
anansi
Jul 6, 2011, 5:28:04 PM7/6/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Vickie,
You can try Moodle & Mahara (open source ePortfolio system)
integration.
You can try Moodle & Mahara (open source ePortfolio system)
integration.
Melissa Rizzuto
Jul 6, 2011, 5:55:15 PM7/6/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
We are piloting Instructure Canvas at my institution. It is definitely our front runner to replace WebCT, however we are also going to conduct a smaller Blackboard 9.1 Pilot this fall. Thus far, Instructure has had excellent support for Canvas and is very responsive and open to our ideas.
Laurence Cuffe
Jul 6, 2011, 6:26:41 PM7/6/11
to eduMOOC
Just some comments on some of the platforms mentioned here and
transitioning.
1) Moodle nice, workmanlike, a lot of open source web support. Can
look very clean.
2) BB this is a wonderful temple to menus. I've posted on this here:
http://thougtsintransit.blogspot.com/2010/05/too-many-wrappers.html
3) Mahara: has built in link and code cheeking routines which sanitize
any HTML or links that a user/student adds. It can be deeply
frustrating to have Mahara remove all your colored text and warn you
sternly about malicious code.
4)Deployment One of the developers of Sakai in an online talk said
that the key to deployment and platform change is time. 6 months
everyone is mad at you., 18 months, with the old system fading out
slowly, you get to keep your head.
5) Id advise using the LMS only for core functionality such as join a
course. If other things like course materials etc are placed out on
web tools like Wiki's etc, then the students get durable digital
skills, as apposed to skills in navigating a school LMS, which have a
best before date of graduation day.
All the best
Laurence Cuffe
On Jul 6, 10:55 pm, Melissa Rizzuto <melrizz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We are piloting Instructure Canvas at my institution. It is definitely our
> front runner to replace WebCT, however we are also going to conduct a
> smaller Blackboard 9.1 Pilot this fall. Thus far, Instructure has had
> excellent support for Canvas and is very responsive and open to our ideas.
>
transitioning.
1) Moodle nice, workmanlike, a lot of open source web support. Can
look very clean.
2) BB this is a wonderful temple to menus. I've posted on this here:
http://thougtsintransit.blogspot.com/2010/05/too-many-wrappers.html
3) Mahara: has built in link and code cheeking routines which sanitize
any HTML or links that a user/student adds. It can be deeply
frustrating to have Mahara remove all your colored text and warn you
sternly about malicious code.
4)Deployment One of the developers of Sakai in an online talk said
that the key to deployment and platform change is time. 6 months
everyone is mad at you., 18 months, with the old system fading out
slowly, you get to keep your head.
5) Id advise using the LMS only for core functionality such as join a
course. If other things like course materials etc are placed out on
web tools like Wiki's etc, then the students get durable digital
skills, as apposed to skills in navigating a school LMS, which have a
best before date of graduation day.
All the best
Laurence Cuffe
On Jul 6, 10:55 pm, Melissa Rizzuto <melrizz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We are piloting Instructure Canvas at my institution. It is definitely our
> front runner to replace WebCT, however we are also going to conduct a
> smaller Blackboard 9.1 Pilot this fall. Thus far, Instructure has had
> excellent support for Canvas and is very responsive and open to our ideas.
>
> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 3:42 PM, Apostolos K. <a.koutropou...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > We are undergoing a similar review to replace WebCT which is end-of-
> > lifed.
>
> > From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
> >http://www.instructure.com
> > A runner up (for me) is desire2learn:http://www.desire2learn.com
>
> > Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
> > interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
> > pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
>
> > I'll have more in a blogpost soon athttp://idstuff.blogspot.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > We are undergoing a similar review to replace WebCT which is end-of-
> > lifed.
>
> > From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
> >http://www.instructure.com
> > A runner up (for me) is desire2learn:http://www.desire2learn.com
>
> > Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
> > interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
> > pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
>
annak
Jul 7, 2011, 6:15:10 AM7/7/11
to eduMOOC
Hello Angela
I am also supporting Moodle and Moodle-Mahara scheme.
Not just because they are Free - Open Source Softwares, but because
they are supported by great and active communities.
A robust community may guarantee more than any corporation the
sustainable support and development of a tool.
There are some great paradigms of Moodle use: UK Open University (the
larger in EU I think), the Athabasca University, GCA Corporate Academy
and numerous small users as University of Macedonia, here in Greece.
Being a Moodle Certified Teacher since 2006, and having use it with
almost all target groups (from local K12 school to huge Corporate
Academy) I am positive that this tool may meet your institution
needs.
Perhaps asking some help from Moodle community or even better from
Moodle Partners you could setup an effective, low budget, e-elearning
plan for your institution.
:-)
Anna
On 30 Ιούν, 03:52, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone. This is a great place to pose this question. My
> institution is undergoing an LMS review right now.... please share
> with me what LMS you use, and what you think about it. We need all
I am also supporting Moodle and Moodle-Mahara scheme.
Not just because they are Free - Open Source Softwares, but because
they are supported by great and active communities.
A robust community may guarantee more than any corporation the
sustainable support and development of a tool.
There are some great paradigms of Moodle use: UK Open University (the
larger in EU I think), the Athabasca University, GCA Corporate Academy
and numerous small users as University of Macedonia, here in Greece.
Being a Moodle Certified Teacher since 2006, and having use it with
almost all target groups (from local K12 school to huge Corporate
Academy) I am positive that this tool may meet your institution
needs.
Perhaps asking some help from Moodle community or even better from
Moodle Partners you could setup an effective, low budget, e-elearning
plan for your institution.
:-)
Anna
On 30 Ιούν, 03:52, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone. This is a great place to pose this question. My
> with me what LMS you use, and what you think about it. We need all
Susan Nugent
Jul 7, 2011, 11:10:45 AM7/7/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Apostolos
This is so true. The example that you mentioned has been thorn in my
side for a very long time because the workaround requires so many
steps and duplicating content that nobody ever remembers them. I have
found that most vendors (D2L and Instructure comes to mind) have much
better solutions in place for this particular problem which is great.
Your point about what you want to do in the future with the technology
is absolutely critical point to be reviewing in the process of picking
a vendor. Each product and company has their own strengths and
weakness so important to consider how these factors will impact your
user base and how it will affect teaching and learning online. A great
resource to review is a paper written by Lisa Lane,
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2530/2303.
It has some greats points to consider on this subject.
This is so true. The example that you mentioned has been thorn in my
side for a very long time because the workaround requires so many
steps and duplicating content that nobody ever remembers them. I have
found that most vendors (D2L and Instructure comes to mind) have much
better solutions in place for this particular problem which is great.
Your point about what you want to do in the future with the technology
is absolutely critical point to be reviewing in the process of picking
a vendor. Each product and company has their own strengths and
weakness so important to consider how these factors will impact your
user base and how it will affect teaching and learning online. A great
resource to review is a paper written by Lisa Lane,
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2530/2303.
It has some greats points to consider on this subject.
Apostolos K.
Jul 7, 2011, 11:42:31 AM7/7/11
to eduMOOC
Melissa what school do you work for?
On 6 Ιούλ, 17:55, Melissa Rizzuto <melrizz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We are piloting Instructure Canvas at my institution. It is definitely our
> front runner to replace WebCT, however we are also going to conduct a
> smaller Blackboard 9.1 Pilot this fall. Thus far, Instructure has had
> excellent support for Canvas and is very responsive and open to our ideas.
>
On 6 Ιούλ, 17:55, Melissa Rizzuto <melrizz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We are piloting Instructure Canvas at my institution. It is definitely our
> front runner to replace WebCT, however we are also going to conduct a
> smaller Blackboard 9.1 Pilot this fall. Thus far, Instructure has had
> excellent support for Canvas and is very responsive and open to our ideas.
>
> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 3:42 PM, Apostolos K. <a.koutropou...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > We are undergoing a similar review to replace WebCT which is end-of-
> > lifed.
>
> > From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
> >http://www.instructure.com
> > A runner up (for me) is desire2learn:http://www.desire2learn.com
>
> > Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
> > interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
> > pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
>
> > I'll have more in a blogpost soon athttp://idstuff.blogspot.com
>
>
>
> > We are undergoing a similar review to replace WebCT which is end-of-
> > lifed.
>
> > From the candidates that we looked at my personal favorite is Canvas:
> >http://www.instructure.com
> > A runner up (for me) is desire2learn:http://www.desire2learn.com
>
> > Canvas is truly amazing and seems to have really worked on their user
> > interface to make it as easy as possible. Desire2Learn has some
> > pretty nifty features, but it can look very daunting.
>
Melissa Rizzuto
Jul 7, 2011, 11:50:49 AM7/7/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
b.d.boardman
Jul 7, 2011, 5:30:36 PM7/7/11
to eduMOOC
I only have limited experience using Blackboard and otehr commerically
available platforms, but I have been impressed with some of the LMS
platforms that Wiley, Pearson, and McGrawHill have developed (or
aquired over the years).
In the larger sense, what tools and capibilities do you think are most
important in an LMS? From an institutional perspective, being able to
collect and measure programmatic assessments that are unifrom and
consisent is certainly a plus... Then again, everyone likes/wants to
feel like they are getting a "custom" expeience ("I" want the system
to do "X" for "my" students).
What do you think?
b.d.boardman
> > > Thank you!!!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
available platforms, but I have been impressed with some of the LMS
platforms that Wiley, Pearson, and McGrawHill have developed (or
aquired over the years).
In the larger sense, what tools and capibilities do you think are most
important in an LMS? From an institutional perspective, being able to
collect and measure programmatic assessments that are unifrom and
consisent is certainly a plus... Then again, everyone likes/wants to
feel like they are getting a "custom" expeience ("I" want the system
to do "X" for "my" students).
What do you think?
b.d.boardman
>
> - Show quoted text -
Esselle
Jul 7, 2011, 6:12:50 PM7/7/11
to eduMOOC
Hey, Angela,
For three of my schools, one uses Angel, one uses eCollege, and one
uses D2L. My preference is, far and away, D2L.
On Jun 29, 7:52 pm, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
For three of my schools, one uses Angel, one uses eCollege, and one
uses D2L. My preference is, far and away, D2L.
On Jun 29, 7:52 pm, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
Sally
Jul 7, 2011, 11:19:05 PM7/7/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
We use Moodle. I teach online so I use a lot of the features including the gradebook (which most faculty at our institution don't use) but the thing that I would like to have is a facebook-type feature where I can chat with students right in the home page without having to click to any discussion forums.
Deb
Jul 8, 2011, 12:21:33 AM7/8/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Osvaldo- As an avid Moodle enthusiast since 2005, I feel it's
newest version, Moodle 2.0, embodies the open philosophy you mention
in your post by connecting users to a data base of shared courses. As
Martin Dougiamis, Moodle's founder explained last summer at the
Midwest Moodle Moot (http://www.learningcontexts.com/midwestmoot/) at
Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, you can share your course with
others if you wish and you can download courses others have made
available for use. I am still using version 1.9 but am very anxious to
begin using the newer version which promises more application
interfaces with social networking tools such as YouTube when creating
content and assignments. This web site, though laden with ads, allows
you to set up a course and explore 2.0 for free http://www.mdl2.com/
Deb Antoine
On Jun 30, 9:16 am, Osvaldo Rodriguez <cor...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Angela
>
> I recently wrote a chapter on "Moodle:
> an invaluable FOSS tool for education in the developing world" for United Nation Press (in print).This shows Moodle implementations in institutions and projects in Africa and Latin America. Its not a LMS A vs LMS B which you perhaps need. But if you are interested I can email it.
newest version, Moodle 2.0, embodies the open philosophy you mention
in your post by connecting users to a data base of shared courses. As
Martin Dougiamis, Moodle's founder explained last summer at the
Midwest Moodle Moot (http://www.learningcontexts.com/midwestmoot/) at
Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, you can share your course with
others if you wish and you can download courses others have made
available for use. I am still using version 1.9 but am very anxious to
begin using the newer version which promises more application
interfaces with social networking tools such as YouTube when creating
content and assignments. This web site, though laden with ads, allows
you to set up a course and explore 2.0 for free http://www.mdl2.com/
Deb Antoine
On Jun 30, 9:16 am, Osvaldo Rodriguez <cor...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Angela
>
> I recently wrote a chapter on "Moodle:
Ignatia/Inge de Waard
Jul 8, 2011, 4:07:57 AM7/8/11
to eduMOOC
Hi Angela and all,
Like many of you we use Moodle at our institute. We changed from
Blackboard to Moodle two years ago, based on the results of an
analysis of the userfriendliness, and especially the possibility to
pesonalize the LMS to our own preferences.
Moodle has the added advantage that it has a community of users that
help each other out. And you can be sure, this really works well. Whee
as with BB, we needed to go through gatekeepers before being able to
get help (which took up much more time).
We will be upgrading to Moodle2.0 soon, and I really look forward to
the added interactions that are enabled with Moodle2.0.
On Jun 30, 2:52 am, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
Like many of you we use Moodle at our institute. We changed from
Blackboard to Moodle two years ago, based on the results of an
analysis of the userfriendliness, and especially the possibility to
pesonalize the LMS to our own preferences.
Moodle has the added advantage that it has a community of users that
help each other out. And you can be sure, this really works well. Whee
as with BB, we needed to go through gatekeepers before being able to
get help (which took up much more time).
We will be upgrading to Moodle2.0 soon, and I really look forward to
the added interactions that are enabled with Moodle2.0.
On Jun 30, 2:52 am, Angela Velez-Solic <justcallme...@gmail.com>
Apostolos K.
Jul 11, 2011, 9:55:48 AM7/11/11
to eduMOOC
Are you referring to eCollege?
We tried eCollege on our campus but we weren't impressed. When
compared to other LMS it is really really poor. It's sort of like an
LMS that is stuck in 1998 :-)
It needs work, but I think Pearson are putting their backing behind
it, so it might actually get better.
We tried eCollege on our campus but we weren't impressed. When
compared to other LMS it is really really poor. It's sort of like an
LMS that is stuck in 1998 :-)
It needs work, but I think Pearson are putting their backing behind
it, so it might actually get better.
Apostolos K.
Jul 11, 2011, 9:59:18 AM7/11/11
to eduMOOC
It's interesting,
I've heard from many european colleagues that use and really like
moodle.
I don't find anything wrong it it, but I feel like it's too "flat".
Having said that I have seen both Moodle and Sakai implementations
that I like, so it is, to some extent, not the product but what you do
with it that matters. If I had to go with open source, I'd consider
going with Canvas (even though the company has said that it's a bit
complicated to run).
Are you all running Moodle out-of-the-box? or have you created
additional plug-ins for your schools?
On Jul 8, 4:07 am, "Ignatia/Inge de Waard" <ingedewa...@gmail.com>
wrote:
I've heard from many european colleagues that use and really like
moodle.
I don't find anything wrong it it, but I feel like it's too "flat".
Having said that I have seen both Moodle and Sakai implementations
that I like, so it is, to some extent, not the product but what you do
with it that matters. If I had to go with open source, I'd consider
going with Canvas (even though the company has said that it's a bit
complicated to run).
Are you all running Moodle out-of-the-box? or have you created
additional plug-ins for your schools?
On Jul 8, 4:07 am, "Ignatia/Inge de Waard" <ingedewa...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages