Within the last 18 months alone, I've had to learn to navigate Moodle, ADP's LMS (I thought they just made alarm systems), Campus Vue, Skillsoft, Microsoft's Sharepoint, and Full Sail Online. Now with a new job starting in September, I'm already diving into Sonis, a completely cloud-based CMS, and another company, New Media Training, for a "new employee" Sexual Harassment training exercise.
The diversity and complexity of these systems is astounding and I can't even begin to recall how many key-commands, site maps, and virtual folders I've dug through within this relatively short period of time. Despite this complexity, all of these systems share at least one common and powerful functional trait- they store, display, and distribute information.
In today's business and academic worlds, information is critical. And for such entitles to operate efficiently, sharing much of this information is essential. As an employee, being able to check my remaining annual vacation time in ADP's LMS from my living room is extremely convenient. Prior to the development of such learning management systems (or "learner" systems) I would have to drive across town to the corporate office and schedule an appointment with our HR Director to simply ask her to look up a specific data point. The sharing of that data facilitated by ADP allows both our HR Director and myself to focus on other more important job responsibilities. Furthermore, considering this system tracks my time off usage, neither of us are wasting precious brain space or paper in order to keep track of the dynamic nature that information.
Furthermore, with resources such as Moodle and Blackboard my time management in the classroom as an educator is drastically improved. Instead of spending hours digging through filing cabinets for overhead transparencies or DVDs and scheduling AV installs in my individual classrooms, I can use a CMS to instantly access key multimedia files to enhance my lectures. In short, I believe that these types of systems are nothing short of indispensable for businesses and educational institutions alike.
I found Dr. Ian Gibson's description of the SCORM (shared common object reference model) acronym to be especially useful in understanding the role and value of these complex systems. From a very basic level, these systems share and allow the repetition of information and materials. While overall CMS systems organize people into groups and subcategories like "classes" and LMS systems allow for a more individualized corporate approach, the purpose and utility is the same.
Again, through my personal experience, I have seen from multiple vantage points how valuable such organization and asset management can be for users. Yet what is really amazing, is how quickly these tools are developing. I graduated from my bachelor's degree in 1998. Our course records were on paper and I even had to mail our registrar a physical letter in order to retrieve a copy of my transcript.
However, today, only twelve short years later, I am surrounded by an unbelievable array of media, resources, and personal information as a student in the EMDT program at Full Sail. Simply put, if my anecdotal observations are any indicator, we are likely to continue seeing an incredible expansion in the breadth, scope, and potential of such tools. In many ways, as the functionality and feature set of various CMS and LMS products expand, I'm guessing these resources will all start to look like more complex LCMS platforms marrying content, asset management, and individual program tracking into one system.
I think Dr. Gibson hit on an interesting point during his second video explaining the complexities of LCMSs. While encouraging students to not only study the material but engage with it by using the acronyms being discussed, he suggested that we could all become "mini-experts" within a relatively short amount of time.
I think he was on to something.
We can become experts overnight. And as educators and administrators here in the EMDT program, we may have to. If indeed this sector is going to continue developing by leaps and bounds, this is a critical perspective to hold dear. We are living in an world that has moved from a perspective of state-of-the-art to state-of-the-industry (which could have happened yesterday). Only a few weeks ago, Blackboard purchased both the Elluminate and Wimba software systems. Clearly, this company is looking to further increase their function set by adding a variety of synchronous learning tools to their product portfolio.
The world of data management and distribution is evolving daily and it is critical to stay current on the trends and tools within this sector. And while this process of keeping up with a frantic industry may be frustrating and overwhelming, we should find solace in remembering what these resources can offer our end users, our students, and that is a hereto unimaginable learning support system. I've been blown away with the resources available to me through Full Sail Online. I can repeat course content, talk with students, chat with instructors, and visit the library; all from from my laptop.
I will consider it nothing short of a major victory if I am able to bring even 5% of such resources to bare in my classroom this fall. Speaking from experience, the results of well managed and planned educational media design is amazing. I never imagined growing and learning as much as I have in the past 10 months.
Here's to September and turning the focus towards my students. Echoing Ivan Illich's aims, I truly feel inspired as a user and a learner with such tools and I'm excited to share it with my students, peers, and learning community.
Resources:
Dr. Ian Gibson, "LMO Moments: Learning Platform Terminology Mindmap Part 1 and 2", Video, Full Sail University
Terry Anderson, "OER's & A good educational system", Slideshow, The 14th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning
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