LMO Wk 2 Blog 1: Readings

LMO Week 2 Blog


I own lots of filing cabinets. I'm not kidding. Seriously. Lots.

Why pray-tell would someone like me need such a bevy of storage capacity? Within these imposing black obelisks lies the readings, transparencies, news articles, and other educational materials I've collected throughout my past decade in the classroom.

Granted, while I might personally tend towards hoarding behavior more than the average person, what else would I do with all of these papers and files?

However, with each passing month here in the EMDT program, I'm starting to learn that there might be a better way. In last week's study materials, Dr. Ian Gibson introduced the acronym of SCORM, or Shared Common Object Reference Model. Only now, while reflecting on the potential of LCMS platforms, am I truly coming to grips with the potential these systems hold and the impact and value that might provide in our careers.

This week, our collective understanding of these systems (CMSs, LMSs, and LCSMs) has been further clarified wherein an LCMS bridges the gap between media development and deployment in concert with the learner focused systems level operational management of an LMS. By combining those feature sets into a single portal, fully developed LCMS options seem to hold quite a bit of both power and convenience. Although I'm sure the programming, design, and deployment of such systems will limit their use to the largest of corporate institutions, universities, or governmental departments.

Yet again, at the center of these complex software systems lies what I perceive as a revolutionary concept: the RLO or "repeatable-learning-object". As we've progressed through our EMDT coursework, we've been introduced to film making, animation and design, podcasting, and blogging. All of these tools, in combination or by themselves, can be utilized to create instructional media elements. Today's $50 one-terabyte drives mitigates any storage concerns, and (I'm finally realizing after 10 months of this program) these instructional elements can be used again, and again, and again.

Honestly, leveraging this type of approach, building an array of interactive and reusable educational media files, would revolutionize my classroom. True, while it can take a significant amount of time to develop digital materials, once a specific lesson or example has been produced, it can easily be stored, recalled, and distributed to learners. Furthermore, organizations often talk about developing "community" and "common language" among staff and faculty in order to develop a compelling call-to-action that excites clients, students, etc. Creating sharable media can help enhance this process. Adding to this process, by developing such materials in-house, institutions and educators are practicing many of the same digital competencies that are likely to be required of students in tomorrow's workplace.

Going back to last week's activities, Dr. Ian Gibson reiterated that these technologies are gaining significant awareness and it is likely that virtually every institution will start to implement either a CMS, LMS, or LCMS. Initially I thought that was an aggressive statement and my interest in these portals was limited. However, today I realize that yes, organizations will adopt such management platforms in hoards because they are efficient, cost-effective, and their digital content (in terms of registration and participant records etc) is likely more secure than individual paper files.

With the likelihood of these systems coming into our classrooms and institutions increasing, we as educators do need to be aware of the features, limitations, and basic configurations of these technologies. And while our abilities to develop media for these platforms will be appreciated, I now realize that it is also critical that we help plan and assess institutional need for these systems as Guillermo Leija warned in the LCMS Roundup article by Ryann Ellis, choosing a system should not be based solely upon that software's feature sets, but on the specific needs of the organization. Clearly, per the e-Learning Center, there are a myriad of new tools to choose from. In making such decisions, we should help our fellow colleagues and administrators choose a product with as much analysis and preparation as well bring into the classroom each morning.

These systems are gaining in popularity. Their use can aid in classroom efficiency and and institutional management. As with any instructional tool, we should carefully analyze the needs of our students and apply the best resources we have at our disposal to excite, engage, and inspire their hopes and dreams. As I've said before, I'm looking forward to returning to the classroom this fall. Everything seems new again and the potential for further reaching out to our young learners to make a meaningful impact in their lives seems to increase with every month in this program.

Thanks everyone, this is exciting- I might not need a new filing cabinet next year.



Ellis, R. K. (2001). LCMS Roundup. Retrieved August 11, 2010 from http://web.archive.org/web/20071012195821/http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/aug2001/ttools.htm

Gibson, I. LMO Moments: Learning Platform Terminology Mindmap Part 1 and 2, Video, Full Sail University

Learning Light. Course Authoring Tools List. Retrieved August 11, 2010 from http://archive.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/authoring.htm