This past weekend, I got away and spent some time contemplating the future of learning management systems (and life in general). I synthesized some of my views in the following video. Enjoy.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
LMO Wk 3 Comment 2
Justin Kraky posted a very descriptive analysis of the process that organizations need to follow in order to find an appropriate LMS or CMS platform for their own use. Justin's blog is accessible here.
A brief excerpt from his post is below:
"In the blog article by Godfrey Parkin entitled “The LMS selection process in a nutshell” (Parkin, 2005), he states that the intuition needs to form a selection team made up of all parties who will be involved with the use and implementation of the LMS. This includes information technology staff, content creation managers, and perhaps an outside consultant. This team must identify what they want the LMS to do, how they plan to integrate it, and who will manage the system once it is implemented. Parkins suggests that the team form a list of “critical success factors” (2005), or the features that absolutely need to be available in order for the system to be an effective solution for the companies training needs."
Justin,
I think you really hit on a great point when you quoted Godfrey Parkin's 2005 statement that institutions should look for "critical success factors". Considering how complex these systems can be, it is again important for organizations looking to deploy such a system to really examine what functionalities would be most important.
As I've watched two institutions go through this process (from the sidelines mind you), it was quite often that each time a new LMS or CMS was discovered, someone on the search committee would exclaim, "This one does everything".
I think if we read the marketing and product literature from any of these vendors, we'd be awed at the power of their technology and the accessibility afforded by their proprietary platform. However, from my personal experience in the software world, while lots of products do a variety of chores quite well, within the audio spectrum at least, each of the main products available actually excels at only a few specific feature sets. Choosing a software based recording platform has nothing to do with which product is "best", but rather, which one is going to best suit your needs?
In that respect, you've really synthesized the process that someone or some group should undergo in order to find the most appropriate platforms that best meets their immediate needs. And, you very aptly pointed out that experimenting and using the products is a critical step that I think can often be overlooked. While some hold the perspective that "software is software", there really are significant differences in how different products function and interact at the user interface level.
Well done.
A brief excerpt from his post is below:
"In the blog article by Godfrey Parkin entitled “The LMS selection process in a nutshell” (Parkin, 2005), he states that the intuition needs to form a selection team made up of all parties who will be involved with the use and implementation of the LMS. This includes information technology staff, content creation managers, and perhaps an outside consultant. This team must identify what they want the LMS to do, how they plan to integrate it, and who will manage the system once it is implemented. Parkins suggests that the team form a list of “critical success factors” (2005), or the features that absolutely need to be available in order for the system to be an effective solution for the companies training needs."
Justin,
I think you really hit on a great point when you quoted Godfrey Parkin's 2005 statement that institutions should look for "critical success factors". Considering how complex these systems can be, it is again important for organizations looking to deploy such a system to really examine what functionalities would be most important.
As I've watched two institutions go through this process (from the sidelines mind you), it was quite often that each time a new LMS or CMS was discovered, someone on the search committee would exclaim, "This one does everything".
I think if we read the marketing and product literature from any of these vendors, we'd be awed at the power of their technology and the accessibility afforded by their proprietary platform. However, from my personal experience in the software world, while lots of products do a variety of chores quite well, within the audio spectrum at least, each of the main products available actually excels at only a few specific feature sets. Choosing a software based recording platform has nothing to do with which product is "best", but rather, which one is going to best suit your needs?
In that respect, you've really synthesized the process that someone or some group should undergo in order to find the most appropriate platforms that best meets their immediate needs. And, you very aptly pointed out that experimenting and using the products is a critical step that I think can often be overlooked. While some hold the perspective that "software is software", there really are significant differences in how different products function and interact at the user interface level.
Well done.
Friday, August 20, 2010
LMO Wk 3 Comment 1
Erica Culbreath has a good post on the process of selecting a institutional LMS at here blog here.
Within her post she talked about the factors involved with choosing such a system,
"Of the required elements for the LMS, there seemed to be a balance for both students and instructors. Ease of navigation for students seemed to be just as important as ease of navigation for instructors. Besides database functionality, administrative requirements were to a minimum."
Erica,
You clearly have laid out exactly why this process can be so complicated. And from my perspective you are absolutely correct that not only are these systems complicated to develop, but it is also a chore simply to bring all of the parties involved together.
The term "herding cats" comes to mind if we are to follow best practices and get all voices to the table.
That said, I appreciated your example as I think it helps others see how this process would be initiated if they haven't been involved in such a procedure before. Plus, it was also good to see the specific requirements that students and faculty were looking for in terms of ease of use and other issues.
Personally, I thinking that we'll all be going through scenarios like this in the very near future as these tools become even more ubiquitous in the classroom.
Thanks for sharing!
Within her post she talked about the factors involved with choosing such a system,
"Of the required elements for the LMS, there seemed to be a balance for both students and instructors. Ease of navigation for students seemed to be just as important as ease of navigation for instructors. Besides database functionality, administrative requirements were to a minimum."
Erica,
You clearly have laid out exactly why this process can be so complicated. And from my perspective you are absolutely correct that not only are these systems complicated to develop, but it is also a chore simply to bring all of the parties involved together.
The term "herding cats" comes to mind if we are to follow best practices and get all voices to the table.
That said, I appreciated your example as I think it helps others see how this process would be initiated if they haven't been involved in such a procedure before. Plus, it was also good to see the specific requirements that students and faculty were looking for in terms of ease of use and other issues.
Personally, I thinking that we'll all be going through scenarios like this in the very near future as these tools become even more ubiquitous in the classroom.
Thanks for sharing!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Cool articles for fellow EMDTers...
Hey Everyone,
If you all have any free time this month (sarcasm intended), three really interesting articles have popped up in the last week or so. Per our discussion in Wimba last night, many of you shared concerns that social networking sites are often blocked from you school or campus. This morning, an article came out on Wired reporting on a recent Abilene Christian University suggesting that heavy Facebooking might actually boost student achievement due to the growing support network of friends, family, and even professors that can be cultivated through social networks.
Check it at Wired online here.
Also, NYU has an exciting program developing wherein they will not only be broadcasting video feeds from certain courses to the general public, but enrolled students will be able to review the content in an enhanced form with links, interactive elements, and other content embedded within the student-only video file. It sounds like a really cool process akin to the bonus features found on many popular DVD and Blu-Ray releases.
The Chronicle of Higher Ed has that article here.
Finally, another good technology-will-kill-the-lecture type article is available at the Chronicle as well here. In this case, an interesting debate opens up in the comments section below the article echoing similar issues to what we discussed in Wimba this week as well.
If you all have any free time this month (sarcasm intended), three really interesting articles have popped up in the last week or so. Per our discussion in Wimba last night, many of you shared concerns that social networking sites are often blocked from you school or campus. This morning, an article came out on Wired reporting on a recent Abilene Christian University suggesting that heavy Facebooking might actually boost student achievement due to the growing support network of friends, family, and even professors that can be cultivated through social networks.
Check it at Wired online here.
Also, NYU has an exciting program developing wherein they will not only be broadcasting video feeds from certain courses to the general public, but enrolled students will be able to review the content in an enhanced form with links, interactive elements, and other content embedded within the student-only video file. It sounds like a really cool process akin to the bonus features found on many popular DVD and Blu-Ray releases.
The Chronicle of Higher Ed has that article here.
Finally, another good technology-will-kill-the-lecture type article is available at the Chronicle as well here. In this case, an interesting debate opens up in the comments section below the article echoing similar issues to what we discussed in Wimba this week as well.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
LMO Wk 3 Blog Post: Reading
LMO Wk 3 Blog Reading
This is all very complicated and I am coming to the conclusion that a topic area like Learning Management Systems and Organization could easily morph into its own year long program. As the previous two weeks have shown, there is a plethora of tools and systems available for not only developing learning content and organizing that that material per the needs of a specific student or institution.
CMS, LMS, and LCMS platforms are all very complex, and their implementation should be made only after considerable discussion from those immediately involved including participants (learners), trainers, administrators, IT staff, and programmers.
Despite the complexity that comes with the depth of functionality within these systems, I really appreciated this week's readings which first helped categorize the different tool sets that might all be leveraged within a larger learning platform. Per the e-learningguru website, authoring or production tools, individual element tools, webcasting and streaming tools, virtual classroom portal and discussion tools, as well as information management and training tools are all critical components in the creation and deployment of content. Seeing these resources broken down into some individual laments helped to clarify not only the tools themselves, but the steps that might have to be taken to go from lesson conception to deployment.
Furthermore, it is no surprise that the other main topic up for discussion this week is assessment. Within one of our first EMDT courses, I believe it was Beth Strugeon who reminded us all that "teaching and learning are two distinct activities". This perspective is critical as we all look to understand the role of technology and how it can effect a student's learning and comprehension.
At least personally, the idea of education and technology could easily be consumed with a singular focus on the exciting digital resources available for media-rich content. As an educator, I can immediately start dreaming up all of the videos, podcasts, and interactive web-enabled elements that would be fun and engaging to distribute within the classroom. However, this attitude is largely focused on my content delivery, or "teaching". Little in this particular subject area concerns "learning" or the actual input, understanding, and synthesis on behalf of the student involved.
Both virtual and physical educational environments demand assessment, otherwise, educators, parents, administrators, and even students have no way to measure true comprehension. What has been learned? How can it be applied? How does this relate to one's life, community, or profession? These are all important questions to carefully consider when developing educational goals and outcomes prior to the blind implementation of an exciting new technology or resource.
Throughout the last 10 years, I've learned (often frustratingly so) that organizations and institutions in higher education move very slowly. However, I believe that this realm is one of those areas wherein any use of new tools should be a deliberate and comprehensive "discussion" between all parties involved.
Like many FSO participants I'm sure, as soon as I was enrolled in this program, I wanted to have a portal as powerful as Full Sail's available to my students. However, it is clear that the development of such resources is a lengthy process which can take nothing short of years. It comes as no real surprise that as Full Sail began developing the custom-built FSO system, they leveraged other online CMS tools in the interim.
Quality work takes time. Developing systems which not only distribute educational content but aid in assessing whether that material is understood by the learner is a significant and time consuming process that demands careful analysis and planning. Thankfully, as a grateful participant currently engaged in the FSO portal, I can whole-heartedly say that these systems can be nothing short of life changing for students if adequate time (and care) is taken.
Tools of the trade. e-learning.com Retrieved August 15th, 2010 from http://www.e-learningguru.com/wpapers/4-Tools.pdf
Learning management systems and organization presents Alicia Murray and Gustavo Hernando. Full Sail University. Retrieved August 15th, 2010 from http://online.fullsail.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=activities.main
Dougiamas, M. (2007). Moodle outcomes in version 1.9. Retrieved August 15th, 2010 from http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=78074
Sunday, August 15, 2010
LMO Wk 2 Project: Udutu Set Up
LMO Wk 2 Udutu Set-up
1. Legere, Christian (Scott)
2. Prior Project: Explaining the Economics of Recording Contracts.
The specifics of recording contracts have confounded generations of musicians and students alike. As a media economics instructor, I talk about contracts and the definitions of their various common clauses every semester. This initial lesson was a brief attempt to clarify some of the essential terms within a typical legal agreement between talent and producer.
3. This project was initially created for Kathy Kraven's course, Digital Media & Education Applications, in April, 2010.
4. For my project, I believe that the Best Practices scenario will work well. As it stands, my lesson is not that complex, and the Best Practices scenario seems to progress naturally from one object to the next. That said, for more informational type lessons, I would be tempted to use the Self-Directed scenario.
5. file:///Volumes/cslegere/Web/Sites/Flash/LeGere_Christian_DAE_Week4.html
1. Legere, Christian (Scott)
2. Prior Project: Explaining the Economics of Recording Contracts.
The specifics of recording contracts have confounded generations of musicians and students alike. As a media economics instructor, I talk about contracts and the definitions of their various common clauses every semester. This initial lesson was a brief attempt to clarify some of the essential terms within a typical legal agreement between talent and producer.
3. This project was initially created for Kathy Kraven's course, Digital Media & Education Applications, in April, 2010.
4. For my project, I believe that the Best Practices scenario will work well. As it stands, my lesson is not that complex, and the Best Practices scenario seems to progress naturally from one object to the next. That said, for more informational type lessons, I would be tempted to use the Self-Directed scenario.
5. file:///Volumes/cslegere/Web/Sites/Flash/LeGere_Christian_DAE_Week4.html
LMO Wk 2 Response 2: Sharon Jones
"In an excellent blog enumerating the many different interpretations of the acronyms, LMS, CMS and LCMS, Don McIntosh discusses the differences between corporate LMS's and those in the educational field. In the corporate sector, the tendency is for an LCMS to be used for tracking an individual learner and specific content. There is rarely an available instructor. The individual learner is basically "check boxing" the content accessed from the elearning site. Within the education field, "content" is frequently replaced by "course." In this model, the educational institution generally already has the basic LMS in place through existing systems. Students have already been registered, and the capabilities exist to monitor their progress. In the education sector, authoring tools from LCMS's are used to build a full educational experience to include content, email, discussions, wikis, blogs, and educational media. An LCMS can be applied, not only to elearning, but also to more traditional face-to-face classes to enhance the learning experience."
Sharon,I think all of us are discovering that indeed, this industry is a complex alphabet soup of acronyms whose meanings can differ from sector to sector. That said, I really appreciated how you were able to differentiate between LMS and CMS platforms in your post this week.
Educational institutions do have different needs than corporate interests. As such, your explanation that while corporations may use a Content Management System, and educational organization would likely leverage a Course Management System to meet their direct needs.
Your explanation helps describe the organizational nature which likely underlies how these two industry groups would aggregate their content. On one hand, that organizational within the business world leads to tracking data and progress for an individual. Instead, the inherent models used in educational settings suggest that data and content is organized around courses and classrooms (virtual and brick-and-mortar).
Thank you for the post. Unraveling the complexities in these systems is valuable to both virtual learning environments, and as you mentioned towards the end of your post, face-to-face environments as well. I think that this is another important element for educators to consider. As we have all defended the validity of online educational systems to some degree throughout the last year in our posts and discussions, it is important to remember that these tools are valuable for ALL classrooms as students, instructors, administrators, and even parents can benefit from access to data, course materials, and additional resources and support.
Well done.
-Scott
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