LMO Wk 1 Comment 2: Tamara Collins

I have also commented on an earlier blog posted by Tamara Paris Collins which can be accessed here.

"Learning platforms have been in existence for many decades. Of course with the change in times the learning platforms have changed to accommodate the student and educator. As society continues to evolve so will our systems of learning. Two of the learning platforms established by several educational and corporate institutions are the Content Management System (CMS) and the Learning Management System (LMS)."



Tamara,

Your post is one of the clearest and most straightforward delineations of LMS and CMS that I have read. Furthermore, I think you are on the right track by suggesting that these systems will continue to evolve in order to meet the needs of tomorrow's students and institutions.

Honestly, I think there will be quite a bit of development and consolidation in this arena in the coming years. Per Dr. Gibson's explanation of the diverse and growing feature sets of current LCMS platforms, I believe all of these systems will continue to add on tools and resources which will only further expand their scope and potential. I'm not sure if you are aware, but Blackboard, which you mentioned above, purchased both the Wimba and Elluminate software companies a few weeks back. I am certainly not an expert in these areas, but it seems easy to predict that by combining a CMS platform with a video based synchronous VLE technology resource, we're going to have some very powerful options in the near future that will only further combine and confuse our current naming schemes for such systems.

Thank you for the post.

LMO Wk 1 Comment 1: Jeff Kohl

I commented on Jeff Kohl's recent blog post which can be found here.

"LMO Overview"

"The CMS was originally developed as an educational e-learning platform for educational institutions. Typically, higher education facilities will use the CMS as a campus-wide database, which serves to connect, manage, and track their students through their duration at said institutions. The CMS cycles on a term basis, for example students at Full Sail University are placed into a CMS which allows the institution to manage courses, grades, library needs, and track plagiarism if necessary. CMS have proven successful in assisting administrators in running their institutions, as well as helping to ensure that the school is compliant with national accreditations and standards."



Jeff,

I think you hit the nail on the head with your assertion that VLEs represent a rethinking rather than an outright change in educational practice and approach.

As it turns out, much of our reading for this week has overlapped on topics and issues that I've been researching in my AR project. I've been working to identify technologies and methodologies to enhance student engagement within lecture environments, and VLEs have come up in several articles as valuable tools.

From personal experience, I am well aware that VLEs are often met with skepticism. However, in every article that I have researched, not one educator or researcher has explicitly suggested that any such system is a complete and perfect replacement for the traditional classroom experience. However, when carefully integrated into an educational setting with clear goals and assessments (as you also raised), they can certainly be powerful resources to support both student participation and engagement.

Reiterating the comments you posted from Morgan's (2003) assessment of CMS and LMS systems, in Alexandra Toedt's 2006 article, "What is a Learning Management System", she also pointed out the benefit of academic transparency. As further public and federal inquiry has been brought to bear in higher education within the last few years, I believe that transparency will likely become an even greater consideration in the continuing dialog of the implementation of VLEs. I speak with parents on a near daily basis who are wondering what their son or daughter is actually learning or doing in the classroom. Highlighting the value of VLEs from a standpoint of academic transparency in higher education might become more of an asset than any of us realize today.

Whether the issue stems from a tax analysis of public institutions, federal student loans in for-profit education, or the rising cost of higher education altogether, the window into the classroom afforded by such systems could be especially critical. Honestly, until this week, I hadn't really considered this particular aspect or value from Course Learning Systems. I appreciate your insight and again, I do think that such technologies will become even more ubiquitous as educators, administrators, and institutions alike further explore the benefits that such tools can provide. By nature, VLEs don't replace the classroom experience, but the transparency they can potentially provide in the educational process is but another benefit that others will take into consideration as we continue to discuss topics relating to educational reform and improving student success.

LMO Wk 1 Blog 1

Honestly, I am not at all surprised that our readings this week trace the origins of distance learning back almost 300 years. More importantly, I think it is critical that supporters of distance learning programs reiterate this fact in light of the many recent criticisms which have been brought to bear on VLEs within the last several months.

I think the social nature of humanity is ingrained deep within our beings. For millennia, we have communicated with each other and passed down information through oral history, hieroglyphics, pictographs, stone tablets, and virtually every other medium discovered. Furthermore, communication and negotiation between peoples is vital to the stability of any civilized community.


Education is but one of the many frameworks through which we communicate. As such, it is only natural that our educational systems incorporate the very tools and resources which our society regularly uses. Whether this phenomenon is manifested in Caleb Phillips' mail order lessons, the University of Alberta's purchase of a IBM 1500 in 1968, or the launch of Jones International University, all of these examples bear a similar educational intent.

More to the point, it was encouraging for me to study the timelines of distance education development. Personally, I've been thrilled with our program here at Full Sail and I would whole heartedly encourage other colleagues considering an advanced degree to look at the EMDT program.

However, as many of us have previously discussed in various blog posts and course assignments throughout the year, there are still many in both the public and professional spheres who are skeptical about online education. Recently, as schools like the University of Pheonix and other for-profit institutions (which rely significantly online resources) have come under federal scrutiny, I've found myself having to defend our program more than ever. While "defend" is probably too harsh a word to accurately describe some of these conversations, it is a shame that all too often online education is trumpeted merely as a convenient and time-saving option for learning.

What I would like to reiterate to parents, teachers, and legislators alike is that for centuries, educators have been working to bring the best tools, resources, and minds together in order to provide for the learning of that era's students. For example, if I were to teach copyright course this fall, I believe it would be in my students' best interests to meet with and discuss intellectual property with Lawrence Lessig, one of the nation's preeminent scholars on the subject. Considering Mr. Lessig's obligations and responsibilities at Harvard Law School, it is very unlikely that this opportunity would come to pass. That said, I could add his book to my syllabus. Better still, we could try and set up a video conference with Mr. Lessig or stream one of his recent lectures.

In any of these scenarios, we are simply trying to pass on the knowledge of an expert to our learners. Personally, I think that VLEs such as Full Sail's portal have tremendous potential to supply educators and students with a wealth of information, communications infrastructure, and the mechanisms to store, catalog, and relay such information in a compelling manner.


Distance learning is not new. Motivated teachers have been leveraging such tools for centuries. However, since the early 1990s, the power of desktop computing and the democratization of information afforded by the development of the Internet has greatly expanded these platforms to near ubiquity. Furthermore, the greater adoption of these systems will only grow as Internet-based communication protocols represent one of the most comprehensive and efficient means to disseminate important content. The debate within our educational system moving forward should not be about the validity of distance education, but rather how such tools are designed, implemented, and maintained in order to best meet the challenging learning goals of our diverse population.

This program has made me a true believer in the potential of online distance education. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to study their evolution (even at a cursory level), as this experience will only further allow me to discuss these valuable tools with a broader and more holistic perspective.

Resources:

Wikipedia. (2010). The history of virtual learning environments. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments

Wikipedia. (2010). History of virtual learning environments 1990s Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments_1990s

Seth Godin's Take on Higher Ed

Interesting article. Seth Godin, a well known author and marketing "guru" just posted his thoughts on higher ed. Its interesting to see Full Sail recognized for their individuality, but more pressing, the state of our nations schools...

Let me know what you think.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/04/the-coming-meltdown-in-higher-education-as-seen-by-a-marketer.html

The Future of Education?

I still love print media. Throughout my teens I would eagerly await the next issue of Rolling Stone, Mix Magazine, Keyboard, and other music centric publications. Today, its Inc, Fast Company, and Wired as these publications are all raising critical questions about our economy, society, and future. As such, I highly urge readers (anyone? anyone?) to check out the latest cover story from Fast Company, "'A' is for App" discussing the role of technology in tomorrow's schools. Interesting read...

Wednesday Bands SXSW 2010

Here is the hope... Stubbs will be crowded tonight. Looking forward to a great night of music.

walkmen @stubbs 8:45

fanfarlo @Galaxy Room 10pm

bowerbirds @Club DeVille 11pm

kid dakota @Lamberts 12

billy bragg @Prague 1

BP13_2010024_ReflectiveMediaAssetTwo

I've said this before- I've found a really cool Web 2.0 application. But seriously, Diigo is really useful. We're all going to have to use this app in future group projects...