William Cope
Helen Repp.png "Rita van Haren")
Rita van Haren
Nadia Ayub
Micheal M Van Wyk
Clifford Blizard
Mellissa Rosal EspirituUbiquitous Learning and Instructional Technologies MOOC’s Updates
Essential Update #1 - Learning Management Systems
Although I have had Learning Management Systems (LMS) available to use in my classrooms since I started my career in teaching 16 years ago, I had not discovered how much it can alter the dynamics of teaching until recently. Pre-pandemic, I managed my class in a mostly analog and traditional way. I prepared a paper syllabus to distribute at the first class meeting that contained all vital course information and supplemented it with in-class announcements, handouts and notes on the blackboard. However, due to the lack of face-to-face meetings during the pandemic, I was forced to adapt my teaching to a virtual environment by using my university’s LMS. The advantages of an LMS are many and I would like to describe three general areas where the advantages were most beneficial for my teaching.
The first area is organization of class content. I no longer needed to distribute a paper syllabus because our LMS made it easy to group and display my class information by topic, date, or activity. In addition, I could use sub-groups to show everything that was covered and distributed in a specific class, which was most useful for students who were unable to attend.
Another area the LMS improved is communication. First, I could make class announcements at any time, not just during class sessions. These announcements could be posted directly onto the course page for students to access on their own or I can use the LMS to broadcast it to all relevant members. In addition, I can also use the LMS to send messages directly to students. This method has advantages over email, because messages through the LMS are not buried under a pile of other emails and finding contact information for students is quicker if it is connected to the class. Lastly, forums and discussion groups can be quickly and easily organized so students can discuss class topics inside and outside of the designated class time.
Finally, the LMS makes access to class information much easier. First of all, class materials can be posted to the course page. Handouts, assignments, PowerPoints, videos, audio and weblinks can be referenced at any time to check or confirm information they learned in class or reviewed by students who missed class. Lastly, student progress can also be checked through the LMS. Students can check assignment and test scores through the LMS and read comments left by instructors and/or classmates.
References:
Blog CAE, Learning Management System. “9 Advantages of Learning Platforms or LMS.” Retrieved from https://www.cae.net/lms-learning-platforms-advantages/#
Govender, I. & Govender, D. (2010, April 6) An Exploratory Study: The effectiveness of a Learning Management System (LMS) in the delivery of a face-to-face programming course. International conference on education, training and informatics: ICETI
As a teacher too, LMS removes some of the finicky bits from classroom management to focus solely on learning. Pencils need not be sharpened, floors vacuumed, desk chairs pushed back in, fire drills practiced, or time spent overseeing lunch and recess duties.
The drawback is that while more can be invested on the front-end with captivating content, less opportunity is available for face-to-face interaction, the likes of which impacts students more deeply perhaps than knowledge alone.
@Desi Tom,
Your post made me remember and reflect about the experience we had with migrating to online lessons when the lock down started. Different from you, we were asked to use two environments to design, publish and deliver our lessons (ManageBac and Google Classroom). It was doing the same job twice and it was very time consuming. The students found it very confusing and information was not always seen or found by them. The reason was that students were not prepared for this migration either. With time and effort, a better communication was established and some of them began to be more diligent with their process. However, there were many others that did not.
When coming back to school, the school decided to abolish Google classroom and then misunderstanding about how to share the syllabus and class plans was confusing again. However, this is part of a learning process not only for students and teachers, but for admin as well. Thank you for sharing the sources and your experience with LMS. I think online learning is the new way and as teachers, we need to explore and see it as an ally for enhancing learning.