OLTD 504- Learning Systems

Non-LMS Toolkit

SymbalooEDU is designed to curate personalized pages that can be shared with students and colleauges. Teachers can organize and share online content with students all in one place. Students can create their own personalized pages to manage their own online learning environment. The advantages of symbaloo include eliminating the time and possible errors of entering web address and it is accessible by phone, computer or tablet.

Landing Page and Dashboard

Google+ includes several tools that enable community building. Google Hangouts provides students and teachers to connect through video conferencing. Google+ also gives students the platform to post (comments, links, videos, images etc.) and respond to others. Another helpful feature is setting events for students to meet in person or through Hangouts. Within Google+, Communities can be created based on different interest groups.

Community Building, Communication, Collaboration

Google Drive offers a variety of cloud-based tools to allow for the sharing of content and allows students to collaborate. The suite includes Docs, Sites, Sheets, Pages, Forms and more. Upon further consideration, these apps are truly multi-purpose and can be used to create a landing page, assessment, build community etc.

Content Creation and Delivery

Zaption is an online video-editing tool that allows teachers to "turn online videos into interactive learning experiences and deepen understanding." Teachers, trainers and instructional designers use Zaption to quickly add images, text, and questions to existing online videos that can be shared with students. For example, a teacher can select an existing YouTube video and splice interactive questions throughout the video for students to answer. Student responses and analytics are then made available to the teacher for review and assessment.

Assessment and ePortfolios

Class Marker is an excellent test creation and evaluation tool. A variety of tools are made available to provide different question formats, such as multiple choice, true or false or paragraph answers. One of the strengths of this program is the data that is provided to teachers, including question-by-question results, average test scores, and the ability to provide feedback to test-takers. Another feature that proves to be helpful is the ability to make tests available for studnets with and without accounts. The free option is formidable.

Fresh Grade is my choice for creating student e-portfolios. The interface feels very familiar This application makes it easy for parents, teachers and students to capture student learning. Teachers can provide feedback and have an open dialogue with parents and students. This is a good tool for ongoing formative assessment. One of the best features is to abilityt to connect student work with the PLOs that are made readily available in the program.

Jotform is an easy-to-use, free form building. It can be used to collect data from students for formative and summative assessment. With a free account, you can use JotForm fully upto 100 submissions/month. No trials. No crippleware. No ads. Just what you need.

OLTD 504 Leading Questions

1) What criteria should you use when deciding whether an LMS meets the learnng needs of students while meeting your teaching needs? What are some attributes of a good LMS? What are some limitations? What are some best practices for LMS implementation?

In my opinion, the user-friendliness of a LMS is key. If a student / instructor is bogged down by learning how to navigate through the interface, this impedes the learning that is intended to take place. As far as best practices, I believe that instructors should be knowledgable and competent with the software. This requires adequate support and training. Instructors will then feel competent to support their students in learning how to navigate through the system.

2) What are some LMS and non-LMS services and how do they compare?

LMS services are a pre-packaged set of tools that have been constructed for the purpose of developing and facilitating an online classroom. Non-LMS services are online tools that can be selected a-la-carte by the course developer to build an online classroom. The non-LMS services come from different developrs.

3) How can you use non-LMS "systems" or services to build your own LMS?

The non-LMS tools would have to be collected on a landing page or dashboard and then be made available to students.

OLTD Program Essential Questions

1) What is the specific evidence you have chosen? Provide one or two sentences describing the evidence piece.

This is the non-LMS toolkit built on tools mostly introduced to me through this course. I have gone through each of of these online tools to see the quality and suitability for the tasks that I needed to perform in an online learning environment.

2) What did you learn/experience by creating the evidence file relative to the specific OLTD Program Outcome? Provide three or four sentences detailing this experience.

I learned that there are more quality tools available online than I had imagined. This assignment exposed me to some powerful tools that will engage students at a greater level in their online learning. I also learned the power of online collaboration as each student brought their learning and presented it to the group. A simple online tool like a wiki enabled the class to collaborate.

3) What does the OLTD Program Outcome mean to you as an online educator/facilitator? Why is it important/meaningful to your practice? Provide three or four sentences explaining the importance of this teaching competency.

As an online educator, the knowledge of these tools proves to be invaluable. One of the challenges of searching for online tools is sifting through everything that is available. I feel greater confidence knowing what is available through the peer reviews and input.

Introduction to Moodle LMS Vidoes

Introduction to Moodle Folder, File and URL. [video]

Introduction to Moodle Chat Function. [video]

OLTD 504 Leading Questions

1) What are the pros and cons of using a commercial LMS?

A commercial LMS provides a complete product where the platform and tools and included for a teacher's and student's needs. The cons include the learning curve that comes with the implementation of a new learning management system.

2) What are Learning Systems?

Learning sytems are online learning platforms that are customizable for instructors to create virtual classroom spaces. LMS's include the online tools that allow teachers to perform online what they would be able to do in a conventional face-to-face environment. For example, LMS's often include tools for online lectures, chats, distribution of material etc.

3) What components are necessary for a complete LMS?

The necessary components for a learning management system include online variations of tools that enable the performance of tasks of a conventional face-to-face environment. Some of the basic core tools include assignments, forums, lessons, quizzes, gradebooks etc.

OLTD Program Essential Questions

1) What is the specific evidence you have chosen? Provide one or two sentences describing the evidence piece.

These two videos are taken from the jigsaw assignment on LMS tools available in Moodle. In this assignment, I used Camtasia to create screencapture videos for my fellow cohort members to view asynchornously.

2) What did you learn/experience by creating the evidence file relative to the specific OLTD Program Outcome? Provide three or four sentences detailing this experience.

This assignment gave me the opportunity and incentive to try and create screencapture videos. This is something I've wanted to do for quite some time now, but have not got arund to. In the process, I learned how to use the Camtasia video editing and screencapture software. I feel I really benefited from the introduction to these new tools, which I can implement into my blended classroom. This assignment also allowed me to benefit from the expertise of my peers on the different tools available in Moodle, while gaining in depth insight through my personal research. This really was a team effort.

This program outcome enables me to bring a greater practical knowledge of learning management systems. Although, I was familiar with Moodle at a surface level, it enabled me to engage with the software in a practical manner by building by own LMS lessons. I really appreciated the practical experience of this assignment.