OLTD 504 - learning systems
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Google+ Comment
Learning Outcomes Covered:
· Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in online learning
· Select strategies and resources appropriate for environment, learners and learning outcomes
To provide evidence of my learning in OLTD 504 and to answer the critical challenge question, I have selected a long comment I made in response in Kym Chambers reflection in the OLTD Google+ community.
It was in responding to her excellent reflection that I finally organized my own thoughts regarding the strengths and weakness of the LMS and Non LMS options. This course was really a tale of two educational choices but as I was in the thick of it, I was too preoccupied with getting the work done to ponder the bigger picture.
There are of course many considerations that factor into a decision about how to deliver a course online, simplicity, security, access, communication and flexibility among others, but I chose to focus on just a few of these in my response.
I feel that, while LMS may have a role to play in online education, they exist primarily to meet the wants and needs of educational institutions over the wants and needs of online learners. I believe this is short sighted and in my response I gave an example of how this has failed in the past.
To be fair, I believe LMS designers are working to improve this, but for the time being popular applications that can be adapted and purposed to educational ends are more effective and user-friendly. As a result, they allow for more cooperation and collaboration between students which is vital to achieving positive educational outcomes.
Non-LMS courses are not without their own peculiar problems, as I discussed in my response, but I felt their advantages far outweighed their drawbacks.
Non LMS Toolkit
Learning Outcomes Covered:
· Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of online learning environments and tools
· Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of environments
· Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in online learning
· Select strategies and resources appropriate for environment, learners and learning outcomes
My second piece of evidence of my learning is my Non-LMS toolkit.
The creation of it was a two part project that involved collaboration with students both inside and outside of my OLTD cohort. Initially we were given the task of evaluating an application that could be used to meet the needs of an online educator. The list of these needs provided by Avi was very instructive.
Prior to OLTD 504, the focus of our studies had primarily been centered on creating a course environment that was engaging and where students could learn. I don’t want to say that the previous courses where more theoretical because they were a mixture of theoretical and practical. They were just focused more on conversations around learning and lessons than they were on the furniture of the room. To put it another way, I learned from previous courses that I needed to create a social presence and a Community of Inquiry. In creating my Non-LMS toolkit, I finally got around to considering how I was actually going to do it.
Using the list of requirements provided by Avi as a guide, I explored the Wiki reviews looking for applications that would meet the needs of students. This gave me an excellent sense of the breadth of options available to me and the strengths and weaknesses of each. In selecting for my LMS Toolkit I prioritized simplicity and security as I teach elementary school children.
Overall, I felt like this process was invaluable in helping me answer the critical challenge question of OLTD 504. Not only did it get me to evaluate what is required to teach online, it put into perspective the shortcomings of LMS in relation to Non-LMS. It opened up a horizon of possibilities and options that I hadn't previously considered. It forced me to focus on the actual implementation of an online course. Where are students going to go and what are they going to see when they get there? How will they communicate with me and with one another? How will they keep track of deadlines and provide evidence of their learning? How will I assess this evidence and keep track of the assessment? I feel like in creating my Non-LMS toolkit I now have answers to most of these questions.
Learning Outcomes Covered:
· Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in online learning
· Select strategies and resources appropriate for environment, learners and learning outcomes
To provide evidence of my learning in OLTD 504 and to answer the critical challenge question, I have selected a long comment I made in response in Kym Chambers reflection in the OLTD Google+ community.
It was in responding to her excellent reflection that I finally organized my own thoughts regarding the strengths and weakness of the LMS and Non LMS options. This course was really a tale of two educational choices but as I was in the thick of it, I was too preoccupied with getting the work done to ponder the bigger picture.
There are of course many considerations that factor into a decision about how to deliver a course online, simplicity, security, access, communication and flexibility among others, but I chose to focus on just a few of these in my response.
I feel that, while LMS may have a role to play in online education, they exist primarily to meet the wants and needs of educational institutions over the wants and needs of online learners. I believe this is short sighted and in my response I gave an example of how this has failed in the past.
To be fair, I believe LMS designers are working to improve this, but for the time being popular applications that can be adapted and purposed to educational ends are more effective and user-friendly. As a result, they allow for more cooperation and collaboration between students which is vital to achieving positive educational outcomes.
Non-LMS courses are not without their own peculiar problems, as I discussed in my response, but I felt their advantages far outweighed their drawbacks.
Non LMS Toolkit
Learning Outcomes Covered:
· Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of online learning environments and tools
· Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of environments
· Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in online learning
· Select strategies and resources appropriate for environment, learners and learning outcomes
My second piece of evidence of my learning is my Non-LMS toolkit.
The creation of it was a two part project that involved collaboration with students both inside and outside of my OLTD cohort. Initially we were given the task of evaluating an application that could be used to meet the needs of an online educator. The list of these needs provided by Avi was very instructive.
Prior to OLTD 504, the focus of our studies had primarily been centered on creating a course environment that was engaging and where students could learn. I don’t want to say that the previous courses where more theoretical because they were a mixture of theoretical and practical. They were just focused more on conversations around learning and lessons than they were on the furniture of the room. To put it another way, I learned from previous courses that I needed to create a social presence and a Community of Inquiry. In creating my Non-LMS toolkit, I finally got around to considering how I was actually going to do it.
Using the list of requirements provided by Avi as a guide, I explored the Wiki reviews looking for applications that would meet the needs of students. This gave me an excellent sense of the breadth of options available to me and the strengths and weaknesses of each. In selecting for my LMS Toolkit I prioritized simplicity and security as I teach elementary school children.
Overall, I felt like this process was invaluable in helping me answer the critical challenge question of OLTD 504. Not only did it get me to evaluate what is required to teach online, it put into perspective the shortcomings of LMS in relation to Non-LMS. It opened up a horizon of possibilities and options that I hadn't previously considered. It forced me to focus on the actual implementation of an online course. Where are students going to go and what are they going to see when they get there? How will they communicate with me and with one another? How will they keep track of deadlines and provide evidence of their learning? How will I assess this evidence and keep track of the assessment? I feel like in creating my Non-LMS toolkit I now have answers to most of these questions.