Learning Management Systems

Our challenge for this week’s module was Learning Management Systems (LMS).  At first I wondered where I might run to get away from this assignment.  I started a list of excuses like I developed a case of hives or broke a body part and would have to take an incomplete until they cleared up and/or healed.  Then I realized I was working as the campus switchboard operator and this excuse would never work.  After toying with the thought a bit longer, I decided it was time to take the “the bull by the horns” and do the darned assignment.  I found that I had to choose a LMS to work with.  Well as luck would have it, all Minnesota Universities (Minnesota is  my home state, until the liquid in my eyes froze on campus going from building to building one winter and I moved) use Desire2Learn Learning System (D2L).  I am linking the introduction on the features and how to use this LMS, since it is the next best thing to using it yourself as a student or instructor.

One of the questions we were supposed to answer was what the function of a LMS is.  It is an on line classroom.  It is where the course materials are posted, course content is contained, interactions and communications between students and the instructor happen and grades are posted, all within cyberspace parameters. The most important function of a LMS is to bring elearning material and people together in a learning environment that stimulates academic growth and creatively.  The tools that help student and instructors get the course materials presented, learned and internalized are: asynchronous and synchronous discussion boards; chat rooms; voice threads; blog sites or capabilities; instant messaging devices; and email capabilities that direct messages to one person or to a whole group working on project. Also, message notifications draw attention to messages received and unread.

Probably one of the best features of D2L is its ability to allow access with mobile devices.  This tool brings the LMS to every place the student and instructor are located in the real world and enables them to communicate with one another in new and more complete way.  For example have you ever had an idea, when you were sitting in a park watching the autumn leaves fall around you, and found yourself without paper and pen or cell phone to record the brilliant pearl of wisdom you want to share with your fellow students or your students?  Making mobile gadgets that are compatible with D2L resolves that problem.  In our highly mobile world, our gadgets and cell phones connect us to each other in a new and innovative way.  With D2L we are not just using our cell phone for business or a medium for social networking; we can now do our homework and respond to chats and discussion groups from anywhere.

So, we ask have we finally arrived at the perfect LMS site.  Judging from what my fellow students have said in our discussions, LMS systems are still cumbersome, slower than desired and difficult to learn and navigate, compared to some social media sites: Facebook; My Space; and the list goes on.  The most useful tools are places that allow us to communicate and work on group projects.  While I am not knowledgeable enough to know much about assessment, I think it is difficult to create a system that actually measures what is learned in a meaningful and thorough way.  This may be something that is missing and needs further study and research.  Or as Michael Feldstein wrote in Desire 2 Learn Competencies and Rubrics: Part 1”…what are the most important outcomes of an education?”  Can we competently assess what students are learning?  How useful is an LMS system, even with all the bells and whistles and gadgets LMS systems have today, when it comes to assessing learning outcomes and student needs?