An Asynchronous learning can occur when either a teacher or a student is off line. The Content, Assignments, Test/Quizzes and Discussions are available for the student to continue participating and learning. The student still has access to material, and can continue throughout the course at their own pace.
A Synchronous session is when both the teacher and the student are engaged in a real time setting. This can include an instant message, and videoconferencing. The student can ask a question and the teacher can answer immediately.
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Navigate 1.2.1 Describe Roles and Functions of Online Learning Environment
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Navigate 1.3.1 Discussing LMS and CMS
The lines start to blur when comparing a LMS (Learning Management System) and a CMS (Course Management System).
According to Wikipedia
LMS functionality
- Course Content Delivery
- Student Registration and Administration
- Training Event Management (i.e., scheduling, tracking)
- Curriculum and Certification Management
- Skills and Competencies Management
- Skill Gap Analysis
- Individual Development Plan (IDP)
- Assessing and resulting
- Reporting
- Training Record Management
- Courseware Authoring
- Resource Management
- Virtual Organizations
- Performance Management System Integration
A CMS (Course management system) is a smaller function. This system focuses on the management and distribution of eLearning and teacher led learning.
When trying to decide if you should go with a LMS or a CMS, you should first consider the importance of reporting data. If you need to report data, than you would need to go with an LMS.
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Navigate 2.1.1 Delivery Methods and the Synchronous Vendor Market
Here is a look at the services available for Synchronous Sessions. I have used some of the ones listed in the slide show.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 2.1.2 Recorded Session
The first time I used Adobe Connect, I was a little lost. However, I had resources available that I could use to help me become familiar with the process. Once you learn a system, hosting a learning sessions becomes automatic. I like Adobe Connect, because I am able to store my PowerPoint presentations from one semester to the next. I like that I can just log into my account and all of my presentations are there. I have found the overall experience with Adobe connect to be satisfying after learning how to upload and set up my learning classroom.
Here is a link to the Recorded Session that I did in Adobe Connect: Click here
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 2.1.3 Commercial versus Open Virtual Classrooms
Both Commercial and Open Source Software offer the teacher and the student to interact in real time. A commercial software will come with a fee that is charged to the community that is purchasing the program. Because of the fees associated with purchasing the product, there is ample amount of customer service and there is more security associated with a commercial platform.
With an open source platform, the customer service is not as readily available and the software is free, but the security is not a reliable. I could see using an open source platform if students from she same subject area, but were assigned different classes wanted to form a study group.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 2.1.4 Lecture Capture
Capture lectures are a good way for teachers to teach a lesson and save it for students to view at their leisure. It would allow teacher to present important content material that better prepares students for course evaluations. This gives the teacher a chance to record important concepts and demonstrate what they need their students to learn. The student has the ability to go back and view the recorded session as needed. The teacher would have the ability to share teaching concepts and break the lessons down even further to help each student have a better understanding of concepts.
Lecture capture would modify teaching lessons that would help students understand more difficult content. A teacher could capture the lecture and explain it beyond what the written content has available. Teachers could also use this to help students that may have IEP's that require additional course accommodations.
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3.1.1 LMS Tool Categories
My role within the LMS is "teacher", so when I think about the LMS system as a whole, it is difficult to narrow down which I feel are the most essential. All components of an LMS are important and vital to the learning process becuase each depends on the other to be successful.
Specifically, my role as a teacher, I depend on these features the most:
Course Home: This is where my class is located, my class would not exist without a course home, I often visit the course home because this is home base and where I have access to all of the course.
Email: to communicate with students effectively and promptly.
Course Assessment: This is where is evaluate student knowledge give credit for taking the course.
Grade Book: Here I can check on student achievement and progress.
ePortfolio: Here I can keep track of my personal growth as an online educator.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 3.1.2 Creation and Investigation into Courses
I choose Blackboard. Blackboard was very easy to use and quick! At first I was intimated by this quest and I was hesitant to even began. After choosing Blackboard, I uploaded the file course content that was provided within this quest.
The tools blackboard uses are content, uploads, videos and pictures.
After the content uploaded I was prompted by the system to invite students into my course. I was given links to the course and asked to share those links. I was also prompted to participate in a "Quick Setup Guide". Blackboard is very user friendly. Once one step was complete, the next step was prompted on the screen.
This experience was much easier than I expected. I will actually use this feature in my face to face classes. I am thankful for this quest and I plan on utilizing this in the future.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 3.1.3 Tools within the LMS
The tools that I find the most valuable and least valuable are:
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Navigate 3.1.4 LMS Reporting
The options for grade reporting are listed below:
1. Student Level: this report will tell us how many times a student accesses a course. It will include how many times they attempted a quiz, viewed content or clicked on different tools within the course. This allows us to see what the student is doing and will allow the teacher to communicate with the parent and student if an issue occurs within the course.
2. Teacher Level: This report is useful in giving the teacher feedback on the grades that were earned during the course. This report also allows the teacher to see which material is most and least effective within the course. With this information, the teacher can see where students are most and least successful and allow the teacher to adjust teaching methodsd
3. Course Level: This report allows the course designers the opportunity to improve a course where there may be a weakness.
4. Program Level: This report is important to administration. This report lest the adminstrators see the program as a whole and allows them to make adjustments in overall effectiveness.
The levels that are most important to me as an instructor are Student and Teacher Level. These two levels allow the student and the teacher to both be evaluated. These evaluations will allow for growth and improve overall performance.
_________________________________________________________________________________ Navigate 3.2.1 Tools for Deciding on an LMS
Capterra here is a list of the top 20 LMS for business or educational purposes
1Edmodo
2Moodle
3Blackboard
4SuccessFactors
5SkillSoft
6Schoology
7Cornerstone
8Instructure
9Brightspace
10TOPYX
11 Collaborize Classroom
12Litmos
13Latitude Learning
14eFront
15DigitalChalk
16Educadium
17TalentLMS
18Docebo
19Meridian Knowledge Solutions
20eLogic Learning
My top 3 K12 LMS are:
1. Desire2Learn- I am most familiar with this platform and find that it is effective and accurate.
2. Blackboard- Blackboard is easy to use and allows teachers to upload course content and manipulate the software with ease.
3. Edmodo – Allows the teacher to connect with students in a safe environment. It allows the teacher to list assignments and update class information.
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Navigate 4.1.1 Trend Impact
Both Commercial and Open Source Software offer the teacher and the student to interact in real time. A commercial software will come with a fee that is charged to the community that is purchasing the program. Because of the fees associated with purchasing the product, there is ample amount of customer service and there is more security associated with a commercial platform.
With an open source platform, the customer service is not as readily available and the software is free, but the security is not a reliable. I could see using an open source platform if students from she same subject area, but were assigned different classes wanted to form a study group.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 2.1.4 Lecture Capture
Capture lectures are a good way for teachers to teach a lesson and save it for students to view at their leisure. It would allow teacher to present important content material that better prepares students for course evaluations. This gives the teacher a chance to record important concepts and demonstrate what they need their students to learn. The student has the ability to go back and view the recorded session as needed. The teacher would have the ability to share teaching concepts and break the lessons down even further to help each student have a better understanding of concepts.
Lecture capture would modify teaching lessons that would help students understand more difficult content. A teacher could capture the lecture and explain it beyond what the written content has available. Teachers could also use this to help students that may have IEP's that require additional course accommodations.
_________________________________________________________________________________
3.1.1 LMS Tool Categories
Specifically, my role as a teacher, I depend on these features the most:
Course Home: This is where my class is located, my class would not exist without a course home, I often visit the course home because this is home base and where I have access to all of the course.
Email: to communicate with students effectively and promptly.
Course Assessment: This is where is evaluate student knowledge give credit for taking the course.
Grade Book: Here I can check on student achievement and progress.
ePortfolio: Here I can keep track of my personal growth as an online educator.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 3.1.2 Creation and Investigation into Courses
I choose Blackboard. Blackboard was very easy to use and quick! At first I was intimated by this quest and I was hesitant to even began. After choosing Blackboard, I uploaded the file course content that was provided within this quest.
The tools blackboard uses are content, uploads, videos and pictures.
After the content uploaded I was prompted by the system to invite students into my course. I was given links to the course and asked to share those links. I was also prompted to participate in a "Quick Setup Guide". Blackboard is very user friendly. Once one step was complete, the next step was prompted on the screen.
This experience was much easier than I expected. I will actually use this feature in my face to face classes. I am thankful for this quest and I plan on utilizing this in the future.
_________________________________________________________________________________Navigate 3.1.3 Tools within the LMS
The tools provided within in an LMS are essential to the function and productivity of any course. Below the list that were provided in the Navigate 3.1.3 quest, I have created a powerpoint that explores what I find most and least valuable.
Here is a list of all tools presented within the 3.1.1 quest:
Here is a list of Learner tools:
Here is a list of all tools presented within the 3.1.1 quest:
Tool
|
Description
|
Asynchronous (not real-time) communication tool that is commonly used. Some systems utilize personal/school email accounts. At times, these accounts can be used in unison with the LMS. Other systems, can provide this as a built in feature allowing communication only between parties enrolled in the LMS.
| |
| Notification System |
Some LMS vendors have built in a separate notification system. Learners may be able to sign up for alerts to be displayed to them in the LMS or sent outside of the LMS via email or SMS (text message) when an event in the LMS triggers an alert. Examples of alerts might be updated course grade, discussion reply, dropbox due date, upcoming quiz, and course news announcement.
|
| Discussions |
Most LMS vendors have an embedded discussion tool in their systems. Discussions are areas where teachers or learners can pose questions to the class or organization on particular topics. The rest of the learner population can respond with their thoughts. The discussion tool can be utilized as planned probing discussions where a teacher is looking for more information from the learners or as an additional help for the class. This conversation is not real time and gives learners a chance to compose their thoughts or pose their questions and wait for a response from their peers or teachers.
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| Instant Messaging |
Instant messaging (IM) is a real time communication tool that some LMS providers have chosen to build directly into their platforms. Depending on the age of the learner population, it may be the best alternative to use the built in IM tool so they are unable to communicate outside of their classmates and teachers. These tools work similar to other popular Instant Messaging software applications such as Google Talk, Facebook Chat, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, etc. These tools allow real time communication between learners and learners and teachers for 1:1 or 1:group chats.
|
| Blogs |
Blog tools are utilized to provide students and teachers a mechanism to post reflections, critical thinking and long-form responses to assessments or self-checks in their courses. Many platforms allow for these to be set up in multiple ways. Blogs created inside the LMS can be accessible for viewing from only inside the LMS, meaning viewed only by specific course members, or published for the world to see.
|
| Social Profiles | Many LMSs are becoming social. LMS platforms are adding profiles of their users so learners can share their external personal learning network IDs. Users can often times post profile pictures, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn accounts in their profiles. |
| Calendar | Calendar tools are used in most LMS platforms to communicate upcoming dates and timelines for course events and organizational events. Many allow students to subscribe to these events externally in another calendar tool they may use. |
| Alert Systems or Agents | Some of the more robust LMS vendors are utilizing systems that can trigger auto-notifications based on certain criteria or milestones that occur in the system. These are often referred to as agents. Many teachers utilize these systems to send emails or other alerts when students haven’t logged into the course in a few days or when an upcoming quiz or exam is a few days away. |
Here is a list of Learner tools:
Tool
|
Description
|
| Dropbox |
A folder or area in which a learner can upload a document, presentation, or images for a more formal assessment.
|
| Discussions |
An area in which instructors and learners can delve into the topic, questioning one another and aiding in the understanding of the material. This is an interaction between the stakeholders to help assess that can be both formal and informal. Be sure to indicate which are formal and which are not for fairness.
|
| Quizzing/ Testing |
This tool can be used as a pre-assessment to indicate what a student knows beforehand and as a post assessment with possible quizzing in between. Quizzing/Testing can be both open ended and/or multiple choice. In some instances depending on the LMS, the quizzes can be set for automatic grading with feedback already set. This allows for the learner to see both results and feedback instantly without the instructor.
|
| Self- Assessments / Surveys |
This tool allows the student to self-assess and garner what their own understanding of material is before proceeding with a more formal assessment. These can be set by the teacher as a self-assessment or even a survey.
|
| Integrated Rubrics |
An informal assessment that can be used formally to specifically state criteria of evaluating the learner’s work. These can be integrated into discussions and dropboxes. This allows the assessments to be objective and consistent, promoting learner awareness of criteria to be evaluated.
|
| Gradebook | A summary of the learner’s overall progress yet also contains the breakdown of the grade categories. In some LMS, the gradebook also displays the written feedback. |
| User Progress/Class Progress | Provides login information, data, and usage patterns of students. |
The tools that I find the most valuable and least valuable are:
Navigate 3.1.4 LMS Reporting
The options for grade reporting are listed below:
1. Student Level: this report will tell us how many times a student accesses a course. It will include how many times they attempted a quiz, viewed content or clicked on different tools within the course. This allows us to see what the student is doing and will allow the teacher to communicate with the parent and student if an issue occurs within the course.
2. Teacher Level: This report is useful in giving the teacher feedback on the grades that were earned during the course. This report also allows the teacher to see which material is most and least effective within the course. With this information, the teacher can see where students are most and least successful and allow the teacher to adjust teaching methodsd
3. Course Level: This report allows the course designers the opportunity to improve a course where there may be a weakness.
4. Program Level: This report is important to administration. This report lest the adminstrators see the program as a whole and allows them to make adjustments in overall effectiveness.
The levels that are most important to me as an instructor are Student and Teacher Level. These two levels allow the student and the teacher to both be evaluated. These evaluations will allow for growth and improve overall performance.
_________________________________________________________________________________ Navigate 3.2.1 Tools for Deciding on an LMS
1Edmodo
2Moodle
3Blackboard
4SuccessFactors
5SkillSoft
6Schoology
7Cornerstone
8Instructure
9Brightspace
10TOPYX
11 Collaborize Classroom
12Litmos
13Latitude Learning
14eFront
15DigitalChalk
16Educadium
17TalentLMS
18Docebo
19Meridian Knowledge Solutions
20eLogic Learning
My top 3 K12 LMS are:
1. Desire2Learn- I am most familiar with this platform and find that it is effective and accurate.
2. Blackboard- Blackboard is easy to use and allows teachers to upload course content and manipulate the software with ease.
3. Edmodo – Allows the teacher to connect with students in a safe environment. It allows the teacher to list assignments and update class information.
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Navigate 4.1.1 Trend Impact
After examining the growing trends and the impact on virtual education, I have concluded that online education is here to stay and is growing in popularity. The 3 top areas of interest for teachers in European and North America countries ranked the following as their top interest in Educational Trends:
1. Web-based tools for education
2. Online Educational Resources
3. Digital Literacy
The least interest trends were:
1. Interactive Whiteboards
2. Digital Games in Education
3. Mobile Learning
When I compare the top 3 interest with the lowest 3 interest, I notice that the top interest are areas in which higher skill and higher level of learning takes place. The top interest show me that educators are thinking how they can maximize student learning by using virtual tools to have a plethora of information available to their students. Having the best information and the top technology to access that information is vital.
The bottom 3 interest appear to be areas of interest that do not require higher level thinking and do not expand much on student knowledge. The bottom 3 appear to support the current learning methods, but do not really offer much beyond what is already being presented in a classroom.
I agree with the teacher surveyed. I think "Web-based tools for education" is the most important trend. I believe having a virtual learning environment is where many face to face schools will be heading in the future. Textbooks, assignments, test, etc. will be done virtually even in the face to face environment. Learning will move from traditional hard copied assignments to a blended virtual setting.
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