Trends 4.1.1

I think the future of education is continuing to move more and more technology based. I think that the way the courses are moving are moving towards all courses being hybrid courses.

Here is a forecast from the E-learning blog.

Personalized Learning Experience (PLE)

You  may know more of it as personalization or localization, but if you take a real deep dive you will see more vendors going PLE.  The PLE is all about the learners as it should be and achieving PLE includes the following:

• Widgets – select as few or as many for each learner (BTW, expect more systems to offer widgets or something similar in 2016).  In the widget game, you as the learner has three widgets, me, I have six.  The administrator sets this up and in a few cases, each learner can select the widgets themselves (based upon what has been turned on)
• Each learner has their own theme.  One vendor already has this capability and several others offer nearly it, but are not really there – since the learner can’t have it throughout the system (usually it is just the home page)
• Each learner selects their own language (already appears in many systems)
• Each learner creates their own learning experience which is tied in many ways to deep learning (hello – another feature on the rise in 2016).  While systems going back from the dawn of LMSs have provided the opportunity for a learner to select their own courses, the factor of course is the administrator has to allow that; with deep learning obviously that changes things.  But for PLE, it is goes to the next tier. Everything is designed around me (as the learner).   In other words, what I want to see and need to gain new insight, knowledge and to build upon that knowledge and it is achieved using two key components.

a. Deep learning. 

b. Allow the learner to select from a variety of options and choices to change the front end – the learner side, more to their learning side, rather than perceived learning side defined by the system and/or administrator. 

Think of it this way, to expand about a PLE.  The ideal online course is one setup as non-linear, where I as the learner gets to choose what area or chapter or whatever to focus on to learn more, gain, synthesize more. So, what if you could take that mechanism if you will and expand it across the LMS?   A PLE does that (in simpliest terms) and more.  

I do think you will see more systems hit the first three bullet points, but the fourth point is the big “tada” moment.  I know of a couple that are getting close to delivering a PLE – as defined here.   Am I expecting the masses? No.  But as noted above, everything is pointing to more widgets/blocks, personalized learning in nature and oh yeah, Deep Learning!

Now I think that Personalized learning is the trend that will be making the most impact. With the future of online learning and traditional courses becoming more and more in the past personalized learning will allow for students to tailor their learning experiences and will become a trending fad.

Can a Best be Determined? 3.2.1

Trying to determine which LMS to use is like trying to get 20 women to decide they like the same pair of sandals.  Each vendor has its own merits depending on what you are looking for and the student audience you are trying to communicate with. For example professionals looking for job development courses are different that teaching on a k-12 level.

One article discussed the fact that the best for k-12 was Moodle and Sakai. Personally I found Moodle harder to navigate as a student and in the creation. As a student I preferred Blackboard. When I used Blackboard it was in the beginning stages. When I created a Blackboard for the creation quest, I saw that it had gone leaps and bounds above what I had used before. I feel like Blackboard would be good for college courses as well as k-12. It might not be as effective for a professional development course just for the simple fact that a professional development course might not need as much intricacies as a high school or college course.

Data Driven Assessment 3.1.4

With all the technology and resources available we as educators are expected to teach and reteach according to a data driven system. Results and progress of each student's learning is based on data that can be gained from all the different kinds of assessments we complete. Whether in the classroom or online classroom progress monitoring of our students is a must. We need a beginning level as can be documented by a pretest. Then we can start progress monitoring in different ways available through formal or informal assessments and other performance based assessments.

Different analytics for progress monitoring in the LMS are a progress bar where students can track their progress for completion as well as keep track of their actual grades. Blackboard offers opportunities for collaboration with peers as well as instructors which I feel is extremely important for learning. Blackboard also offers feedback venues and encourages involvement with facilitators and peers. Charts and graphs are also part of analytics.I think these things are the most important in monitoring and tracking progress for students.

A Plethora of Tools 3.1.3

List of tools available to use through Blackboard.

Achievements
Announcements
Blackboard Help
Blogs
McGraw Hill Higher Education Products
Grades
NBC Learn -  archived videos and news film
NBC Learn Playlist - personal media library
Rosters
Email
Calendar
Tasks
Voiceboard - audio based threaded discussion
Coursesites Live - synchronous learning and collaboration
Discussion board
Glossary
Groups
Journals
MERLOT research
WileyPLUS - etextbook
Wikis
Voice email
Voice podcasts
Groups
Journals

I think the basics that I discussed earlier are necessities for an online learning environment. However, these tools available through just an opensource LMS are amazing. It is very exciting to see this side of the course creation. I have been in online classes previously. Seeing the creation side of the course gets me very excited to actually be able to facilitate a course.

Creating a Course 3.1.2

To being creating a shell of a course, I went to the LMS that I had most recently used as a student, Moodle. Finding where to start on Moodle was not user friendly, but I finally found. It required a zipped download that once downloaded seemed impossible to navigate. I quickly gave up on it.

Next I went to Blackboard because I had also worked with Blackboard. It required a simple and quick log in. Once that was set up it gave options to create a course from scratch or upload a course already created.

 I chose to upload the zipped course package provided by GA Virtual Schools. I labeled it Test Learning Community. Once the content pack was uploaded, which did not take very long, links were provided to access the course, links for student logins, and also tutorials for students to be invited to the course.

Once in the actual course Blackboard allows for personalization and preferences. The areas for course content were set up, discussion boards, as well as a huge list of tools utilize. Bloggers, grades, achievements, announcements, podcasters, were among the many listed.

Overall, this was very easy to navigate. I would suggest using the Blackboard platform for anyone familiar or not familiar with online Learning management systems.

LMS Basics 3.1.1

When deciding the most relevant tools in a Learning Management System you must look to the basics. The more tools you have the better but, in my opinion, the basics must be in place for effective instruction to begin. I think the very basics are email and discussion boards. Once these two things can take place a virtual learning environment can begin. Discussion boards provide the opportunity for students and facilitators to communicate back and forth in almost a real time group discussion. Email also provides a medium for individual questions and allows those involved to send and receive assignments. Granted other tools are very useful and needed in creating an effective environment but an online learning environment could not exist without these two, in my opinion.

Lecture Capture 2.1.4

Lecture capture resources have completely changed the online learning world. In a virtual classroom, the face to face communication and peer interaction are the elements of a traditional classroom that are lost. With lecture capture tools this element is brought back into the non traditional classroom setting. The possibilities are almost limitless. Instructors have the capability to lecture to their students as well as have the students make tradition type presentations. Lecture capture is what we could call the missing link in online classrooms. If all virtual classrooms used this to the full capabilities this would fit with all learning styles as well as pedagogical styles.