Course Management Systems Versus Learning

Transcription

1 1 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM Curse Management Systems Versus Learning Management Systems By Saul Carliner One questin that vexes many e-learning specialists is, What is the real difference between curse management systems (CMSs), like WebCT and Blackbard, and learning management systems (LMSs), like NetDimensins EKP, Saba, and SumTtal? Here s a descriptin f what CMSs are and the issues that arise when using them, fllwed by a similar discussin f LMSs. On the surface, the CMSs and LMSs seem similar. Bth let yu enrll participants in curses, cmmunicate with learners, track perfrmance, and launch learning materials. But the tw were designed fr very different uses. As a result, althugh ne system may seem intriguing, if yu use it fr a purpse fr which it was nt riginally designed, prblems in applying the system may arise. T make sure that yu chse the type f system that best meets yur needs, this article cmpares CMSs and LMSs. Saul Carliner is an assistant prfessr f educatinal technlgy at Cncrdia University in Mntreal, Quebec, and an ASTD Research Fellw. His bks include An Overview f Online Learning, Designing E-Learning, and, with Margaret Driscll, Advanced Web-Based Training. Cntact him at saul.carliner@sympatic.ca. CMSs: designed t supprt academic classrm curses Curse management systems (CMSs) are nline systems that were riginally designed t supprt classrm learning in academic settings, such as universities and high schls. CMSs prvide instructrs with the ability t perfrm the fllwing tasks: Place curse materials nline. Mst CMSs prvide pre-prgrammed buttns fr the curse syllabus, curse schedule, and curse materials linked t specific lessns, such as cpies f readings and PwerPint slides frm lectures. Track student prgress thrugh assessment features, which enable instructrs t give quizzes and tests nline, and an nline gradebk, where instructrs can pst student grades. Discussin bard, where instructrs and students can discuss readings and cntinue class discussins between frmal class sessins. Other cmmunicatins tls, which let instructrs send annuncements t classes and cmmunicate individually with students Lck bx fr students, where students can stre class materials in a safe place either a presentatin t give later in class r backing up class assignments in a safe place. Curse statistics, which prvide infrmatin n the use f the curse site, including wh used the curse site and when. Examples f CMSs include the cmmercial prducts Blackbard and WebCT, and the pen surce system, Mdle. Because CMSs enable instructrs t easily create a curse website by

2 2 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM fllwing a template and uplading existing dcuments in PwerPint, Wrd, Excel, Acrbat and ther ppular frmats withut cnverting them t a web frmat (like HTML), they require few specialized skills. As a result, CMSs are easy t learn and were quickly adpted by instructrs, even thse wh might claim t be luddites. Indeed, sme universities reprt that well ver 70 percent f their instructrs have created curse websites using CMSs. CMSs als have prven ppular in managing asynchrnus academic distance curses, t, because f their ability t manage discussins. In additin, given that CMSs were already installed and in wide use nly adds t their ppularity. When using a CMS t manage a distance curse, instructrs pst a cre lessn a master script, f srts, that guides students thrugh readings, discussins, and learning activities instead f merely psting readings and PwerPint slides fr each lessn,. Instructrs then use the discussin bard t manage the curse discussins, which are usually mre extensive than thse used in classrm curses. Figure 1 shws an example f a script frm a curse n mediated cmmunicatin. Figure 1: Script fr a Graduate Curse Mediated Cmmunicatin 4.2 Chse the Genre (Frmat) fr the Cntent The first majr design chice that yu make is the genre, r frmat, fr this cntent. T intrduce yu t the cncept f genre, this sectin first gives yu a hands-n intrductin t the cncept f genre. Then, it asks yu t read an article abut the use f genre in mediated (nline) cmmunicatin and discuss what yu read. Last, this sectin suggests ways t apply the cncept f genre in yur prject Opening Activity D the fllwing: 1. Visit the CIA Wrld Factbk at 2. When the Factbk appears, visit the descriptin f the cuntry Malawi. (The drp dwn menu listing the cuntries in the factbk appears in the middle f the page.) 3. When the descriptin f Malawi appears, nte the headings there. 4. After reviewing the descriptin, visit the descriptins f Japan and Mldva. Next, d the fllwing: 1. Visit the Yur Guide t Diabetes at the website, WebMD (my.webmd.cm/cntent/article/45/1667_50910.htm#1) 2. When the Guide appears, skim thrugh it and nte the types f infrmatin prvided. Pay special attentin t the headings. 3. After familiarizing yurself with the Diabetes Center, visit the fllwing additinal disease centers and skim each paying special attentin t the headings: Heart disease (my.webmd.cm/medical_infrmatin/ cnditin_centers/heart_disease/default.htm) Allergies (my.webmd.cm/medical_infrmatin/ cnditin_centers/allergies/default.htm) Discussin Questin: After skimming thrugh the last f the disease centers, answer the fllwing questins:

3 3 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM Answer the fllwing questins abut the CIA Wrld Factbk: D the prfiles f the cuntries in the CIA Wrld Factbk use similar headings? If s, which nes? Are the headings presented in the same rder in all cuntry prfiles r nt? D the different prfiles emply a similar layut? If s, what s similar abut it? What is the writing style in the first disease center? Is this the same writing style that yu fund in the fifth center? If nt, hw did it differ? As yu visited the third prfile, what did yu expect t find in it? Hw did yu determine that this infrmatin shuld be included in the prfile? Were yur expectatins met? If yes, what did yu find? If nt, what did nt match the expectatins? Answer the same questins again abut the three Disease Guides that yu visited at WebMD. Which reference is easier fr users? Why? Share yur respnses with yur classmates in the discussin area f the curse n WebCT. In additin, keep yur respnses fr the Recrd f Activities. Althugh easy t use and widely installed, CMSs pse a few challenges fr their users. In exchange fr the ease f use, mst CMSs prvide instructrs with a limited flexibility in designing curse. CMSs typically cme with standard sectins that instructrs must prvide, and the sectin names are nt easily altered. Limited capability t prvide interactive e-learning. Althugh they let instructrs test students nline, the tests must usually cnfrm t templates and e-learning primarily cnsists f reading transcripts, like the ne in Figure 1. T add mre imaginative and interactive e-learning via authring tls like Flash and Dreamweaver, instructrs must link t separately created materials. That is, the lessn cannt be created and upladed in the CMS. The material must be created with different tls and stred elsewhere. Limited testing and recrd keeping abilities. Althugh CMSs let students take tests nline, sme lack the security measures t verify that students are really wh they say they are and sme have lst tests that students cmpleted befre transmitting them t the instructr fr grading. In additin, althugh mst CMSs have added capabilities t autmatically transfer grades frm the gradebk t ther systems used t track student prgress, this capability is nt available in all CMSs and ften increases the cst significantly. Similarly, because mst universities use ther systems t enrll students and manage payments, mst CMSs cannt check that students have prerequisite curses. Or, t be mre blunt, academic institutins need a means f making sure that graduating students have paid their library fines befre awarding a diplma, and CMSs d nt prvide such capabilities because universities have already made

4 4 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM large investments in ther systems t d that. The system that is mst widely used in universities t manage enrllments and grades, and link t ther university recrds systems is an administratin system called Banner. Cst. As the market matures and sftware publishers add cmplex features (especially t appeal t the crprate market), prices fr CMSs have risen sharply in recent years. Althugh cst has driven sme universities t strengthen their cmmitments t their CMSs, it has driven ther universities t drp their CMSs and prvide pen surce tls that d nt carry a lease r purchase cst. LMSs: designed t supprt crprate training Learning management systems (LMS) refers t sftware that primarily acts as an electrnic registrar by electrnically perfrming varius enrllment and related tasks. LMSs were riginally designed fr wrkplace learning envirnments, and specifically perfrm sme r all f the fllwing tasks: registratin track participatin (classrm attendance, sign-ns and sign-ffs f nline curses) track f cmpletins (including final scres r grades) testing fllw-up discussins with particpants aggregated reprts, such as the number f peple registered fr particular curses transfer f infrmatin t ther systems, such as human resurce infrmatin systems prcess charges fr curses, such as tuitin payments and transfer payments amng departments curse catalg skills management. Scres f LMSs are available n the market. Amng them are NetDimensins EKP, Saba, and SumTtal Systems. Frm a participant perspective, an LMS prvides a central pint frm which learners access activities. It prvides a list f curses available, and lets learners enrll in curses. If learners must cmplete prerequisite curses, the system can check that. After learners enrll in a curse, the system can autmatically generate an enrllment cnfirmatin and, later, a reminder abut the class. After class, the system can be used t test knwledge, recrd a curse cmpletin, and send the infrmatin t the learner s permanent emplyment recrd, as well as send fllw-up crrespndence t the learner. Fr an e-learning curse, the system can launch the curse, track student prgress, recrd cmpletins, and send the infrmatin t the learner s permanent emplyment recrd Fr administratrs, LMSs can be used t manage bth classrm and e-learning. Fr e-learning, the system starts the curse after the learner registers in the curse. Fr classrm curses, the LMS can prvide a variety f resurces, including schedules fr individual classrms (that is, facilities tracking capbilities) and class lists fr instructrs. LMSs can als be used t recrd and assess training satisfactin (Level 1). In additin, LMSs can generate a number f reprts, frm the number f students enrlling in particular curses t aggregated recrds f student perfrmance in particular curses. Althugh in increasingly wide use, LMSs pse a number f challenges fr

5 5 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM their users. Cst. Analysts in the nline learning industry cmment that learning management systems are ften the mst expensive learning investment made by rganizatins. Csts can easily range frm $500,000 t several millin dllars. Evlving technlgy. The technlgy used fr LMSs has changed extensively in the past three years. Sme mved frm inflexible t mre flexible platfrms. Others added many f the features f a learning cntent management system, which is used t manage electrnic surce files fr curses, s the material can be easily reused in ther curses. Challenges in custmizatin. Like clthing fr mst hard-t-fit peple, the unique quirks f a particular rganizatinal envirnment require that training rganizatins manage their peratins in a particular way and mst LMSs are designed t manage peratins in a different way. Althugh LMSs can be custmized (and this has becme easier with time), many cannt handle every unique need f a training rganizatin. Organizatins may have t d cmmissin custm prgramming t achieve their gals. Interperability with ther learning material. Because LMSs are suppsed t prvide a ne-stp shp t learners as well as track all learning activities, these systems shuld easily prvide links t all nline learning prgrams and easily share tracking infrmatin, test results, and similar material with curses. Althugh e-learning standards assist in these effrts, making sure that materials cnfrm t e-learning standards requires a fair amunt f wrk by the technical staff. Als, while LMSs are primarily designed t manage e-learning, that can be used t manage all f a training rganizatin s learning prgrams, including traditinal classrm learning. Cmparing CMSs and LMSs Because they were initially designed fr different envirnments CMSs fr universities and ther academic envirnments and LMSs fr wrkplace learning envirnments the tw systems have several distinct differences (see Table 1). Table 1: Summary f Differences amng LMSs and CMSs Curse Management Systems (CMS) Supprt fr nging classrm curses Enrllment Autmatically generated cnfirmatin ntes Curse catalg Skills management list Checks fr prerequisites befre allwing enrllment Seamless link t e-learning Learning Management Systems (LMS)

6 6 f 7 8/15/2007 8:29 AM Autmatically generated fllw-up crrespndence Grade bk Administers tests and (with sme limitatins) quizzes Autmatically transfers cmpletin infrmatin t the permanent recrd Discussin bard fr between-class cnversatin Smetimes CMSs are ideal fr managing classrm curses in universities and ther academic envirnments. The cmmunicatins capabilities they ffer make them ideal fr managing lng-term, academic distance curses taught in an asynchrnus manner, and fr which students are expected t d extensive reading. Althugh they can prvide links t ther types f asynchrnus e-learning, CMSs cannt be used t create them. These include asynchrnus e-learning mdules with animated (Flash) sequences and narrated lectures that need t be recrded in ther frmats. In additin, althugh they prvide recrd keeping features, CMSs were nt designed t recrd and reprt curse enrllments, final grades, payment fr curses, and similar administrative functins. Later versins f cmmercial CMSs nw prvide sme r all f these features, but because mst universities have lng-term investments in ther systems t handle such tasks, CMSs are nt likely t be adpted t handle administrative tasks. Unlike CMSs, LMSs are ideal fr e-learning prgrams, which can be created in ther tls r, when the LMS is part f an LCMS. Similarly, LMSs can als handle a brader range f registratin and related tasks than CMSs, because they were designed t d s. A client nce asked why universities and ther academic institutins cannt use LMSs. The answer: because educatin and training are different types f learning activities, the systems that supprt them are essentially different. As educatin is intended t build lng-term knwledge, the CMSs that supprt it are designed t supprt lng-term academic classrm classes. In cntrast, as training is intended t build knwledge fr immediate applicatin, s LMSs are designed t supprt a large number f shrt training events. In ther wrds, althugh e-learning is used in bth wrkplace and academic envirnments, the types f e-learning, the means f assessing it, and the types f recrds kept with it significantly differ amng the tw envirnments. As a result, different systems have been develped t meet the needs f thse envirnments. Published: Nvember 2005

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