e-learning platforms: Learning Management Systems and beyond Gerald Haese gerald.haese@fu-berlin.de CeDiS Center für Digitale Systeme Kompetenzzentrum e-learning / Multimedia
e-learning platforms Principals - Learning Management Platform is key for e-learning (LMS) - Managing the Learning Process - Platform for Teaching and Learning - Our point of view: no administration, only support for the learning process - Administration is for SIS s (HIS, SAP CM..) 2
Learning Management Systems Keyfeatures - Mainly used features - Distribution of learning materials - E-Mail function - Announcements - Additional features - Test- an (Self-)Assessment (e-exams) - Asynchronous communication (Discussion Board) - Synchronous communication (Chat, Whiteboard) - Calendar - Gradebook => mainly instructor led (rights and roles) 3
Learning Management Systems Selection process at FU - Starting in 2003 - Guidelines: - Product no programming project - Ease of use - Central platform for the whole university - Usage in blended learning scenarios - Evaluation: - Questionnaire with four sections - Authors and lectures (52 Questions) - Students and lectures (75 Questions) - Administration (49 Questions) - Comprehensive (6 Questions) 4
Learning Management Systems Keyplayer in university use - Commercial - Blackboard - Former WebCT Campus and Vista - Time2Learn - CLIX - - Open source - Moodle - Sakai - OLAT - ILIAS (german) - Stud-IP (german) - Many home grown applications 5
Learning Management System Short list in FU evaluation - Commercial - Blackboard - WebCT Vista - Open source - ILIAS (german) Decision for Blackboard Academic Suite Learning System Community Portal Content Collection 6
LMS Introduction Integration plan - Aims - In four years 1/4 of all lectures with LMS Support - In four years 1/3 of lecturers trained in platform usage - Support Concept - Basic training 3h - Additional training 1,5h - Test- and Assessment - Advanced communication features - Hotline and e-mail Support - Coaching by e-learning consultants (especial Content Collection) 7
Central Learning Management System (LMS) Teamwork Chat Forums Learning materials Self-tests Evaluation Information Community Library Course Course Course Course Catalog Central entry point!!! 8
Were we are now? Classroom Online Lectures Seminar Literature Online Surveys E-Mail Chat Forums Exercises Tutorial Laboratory Multimedia Digital Materials Self-tests Lectures Blended Learning Lectures Tutorials Library e-mail Without LMS Lectures Tutorials Library Informations Blended Learning I»Introduction«Lectures Tutorials e-tutor Library Informations Blended Learning II»Extended«Lectures Exam preparation Tutorials e-tutor Library Informations Blended Learning III»Maximum«Materialcollection Multimediamaterial Exam preparation Tutorials e-tutor Library Informations Materialcollection Materialcollection Materialcollection Multimediamaterial Online-Courses 9
Degree of Utilization 19633 18496 18147 16172 16535 12162 9935 5284 1245 1359 1621 1679 1730 2865 870 Students (in 100) Courses 700 23 145 290 535 Summer Wi nter Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Summer 04 04/ 05 05 05/ 06 06 06/ 07 07 07/ 08 08 09 10
hp Proliant DL380-G3 hp Proliant DL380-G3 P R O C E S S O R P R O C E S S O R hp Proliant DL380-G3 hp procurve 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 7 9 19 switch 2824 J4903A Status Lnk LED RPS Act Mode Power Fan T FD x Test Spd M Reset Clear 20 Fault Cons ole Sp d mo de : of f = 10 Mb ps, f la sh = 10 0 Mbps, o n = 1 000 Mbps 10/100/1000-T Ports (1-20) - Ports are IEEE Auto MDI/MDI-X T M P R O C E S S O R Dual-Personality Ports: 10/100/1000-T(T) or Mini-GBIC (M) - T ports are IEEE Auto MDI/MDI-X 21 22 23 24 T T M Us e on ly o ne (T or M) for ea ch D ua l-pe rson ali ty por t M T T M M T T M M hp Proliant DL380-G3 P R O C E S S O R What s behind? Blackboard, Produktionssystem Zum FU-Netz, Internet. Protokolle: HTTP, HTTPS, LDAP an FUDIS Appllikationsserver 1 Applikationsserver 2 Applikationsserver 3 MS-SQL, SMB, je nach Interface, administrativ: Netbackup, Remote Desktop, Hardbeat Dateiserver Interner Switch für File und DB Traffic SMB administrativ: Netbackup, Remote Desktop MS-SQL, administrativ: Netbackup, Remote Desktop, SMB Datenbankserver Version 7.3; Stand Nov. 2007 11
Pro / Contra Blackboard LMS strong points: - ease-of-use for students and teachers (maybe except Content Collection) - quite stable operation - scalable architecture - expandability (Building Blocks concept) - large user community weak points: - mainly instructor centered - lack of tools for student participation / collaboration - Poor technical documentation, proprietary API - old UI techniques (no deep linking possible) - lack of standard conformity e.g. SOAP, WSRP, JSR168 - lack of conformity with the German data protection laws 12
LMS usage, evaluation Student Survey - general acceptance: 88 % would favor a LMS supported course over a traditional course - most students say: the LMS - facilitates student work - saves time - is easy to use - most used functions: - course materials, course information - e-mail, test, discussion board - average login time: 78 % less than 1 hour/week - usability: 72 % had no or few technical or handling problems - students technical equipment: - 71 % have a broadband internet connection - 74 % have a notebook 13
IT-Integration SAP/CM Campus Management - courses - cours participants - marks, credits ZUV/eAS Central Learning Management System FUDIS FU Identity and Directory Service - student records - theacher records - authentication ZEDAT Streaming Server - video - audio Blackboard CeDiS ALEPH, Metalib - online-catalogue - digital Media CeDiS UB in use in development planning stage Central Content Management Zentrales CMSystem Infopark - Lernmaterial NPS - learning materials CeDiS 14
LMS and beyond, PLE? What to come? - Personal learning environments - Learner centric - Combined Tools - E-portfolios - Integration of social software - External Tools e.g. Facebook, Yahoo groups Hype? Closed Systems vs. open course ware, end of LMS? 15
IT-Integration FUDIS FU Directory and Identity Service - central service for personal data and authentication - aggregation of data from different systems (SAP, HIS, ) - high data quality - daily updates - LDAP Implementation - flexible, component-based architecture - data protection: passwords are only stored at FUDIS, not in the LMS - SOAP Web Services - security: IP numbers, SSL, password 16
LMS Lessons learned - Use only one platform in one organization - One access point for all study activity - Features are not king (kis) - Communication and writing skills less than expected - Forum usage without enforcement - Blog without edition useless - You won t get any functionality in one product - Integrate other systems - Start with central id-management - Shibbolise your environment - Support your instructors - Think of 24*7 for real online courses 17
Student Portal: Community Students materials for exam preparation??? Peer-to-peer exchange 18
Web 2.0 / Social Software Social Software Content produced by users Low threshold / easy-to-use The Web as workspace User self-organization Social networks Linking of content and services Blogs and Wikis in teaching Simple creation of Web content by teachers and students Supporting collaboration and communication Discursive writing style Peer-to-peer review Working together on texts Knowledge exchange through networking and linking up 19
Web 2.0 / Social Software CeDiS Services Blog availability - personal blog for all FU members - (multi-user) blog for Blackboard courses - System selected: WordPress Additionally planned CeDiS Services Training courses and workshops on Social Software Wiki availability - Wikis for Blackboard courses RSS feeds - announcements from Blackboard courses (Podcasts, Social Bookmarking,...) 20
Thank you for your attention! Questions? Gerald Haese gerald.haese@fu-berlin.de CeDiS Center für Digitale Systeme Kompetenzzentrum e-learning / Multimedia www.cedis.fu-berlin.de