Learning Technologies: Design & Applications

The Members of Group 4:

Brian Barkhurst; Chantal Drolet; Claudia Jack; Christine Little; Vicki Schrader; Denise Stoney-James

 Click here to see the evaluation rubric: Final Group Rubric

  PRÉCIS

Our group scenario was the following:

Interest in Royal Roads University’s MBA in Greater China has been huge!

1.      There’s no shortage of ambitious, qualified students;

• University leadership has determined that the enrolment can be increased to up to 800 new students per cohort.
• There are 3 cohorts each year: September, January, and May.

2.      But the increased student numbers has also seen an increase in server “issues,” i.e. crashes.

• Current technology is used to support Royal Roads’ entire distance education requirements

RATIONALE

A rubric is an effective tool for conducting assessments. In choosing learning management systems, we need to ensure that it has the relevant characteristics which will make it suitable for the educational purpose and the context.  

According to Bates & Poole:

“…teachers or educational administrators making decisions about educational technology should have some theoretical model or framework that guides the choice of media and technology. If not, they will be constantly driven by the latest technology development, whether or not they are appropriate” (2003, p. 80).

A well defined rubric can increase the chances of choosing appropriate technologies.

 As a group, we discussed the selection of criteria for evaluating a Learning Management System (LMS) compatible with the scenario we were given. 

We based the choice of our criteria on:

• Typical higher educational institution’s distance education requirements;
• The prospect of an expanded Chinese clientele;
• Possible demands /needs of this clientele;
• Our own LMS functionality measure;
• Relevant course literature;

The initial scenario suggests that Royal Roads University is concerned with server crashes. It follows that their most urgent concern would be with server requirements, reliability, and technical support. 

Additionally, the university’s Chinese enrollment increase suggests the need of special care given to multiple linguistic capabilities.

Bates & Poole’s SECTIONS model (2003), applicable to most educational contexts, inspired (some of) the categories selected in this rubric. We combined the characteristics of the SECTIONS MODEL (Bates & Poole, 2003) and the features of the LMS system to produce our final product.

This model assisted us in providing a holistic approach to evaluating the features of the product. It also allowed us to examine the LMS from different perspectives: that of the students who are the main users; that of the administrators who need to be convinced about its value and affordability; and that of the teacher. We also examine the interactivity and other relevant features.

We used a rating scale (0-1-2) to facilitate the measurement of each criterion so as to assess the overall quality of the rubric. Therefore, if required, a quantitative value may be determined. The possible scores range from 0-2 with 2 being the highest (and best) possible score per section, giving a total of 16 possible points. The result of the assessment can help determine the extent to which the important issues, relating to the technology from the perspective of different stakeholders, have been addressed.

 Our rubric is designed for this specific scenario, but could also be used for other educational institutions and learning environments. 

References

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

Panettieri, J. (2007). Addition by subtraction. University Business, August, 58-62. Accessed online 11 March 2009. <http://www.universitybusiness.com     /viewarticle.aspx?articleid=845>