A group project focused on determining how best to select a Learning Management System, proving the importance of defining the demographic of your learner population, current technology resources, budget, and technological expertise of the instructors who will be designing and using the LMS.
Kaur, D., Khan, R., Lenert, K., Marchessault, C. (2015). Online Delivery Platform Evaluation Rubric
See Also:
Choosing an LMS: A Reflection on the Decision Process
Bates (2014) SECTIONS model covers most of the considerations in selecting technology for use in online learning environments. I respect Dr. Bates, so find it hard to find anything missing in this model. He does consider technology use in both online learning and f2f environments. Certainly, each category of the SECTIONS model is important starting with students and who they are, what they need, what they are capable of using at any particular time. That naturally evolves into the ease of use. Even the most technologically skilled learner can get frustrated. I did like the idea of the UBC Tattoo Project, to assess and familiarize students in how to use or do things with technology before letting them loose in the LMS. I think the prep work you do for students will make a lot of difference in how likely they are to succeed in the course. Ease of use is one of the purposes of having EdTech staff to test drive technologies first before over-enthusiastic instructor introduce them. Not that often anymore, but still you hear students say that a technology won’t work on their computer.
Cost is definitely a factor, especially with the larger applications, such as the LMS, but also the tools to make the artifacts: Captivate, Camtasia, Photoshop. As well, there is the cost of hardware and servers to store all the media files. Some software available online has a free version, but I have often found that there are limitations so I end of paying for it or realize I should have investigated it further before committing. That takes you into the institutional issues of security. How many times have you tried to use something only to be told that it will not be supported by the institution as it is not deemed secure?
I bookmarked this site on Delicious a while ago and keep going back to it. “78 Reasonable Questions to Ask about Any Technology.” I refer to it since it asks things outside of the practical range.
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in digital age. http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage
78 Reasonable Questions to Ask about Any Technology.” http://www.mindfully.org/Sustainability/2003/78-Questions-TechnologyFeb03.htm