At first, my “one” question was going to be ‘what are they going to use his office for?’ If the department head is asking a sessional instructor at a research-intensive university to turn his course into an online course . . .
Anyway, back to the task. This discussion question seems to be framed by the issue of support structures for the choice of LMS.
For Benoit, the advantages of Blackboard seem to be that he is used to the platform, and that it has university based support staff for that structure. The advantages that are provided by going with Moodle are that it is not administered by the university’s IT department and there is some use of it in other departments.
To make a decision about which platform to choose, Benoit may need to consider:
Will technical support for students be a key factor in the deployment of his Business Writing course? Bates chapter on ‘students’ advocates knowing their needs precipitates choice of technologies.
Will Benoit continue to think of his writing course as governed by an alignment to the learning outcomes of the university? The Spiro article speaks to the demise of LMS systems in favour of students finding information on their own terms. The Newman article writes that post-secondary institutions are uniquely poised to integrate infrastructure and support services. Is it time for Benoit to branch out and create his own course disconnected from/parallel to the one he is creating for the university? Can he create a new amalgamation in his course that blend the best of university benefits and his own creative initiative? If I have one question to ask (on behalf of Benoit) would be “Where do you want this to go?” Will the need for Business Writing courses continue at this university? Could this be an opportunity to build his skill base, create something new evidenced by his experience of designing and uploading other content?
If Benoit estimates that he will spend 5 hours a week developing his course, and it is going to be “live” next term then he should double/triple the hours a week he spends in the guess of 14 weeks. If he decides to go with Blackboard, which he knows an earlier version of, he will be accustomed to the framework and be able to “plug” in his prepared content. If he decides to go with Moodle, he will not only have to learn the structure, but figure out how/where to place content, feedback, assignments, online forums, among others. But is “plugging in” information really the answer?
Whether he decides on Moodle or Blackboard, isn’t really the question. I think Benoit will need to decide whether he will: a) rely on the university for direction and support; b) rely on more personal direction and a bigger role in supporting his students; or c) somehow blend the best of all invested stakeholders, creating something that will serve the here and now, but take him to another frontier.
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in digital age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ (Chapter 8 on SECTIONS framework)
Coates, H., James, R., & Baldwin, G. (2005). A critical examination of the effects of Learning Management Systems on university teaching and learning. Tertiary Education and Management, 11,(1), 19-36. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11233-004-3567-9
Newman, A. (2015). Evidence of learning: a framework for facilitation. EDUCAUSE Review, 50,(6), 47-62. Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/10/evidence-of-learning-a-framework-for-facilitation
Porto, S. (2015). The uncertain future of Learning Management Systems. The Evolllution: Illuminating the Lifelong Learning Movement. Retrieved from http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/uncertain-future-learning-management-systems/
Spiro, K. (2014). 5 elearning trends leading to the end of the Learning Management Systems. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/5-elearning-trends-leading-to-the-end-of-the-learning-management-system
Hi Keri,
Great post! I also question the “plugging-in” part. I believe there is so much more to consider when converting F2F course to an online format. Also, he only used WebCT vista for dissemination of lecture notes and reading. How much of that system does he really know? It sounds like he didn’t use many of the features (though my knowledge of the features is limited to what I’ve seen through our Blackboard).
Thanks for your comments! I agree with you that our responses to the scenario will be limited by our understanding of the platform. It feels crunchy and staged but I am hoping it becomes clearer as we move forward. All the best in the class!
K
Hi Keri, great post. I like the questions you posed in your last paragraph which cut to the heart of the matter beyond the question of platform.
To answer your first question, they will take his office and cut it into 6 cubicles to hire more people to address the increasing backlog at the HelpDesk!
That–my friend–is exactly what they will do!
Ha ha 🙂
K
Keri,
I absolutely love your take on this. These big questions are important: what is the ultimate purpose of the course AND what is the consequence of making a technological decision?
In the end, he will obviously have to make a decision (or he REALLY won’t have an office!), and I like how you took the Spiro and Porto articles to take this discussion out of the box of the two LMS systems alone.
I’m also not sure how to effectively estimate the time it takes to become acquainted with technologies and build a quality course shell when we ourselves are not necessarily aware of the affordances and constraints of particular tools, and/or the abilities of the “Benoits” of the cases. I suppose it’s a way to get us to consider how much time we would be willing to sink into a technology that we aren’t familiar with.
Victoria
You are right, Victoria. Part of this “brainstorming exercise” is to work with little or insufficient information. We are often faced with problems where we don’t necessarily have enough data to resolve. What do we do? What is your best estimate? It is good to keep this in mind and get back to it at the end of the course when your work in your own LMS shells is over. Then you will be able to reflect and see how close or far you were from what it really takes.
Natasha
Natasha,
Thanks for the clarification. It seems that this might be directly linked to one’s own perceived ‘savviness’ with acquainting themselves with a new technology. I know that I am one to simply push the buttons – an “Oooh, that’s what that does. And what does this do?” kind of mentality. Hopefully that will continue to serve me well in this process. However, when it comes to applying these times to the “Benoits”, it’s hard to tell based on a vague observation of their skills.
Victoria
Hi Keri,
Your comment “Whether he decides on Moodle or Blackboard, isn’t really the question” makes sense to me. I don’t thinking there much difference in either format, if he uses his existing web skills to create the content. The time will be to figure out the LMS tools, and how to use them to fit with his teaching content.
Parm
Keri,
I also thought that there was importance in how Benoit would deal with support for whichever LMS he decided to use. I know if I was in a similar position, I would investigate this even before I concerned myself with the SECTIONS model or some other selection/ basis for decision making. I would want to know the context or situation of my own setting.