For the Online Delivery Platform Evaluation Rubric Assignment, our group was tasked with determining which LMS would successfully meet the needs of a new online program being developed to support students enrolled at Le Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie Britannique. After reviewing the scenario description, and attempting to assess the current and potential future needs of Le Conseil, we collaborated to create an evaluation rubric that was organized around four fundamental areas of consideration: Logistics, Support, and Management, Communication, Design, and Usability. Much like assessment rubrics that are created in collaboration with students to guide and support their work, our group developed a rubric that included four different rating levels to determine how a given LMS might function to meet the needs of Le Conseil. We attempted to create a clearly defined set of criteria to assess the ways in which different LMS would satisfy the goals as described within each of the four different categories.
In terms of assessing the current needs of Le Conseil and their new online program, we found this to be challenging, as we were unsure as to whether the online courses would be offered individually to students or within a cohort group structure. Therefore, the criteria that we incorporated within our rubric could be utilized to assess the capability of different LMS to meet the needs of both types of course organization. According to Coates (2005), customizable LMS provide course instructors and designers with the ability to be adaptable to the needs of diverse academic cultures and communities (p.31). I believe that this consideration is crucial in selecting and evaluating LMS, as the needs of the students will determine the future planning that the online program will be required to implement in order to support student learning and remain effective and relevant in a changing technological landscape.
The content of the course offerings will be required to match with student needs and expectations, and therefore, personalized course layout and design becomes crucial in helping instructors and students access and create adaptive content to meet changing needs and learning objectives (Spiro, 2014). We believe that these areas are addressed throughout the rubric, and most specifically within the design and usability categories.
Considerations around cost, infrastructure, and support for communications are critical in the LMS evaluation process. Although we didn’t receive any information about these areas as they apply to Le Conseil, we integrated these components into the evaluation rubric in a format that allows for flexibility in terms of the different LMS so that each may be applied for assessment purposes. The SECTIONS framework, as proposed by Bates (2014), provided further guidance with incorporating cost effectiveness, management features, and organizational issues into the overall scheme of the evaluation rubric.
We feel that our evaluation rubric represents the collective work of our team members, and reflects some of the differences in background knowledge and professional experiences that we each brought to the planning and final design.
Our LMS Evaluation rubric may be accessed here
References
Bates, J. (2014). Teaching in digital age, Chapter 8. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
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
Porto, S. (2015). The uncertain future of learning management systems. The Evolllution: Illuminating the Lifelong Learning Movement. Retrieved fromhttp://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