There are so many questions to consider when converting a F2F course into an online course, but I think the main question is “what online tools does Benoît think he will need to make his F2F course into an online course that meets the course objectives?” I think this the most important question to ask in deciding between the two platforms. Embedded within this question are many others. How does he want to communicate with students? How will his students communicate with each other? Does this course require collaboration? How will this take place? How does he want to assess the students? Does he want to incorporate social media? How does he want to organize his course? What resources does he want to make available to the students?
The reason why I think this is the most important question is based on the SECTIONS model by Bates (2014). Presumably the Students that will want to take this course will be similar between his F2F and the online course, though the online course may be a more diverse group given the increase in accessibility. I am going to assume that accessibility is not going to be an issues as these students are voluntarily signing up for this online course. As for Ease of use, both platforms have been used by students in higher education, and thus usability will only differ slightly and may vary by individual, with some preferring Moodle while other Blackboard. As for Benoît, he has never worked with Blackboard or Moodle so there will be a learning curve regardless. At this point, I have too little information to determine which is easier to use for Benoît and his background. As for Cost, I will consider it equivalent for Benoît as the university already uses Blackboard and Moodle. Teaching functions, Interactions, Organization issues and Networking will be the distinguishing factors between the two systems. And this is why the answer to the above question on online tools becomes important. By knowing what he wants his course to look like in the end, it will help him compare the two systems to see which better enables him to create his “ideal” online course. As for Security and privacy, I’m going to assume that both systems comply with university policies given that they are already being used.
Development time is a hard question for me. I’m not sure how much time is needed to make a course to begin with. But here goes. Assuming that he has 5 hours a week to work on this course:
- Think about/brain storm what he wants his course to look like and what kinds of tools he wants to use – 1 week
- Compare both Moodle and Blackboard and decide which one is better suited for his course – 1 week
- Become familiar with chosen platform – 1 week
- Start to convert F2F course into online format (13 week course) – 13 weeks
- Testing of online course – 2 weeks
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in digital age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ (Chapter 8 on SECTIONS framework)