- What would be your advice to Benoît about the LMS choice in this context? Explain your reasoning.
In the case of Benoit, I commend his movement towards a more hybrid or blended learning module. As Bates (2014) suggests this type of learning has ¨some advantages over face-to-face teaching in terms of learning performance¨ (p. 313). As such, with a transformation in his teaching style, my first hint of advice would be that which I ask myself: How am I going to best meet the needs of my learners? Will I create a successful constructivist learning environment? Given that Benoit positions his approach to the LMS as putting the learner first, my second suggestion would be to examine and take the time to play around with the affordances. Much like I would provide my students with an opportunity to explore a technological affordance before proceeding, Benoit should give himself time to explore, discuss with fellow colleagues, and research areas of strength and weakness within each LMS. As Bates (2014) through his discussions within Chapter 11 suggest, at the forefront of his decision making should be the abilities and availability to work with a team, master the technology, design both course structure and learning activities, explore methods to communicate effectively with both learner and key support players, and explore evaluative opportunities (p.369). When Benoit feels confident and is comfortable with his direction, I believe his choice of Blackboard Connect or Moodle comes down to a choice between support and autonomy. Blackboard, in being supported through the major university comes with the benefit of a more succinct support system through the university’s internal IT department. Therefore, if Benoit is not yet confident enough to run his course online without support, he should accept a test run with Blackboard.
However, I believe there is another larger issue at stake here and it arose through the discussions of last week and the article by Coates, James, & Baldwin (2005). If Benoit is to keep autonomy throughout his course design, implementation, and delivery, then he should take into consideration Moodle as it offers the affordances of being more open to instructor input and is not going to fall prey to a control over academic knowledge. Taken from my post last week, I formulate this as a challenge as Hamish, Coates, et al (2005) suggest that ¨such collaborations are more open to various forms of monitoring, inspection, and control¨ (p.30). Further, Hamish, Coates, et al (2005) argue, ¨through making the internet a more seductive and accessible tool for teaching, LMS may also be homogenising the creation, style, and ownership of pedagogical knowledge¨ (p. 32). Therefore, with Benoit being descried having a popular course, he may be leary to relinquish any of the academic control that he has over the course. With this regard, my advise would be for Benoit to travel the road of Moodle.
- What will be the key steps in his work of transferring his face-to-face course in online format?
Through the planning and transferring his face-to-face course into an online format, Benoit will need to be mindful of many key steps throughout the process. His approach will need to be:
- Systematic – planning will need to address units of study, divided much as our course is into subunits, assignments, discussion forums, and readings
- Sequential – offering learners with the greatest opportunity to see growth in their learning and build upon each unit with more in depth knowledge
- Synchronous and Asynchronous – Give opportunities for learning to proceed in both manners.
- Presentation and Delivery – Attention paid to how and when each lesson is delivered (ex. are students able to have the freedom to work through course at their own pace
- Assessment Opportunities – Needs to provide both formative and summative opportunities
- Skill Development Identification – As suggested by Bates (2014) description around how content will be applied and practiced need be taken into consideration
- What kind of support he might need during the process?
Throughout this process, Benoit should seek the support of his colleagues and tech available to him. He should also analyze the vast resources that are open through Moodle as informative aids when confronted with a challenge in development of his course. There are many tutorials available that will take Benoit through the process of setting up his course, to the management of the course.
- What criteria for his workload estimates would you suggest if the plan is to offer the online version of the course next semester.
Criteria that will need to taken into consideration given Benoit’s probable timeline (which I would think is somewhat short) would follow as suggested by one of my colleagues in this course the Agile Method of Design. Given that he is probably not as familiar with Moodle as he would like, Benoit should expect the development of his course to require a variety of strategies and changes throughout the development and implementation process.
- What would be your estimation of the development time (in weeks); how much time it will take Benoît to develop an online version of the course (Business Writing)? Explain the facts and contributing factors which you considered making your estimation.
This is where I can see Benoit faced with a minor challenge. Unless he is reasonable with his timeline, and the university is offering him an acceptable timeline for development and implementation, I would be concerned that Benoit would not feel as though his course is on par with his face-to-face course, which could certainly affect his enthusiasm for instructing the course online. As such, I see that he will need a full semester to correctly master the technology and create a course that not only offers the affordances for students to be authentically engaged, but also offers Benoit the ability to deliver the course to his personal sense of satisfaction.
References
Bates, T., (2014). Teaching in a Digital Age. (Online Book)
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. (PDF)