Working in a group of 5 across multiple time zones, our group looked to develop and create a platform evaluation for Learning Management Systems that would be beneficial to a non-profit Canadian organization; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Canada. Using the Bates model of S.E.C.T.I.O.N.S. we assessed three learning management systems: Moodle, WordPress, and Eliademy. Our S.E.C.T.I.O.N.S. model was used with a rubric and we ranked each LMS based on a three point scale for the affordances that each provided in their usefulness to BBBSC.
I thoroughly enjoyed this experience in working collaboratively with four other group members. Each group member brought their own skill set to the project and through asynchronous and synchronous learning opportunities, I believe we created a Personal Learning Community, albeit in only a few weeks. So much of the conversations that we had were very productive, with individuals suggesting ideas, ranking the merit of each idea and ultimately incorporating these into our assigned task. Given the multiple tasks within the overall assignment, each and every individual stepped up to accomplish our goal.
At first I was wondering as an elementary school teacher how this assignment might look for me as it was based more around an organization than an educational opportunity. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the fact that I found many direct parallels to the corporate and non-profit world and the education system. One of the great benefits that I found as a teacher was working with my colleagues, some of whom work in other fields. Their insight into other organizational issues and components that support the learning of individuals in other realms was a refreshing opportunity to learn from others.
I have to thank my group for a great experience.