Introduction to "Evaluate Learning Management Systems for classroom instruction."

Video Transcription

Hello, ladies and gentlemen I hope you are having a wonderful day today. Today, we're going to go ahead and look at an introduction to the unit that you will be looking at on evaluating learning management systems for classroom instruction. You will notice that at the beginning of every unit, I include a quote.

And so for this tutorial, the quote is by William Throsby Bridges which states "genuine beginnings begin with us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities." Even though I am the external opportunity bringing you this information, the beginning of this learning really is with you. You are going to be able to use all of these elements in the teaching that you do in your classroom.

Now, by the end of the unit, you are going to be able to meet a number of objectives. First and foremost, you're going to be able to identify an instructor's needs with regard to learning goals and the expected role of the instructor within a learning management system, or LMS. You'll be able to practice criteria for selecting and using a learning management system. You'll be able to practice course development within multiple learning management systems. And you will be able to compare and contrast the experience of developing a course within a number of learning management systems.

Let's go ahead and take a look at each objective just a little bit closer, give you a summary, and maybe even see a couple of previews of what each objective will look like as you work your way through the unit. Our first objective is to identify the instructor's needs with regard to learning goals and the expected role of the instructor with in a learning management system. I want to give you a couple of concrete examples of what this will look like as you go through.

First and foremost, you're going to get an in-depth look at some of the various needs that teachers have within LMS's, specifically things like professional development, elements like mentorship, as well as taking a close look at the role of teachers within a learning management system. Now, these are going to be exceptionally helpful to you, both in the classroom professionally. You are going to get to look at this and how it might impact your specific teaching.

What is the current professional development you are getting right now ? What are the LMS's asses that you have within your school? And what is the role that the teacher currently plays? If you don't have a learning management system in place, you are going to get to learn a number of things about how a teacher interacts with a learning management system that you can then bring back to other teachers within your school or people within your district to help them really see the ways that this could be a benefit.

The second major objective that we are going to look at calls for practice the criteria for selecting and using a learning management system. As you work your way through this, you are going to get to see all of the major elements involved in choosing and then implementing a learning management system within your school environment.

This means you're going to get a really an in-depth look at what a learning management system is, what all is involved, and what are the different elements look like. You'll get to take a closer look at the various steps that we recommend in selecting a learning management system for your school or classroom. And finally, you'll get to focus in on different types of learning management systems and what the advantages and disadvantages of those broader types are.

This can be really helpful to you on a professional level as it helps give you that practice in the selecting criteria so that if you don't have an LMS, you can really bring those elements into your school environment to help lobby for one. Or if you do but perhaps the school is looking at finding an alternate option, this really puts you in a position to be able to be an active part of that selection process.

The third objective for this unit is to practice course development within multiple learning management systems. This is exactly what it sounds like, you are going to get practice at what it looks like to develop a course and the various features that are offered within different learning management systems.

So you're going to get to do things like focus in on best practices for selection of the LMS, as well as for its use by teachers and the various customer support that you can encounter, all of those best practices when it comes to using learning management systems. You'll get to look at the basics within a couple of different types of learning management systems, specifically things like Moodle and Schoology and Sophia, different elements that you can really investigate on a concrete level, as well as look at the various strengths and weaknesses, the challenges and the benefits that you will see to working with those specific LMS's.

The final objective in this unit is that by the end, you will be able to compare and contrast the experience of developing a course within a number of learning management systems. This really gives you the opportunity to look at what the experience will be like for you as a teacher when you engage with these various LMS's.

So you're going to get to do things like to welcome you at the various features involved in learning management systems as they explicitly apply to teachers. You're going to get the opportunity to look at various instructional tools that are available so that you, as a teacher can get the experience of what it's like to create that classroom or that course within an LMS. You're also going to be offered a number of tools for reflection-- so focusing in on Marzano, his different domains and looking at how those reflection questions can help a lead in the experiencing of developing a course using a learning management system.

So one more time, I would like to review those four major objectives that we have for this unit. And before we go, I would really like to call your attention to how all of these objectives play into one another. These are not just random. But rather, they help build on each other to create that strong foundation with in evaluating how a learning management system can help your classroom instruction.

The first thing you need to look at are really identifying the instructor's needs. The key player in an LMS is the instructor. And knowing what your needs are as an instructor are really important as we look to the use of various learning management systems.

Once you know those needs, then you're going to want to look at the criteria for selecting and using a learning management system, this way you can help base that criteria on the needs that you have and then see what it's like to use that system so that it helps meet your needs. Once you have practiced the criteria for selecting and using, you're then going to get in-depth practice in course development within learning management systems and then comparing and contrasting the experience of that development.

So you get to go through the entire process from start to finish, the pre-analysis, the criteria for selecting, the actual practice of what it's like to use those LMS, and then comparing different experiences so that you can reflect on that and ideally come away with a better, stronger foundational knowledge in what learning management system is going to be best for you and your school. I would like to officially welcome you to this unit on evaluating learning management systems. And I hope that you learn a lot that you can apply to your specific teaching environments. Welcome.