Embedded Files
WEEK 1
WEEK 1
LMS EVALUATION INTRODUCTION
LMS EVALUATION INTRODUCTION
This week's evaluation is providing step-by-step tutorials for performing the following tasks and provides a recommendation based on the ease of use and quality of the result of two learning management systems, Desire2Learn (D2L) and COURSEsites by Blackboard.
- Setting-up course
- Creating modules
- Adding third-party content
- Creating content using an HTML editor
- Adding images to HTML editor pages
D2L LMS EVALUATION
D2L LMS EVALUATION
SETTING-UP COURSE
SETTING-UP COURSE
To add students to the course, click on the drop-down arrow next to "Classlist" on the right side navigation bar. Click on "Classlist". Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the "Add Participants" that can be found in the blue rectangle on the top left side of the screen and select "Add existing users". Under "Add Existing Users" type in the name of the person in the "Search for" box that you need to add. Click the blue magnifying glass icon. There may be more than one person with the same name and knowing their w# would be beneficial. Locate the name of the person to add, then click the box to the left of their name to select the name. In the drop-down box "Select a Role" to the right of the student's name, select the "Student" role. In the blue rectangle at the bottom of the page, click on "Enroll Selected Users". Confirm that the student's name and role are correct, then click on "Done".
Activating the course allows the students to view the material. Open the course and click on "Course Admin". Click on "Course Offering Information" at the top left side of the page under "Site Setup". Click on the box next to "Course is active". Select the "Start Date" and "End Date". Click on "Save" in the blue rectangular box at the bottom of the page.
The course shell was set-up in Desire2Learn (D2L) before the evaluation. Adding the students is very intuitive and easy to navigate. The classlist is visually appealing and makes it easy to email and see the students. The "Select a role" box was easy to overlook creating another step before save is allowed. There are many students with similar names in the database. Deleting a student entered incorrectly can be time-consuming.
CREATING MODULES
CREATING MODULES
To create modules, click on "Content" in the top navigation bar, then click inside the "Add Module" box located at the bottom of the sidebar menu. Type the name of the new module, then hit enter. Now the module is ready to upload new course material such as quizzes, discussion links and more. Adding a module was simple and intuitive. The modules are well organized under the Table of Contents.
ADDING THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
ADDING THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
D2L Adding 3rd Party.mp4In the video to the left, a step-by-step instructional video explains how to add third-party content to your modules. The example adds Atomic Learning to the Tutorials Module.
On your course page, click on "Content" then look at the left side menu under the Table of Contents and click on the module "Tutorials". Click on the drop-down arrow next to the center box "Add Existing Activities". Select "External Learning Tools". In the pop-up screen, click on "Atomic Learning". After the file is added to the module, click on "Atomic Learning", then in the search bar type the name of the content to be added. In this example, we are adding, "Desire2Learn". Select the content file from the list, and a list of links becomes available. Click on "Check All" or click
the individual boxes to the left of the links, then click on "Preview Selection" in the top right of the page. Click on "Submit" in the top right box to complete the upload. To view the links, click on "Tutorials" in the top menu bar. To customize the title of the links, click on the drop-down arrow next to "Atomic Learning", then select "Edit Properties In-place". Click on "Atomic Learning" to change the title. To complete the change, click anywhere on the screen outside the edit box.
Adding third-party content required following some direction, but the process became more comfortable after adding more files. It could be confusing to some that they must go back to the "Atomic Learning" link to add specific files. Customizing the title was not intuitive. The layout of the downloaded files is clean and easy to locate.
CREATING CONTENT USING AN HTML EDITOR
CREATING CONTENT USING AN HTML EDITOR
The HTML Editor allows you to create content for your modules. From your course homepage, click on "Content", then click on the module in the left menu bar to add content. The HTML editor automatically launches. Click on "Add date restrictions" and "Add a description" to edit and customize the content. Click the drop-down arrow next to "New" in the blue rectangular box to add video, files, quizzes, and more. Drag and drop files directly to the module page from your computer. In this example, the course was set up as an activity structure. When a file is added, there is an opportunity to add specific activity details, learning objectives and offers the ability to monitor student completion. After proofreading your module and correcting any formatting problems, click "Publish" on the bottom left side of the page. Adding content is very easy and looks organized after publishing. Extra steps requiring format changes when cutting and pasting a document from Word can take more time and effort but allows for correcting grammar and spelling errors before content added.
ADDING IMAGES TO HTML EDITOR PAGES
ADDING IMAGES TO HTML EDITOR PAGES
To add images to your module, start by clicking on "Content", then click on the module. Click on "New" and create a file. The HTML Editor launches automatically. Click on the photo icon. Click on "Upload" in the text box or drag and drop a photo. Choose where you want to save the image. Options for creating a file or adding to an existing file are available. After uploading it asks you to add "alt text" or click the box that exempts the image for decorative purposes. Click on "Add" at the bottom of the editor. The image appears in the HTML Editor. Click "Publish" to add the file. Adding images is easy and intuitive. The visual aspects look nice. Resizing a large photo was not easy due to the size of the editor box. For small images, it is easy to move them around within the content.
LMS-2 COURSESITES BY BLACKBOARD LMS EVALUATION
LMS-2 COURSESITES BY BLACKBOARD LMS EVALUATION
SETTING-UP COURSE
SETTING-UP COURSE
The "Quick Setup Guide" offers many easy to use features to help guide you through the process of creating a course in COURSEsites. First, click "Create A Course" from the home page. There are three choices to create a course: create a new course, import course package, or get trail course. Click "Create a new course". Enter the course name, ID#, and description.Click on the drop-down arrow on "Enrollment Options" then select "Instructor-led". Click the green rectangular box to "Save and Continue." The next step is to invite students. There are three easy ways to invite students; have them visit the Instructor Home Page, have them enroll on the Course Home Page; or invite, enroll and create students within the course. The last step is to customize the course. There are a variety of design features, themes, and structures available. The features are simple to select and apply.
CREATING MODULES
CREATING MODULES
There are two easy steps to create new modules on your course page. Always check the upper right of the page to verify the edit mode is on. Click on the "+" at the top left side of the menu bar. Click on "Content Area" and type the module name in the box. Click the box next to "Available to Users" if you want the students to see the content. This feature makes it easy to control the release of the modules to the students. Click "Submit". The newly added module appears at the bottom of the content list. The modules can smoothly move up or down by just clicking and holding down on the module and moving it up or down the sidebar menu.
ADDING THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
ADDING THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
Tutorials module. Click on "Tutorials". In the top menu bar, click on "Build Content" and select "Learning Module" from the drop-down menu. In the "Name" box enter "Atomic Learning". Scroll down the page and click on the "yes" or "no" areas to add options such as; allowing students to progress through the content, allowing students to view the content, tracking the student's views, setting a date restriction and showing structured views in the Table of Contents. Click on "Submit" on the lower right side of the page. Returning to the content page, Atomic Learning shows as being added to the content page. If you have a link to specific modules in Atomic Learning, it is easy to cut/paste the link into the module. Click on "Tutorials", then click on "Build Content". Select "Web Link". Type in the name and paste the URL into the boxes. Click "Submit" to save and return to content age. One disadvantage of adding third-party content is that there is not a way to select specific links to add.
LMS-2 Adding 3rd Party Content.mp4CREATING CONTENT USING AN HTML EDITOR
CREATING CONTENT USING AN HTML EDITOR
To create content using the HTML Editor from the course homepage, click on the module in the right-side menu bar. Click on "Build Content" form the top menu bar and select "Item" located under create. In the box to the right of Name, type in the name of the new content. Cut/paste content from Word or other programs or type new content in the HTML Editor. Add attachments by clicking on "Browse My Computer" or "Browse Content Collection". Scroll down the page and click on the "yes" or "no" areas to add options such as; allowing students to progress through the content, allowing students to view the content, tracking the student's views, setting a date restriction
and showing structured views in the Table of Contents. Click on "Submit" on the lower right side or the upper right side of the page. Adding content was straightforward and intuitive. The HTML Editor is clean and aesthetic. There is a nice feature to shrink the content and only view the title or to view the full content in the file. There are not many editing options visible, but using the right click or clicking the down arrows in the upper right side of the edit tools allows for more choices.
ADDING IMAGES TO HTML EDITOR PAGES
ADDING IMAGES TO HTML EDITOR PAGES
There are several easy options available to add images to a page using the HTML Editor. From the course homepage, click on the module in the right-side menu bar. Click on "Create Content" in the top menu bar and select "Image" located under create. In the box to the right of Name, type in the name of the image. Next, to Find File, click on one of three option to upload your image; "Browse My Computer", "Browse Content Collection", "Browse Mashups". Each selection brings up a pop-up screen where you can select the image by double-clicking or opening the file. Add the Alt Text in the box below Find File options. This option is easily overlooked and not a required field. Customizing options are available for adding borders, changing dimensions,
Image HTML Editor LMS-2.mp4opening in a new window, adding alignment to content, allowing students to view, tracking views, and date restrictions. Click on " Submit" at the top or bottom right of the page to add the image. There is a nice feature to preview the page before you submit. Another way to add an image to the page from the HTML Editor is to put the cursor on the page in the HTML Editor and right click. Select the photo icon. Type in a URL image link or click on "Browse My Computer" or "Browse Content Collection" and select image. Click on "Insert". Alt Text was not an option using this method. Adding an image was easy and intuitive, but many editing tools are hidden.
LMS WEEKLY RECOMMENDATION
LMS WEEKLY RECOMMENDATION
Based on the information provided in this evaluation, the ease of use and the quality of the results are best demonstrated in COURSEsites by Blackboard. Setting-up the course was accomplished in three easy steps and allowed for many options to create a quality design. Creating modules was fast, easy and organized. It allowed for reorganizing the modules and selecting when the students are allowed to view. Adding third-party content was easy if you had a link or access to the learning modules. The HTML Editor had many options to customize allowing for the creation of a quality, beautiful looking site. The many options for adding and moving images allow for flexibility when creating a new page. There is no need to cut/paste from external software. The HTML Editor has all the option needed to create content.
Google Sites
Report abuse