The Current State of the LMS

- Dr. Tony Bates, educational technology consultant, writes on the LMS -

"Most learning management systems, such as Blackboard, Desire2Learn and Moodle, are in fact a replication of a classroom design model. They have weekly units or modules, the instructor selects and presents the material to all students in the class at the same time, a large class enrollment can be organized into smaller sections with their own instructors, there are opportunities for (online) discussion, students work through the materials at roughly the same pace, and assessment is by end-of-course tests or essays.

The main design differences are that the content is primarily text based rather than oral, the online discussion is asynchronous rather than synchronous, and the course content is available at any time from anywhere with an Internet connection. These are important differences, and skilled teachers and instructors can modify or adapt LMSs to meet different teaching or learning requirements (as they can in physical classrooms), but the basic organizing framework of the LMS remains the same as for a physical classroom.

Nevertheless, the LMS is still an advance over online designs that merely put lectures on the Internet or load up pdf copies of Powerpoint lecture notes, as is still the case unfortunately in many online programs. Good online design should take account of the special requirements of online learners, so the design needs to be different from that of a classroom model."

Choice Paralysis

With so many options for learning management systems, many institutions, sadly, base their decision solely on cost. Costs and funding considerations should only be one category of many when choosing to implement a new technology (in this case an LMS) in any institution.

I have included an "E-Learning Readiness Tool" that I co-created to help you assess the readiness of your institution for new technology. With so many options available for a LMS, this tool is meant to guide you in the right direction for your institution based on your values, beliefs and viability.

Do you recognize the icons below?

These icons show three popular learning management systems (there are hundreds to choose from):

• Desire to Learn or D2L
• Google Classroom
• Moodle

Do you have experience using these platforms or others? Take a moment to reflect on the functionality of one or two platforms. What do you like about the platform? What needs to be changed and why?