Group items tagged

"The invention of the LMS (Learning Management System) was a mistake. And here I'm not going to make the same frustrated argument made numerous times before now that LMSs are limiting structures, that their interface and functionalities control how teachers teach online (although those things are true). The LMS was a mistake because it was premature. In a world that was just waking up to the Internet and the possibility of widely-networked culture, the LMS played to the lowest common denominator, creating a "classroom" that allowed learning -- or something like learning -- to happen behind tabs, in threaded discussions, and through automated quizzes. The LMS was not a creative decision, it was not pushing the capabilities of the Internet, it was settling for the least innovative classroom practice and repositioning that digitally. As a result classes taught within its structure generally land with a dull thud. No matter how creative and inspired the teacher or pedagogue behind the wheel, the LMS is no match for the wideness of the Internet. It was born a relic -- at its launch utterly irrelevant to its environment and its user." Very thought-provoking article on how digital pedagogy really differs from just "teaching online."

What makes a great "social LMS"? " Does it provide a means to rate and prioritize the social learning interactions? Does it allow for evaluating the effectiveness of the social learning experience? Does it integrate with and enhance an organization's existing system? Does it track the history and outcomes of the social learning process? Does it allow for open collaboration and knowledge sharing? Does it improve productivity? Does it make learning easier?" All the reasons whya traditional LMS may not work well in an educational setting. Can Moodle adapt?

A good review of both LMS tools. Winning for me is Schoology's iPad connections and, especially, it's good was to create and thread discussions (with embedded media). Teachers can also see which students participate by using a filter, and share discussions across classes/courses.

Edmodo is a social networking site that can work as an LMS or CMS. It has a number of features, including mobile apps that seem to make it superior to more complex systems. Recommended by teachers I know, and specifically oriented to educational contexts.

This is a reasonable article on getting prepared for a MOOC or flipped class -- or any class, for that matter. Steps include setting goals, knowing your LMS and the authoring system involved (especially important with an interface like Coursera). The eLearning Industry (Insturctional Design & eLearning Professionals' Group) is also linked on this page.

"Today's updates to Office 365 Education include enabling students to write a paper using only their voice, thanks to Dictation in Office, the latest feature to join Microsoft Learning Tools, as well as improved access to assignments and class collaboration with the Microsoft Teams iPhone and Android apps. What's more, we are delivering on the number one most requested feature from teachers, page locking in OneNote Class Notebook-allowing teachers to provide students with read-only access-and we will further help teachers save time through assignment and grade integrations with leading Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Student Information Systems (SIS), including Capita SIMS in the U.K. Office 365 Education gives teachers and students the power to unlock limitless learning. And best of all, it's free for teachers and students." Update on new features (2019), including dictation to Office apps.

R. Stannard reviews the CMS Edmodo platform, which let's you set up a virtual learning environment for students quickly and easily, and it's free. Edmodo is a wonderful for creating a class community, as well as setting assignments, creating quizzes, polls, and rubrics.

This is more detailed on things available at the Edmodo CMS site.

"CK-12.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to education. Their website offers a large collection of resources for students and teachers like Brain Genie which I previously shared. The bulk of their resources are math and science centered where students can learn about chemistry, physics, algebra, and geometry just to name four. They also offer resources for other content areas as well including history, English, and SAT prep. Their website is free to join and offers a wealth of learning resources and activities. Their site offers articles, quizzes, interactive lessons, videos and students can keep track of their learning as they complete lessons and activities and members can upload their own resources to the site as well. " This looks like a good attempt to crowd-source materials for K-12 in the U.S. Could have uses for ESL/EFL, particularly with content- and project-based learning.

A list of 100 links to great tools with an attractive pictoral interface. Includes InstaGrok, SchoolTube, etc., with a brief abstract telling about each one. Unfortunately, there is no organzing principle to help you explore them. Scan and test.

Free book (pdf) from the British Council, written by Gary Motteram. Probably published early 2012. Has sections on primary education, secondary, and general adult language education, ESP and Business English, EAP, and assessment. Nice examples from real classrooms.

"Students use PeerWise to create and to explain their understanding of course related assessment questions, and to answer and discuss questions created by their peers." Register yourself as teacher and then sign in your students. Instructors easily view student participation. The site has screencasts to show what students do and what instructors think about their work.

This article makes the point that Moodle just isn't that good, and recommends a handful of really great LMSs that might work for you. Especially noteworthy is Frog Trade, which is an adaptable interface much friendlier for K-6 or K-12 than Moodle.

Penzu was a nice and easily managed blog space. Now they have created Penzu Classroom that lets a teacher manage assignments, make inline comments (highlight/pop-up) on writing, tag student work, and share entires with students online and with email; students can give feedback and discuss each others entries. This look to be highly functional and would be well worth a try, especially for a teacher just getting into elearning.

Constructivist perspective on learning - Siemen's blog

"This summer, PBS LearningMedia turns the spotlight on our spectacular collection of resources supporting literacy skills development in grades PreK-12. Educators are invited to visit our new summer literacy collection with featured resources from Martha Speaks, Poetry Everywhere, and The Electric Company! " Learning Media offers access to tens of thousands of classroom-ready digital resources -- video, games, photos, lesson plans, etc. All free. For K-12 students, though not specifically for ELLs.

R. Byrne discusses this tool in several posts and includes the how-to video in this blog post. Socrative is useful for a flipped or online classroom as a feedback system. Students sign in to a virtual class where you can post questions. "If you haven't tried Socrative, it's a free service that replaces the need for expensive "clicker" feedback systems. Socrative works on any device that has an Internet connection. Students sign into a virtual classroom in which you can post questions and they can reply either anonymously or with their names depending upon how you want to use the service."

These are some good tools, some of which may be new to you. Includes Dipity, Document Suite (an authoring tool to transform documents into online help modules), Izzui to track and deliver courses, LessonWriter, Scratch from the MIT MEdia Lab for content creation, timeliners, course builders of various sorts, and a list of free podcasting, polling, and quizzing tools. Not much for mobile technology. There is a lot here to explore.

R. Byrne offers an overview of OTUS, a mobile learning environment to distribute assignments, quizzes, polls, readings, etc., to iPads. It can now also be used with browers on laptops and Chromebooks. The Otus YouTube channel has detailed directions for how to use the various elements of the service.

Yet another course management system. Might be worth a try. Claims to combine social networking with learning management, and has a very nice interface. And it's free.