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- tracking student progress
- interaction through comments and responses
- collaboration between instructor and students, and between students and students
- allowing content uploads
- accessing anytime and anywhere for asynchronous participation
Overall, I have been very impressed with the implementation of the free tools used in our community that come together to form our LMS. G+, Drive, Communities, Twitter, Google Groups, etc. are used asynchronously to target instructor and student goals, and allow for seamless communication between students. I am a visual, task-oriented learner. I ask many clarifying questions and complete work in a methodical, systematic manner. Our LMS allows me to communicate at my convenience with my peers and instructors. If I am working on an assignment during a planning period at work or after my kids go to bed, I can post a question on the Community or in a Hangout and am guaranteed an almost immediate response from someone (thank you, night owls!). Feedback is both specific to my work and connected to the work of others. I enjoy the fact that after a reflection is posted, my peers' comments cause me to further think about the discussion points of that week. One of the many reasons why I joined this ITDML cohort was to further my understanding of contemporary issues in instructional technologies; consistent, thoughtful conversations that occur throughout the week and into the weekend have already made me a better teacher and learner.
With any evolving technology, challenges are encountered and need to be addressed on a regular basis. Specifically in regard to this LMS, I do really well when there is one consistent place to check for assignments and resources. I love the way the Communities are structured this semester in terms of Week One, Week Two, Questions, etc. If I want clarification on the Week Three assignment, I first think to check in the ED 722 Community and then go to the sidebar and select the appropriate week. Where I have difficulty is when the assignments in the syllabus and the assignments in the Community are not identical. Google Drive is a great storage facility for copies of important documents and readings. I do not necessarily think we also need to have coursework located in Blackboard or Livebinders or in emails or in Google Groups. Again, my learning style is pretty methodical and thorough. I want to make sure I'm not missing anything, so on a weekly basis I will compare the syllabus in Google Docs to the outline in Livebinder, make lists of what appear to be the assignments and then compare that list to what is posted in the Google Community. It's cyclical and pretty intense.
One thing I've noticed about the Google Community in ED 722 is that the assignment for Week Three is now at the top of the page where it does not shift as my colleagues add their responses since it has been 'pinned.' It looks like this:
I've been glad to get to know this type of Learning Management System and have thought about all of the different ways it could be applied to my own classroom. I envision a smooth transition, as students in my school are already comfortable with the use of Google Accounts. We do need more studies that will help us address some of the needs of our learners with features that will enhance interactions with technology and communication.
Watson, William R., and Sunnie Lee Watson. "An Argument for Clarity: What Are Learning Management Systems, What Are They Not, and What Should They Become?" TechTrends 51.2 (2007): 28-34. Web.
"What Is a Learning Management System ? LMS Software." What Is a Learning Management System ? LMS Software. ProProfs, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.