"Dana Kohls and I collaborated on the Udutu project because we are collaborating on the Action Research Project as well. The project focuses on establishing a PLN for our school district. The Udutu project will serve as a launch for Cycle II data collection and analysis, as well as deliver course instruction. "

Jeff (and Dana),

I really love your site. As a part of my Action Research, I created and used some video tutorials on creating an iGoogle account to use with Google Docs -- how I wish you had your learning unit up and running then! This is great. I would love permission to have my 6th grade teachers review the unit.

Week 4 Future Report on LMO's

This video represents my vision for the future of LMO's in traditional education.

Week 4 comments for John Harvey

"This course is a good place to start in the development of a full-on Angels vs. Demons simulation game geared towards kids in late middle school/early high school. It is, of course, a very rough representation of the idea that I originally presented in this video for Game Strategies."

John,

I have loved your concept for this learning game since you first proposed it. Your videos and lead ins are excellent. I also liked that some of your scenarios are not really cut and dried. Too often when we are trying to help young people learn to make good choices, we use such obvious examples that the students just tune us out. Your game is much more realistic in helping students look at consequences even from seemingly innocuous choices.

Week 4 comments for Justin Kraky

"For my UDUTU lesson, I chose a project created in Musical Theory and Educational Applications. This lesson was designed for the Advanced Audio Production class at Keystone College, and teaches audio physics principles and terminology."


An excellent job on an excellent project. I would love to use this lesson this year with our Science Olympiad team. The material is very well organized, with small enough "chunks" on a page to insure the students remain engaged. The assessment was clear and straight forward. I admit, I missed one question because, in typical student fashion, I got in a hurry in scanning the answer choices and mis-read the selection!

As we begin a new school year, it is my task train the new teachers on the use of our LMO, Edline and GradeQuickWeb. Due to some major cutbacks in staffing this year, everyone is covering more classes and extra curricular duties, making the scheduling of training very difficult.

I decided this was an excellent opportunity to experience course building with myudutu.com, while creating an application that would be useful immediately in my school setting.

I have intentionally chosen to not include audio, since the majority of the teachers will be accessing from their classrooms, either during their planning period, or during quiet time activities of their students.

I intend to continue the lessons and assessments to include the reports generated for parent-teacher conferences, as well as the grade verification reports for the end of each quarter.

The following link will access the program in its current state. I welcome your input.

http://publish.myudutu.com/published/evaluations/22008/Course39972/v2010_8_28_5_24_48/course/course39972.html

Week 3 comments for John Harvey's blog

"Because LMSs and LCMSs are so complex, they need a wide variety of tools for their creation. One of these learning systems is one of the only places on the web where one would find an IT person, a graphic designer, a curriculum writer, a flash animator, an online filmmaker, and a host of other people all collaborating on one project. Thusly, many tools are needed, not only to create the media assets of the system, but also to write the web code and the course text and content. I have come to realize that the project manager for any LMS does not have a very easy job, and is required to either have OCD, or be the most organized person on the face of the earth."

John, I agree that an incredible number of people may be required to create sophisticated LMS and LCMS systems. Additionally, these programs are developed to meet a wide range of criteria for their clients. It is easy to understand the seemingly high price tag attached to these products. For this reason, many administrators, especially of small, financially strapped schools, are tempted to go with the least expensive bare-bones solution. I have also experienced an administrator who bought the "5 star package" but refused to pay for the training. Later, he complained that the money on the system was wasted, since we weren't using even half of the features. I don't really know if the unused aspects of the program were a good fit for our school, or if we would have been better served by a less expensive product, but I do believe that when changing to a new management system, training is essential for optimum results.

Week 3 comments for Dana Kohls

"Cloud computing allows for easier access and availability of web services and applications. One example is a school district's use of Google apps as a source of communication, collaboration and creation of content, as well as delivery. It is an inexpensive alternative to traditional platforms and software."


You specifically mention Google apps in your blog this week. You are entirely correct. This is an example of a wonderful tool for creating content. It is available to all schools, has the ability to limit visibility to your select group, and does not add to the already strapped budget of the educational institution. These were all factors in my decision to train our staff in the use of Google apps as a collaborative tool.

Week 3 Readings: Choosing an LMS/LCMS

In reading and researching LMS selection tips, the simplest and most obvious tip is sometimes overlooked. Of course, everyone researching a new LMS or LCMS will check to make sure that it is compatible with existing software. Having worked with vendors who claim their products are compatible, I have learned that the word "compatible" can be misleading. When two vendors are creating products, the emphasis is on the functionality of their own proprietary software. When the need arises for this product to work in conjunction with another product from a third party vendor, an uneasy alliance can ensue. While both companies try to maintain a working partnership, each is primarily concerned with the development of their own product. For example, it your student database or information system (SYS) is from Vendor A, and your Content is managed and deployed on software from Vendor B, the client must have assurance that upgrades and enhancements from Vendor B can be read and assimilated by the software provided by Vendor A. Sometimes a patch is required for the new upgrade to be compatible with the second software package. This is not always immediately forthcoming. For this reason, part of the process of selection should be determining the level of collaboration between your existing LMS and any proposed additional CMS or LCMS. It may actually be more cost effective in the long run to completely abandon existing systems in favor of one that handles all aspects of the clients needs. Many times, however, this is impossible.

Another area of concern is that of technical support. This is especially crucial when multiple platforms are involved. Man hours and resources are both finite in the education and corporate worlds. Determining the appropriate technical support liaison is critical for the success of the LMS/LCMS launch.

A third area of concern is future growth and development. While it is one thing to pick a system or combination of systems that meet today's needs, how will the panel determine the probable needs of the organization in 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years. Admittedly, this is the most difficult area for search committees to agree upon. Not only is it necessary for the committee to project the future needs of their organization, they must also project the potential technological developments of the prospective vendors.

The final, and possibly most difficult hurdle in the quest for the "perfect" LMS/LCMS system is that frequently the ultimate decision rests with people who neither use, nor understand the technologies being considered. The current financial climate has many administrators and trustees searching for the least costly solution, rather than determining the most cost effective solution for the long term. For this reason, extensive documentation of current needs, projected needs, system compatibility, and technical support must be provided.

While the primary emphasis of the articles used to draw these conclusions comes from the area of elearning, the same techniques should apply for traditional schools in selecting supporting technology for student information systems and course management systems.

Resources:

How to choose a learning management system. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from: http://wwwtrainingforce.com/content/choosing_a_lms.aspx

10 Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from:
http://www.mozealous.com/11-things-to-consider-before-choosing-an-lms/

LMO Week 2 Comments on Scott's blog

Scott's blog:

LMO Week 2 Blog


I own lots of filing cabinets. I'm not kidding. Seriously. Lots.

Why pray-tell would someone like me need such a bevy of storage capacity? Within these imposing black obelisks lies the readings, transparencies, news articles, and other educational materials I've collected throughout my past decade in the classroom.

Scott,

I, too, have an inordinate number of filing cabinets. Somehow, regardless of the number of files I have saved in various electronic media, I continue to save print versions of interesting articles and lesson ideas.

I believe the development of LCMS's are still in their infancy. They are still somewhere between the corporate model and the educational setting. To reach their most effective and usable form for educators, the LMS portion needs to be expanded to cover all the areas of the typical school SIS (student information system). The authoring components and the use of RLO's are an extremely important for the future development of these systems. The next step should be the development of RLO's that are not tied to a particular developer or software package. The possibility of a networked repository for SCORM compliant RLO's would break the field wide open for educators to take course authoring to the next level.

Week 2 Comments on John Harvey's blogpost

Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) are an incredibly important piece to the development of any LCMS. The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative was established by the United States Department of Defense “to standardize and modernize training and education management and delivery.” (“ADL”, 2010) Essentially, to make RLOs available, standard, to organizations as they developed their LMSs.

John,

I am so glad you have broken the information in this article down in such an articulate fashion. I've read through the material twice now. The first time, my head was spinning. The second time I read it after reading your post and found it made much more sense.

LMO Week 2 Reading: Course Management Systems for Learning

Continuing through the "Alphabet Soup" of acronyms in educational technology, LCMS refers to Learner Content Management System. These systems have expanded the parameters of learning technology by coupling a Learner Management System with a Course Management System. Although the terminology often refers to "content," that is only one aspect of a course that can be integrated into the technology.

In an excellent blog enumerating the many different interpretations of the acronyms, LMS, CMS and LCMS, Don McIntosh discusses the differences between corporate LMS's and those in the educational field. In the corporate sector, the tendency is for an LCMS to be used for tracking an individual learner and specific content. There is rarely an available instructor. The individual learner is basically "check boxing" the content accessed from the elearning site. Within the education field, "content" is frequently replaced by "course." In this model, the educational institution generally already has the basic LMS in place through existing systems. Students have already been registered, and the capabilities exist to monitor their progress. In the education sector, authoring tools from LCMS's are used to build a full educational experience to include content, email, discussions, wikis, blogs, and educational media. An LCMS can be applied, not only to elearning, but also to more traditional face-to-face classes to enhance the learning experience.

On their site, simplydigi.com advertises their LMS/LCMS as a system that publishes online courses in an easy to access online catalog for learners to complete at their own pace. The LMS tracks teach student's accomplishments through the courses offered. In reviewing the features of this system, the emphasis is on the course catalog, and learner tracking. While SCORM compliant, and customizable, little information is given to the authoring tools available to create and deploy course content.



Resources:

McIntosh, D. (2007). eLearning & learning management. Retrieved August 12, 2010 from http://elearningandlearningmanagement.blogspot.com/207/02/lsm-vs-lcms.html

Week 2 Udutu Setup

1. Jones, Sharon

2. Accessing and using Edline/GradeQuick
An online class for new teachers to learn to use and customize our online communication and grading platform.

3. The lesson will be deployed from my school's server during the September faculty meeting.

4. EMDT LMO Month 10. To be deployed by Sept 21, 2010 to the teachers in my school. The lesson will ultimately be housed on the school server.

5. I intend to use the Best Practices Scenario template with Basic and Assessment slides.

Week 1 LMO Overview

Every industry develops its own vocabulary. That vocabulary is frequently full of acronyms. Education is no different. The education industry has recognized the potential of the world wide web and the prevalence of personal computers as a logical next step in the dissemination of instruction.

The first acronym in this veritable alphabet soup is VLE or virtual learning environment. As the name implies, this is a learning environment that happens in cyberspace rather than the conventional classroom. This is closely followed by PLE or personal learning environment. This implies a system whereby the learner directs the path his learning will take.

Next is LMS. This is a learner management system. This system originated in the commercial sector. Learner management systems are geared toward the individual learner in much the same way as the PLE. The learner is able to set his or her own pace.

The most often used acronym in elearning is CMS or course management system. Some confusion exists here, as CMS can also be used to refer to a content management system. As a course management system a CMS would handle all the tasks and materials necessary to manage a class of students within a set time frame. A CMS handles registering students, assigning students to classes, managing assignments and recording and reporting grades. In addition, student resources can be included.

The final acronym currently in use is LCMS, or learner content management system. Developed primarily for military instruction, this system adds an LMS to a content management system. In this way, small packets of instruction that can be reused in multiple teaching applications can be stored in a content library. These packets are called RLO's or reusable learning objects.

Resources:

Awidi,I. (2008). Critical factors in selecting a course management system for higher education in Ghana. Retrieved on August 5, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolulm/CriticalFactorsinSelectingaCou/162513

Cormier,D. (2009). How to choose the right cms for education. Retrieved on August 5, 2010 from http://davecormier.com/edblog/2009/01/27/how-to-choose-the-right-cms-for-education/

Week 1 My comments on Dana's blog post.

Kohls_Dana_A Textbook Genesis: CMS The Next Generation

The problematic nature of introducing a course management system into education looms larger than expected. Two such problems that stood out after viewing the powerpoint and listening to the audio recording of McGee, Carmean, and Jafari (2004) are the need for assessment and standards and specifications for future course management systems.




Sharon Jones said... The rapid growth and development of new products to meet a new market usually results in proprietary operating systems. Hopefully, as the field of CMS development progresses, the industry will begin to create more standard systems. The scenario of professors working at several institutions is a common one in this area. Professors will be much more likely to embrace a CMS when they know they will not have to re-invent the wheel for every location.

Week 1 My comments on Sharon Hawn's blog

Sharon Hawn's Week 1 Reading

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The importance of knowing the history of instructional development is crucial, for the future designers of instructional media. Within Wikipedia’s article, about the History of Virtual Learning Environments, it began in the year 1728. With only seven noted years mentioned prior to 1920. It can only be assumed that there wasn’t a lot developed during those periods or instructional development had a lower degree of importance to be noteworthy enough to publish such findings.

Sharon,

I agree that understanding the history of the development of any learning theory is essential. The world in which we live is always changing. The information our students must know to be successful couldn't even be imagined as little as 20 years ago. Education, therefore, is always in flux, and must continually change to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

The progress that has been made in the development of distance instruction courses not only affects the online and distance students, but also the traditional on campus students, as educators embrace the many resources and benefits available through personal computing.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - 02:08 PM

Week 1 My comments on Scott's blog.

EMDT Scott

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

LMO Wk 1 Blog 1

Honestly, I am not at all surprised that our readings this week trace the origins of distance learning back almost 300 years. More importantly, I think it is critical that supporters of distance learning programs reiterate this fact in light of the many recent criticisms which have been brought to bear on VLEs within the last several months.

I think the social nature of humanity is ingrained deep within our beings. For millennia, we have communicated with each other and passed down information through oral history, hieroglyphics, pictographs, stone tablets, and virtually every other medium discovered. Furthermore, communication and negotiation between peoples is vital to the stability of any civilized community.


Scott,

I certainly agree that many of my colleagues seem skeptical about online education. Even my administrator tried to talk me into looking into a program at Georgia State (since she is currently pursuing an additional advanced degree there). I did actually look in to their programs, but my reason for choosing Full Sail was not because it is online, but because I was interested in the particular line of courses that comprise this program. I would have been interested in taking these courses even if a degree program wasn't in place.

After nine complete months with the program, I am a strong and vocal advocate of both online/distance education in general, and Full Sail in particular. I do realize that an online program's effectiveness depends on many factors, not least of which is the VLE.

Week 1 Readings comments

Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia

As I was reading through the articles for this week's assignments in LMO, I was particularly struck by the Dartmouth Writing Program insight on "Coming up with your topic." In this article, the author, Karen Gocsik, discusses the different methods of reading for different purposes. In particular, she discusses the need for active reading in preparing for scholarly writing. Active reading involves questioning as you read, jotting notes, examining your emotional response to the material, and forming an opinion about the material. I was struck by the common sense nature of this approach.

I have always loved to read, and read a great deal for pleasure. When I am reading for research, though, I have always taken notes - generally in outline form. I have always attributed this as my personal method for staying focused on the material and keeping my mind from wandering. I have always done the same thing at lectures and talks even when they were not required for academic purposes. To the best of my recollection, I was not taught to do this in school, but developed the technique as a tool to keep my mind from wandering.

So the question is, why aren't we teaching our younger students this technique? There are many reading strategies and interventions that are being taught at the upper elementary level. Some actually touch on the ideas of active and passive reading, but most are geared toward basic comprehension, rather than the development of a new point of view. It is no wonder that many students feel overwhelmed in making the transition to institutes of higher learning.

As a new school year begins, I plan to try incorporating some reading and writing activities in my class to expose my students to active reading strategies. My field is music, and I have a plethora of materials on hand that would be perfect for just such and activity. The resultant skills would be invaluable across the curriculum.

Source:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/topic.shtml

Jones_Sharon_Wk1_History_of_VLE's

I have always been fascinated by history, be it the history of art, music, religion, culture, or education. In reading about the history of virtual learning environments, I was shocked to see the time-line begin in 1728, however after reading the entry I find that if fits quite neatly into the tapestry of distance learning.

Correspondence schools have been well documented in both film and literature. These early versions of distance learning have formed the image many people have of virtual learning environments. As the name implies, these involved written assignments being submitted by mail to an invisible instructor, who would then grade and return them by mail. This model is still in use today as seen with "The American School."

As television became universal in the 1950's and 60's, virtual learning environments expanded to include visual material. School began subscribing to on-air classes through public broadcast channels. This was a model I participated in during elementary school. I attended a small parochial school that housed two grades per classroom. The classroom teacher was responsible for teaching all subjects to two different grade levels. Science, in particular, would see one grade level going to the media room (the only one with a television) to partake of a televised science lesson. We would return to the regular classroom to write an essay on what we had learned. We really looked forward to these sessions, and thought them quite good at the time. They were quite well-done and a lot of fun, but offered no opportunity for student involvement or interaction.

This week's reading also covered the early online classes. These apparently followed a similar video approach to education, much like the early PBS shows. The end result must have been similar to merging correspondence classes and PBS videos to form a class that involved a video presentation of the material with a submitted written response from the student. The primary advantage to the original correspondence model would be better instruction for visual learners, and quicker feedback response from course instructors.

In the 1990's, the prevalence of affordable home computers and access to the internet created a market for technology assisted virtual learning environments. The marketplace now had a demand to create an integrated learning management system that could deliver education at least equal to, or possibly superior to on site instruction. While many campuses developed class schedules to accommodate work schedules, there was no way to overcome the difficulty of distance in meeting the needs of students who had jobs or families. This was always one of the reasons, in my opinion, for the popularity of distance education, and this is one of the areas that make the new online learning environments so enticing.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments_1990s
http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/

Jones_Sharon_Wk1_LMO Welcome

With the beginning of a new school year, I will again be faced with the challenge of meeting my goals for my personal growth and educational development with meeting the needs of my students in an increasingly more complex world.

This blog was originally created for another class in the EMDT program at Full Sail. Since that time, it has been inactive while I have focused on other methods of designing and utilizing media for the classroom. Now it is time to return to this blog as a way to share my discoveries on this educational journey.