The current educational technology debate is often framed as a contest between the CMS and the PLN, between centralized IT and individualized toolboxes. Mott argues that we should reject this "either-or" choice and instead embrace the possibility of a best-of-both-worlds "and" solution. Such a solution would combine the value of SIS integration and secure, assessment-related communication with the openness and persistence of the web.
“Give me a log hut, with only a simple bench, Mark Hopkins [a well-known educator and lecturer of the day] on one end and I on the other, and you may have all the buildings, apparatus, and libraries without him.” President James Garfield (Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/271551/Mark-Hopkins)Image Source: President James Garfield http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28cwpbh+03743%29%29
We have lots of tools, but the tools are only as good as we make use of them.Image Source: “tools” http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordonr/42555739/
We can use new tools in the wrong way with stunning inefficiency.
By and large, “teachers used technology to maintain existing practices” rather than to “revolutionize” the way they teach their students (p. 138).New technologies are “peripheral to the daily routines of teaching and learning,”Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Image Source: “Computer fail” http://www.flickr.com/photos/spcummings/3631142010/
What do we want our students to become? Does one work better than the other? Which one best supports learning? Let’s see if we can answer this questions . . .
The “Course Management System” – Roots in late 90s. Blackboard’s original name “Course Info” is a good indication of what these tools were originally intended to do.
Vertically integrated technology stack with uneven integration with other tools in the learning ecosystem.
How is Blackboard actually used?
University of Wisconsin System faculty members. In that study, Morgan found that "faculty use the CMS primarily as an administrative tool to facilitate quiz administration and other classroom tasks rather than as a tool anchored in pedagogy or cognitive science models” (2003, 11). As Milligan observes, the CMS is "fundamentally a conservative technology ... [for] managing groups, providing tools, and delivering content" (2006, 1)Evidence of the pervasiveness of such CMS usage tendencies can be found in a recent usage study of the Sakai at the University of North Carolina. Faculty survey data indicates that the top three uses of Sakai in the category "Improving Teaching and Learning" were "Accessing materials any time," "Saving me time," and "Managing my course activities" (UNC 2009, 15).Milligan, C. (2006). The Road to the Personal Learning Environment? CETIS. Retrieved from http://zope.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple/resources/colinmilligan.pdf.Morgan, G. (2003). Faculty Use of Course Management Systems. ECAR. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0302/rs/ers0302w.pdf. University of North Carolina. (2009). Sakai Pilot Evaluation Final Report. October 15, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/sakaipilot/evaluation/FinalRept-Oct15-09-sm.pdf.
75% of faculty members us a CMS at BYU. 50% use a CMS as their only online teaching & learning technology25% use the CMS plus other online tools.25% don’t use a CMS14% have a course blog, wiki, or custom website11% use no online technology
Mott, J. and Wiley, D. (2009). “Open for Learning: The CMS and the Open Learning Network,” in education, 15:2.
The CMS is time bound. Image Source: “Osaka Hour Glass” http://www.flickr.com/photos/caribb/3991024595/sizes/l/
This is Facebook
This is Facebook every 14 weeks if it was managed like an LMS.
InSieber’s study, students *requested* continued access to wikis after course was over. 36% (93/256) continued to interact on the wiki 1 semester after their course was over. Sieber, Diane E. “Social Networks for Teaching and Learning: Implementation and Assessment.” Educause 2009.Image Source: “the cairn above the cloud” http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabi/1174452785/sizes/l/
The CMS is teacher and content centric.Covering v. Uncovering content . . . IMAGE:“That Huge Lecture Theatre” http://www.flickr.com/photos/teddy-rised/2814710002/