Evaluating and Selecting a Learning Management System
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This presentation was given at the 2012 AECT Conference. It discusses how to evaluate and select a Learning Management System (LMS) based upon an organization’s needs and learning goals. This presentation illustrates how to identify the learning needs of an organization, compare these needs with available LMSs, select potential LMS options, and evaluate these options based upon a presenter-provided rubric. It also shares emerging trends with Learning Management Systems.
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Evaluating and Selecting a Learning Management System
- 1. Evaluating and Selecting a Learning Management System Thomas Argondizza Monica Rysavy, Ed.D. The Pennsylvania State University
- 2. QR Code or Link for Slide Notes https://user.poken.com/profile/60019743
- 3. Presenter Information Thomas Argondizza Monica Rysavy, Ed.D. argondizza@psu.edu monica@psu.edu
- 4. Organizations making changes in 2011-2012 Blackboard Canvas Desire2Learn Penn State University of Maryland Western Illinois University Saudi Electronic University of Central Contra Cost Community University Florida College Morehead State Rowan University California University of University Pennsylvania Source: News Information and/or Press Releases from Blackboard, Canvas, & Desire2Learn
- 5. Learning Management Systems ANGEL Blackboard Moodle Desire2Learn Pearson Sakai OLAT eFront KEWL JUSUR Edvance360 Canvas
- 6. University System of Georgia Students Modern system accessible on a mobile device Access to courses after transferring institutions within USG Consistent system between collaborative programs Accessibility Equal Access Ease of learning interface Faculty Create master courses Migrate existing courses Grading features Local Control of functionality
- 7. University System of Georgia (cont.) Admin Synchronize student information Import information about courses Security Pricing Source: University System of Georgia: www.usg.edu/learning_management_system
- 8. Proprietary vs. Open Source Systems Proprietary LMS systems Often referred to as “off-the-shelf” Offer the most built-in options. Typically offer extensive customer support Open Source Systems Tend to require significant customization on the part of the local system administrator.
- 9. Examples of Proprietary and Open Source Systems Proprietary Open Source Blackboard: Moodle: www.blackboard.com www.moodle.org Desire 2 Learn: Sakai: www.desire2learn.com www.sakaiproject.org Jenzabar e-Racer Canvas by Instructure www.jenzabar.com/ www.instructure.com CoureSites by Blackboard www.coursesites.com
- 10. LMS Considerations: Learner Tools Communication Discussion Boards Real-time chat Productivity Calendar/Progress Review Work offline/Mobile Apps Student Involvement Group Work Student Portfolios
- 11. LMS Considerations: Support Tools Administration Registration integration Course Authorization Course Delivery Test types Online Gradebook Content Development Accessibility compliance Customized Look and Feel
- 12. LMS Considerations: Technical Specifications Hardware/Software Client Browser requirement(s) On-site or off-site hosting Server requirements Company Details / Licensing Costs/Licensing Open Source Optional Extras Source: Edutools.com
- 13. Pricing Models Seat-based - number of people in the organization that may use the LMS Usage-based - number of students who register for classes Storage-based- size of files stored in content repository Source: Choosing a Learning Management System by Advanced Distributed Learning http://www.adlnet.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Choosing-LMS-v.2.4_201104132.pdf
- 14. Evaluating an LMS: EduTools • A community-driven site that offers feature- by-feature product comparisons and decision-making supports • Three methods of exploring systems: • Product Information • Compare Products www.edutools.info • Make a Decision
- 15. Evaluating an LMS: Rubrics Plymouth State University Canvas by Instructure Used a rubric to compare Used a rubric to compare Blackboard 9 & Moodle Canvas to Blackboard, http://bit.ly/UI6gf7 Desire2Learn, Moodle, and Sakai They compared features http://bit.ly/RYMCq4 such as: Cost They compared features Ease of Use such as: Implementation Architecture Course Conversion Openness Support Features 3rd Party Content Usability
- 16. Additional Resources Advanced Distributed Learning Choosing an LMS Video Series http://www.adlnet.gov/resources/choosing-an-lms-video-series?type=video Edutools www.edutools.com University System of Georgia www.usg.edu/learning_management_system University of Maryland http://www.it.umd.edu/ELMSeval/index.html
Editor's Notes
- Hello everyone! My name is Monica Rysavy. My background is in K-12 education. I taught in Delaware public schools for nearly a decade before going back to school to Penn State University last year. My research interests are centered around online learning specifically looking at teacher motivation in distance education courses as well as methods of evaluating asynchronous conversations in discussion forums. This research extends the work I started in my former doctoral program at Wilmington University, where I earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and focused on methods of increasing teachers’ integration of technology in their classrooms through the use of online professional development. My partner for this presentation, Thomas Argondizza, is unable to be here today as result of Hurricane Sandy. However he asked me to introduce him and would like to extend his apologies for being unable to attend. Thomas is currently the prime author on a chapter about evaluating and selecting course management systems at universities. If you would like to know more about his research, he’d like to encourage you to contact him by the email you see on this slide. Thomas and I are both in the Learning, Design, and Technology Ph.D. program at Penn State (formerly known as Instructional Systems). I should point out that both Thomas and I brought unique experiences and knowledge regarding Learning Management Systems to this presentation. Thomas has practical experience with evaluating Learning Management Systems as he was recently involved with Penn State’s reevaluation of our current Learning Management System (Angel) and I have extensive experience working with Blackboard as both an instructor and as a trainer for other instructors.
- Over the last couple of years, many institutions have begun to reevaluate the learning management system that they currently or to evaluate current learning management system offerings to decide if they would like to select a new LMS. This slide shows just some of the LMS changes that have occurred in the past two years. Each university that chooses a new LMS, typically does so after following a detailed evaluation and selection process. It’s important to point out here that sometimes organizations reevaluate their present LMS even if they ultimately stay with the same providerHas anyone in the audience been part of an organization that has recently changed or considering to change their LMS?
- There are several Learning Management Systems to choose from, although as of late, there are less proprietary solutions as Blackboard has acquired Angel as well as two Moodle partners (Moodlerooms and NetSpot). Later in this presentation, I will be demonstrating an LMS comparison tool on the Edutools website that shares these as well as others.
- This is an example of an educational institution – the University System of Georgia – that underwent an extensive evaluation process to select a new learning management system. Do we have anyone from USG here? In 2011, USG announced that they selectedDesire2Learn as their new LMS. Upon reviewing their website, Thomas learned that there were several key factors that the University System of Georgia considered when going through their evaluation process: Student Needs, Accessibility, Faculty Needs, Admin concerns, and Pricing. Part of their evaluation process was to identify the needs and desires of stakeholders involved, and select an LMS that matched. Students’ number one interest was a platform that could be accessed via mobile devices. Accessibility was naturally a concern, but the important part is that USG consciously decided to include it as a key consideration in their needs analysis. Faculties’ number one concern was ease of use. The ability to integrate existing materials was one of their most important concerns. This way they wouldn’t have to create everything from scratch.
- Administration needs, security and pricing were also needs identified. A little later, I’ll briefly touch on the types of pricing models but these really vary from provider to provider.
- Proprietary LMSOpen Source SystemsIn other words, Open Source Systems are not immediately “course ready”. Sometimes when you hear people discuss proprietary vs. open source, you immediately hear the comparison of proprietary = not free and open source = free. This really depends though because while the actual software for the learning management system may be free, costs are still typically associated such as for hosting.
- If your institution is considering making a change to a new LMS, there are three categories that have been identified by Edutools as areas to consider: Learner Tools, Support Tools, and Technical Specifications.Calendar/Progress Review tools enable students to document their plans for a course and the associated assignments in a courseWork offline/synchronize is a set of tools that enable students to work offline in their online course and for their work to be synchronized into the course the next time they log-in. Sometimes students can download course content to their local computers and work offline.
- Registration tools are used to add students to and drop students from an online course. Administrators and/or instructors use registration tools but students also use them when self-registration is available. Students can also be added to or dropped from the course.Course authorization tools are used to assign specific access privileges to course content and tools based on specific user roles, e.g. students, instructors, teaching assistants. For example, students can view pages and instructors can author pages.Accessibility compliance: Accessibility compliance means meeting the standards that allow people with disabilities to access information online. For example, the blind use a device called a screen reader to read the screen but Web pages need to be designed so that screen readers can navigate it easily. Something you might have heard of regarding accessibility with Learning Management Systems is called SCORM compliance. SCORM is an evolving standard to aid integration of online learning product. This standard was developed under the auspices of the industry group Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL). If you want to learn more about it, just Google or Bing SCORM.Customized Look and Feel is the ability to change the graphics and how a course looks. This also includes the ability to institutionally brand courses with your University or college logo for example.
- Hardware/SoftwareClient Browser requirement(s): The type and version number of the Web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer 8 +) that works effectively with the course management systemOn Site or off site hosting: Some Learning Management Systems offer off-site hosting – meaning they will host the system for you. Otherwise, you will need to consider server requirements.Server requirement: What type of server does this system require? Unix? Windows? Company Details / LicensingCosts/Licensing: Costs include information on licenses and other startup expenses.Open Source: Open Source means the software is delivered with the source code and the license agreement gives the licensee the right to modify and redistribute the software. Optional Extras: Optional extras are features or extras added to the product that may or may not add to the cost.
- Product Information: This section allows you to select a product and view a full list of the product's features and their descriptions. If this is your first visit to EduTools, you may select a product to see how it is displayed.Compare Products: This section allows for four distinct approaches to comparing products: By Product Name, By Features, By Preselected Group, Compare Products by DeveloperMake a Decision: The EduTools Summative Decision Tool provides users with a rational decision making process to assist in selecting a course management system. This tool enables users to:Limit focus to what is requiredConsider only a very few things at a time when making ratings/rankings of suitabilityMake the computer keep track of the data and do the arithmetic calculations for the familiar weighted grading model for scoresProvide for sensitivity analysis (tweaking and recalculating)