Presenters: Katie Gibson John Millard, University Libraries Miami University Course management software (CMS) used in higher education is often multi-layered, poorly organized, and difficult for students to navigate. At Miami University, six librarians teaching different sections of a course in the Interactive Media Studies department bypassed institution-supported course management software in favor of Ning.com. This breakout session will present lessons learned from this experiment, discuss pros and cons of abandoning institutionally supported systems, and explain how the adoption of this new technology affected teaching.

1. Teaching in the Cloud Replacing monolithic course management systems with Web 2.0 platforms John Millard and Katie Gibson Miami University Libraries

4. Overview and History IMS 201 Information Studies in the Digital Age Explores what it means to be information literate in today’s digital world. Students will not only learn about the latest technological advances but will also reflect on ethical and legal issues created by the information age. Intended for students wishing to become competent in the fields of Information Literacy and Information Technology. Course includes all aspects of the research process from definition of the research problem to the acquisition and critical analysis of information, to the adaptation of that information for a digital environment.

7. Infrastructure at Miami

8. Blackboard

9. Ning.com

21. Preliminary Results Overall Impressions I really enjoyed the use and all that it had to offer, from posting links, blogs, photos, audio and of course being able to communicate and somewhat get to know the students in the course through reading their responses and posts. I didn't use Ning that much during the course other than to post assignments and find information. I would have rather used Blackboard/email since information for my other classes is already there. Frustrating that I had to go to another site other than blackboard, but it was easy to use and made sense Sucked.

22. Preliminary Results …Compared to BlackBoard? It was probably easier to figure out. It was straightforward and it was very clear where everything was located. Sometimes blackboard is comfusing because different profs put things under different places. Ning was better then Blackboard I use blackboard more and like having all my classes located on blackboard, rather than two separate places. I think Ning is much easier to use than Blackboard, and it doesn't seem like it will go down like Blackboard often does. Sucked

25. Questions / Comments? There’s no way we’ve already answered all of them