An Overview of Learning Management Systems

Learning management systems (LMSs) have emerged as critical teaching and learning platforms at nearly all institutions of higher education. Many college and university administrators implemented at least one learning management system, such as Blackboard Learn, as the campus-wide learning management system (Chaw, & Tang, 2018). In fully online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses, LMSs leverage the web to offer features for communication, instruction, assessment, and collaboration along with course administration and content management. This article provides a quick overview of LMSs.

Learning management systems are e-learning software containing an integrated set of teaching and learning tools with capabilities to link with other institutional functions (Tumbleson & Burke, 2014). Learning management systems can be used in fully online, hybrid, and traditional face-to-face courses. In fully online courses, the primary purpose for LMSs is to provide a location for teaching and learning that is accessible at any given time (Chaw, & Tang, 2018). In traditional face-to-face courses, LMSs have the potential to extend and enhance students’ learning experiences beyond the classroom walls.  There are several LMSs available for use in higher education.

Learning management systems have different operating functions depended upon the industry, however all LMSs have common features and tools (Walker, Lindner, Murphrey, & Dooley, 2016).  Commonly found in LMSs are functions for course administration, collaboration, communication, instruction, and assessment.  Calendars, announcements, drop boxes, and gradebooks are examples of features in course administration tools.  Discussions, chats, and email are common collaboration and communication features.  Assignments, tests, self and peer assessments, and learning outcomes alignment are common assessment tools (Hodges & Grant, 2015). Features and tools in LMSs support online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses.

Purposeful uses of LMSs are grounded in constructivism and connectivism learning theories. According to Hodges and Grant (2015), instructors can use discussion, blog, journal, assignment, and rubric features and tools in LMSs to support constructivist activities. Constructivists view interaction as an important part of the learning experience. On the other hand, Siemens (2005) proposed connectivism as a new perspective on how learning takes place in digital learning spaces. Using connectivism in combination with LMSs instructors can enhance and enable learning beyond the walls of traditional classrooms. Both the constructivist and connectivism learning theories are appropriate for the implementation of LMSs into teaching and learning environments.

  

In conclusion, LMSs are an integral part of the higher education infrastructure. The intended use of features and tools in LMSs by instructors determines how LMSs support teaching and learning. In upcoming blog articles, I will explore the usage of the Blackboard Learn LMS in traditional face-to-face environments in higher education. As you move into a new year, consider rethinking the use of LMSs to further enhance and support instruction at optimal levels for teachers, and learning at the highest achievement levels for students.

References

Chaw, L. Y., & Tang, C. M. (2018). What makes learning management systems effective for learning? Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 47(2), 152-169. doi:10.1177/0047239518795828

Tumbleson, B. E., & Burke, J. J. (2014). Embedding librarianship in learning management systems: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Hodges, C. & Grant, M. (2015). Theories to support you: Purposeful use of learning management system features. In Proceedings of Global Learn 2015 (pp. 481-486). Berlin, Germany: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved from https://www.editlib.org/ p/150895/

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for a digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3–10. Retrieved from http://itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

Walker, D. S., Lindner, J. R., Murphrey, T. P., & Dooley, K. (2016). Learning management system usage: Perspectives from university instructors. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 17(2), 41-50. Retrieved from http://www.infoagepub.com/quarterly-review-of-distance-education.html

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2020, January 31). An Overview of Learning Management Systems [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Photo by Burst on Unsplash

Don’t Leave Teams in the Cloud

Microsoft Office 365 is a popular cloud-based technology known most for its productivity apps, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In addition to these applications (apps), Microsoft Office 365 offers other applications and services that could potentially transform the teaching and learning environment for educators. Microsoft Teams, a less popular app in the Microsoft Office 365 collection, is a safe and secure platform to create inclusive, student-centered instruction and learning opportunities.

Microsoft Teams is a digital hub with a seamless platform that permits educators to create a space for communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.  Utilizing Teams, educators are able to add content, assignments, and posts, while bringing to one location other apps such as OneNote and Stream. Further, students can hold conversations with the Teams app.

With Microsoft Teams, educators can build a collaborative classroom. Teams serves as a hub where educators and students interact online and as a workspace for communications, sharing files and even meeting online. Within Teams, educators set up a class made up of channels. Each channel is dedicated to a topic. Students work on assigned tasks within a channel. Teams allows educators to share the students’ feedback individually or directly with the group. If feedback is shared with the group, students can use the feedback for further discussion online or personally during a face-to-face class session.

In addition to using Teams for communication and collaboration, educators can empower students through personalized assignments and individual feedback. Educators can manage assignments using Teams to create, assign, collect, and provide feedback on assignments. Further, rubrics gained popularity with educators as a means of communicating expectations for an assignment, assessing student work, and grading final papers/projects. Teams embodies a system that all study materials, assignments, and feedback are in one place and easily accessible online from different devices.

Zacharová and Sokolová (2019) used Microsoft Teams in a classroom management course for pre-service teachers. Study materials, including case students, worksheets, and problem-based tasks are all a part of Teams. Students worked at their own pace and chose when and how long they worked on the assignments. Teams supports a system of interactive engagement for teachers and students. Students watched videos and used the chat room to share ideas and comments. The instructors provided feedback to students.

In conclusion, think of Microsoft Teams as a digital hub to bring educators, students, applications, conversations, assignments, and feedback together in one location. More importantly, educators and students have free access to Microsoft Office 365 through their academic institution or directly through Microsoft (Simkin, 2018). Students can work on group projects and hold discussions related to assignments. Educators can monitor how things are going in each group. Also, assignment submissions and feedback take place in a seamless environment. Microsoft Teams can change the way teaching and learning happens.

                                                                                     

References:

Simkin, M. (2018). Embedding technology in the history classroom. Agora, 53(1), 17–20.

Zacharová & Sokolová (2019). Developing professional vision: An on-line course of Adlerian classroom management for pre-service teachers. ELearning & Software for Education, 2, 79–84. doi:10.12753/2066-026X-19-079

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, December 28). Don’t Leave Teams in the Cloud [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Using Flipgrid for Student Engagement and Assessment

Educators seek apps for the intended purpose of enhancing student engagement and varying assessment. The most effective apps improve learning experiences by seamlessly connecting students, content, and the instructor. A careful examination of Flipgrid (www.flipgrid.com) revealed a user-friendly app that permits instructors to engage students in their own learning by giving students a voice. Flipgrid creates an opportunity for students to participate in video discussions and provides instructors with an alternative assessment tool. The purpose of this article is to discuss Flipgrid and provide some uses of the app.

What is Flipgrid?

Flipgrid is an asynchronous video discussion platform designed to foster social learning both inside and outside the classroom (Green & Green, 2018). Developed at the University of Minnesota and launched in 2015, Flipgrid is now a part of the Microsoft. Flipgrid is designed for the educator community and allows for the creation of short videos around topics for sharing with others. Flipgrid is a 100% free cross-platform web-based and mobile app for educators and students.

So, how does it work? Instructors create a grid to present the topics (discussions) for a class or course. Topics serve as the stimulus for students’ video responses and include written text, video or images. Each topic is a discussion prompt. Students respond to the topic (discussion prompt) via an audio and video recording and reply to other students’ videos. Also, there are options for uploading an existing video and for adding stickers and drawings to videos. There are additional features ranging from privacy settings for a grid to automatic transcription of audio (Green & Green, 2018).

Flipgrid in Action

One use of Flipgrid is for authentic assessment of student performances in music classes. Performance assessment is one of the best ways to determine students’ understanding of music concepts. Through video responses, Flipgrid captures what students do in music. Topics for the grid are for either individual or small group performances. Video responses are 5 minutes in length. Optionally, students record, trim, and rerecord video before final submission. Flipgrid makes it possible for students to record video responses at home or in school. Recorded videos are seen by others in the class unless the instructor or student hides them (Dunbar, 2019).

Another use of Flipgrid is for students to become better acquainted with fellow classmates. In an online class, students create and share introductory videos and collaborate with each other to grow the online learning community. After posting a video response to the self-introductory topic, students view and respond to at least two other students with thoughtful and thorough responses. As a graded assignment, the video introduction replaces the typical text-based self-introduction discussions (Casarez, Agan, Self, Anderson, Atwood, & Heron, 2019).

Conclusion

Flipgrid is ideal for online classrooms or face-to-face classes that integrate technology. Flipgrid, a video discussion platform, provides greater opportunity for expression with the addition of audio and video capabilities. Flipgrid connects students, content, and the instructor visually and audibly. Student engagement, experiences and outcomes are enhanced in any classroom environment, particularly in online settings.  Flipgrid has the capacity or bringing greater opportunities for collaboration. Try it out and post a comment to let me know what you think about Flipgrid.

References

Casarez, L., Agan, T., Self, R., Anderson, D., Atwood, A., & Heron, A. (2019). Flipgrid to enhance communication in distance education. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 85(4), 35–37.

Dunbar, L. (2019). When responses cannot be written down: Video submission possibilities in the music classroom. General Music Today, 32(3), 29–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371319832880

Green, T., & Green, J. (2018). Flipgrid: Adding voice and video to online discussions. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 62(1), 128–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-017-0241-x

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, November 28). Using Flipgrid for Student Engagement and Assessment [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Image source: http://blog.flipgrid.com/downloads

The Online Classroom: Student-Content Interactions

In the online classroom, students not only interact with the instructor and each other, but students interact with content. Interaction with course content impacts student engagement and learning. With available technologies, it is easy to throw content together and just put it online. However, will students be able to purposefully engage with the content and arrive at their destination (knowledge acquisition) without getting lost along the way? Let’s explore the possibilities of student engagement in online learning environments.

Student-content interaction is defined as the engagement by students with the course content. It is the ability of students to access, manipulate, synthesize, and communicate content information. Engagement with the course content can happen through learning activities (reading, watching videos, exploring resources) and working on course assignments (Kyei-Blankson & Donnelly, 2016). Discussion boards have long been the go-to for online courses. (You need to discuss the discussion more in greater detail.  Where are the references that support this discussion board? What do the experts say?) Many times, instructors have students read chapters in a textbook or read an article, and then require them to discuss the content in a discussion board post. Does this sound familiar? Post your initial response to the questions no later than 5 pm on Tuesday and reply to posts by two different students no later than 5 pm on Saturday. Being creative with discussion board assignments is one way to provide student interaction with content.

Modifications to the structure of online discussions can yield better student interaction with content (Yilmaz & Karaoglan, 2019). One method for structuring online discussions is assigning different roles and responsibilities to group members. Roles can include students as starter, moderator, arguer, source searcher, and summarizer. The main responsibilities of each role are (Yilmaz & Karaoglan, 2019):

• Starter: Starts and keeps the discussion sustainable for the group.
• Moderator: Follows the flow of the discussion and keeps the group on task.
• Arguer: Works with the source searcher and starter and takes a critical approach to responses from participants.
• Summarizer: Notes the major points and issues from the discussion and summarizes the important information related to the topics.

Students not only interact with the content, but students also interact with each other.

In conclusion, interactions occur through instructor-student communication, student-student collaboration, and student-content engagement. Each form of interactions has important implications for learning in online courses. Through further research, educators may benefit from better understanding of how student interaction with course content impacts student engagement and learning in the online classroom.

References:

Kyei-Blankson, L., Ntuli, E., & Donnelly, H. (2016). Establishing the importance of interaction and presence to student learning in online environments. World Journal of Educational Research, 3(1), 48-65. doi:10.22158/wjer.v3n1p48

Yilmaz, R., & Karaoglan Yilmaz, F. G. (2019). Assigned roles as a structuring tool in online discussion groups: Comparison of transactional distance and knowledge sharing behaviors. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(5), 1303-1325. doi:10.1177/0735633118786855

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, October 28). The Online Classroom: Student-Content Interactions [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

The Online Classroom: Student-Student Interactions

In the face-to-face classroom, students tend to effortlessly interact with each other as a normal part of their learning experience. Students may talk before and after class, participate in class discussions, build connections through study groups, and engage in other formal or informal activities. However, in the online classroom, there is a loss of student-to-student proximity. The loss of this opportunity for direct communication becomes a potential challenge for instructors to foster meaningful student engagement. Advances in technology offer instructors various methods in which to incorporate student-student interactions into online courses. VoiceThread is one such technology.

In a recent study, Bickle and Rucker (2018) examined student-to-student interactions in an asynchronous online undergraduate course. The authors used VoiceThread technology within group assignments and found that students experienced a more humanizing method of interaction. The combination of VoiceThread technology and group assignments influenced students’ ability to learn, their feeling of a community, and their ability to communicate in an online environment. VoiceThread as an interactive technology was a successful learning tool to encourage collaboration, conversation, and creativity among students. During the semester long course, student groups of three completed seven assignments using VoiceThread. Within each group, each student researched a specific topic and recorded a video thread in VoiceThread. Group members collaborated to complete the assignment, and then the group leader uploaded the VoiceThread link to Blackboard for grading purposes.

Delmas (2017) explored the role of VoiceThread in creating a sense of community for graduate students in blended and fully online classes. Students in the study used VoiceThread for assignments (student introductions, presentations, historical timelines, and book reviews) in their classes. Results indicated that students felt more connected to their classmates due to VoiceThread’s ability to add voice to online activities. In addition, students reported that they felt more connected to their instructor because VoiceThread made the instructor seem real. VoiceThread was effective in creating social presence and enhancing communications. 

In conclusion, student-student interaction is a vital part of any student learning experience whether face-to-face or online. VoiceThread provided the opportunity for student-student interaction in the absence of face-to-face interaction. Student-student interaction is only one form of interaction. Last month’s blog article focused on instructor-student interaction in the online classroom. In next month’s blog article, student-content interaction in the online classroom will be discussed in detail.

References

Bickle, M. C., & Rucker, R. (2018). Student-to-student interaction. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 19(1), 1–11. Retrieved from https://www.infoagepub.com/quarterly-review-of-distance-education.html

Delmas, P. (2017). Using VoiceThread to create community in online learning. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 61(6), 595–602. doi:10.1007/s11528-017-0195-z

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, September 28). The online classroom: Student-student interactions [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Photo by Buro Millennial from Pexels

The Online Classroom: Instructor-Student Interactions

Generally, in the online classroom students and the instructor connect synchronously or asynchronously while in separate locations. Thus, making it vital for instructors to play a pivotal role in student engagement and retention to avoid or minimize challenges beyond those of a traditional classroom. This blog article focuses on potential challenges that often emerge for instructor-student interaction in the online classroom.

Marketing Touchpoints

Hicks, Gray, and Bond (2019) posited using marketing touchpoints to solve instructor-student interaction challenges. A touchpoint is a marketing term used to refer to any point a customer comes in contact with a business, before, during, or after they make a purchase. From an educational perspective, touchpoints represent an opportunity for instructors to “inform and remind students about the value of class content and the value of how they should engage with the classroom content” (p. 2). Using a touchpoint blueprint for connecting with online students helps to build and establish the instructor’s presence in the online course and engagement with students.

Instructors can utilize touchpoints throughout the three phases of an online course (preclass, during class, and postclass). Hicks, Gray, and Bond (2019) identified email, announcements, and discussion board posts as primary touchpoints in an online classroom to optimize instructor-student interactions. “Instructor-student interactions may occur on a one-to-one, small group, or whole-class basis” (Davidson-Shivers, 2009, p.24). A welcome email before the course begins is an essential preclass touchpoint to show students that the instructor is present and available. Active class touchpoints occur once the class begins and before it ends. One active class touchpoint is a weekly reminder to all students of the start of a new week to provide a brief discussion on key concepts or help focus students on important details of an assignment. Another active class touchpoint is directed feedback to individual students or small groups, such as reaching out to a student who struggled with a concept or a discussion board post to a group to provide additional resources. One postclass touchpoint for the whole class can include an end-of-course message recognizing and praising students’ successful completion of the course.

Instructor Personalized Audio Lectures

Steele, Robertson, and Mandernach (2018) examined the value of instructor-personalized audio lectures as a means of fostering students’ engagement with course content and the online learning experience. The authors compared instructor-generated audio lectures to non-personalized, standardized content presentations (OER, publisher or standardized content materials). Qualitative data indicated higher satisfaction, connection, and engagement from students listening to personalized audio lectures. Instructor-generated audio lectures “created a more engaging connection between online students and their instructor” (p. 139).

Audio lectures provide a means of promoting instructor-student interaction in a more personalized manner. The following are instructional strategies for integrating audio lectures into the online classroom (Steele, Robertson, and Mandernach, 2018):

• Integrate audio supplements at the onset of an online class to establish rapport between the instructor and students.
• Use audio lectures as announcements to summarize weekly activities and expectations.
• Offer audio supplements, such as podcasts, as an alternative to text-based content provide in the course.
• Use audio lectures as an on-the-go option for listening to a course lecture.
• Provide audio feedback to students’ assignments.
• Response to students within the discussion forum with an audio response rather than a written reply.
• Audio lectures provide a key opportunity for instructor-student interaction, but also give students more control over their online learning experience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, instructor-student interaction is key to student success yet challenging due to the remote nature of the online classroom. Preclass, during class, and postclass touchpoints are effective for increasing instructor-student interaction in online courses. Also, instructor-generated audio lectures provide another opportunity for instructor-student interaction. To be fully engaged in the learning process, students need to connect with the instructor in a meaningful way. Students’ interaction with the content and other students play a vital role in the online classroom as well. 

References:

Davidson-Shivers, G. V. (2009). Frequency and types of instructor interactions in online instruction. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(1), 23–40. Retrieved from www.ncolr.org/jiol

Hicks, N., Gray, D. M., & Bond, J. (2019). A blueprint for executing instructor-student interactions in the online classroom using marketing touchpoints. Journal of Educators Online, 16(1), 1–11. doi:10.9743/jeo.2019.16.1.4

Steele, J. P., Robertson, S. N., & Mandernach, B. J. (2018). Beyond content: The value of instructor-student connections in the online classroom. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 18(4), 130–150. doi:10.14434/josotl.v18i4.23430

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, August 28). The Online Classroom: Instructor-Student Interactions [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The Flipped Classroom

Educators teaching in face-to-face classrooms move beyond passive learning with more active and collaborative approaches to teaching with flipped classroom usage (Bergmann & Sams, 2014). Utilizing a flipped classroom allows student engagement and learning goes beyond just watching videos. Before class, students prepare to participate in class activities. During class, students are actively involved with other students and the instructor through a variety of approaches such as problem-based activities, brainstorming, or group/pair work. After class, students check their understanding and extend their learning. A flipped classroom looks different based on the instructor, students, classroom environment, content, and learning outcomes. According to Bergmann and Sams (2014, p. 18) “A flipped classroom really starts with one simple question: What is the best use of your face-to-face class time?”

In traditional face-to-face business courses taught by three different instructors, students identified the courses as difficult and hard to pass. Students were commuter students, who sometimes had multiple jobs, family responsibilities, and other commitments. Sometimes, students were unable to attend class and when they did attend, they came unprepared. Students were diverse from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, the instructors observed that students were disinterested and disengaged in the class. So, the instructors redesigned four traditional courses to a flipped course and studied the effectiveness of the flipped courses as compared with the traditional courses. The courses were taught as both traditional and flipped courses over eight semesters from spring 2015 to fall 2018. Instruction happened outside the classroom, and if students encountered learning issues or had questions, they could contact the instructor or use a discussion forum in the learning management system. Prior to coming to the next class, students completed a short online quiz or low-level skills worksheet that helped the instructors assess student understanding of the material. The instructors found evidence of academic improvement by students in flipped courses compared with traditional courses, a general positive attitude toward flipped courses, and lower withdrawal rates of students from flipped courses without having to compromise on course content (Sarkar, Ford & Manzo, 2019).

Malik, Khan, and Maqsood (2018) found similar results in which the flipped approach improved physical and cognitive engagement of students. Physical engagement referred to active participation and the application of vigor and effort focused toward the completion of a task. Cognitive engagement was the amount of attention, concentration, and focus toward an activity or a task. The researchers used a mixed method approach to compare and contrast the qualitative data and the results of quantitative data. The participants included undergraduate students in an engineering class. From the beginning of the semester until the second exam, students were taught using the traditional mode of instruction. Then, the flipped classroom approach was implemented after the second exam until final exams. Using the flipped classroom approach, the instructors provided students with video lectures, research articles, reference books, and PowerPoint slides a week before the class session. Students brought lecture notes (graded activity), which included key points of the topic and questions to ask during the question and answer session. During the face-to-face class, there was a 25-minute question and answer session based on the lecture notes of students. Group activities included case studies, historical software issues, and real-life scenarios. Each group shared the findings of the activity with the entire class. As a result, the traditional lecture moved from the classroom (group space) into individual space. The face-to-face class time was best used for student interaction and engagement.

In conclusion, the flipped classroom changed the way the instructors mentioned above taught their face-to-face courses. Whether you flip an entire course or portions of a course, students benefit from the active learning and collaborative approach. Higher order thinking is done in the class in the presence of the instructor and the instructor can interact one-on-one or in small groups with students. Learning rather than teaching becomes the goal and students begin to take more ownership of their own learning. Learners are no longer passive recipients of knowledge but active learners.

References:

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning. Learning & Leading with Technology, 41(7), 18–23.

Malik, Z. A., Khan, S. S., & Maqsood, M. (2018). Exploring the relationship between student engagement and new pedagogical approaches. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 47(2), 170-192. doi:10.1177/0047239518788281

Sarkar, N., Ford, W. & Manzo, C. (2019). To flip or not to flip: What the evidence suggests, Journal of Education for Business, doi:10.1080/08832323.2019.1606771

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Cite this blog: Washington, G. (2019, July 28). The flipped classroom [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay