Learning/Course Management Systems

Since I began studies at McMaster in 2004, I have experienced multiple forms of Course management systems, all with positive and negative attributes. I have used WebCT - which seems to be the standard for non-multimedia courses, LearnLink, and last year we began using Moodle in multimedia courses.

Of the three systems mentioned above, I found LearnLink to be the least effective and most problematic. My first year labour studies professor decided to use it as our CMS, and I think that a combination of students who were unfamiliar with the technology, and a generally confusing and difficult layout led to numerous problems throughout the course. Students had trouble accessing LearnLink as it was a client that they had to download and access individually on their own computers. There were also numerous difficulties with submitting assignments, and accessing files provided by the professor.

WebCT has been a relatively successful has been a relatively successful system, and I think that it is more than enough for many classes. In my experience with WebCT, it is used primarily as a means for the distribution of course materials and grades, but often this is the extent of its use in the course.

After our lab on Tuesday, when we were given the ability to explore Moodle's capabilities from an administrator's perspective, I feel that Moodle is a far superior CMS, with many more capabilities that allow a more technology-based learning environment, and much easier course organization. I can see technologies such as Moodle becoming the industry standard. They allow course administrators to easily organize their notes and course documents, track student participation and grades, and there are many different ways that students can use the technology to increase engagement with th course materials. Whether it be through discussion, quizzes, forums, chats, or any of the other nuerous functions, it seems that Moodle has taken steps to become more than just a system to manage course documents. Moodle allows administrators to manage many more aspects of a course than any service that i have come across before.

The Elearningpost article opened my eyes to more capabilities of these technologies that i had not considered. These Learning Management Systems can be used in the workplace as well. Whether it be used for training new employees, submitting work, participating in a forum to answer questions or problems, there is a lot of room in the workplace for technologies such as Moodle.

This summer I was an intern at an IT reseller. I noticed the use of technology to increase efficiency throughout our workplace. For example, almost everybody had MSN messenger open throughout the day. At most companies this would be seen as a distraction and something that would reduce efficiency, but it was promoted by the managers as an efficient method of communication. For example, if a salesperson had a question about a product that they could not answer, they could message the vendor manager or somebody else that might know the answer, and they would be able to get a response while they were still on the phone with the customer.

This is one example of how modern generation technology has the ability to increase efficiency in the workplace, and I believe that these Learning Management Systems can help maintain and increase efficiency in the workplace.