Week 1: LMS Evaluation
Course Set-up & Online Communication Tools
LMS-D2L Tools Review - Strengths:
- It was easy to add new members to the course in the Desire-2-Learn (D2L) learning management system (LMS). This may partly be because D2L is the Wright State LMS, and our group member emails have already been added to the system.
- I like the updates area on the home page where any new course details are listed making it easier to monitor student comments and assignment submissions.
3. Creating groups for students to communicate was pretty straightforward. When creating student groups for my classes, I like to have more experienced students mixed with newer ones in each group. So, I like that when creating student groups in D2L, I can choose whether or not to automatically randomly enroll students into groups.
4. It was very easy to carry out the quality check as a demo student, and posting questions on the discussion forum as a student was also simple.
4. It was very easy to carry out the quality check as a demo student, and posting questions on the discussion forum as a student was also simple.
LMS-D2L Tools Review - Weaknesses:
- Activating the class in D2L was a bit awkward since the activation link was not easily found (I had to click on Course Admin, then Course Offering Information, and Site Set Up), and adding the start and end dates for the course was not intuitive.
- It looks like students can only communicate with other designated group members in the group discussions, and not with the entire class, which limits social interaction and learning.
3. The electronic gradebook in D2L is very complex with too many options that are not user friendly. It took me a long time to create the grade items for each of the 5 weeks because there was no simple way to create these categories in D2L. For example, I couldn't just type in quiz, discussion, homework, etc for each week since I received an error message for duplicate entries. I had to add individual titles to overcome this limitation (eg: week 1 quiz, week 2 quiz, etc).
4. When creating group discussion topics in D2L, the difference between a new forum and a new topic was not obvious to me. This may be a challenge for a new course designer since students cannot see the discussion prompt if it is not in a forum folder.
5. The lack of web-conferencing limits opportunities for student interaction, unless D2L is combined with a separate web-conferencing system (like BB-Collaborate used at Wright State University).
5. The lack of web-conferencing limits opportunities for student interaction, unless D2L is combined with a separate web-conferencing system (like BB-Collaborate used at Wright State University).
LMS-Canvas Tools Review- Strengths:
- I loved how easy it was to activate the course in Canvas. There is a prominent "publish" button which helps ensure that the instructor has remembered to make the course visible to students. There is also a course setup checklist that is available on the home page as soon as you create a new course.
- The homepage shows any recent activities that have happened in the course making it easy to keep up with new discussion posts or other student initiated changes.
- The navigation tool bars are simple and intuitive to use. As a student, for example it is easy to check grades and the course schedule on the calendar since these are the only two options displayed in the top navigation menu.
4. The electronic gradebook was very intuitive to access without extraneous complex information.
5. There is a separate collaborations link that allows students to work together on group projects using web applications like Google Docs and EtherPad.
6. Web-conferencing is included in the LMS and very easy to use, promoting greater social presence.
5. There is a separate collaborations link that allows students to work together on group projects using web applications like Google Docs and EtherPad.
6. Web-conferencing is included in the LMS and very easy to use, promoting greater social presence.
7. When creating discussions, it is helpful to be able to pin the ones you are still following at the top tool bar. Canvas also has the option of assigning students to groups based on the instructor's choice (rather than randomized assignment), and allows all members to participate in a group discussion regardless of class section (unless otherwise specified).
LMS-Canvas Tools Review- Weaknesses:
- Although the grade book was easier to access with fewer confusing terms, I had a difficult time figuring out how to actually input grade values without reading the user guide. If I click on an assignment under grades for example, there is a small arrow at the bottom of the category, but there is no place for entering the grade.
LMS Comparison & Recommendation:
Based on my experiences with D2L and Canvas this week with respect to course setup and communication tools, I recommend Canvas due to its user friendly system that is easy to navigate for both instructors and students. Canvas can be used to increase social presence via web-conferencing (unlike D2L) and encourages collaboration by directly linking to web applications like Google Docs. In addition, creating new assignments and using the electronic grade book are much more intuitive in Canvas than in D2L.