Learning Managment Systems (LMS)

Overview
A Learning Management System is a "single piece of software that provides a platform for online learning content and communication tools, it is used to deliver a blend of traditional classroom instruction and Online delivery, it allows easy management of the learning materials and tracking of student learning, it is used by students, teachers and administrators, and it supports a collaborative learning community and Multiple modes of learning" (Culley, 2006).

Strength
Allows teachers to to use a range of online learning tools in the one program,. The teacher can monitor student participation and ensure all students have access to the same information. Highly password protected to ensure information integrity, security and access only to authorised people.

Weakness
Offers a range of levels of access to the information and the teacher who has access to all information may code the level of access to a document or area incorrectly and not realise because they see it on their screen and assume that students can as well. In order for LMS to be highly beneficial the teacher needs to have a good grasp of ICT and the ability to upload all of the required information. Also teachers need to be vigilant in checking students and student comments or it can seem like a black hole to students. The program is expensive with MIT report showing "C/LMS operating costs ranged between $135,000 for Middlebury College to $1,330,000 for Berkeley with MIT at $547,550" (Landon, Henderson, & Poulin, 2006, p. 5) and it would not be viable to have the program for an isolated course. It would need whole of department or organisation implementation.

Opportunity
Main opportunity I feel is in high level education or for teachers to interact with each other for lower levels, as the students need to feel comfortable enough and knowledgeable enough to explore.

Threat
Students need the site to be highly structured, logical and easy to use. Unless it is carefully planned and orchestrated a teacher would be better off using a different mode for example a static website.

Compatibility to learning styles
Can be made compatible with most learning styles with careful consideration.

What learning theory it is most used for (links to this blog site)
LMS is mainly an interface so it depends on what information is uploaded, to what theory this can be used for.

Meaning to me
Although I see the huge benefit of LMS, I feel that it would need a organisation wide or at least a division wide focus on LMS for it to work successfully, and I feel that it is suited to senior students who have sufficient ICT knowledge to be able to cope with the program.

Culley, A. (2006). Learning Managment Systems. Retrieved 30 November, 2010, from http://www.instructionaldesign.com.au/Academic/Learning%20Management%20Systems.htm

Landon, B., Henderson, T., & Poulin, R. (2006). Peer comparison of course/learning management systems, course materials life cycle, and related costs: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Publisher

Click this thumbnail to go to Microsoft for more information.

Overview

Publisher is a great tool that is easy for students to use because it is based on other Microsoft programs and has similar or same icons for students to click. Lots of different types of documents can be created with publisher and the program comes with inbuilt templates for documents including advertisements, award certificates, brochures, business cards, business forms, calendars, catalogs, envelopes, flyers, cards, letterhead, menus, newsletters, postcards, resumes, signs, websites, with compliments cards.

Strength
Ease of use due to similarity to other Windows based programs. Endless opportunities for students to jazz up their documents and for teachers to create visually impressive documents.

Weakness
The content still needs to be clear and concise for maximum impact images used in the publication needs to be relevant to the topic. Relevant images may be hard or time consuming to find (this is minimised with Microsoft clip art available online. Maybe hard for students that have limited creativity to fully connect with the task. Students need to have at least an intermediate skill level in Microsoft Word to be able to use publisher or the teacher or helper will need to sit next to student for one-on-one support.

Opportunity
Publisher is great for creating documents. Teachers can create design briefs, menus, mock newsletter, the list is almost endless, most subjects are suitable for use with publisher. Great for students who are visual or creative and for students with disabilities. Creates time management and high order thinking skills.

Threat
Using Publisher can be time consuming, definite time limits need to be set and adhered to, to ensure that students are not caught up in the creative and miss the necessary content of the project.

Compatibility to learning styles
Highly compatible to visual learners and students with a disability.

What learning theory it is most used for (links to this blog site)
Publisher can be used for Constructivism or Social Constructivism.

Meaning to me
Publisher is an excellent tool that I have used successfully for years but really I have just scratched the surface of what it can do. About 4 years ago I undertook a project for a backpacker company to create a map of Fraser Island for 4wd hire, huge learning curve, totally loved it. You can also draw a picture in paint and copy and paste into Publisher, I did a free hand drawing of Fraser Island for the A2 map. One issue that I have found with publisher is that if you are going to send it out for commercial printing you need to convert it to a PDF or they may refuse to print it. In order to do this I purchased DocuDesk which converts documents in Publisher, Word, etc, through showing another printer in your printing options. Caution is needed, the document when converted needs to be thoroughly checked because some of the fonts did not convert properly. People have told me since that you can get a free version of a PDF converter, but I still like using DocuDesk and will stick to a program that I am comfortable with.

You will also have to convert to an alternative format to upload to a blog.

An example of documents I have created (I selected all, then copy and pasted into Paint):

Microsoft Power Point

Overview
Power point is a great tool to create presentations. Presentations can be as intricate or simple as you like, you can make presentations including slideshows and interactive quizzes (even more with your imagination). Because it is part of the Microsoft suite of programs the toolbars are easy to use and navigate.

Strength
Good tool that you can have prepared earlier to either show to entire class or just for selected students that need extra assistance. Due to the versatile nature you can create lots of different presentations. Students can create a presentation and it will be less threatening as they have time to go over their work and voice over until they are happy with the outcome. Students can demonstrate their creativity.

Weakness
Static nature, only really can be used to impart information or for students to create a presentation to show others.

Opportunity
Students that feel threatened by standing up in front of the class talking can complete an oral presentation through a power point. Students to create quizzes to try and "trick" other students. Power points can be used effectively as a way to demonstrate information or tasks online.

Threat
Powerpoint creation can be time consuming, students can get caught up in the process and may not fulfill requirements of task (ensure excellent task planning and that students do basic slides first and then fill in details - maybe a due date for the basic version a couple of weeks before the final).

Compatibility to learning style
Excellent for visual learners and students with disabilities as it allows them time to plan and process. Great tool for students with low self esteem or those that feel uncomfortable delivering oral presentations.

What learning theory it is most used for (links to this blog site)
PowerPoint can be used in a multiple of ways that use different learning theories, examples include

• Creating a PowerPoint can be Constructivism or Social Constructivism.
• Teachers can use quiz for Behaviourism.
  

Meaning to me
Powerpoint is a wonderful tool that I have used for many years. Now I can grow my skills so much more, before starting this course I did not know about the quiz function. I can definitely see myself using powerpoint in the classroom. I still need to do more research to see if the answers can be tallied or have a certificate print out at the end.

RSS Aggregator

Screen captures of Sage the program (add-on) I uploaded for Mozilla Firefox.

Overview Is a tool that has been created to allow you to easily monitor multiple blogs and websites that are regularly updated. You can get an RSS Aggregator display on your internet program (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) or you can get it in some of your other accounts online for example Google Reader.

Strength
Allows you to see multiple blogs and websites quickly and easily, with Sage it is just a column on the side of the page which you can either show or hide and click on the title of the page you are following and it instantly shows you all of the blog posts (see pictures above). All pictures and links in the document are still active (shown) and you can click on the title of the blog site and go straight there.

Weakness
It does not show other changes to the blogger account, for example I made a change to the Blog comments page and it did not show on the RSS aggregator.

Opportunity
This is an excellent tool for monitoring students work, you can see quickly and easily if students have completed the assigned task and go straight to the site to make comments.

Threat
Students need to understand how to blog and use the internet, also other students can leave nasty comments in the comment section.

Compatibility with learning styles
Students who are linguistic or visual learners would do well at this task because of the writing needed and the ability to upload images.

What learning theory it is most used for (links to this blog site)
RSS can be a form of Connectivism.

Meaning to me
This is a highly beneficial tool that I can see myself using in the future to monitor students work and also to monitor other sites including Education Queensland and other favorite sites to see any developments that may help me in teaching.

Reflection on Learning Theories

Each learning theory has its uses and I can see that you may be using multiple learning theories in the classroom simultaneously.

Basic Scenario
Year 2 Students
1. Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
2. Socially Withdrawn - borderline agressive
3. At standard
4. Above standard

All of the students have different needs and learning strengths. If for example students were learning about measuring liquids, the following could occur...

Student 1, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)(Snowman, et al., 2009) part of Social Constructivism where someone with more knowledge helps the student to grasp the concept better.

Student 2, Behaviourism and more direct rewards or consequences to maintain required behaviour and for student to learn during task.

Student 3, Situated Cognition, real contexts that apply to life outside of school so they understand the subject better.

Student 4, Constructivism, they are able to undertake part of the task by themselves and construct their own meaning.

The main point I believe is to have a good understanding of all the theories so when working with students it is done in a purposeful way, ensuring the best outcome for the individual student, not looking for the one size fits all type of lessons and learning.

Impact of learning style on selecting theories

After analysing the learning styles (previously blogged) the style that is impacted most by the learning theories is the Interpersonal (People Smart) style, students with high interpersonal skills will excel in team based activities and students with low interpersonal skills need support and building up their ability to work in teams and positive reinforcement through behaviourism.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Students with ASD need extra support and would benefit from ZPD, and ICT. Research into ASD has shown the following

"Students who have difficulty processing verbal language, expressing ideas, producing written work, negotiating crowds, modulating noise, and moving and comprehending several elements within tasks are more likely to succeed with the structured and systematic learning associated with computers" (Education Queensland, 2004)

“People with Asperger’s Syndrome often have difficulty establishing and coping with the changing patterns and expectations in daily life” (Attwood, 1998, p. 94).

Conclusion
Although in an ideal world we would like all students to be able to embrace team work and other skills that we wish to impart to students, we need to be guided by curriculum and ensure that students that are unable to fully succeed in these skills, be it due to life experiences, learning style or any other reason, but can still meet curriculum guidelines and are able to be assessed are not disadavantaged due to our own preconceptions and assessment tools that are not suited to their needs.

Attwood, T. (1998). Asperger's Syndrome: a guide for parents and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Education Queensland. (2004). ICTs for Learning: Students with Disabilities and ICTs, Practical Ideas for Teachers. Coorparoo.

Snowman, J., Dobozy, E., Scevak, J., Bryer, F., Bartlett, B., & Biehler. (2009). Psychology
Applied to Teaching (Australian ed.). Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.