A Technology Integration Specialist is proposing the adoption of an LMS in her school district. Two important tenets of its purpose are to build community and to personalize learning. For the first part of this discussion you will be assigned a role and will write a response to this proposal from that person’s perspective, as you imagine it. (Please click here to see what your role will be!) In your second post you will step back out of your role and consider all the viewpoints presented. Choose one or two stakeholders and address their questions and concerns from your own experience, insight, and resources. Note: Please submit your first reply by January 31st, and the second by February 3rd. Use this week's discussion forum to reflect on connections between personalized learning and community building.
Here are some of my replies to classmates as I encouraged them to elaborate or take another viewpoint:
1. Karen-in-disguise, thanks for sharing the The Current Ecosystem of Learning Management Systems in Higher Education article. It was an interesting read, as I'm always interested in studying analysis/evaluations of real-life implementations (though this one was focused on higher-ed LMS integration). It's refreshing to see how the "theoretical" of a technology initiative pans out.
When you say you can attest firsthand about LMS's value, I am wondering how, as a teacher and student, you have learned about an LMS's functionality and capabilities. The above report indicated that a majority of instructors are only using them for sharing content versus for developing "interaction or engagement activities" (p. 10). What do you think is the reasoning behind this? What kind of training is involved on the teacher and students' part to maximize its potential? Do you think it takes a certain kind of personality/philosophy for an educator to fully embrace an LMS, or can the tools provided by an LMS help change an educator's teaching philosophy and approach? (i.e., 'If you build it, will they come?")
2. Although this testimonial appears on a particular LMS's website as a positive promotional piece, it made me think about your situation. Here is an example of a school who adopted an LMS even though they were already doing extremely well without one. What prompted Minnetonka to jump on the bandwagon? Does anything about their decision resonate with you?
3. This just came to me, but I was wondering if anyone has ever been part of an institution that used an LMS as a tool to teach the LMS (as a training alternative)? Did that experiment work out, or did it just add mayhem and confusion? (I was thinking about how, with our students, we try to teach with technology instead of about the technology... Could this work with adults?)
4. All fair points... as an additional point of reflection, do you feel that the development of community and the personalization of learning go hand in hand in any way? If not, why?, and if so, how might that look differently in person versus online? (Does the online option appear any more efficient or effective?)
5. (playing devil's advocate...) As the president of my senior class with a 4.0 GPA, busy extra-curricular schedule, and a stack of scholarship applications to work through, I'm not sure I see the merit in an LMS for students like me, who are already achieving success in the current model of education. Yes, I understand that an LMS is an efficient way to receive course materials and stay organized with timelines, grades, and immediate feedback. However, why should I suddenly have to concern myself with "building community"? Throughout all my educational career, I've been striving to be #1. That's what it's all about. It's a competitive environment in my school, so I do what I need to to get good grades -- I do what the teacher asks of me, complete my work on time, and study hard for tests. Why would I need to "extend classroom conversations" with my classmates? I prefer to learn the facts, do my job, follow my own interests, and worry about my own achievement. (After all, isn't that what personalized learning is all about?) I'm not trying to be mean, but I just don't care that much about what my classmates have to say about stuff. Most of the time they don't care about school like I do anyway. I don't want to waste my energy in chat rooms with them, as I prefer to spend my time learning what my teacher and my textbooks say.
6. Thanks for your ideas. I look forward to more rewarding and enriching conversations with my peers in college versus high school, but for now I can appreciate what you have to say about getting comfortable with the system and the format. I will give it a try, especially since you point out that it will give me a leg up in my future classes. I am still wondering, though, besides allowing me to exchange ideas with classmates, how else can this digital model of education improve my personal learning? How exactly can my teacher use this tool to help me get to my own next level?
7. I'm glad as a student you've had such a positive experience with an LMS helping your education feel more personal and meaningful. Can you give us an example of how the LMS offered you more choice? How does it help you delve into stuff you're interested in while still meeting course objectives? I'm also curious to know if you enjoyed the community-building, social aspect of the platform, or if you found that a distraction? Thanks for being a great advocate! Glad it worked out for you, man!
8. Rebecca, I really like your suggestion of recognizing and building confidence in the "technology brave" teachers who are willing to try something new. I think this is such a critical piece of a tech initiative's success. We encourage our students to take risks, and try to foster a classroom culture of exploration and skill incubation-- the same should be said for the teaching environment. How might an administrator model this kind of safe environment?
Also, what happens if the goals and mission of the school do not easily invoke a "need" for technologies such as LMS? This is something happening a bit in my school right now, where teachers feel strapped for time and are prioritizing other administration "mandates" (expectations?). There is definitely a perceived disconnect between district goals (and assessment measures) and a general desire to improve technology integration. I know this is kind of a huge question, but how can an administrator help teachers blend these targets besides just patiently hoping they will jump on the train?
9. Great idea, Nathan, about every teacher having a personal goal for technology development throughout a school year -- no matter how big or small. Perhaps it could be tied to their Educator Effectiveness reports and profession evaluation measures if accountability and prioritization is a concern. Have any of you witnessed this kind of "open-ended" but mandatory technology goal asked of your teaching staff? Was it well received?
I wonder if some teachers need ever more direction and structure. For example, "this term everyone focus on a student creation task, next on a transformative collaboration task..." or, "this year we are ALL focusing on LMS (to whatever degree you feel comfortable), next year on BYOD teaching strategies, the next on technology-driven assessment tools", etc. Since technology integration is such a big can of worms, it could be that some teachers feel more comfortable if the expectations placed on them are more focused and directed in theme (although the tasks/tools themselves can be varied...)
In a nutshell, how should we frame our technology expectations?
No comments:
Post a Comment