- MOODLE.... BLACKBOARD..... CANVAS..... Chalk and textbook.... Say what?
- According to Edudemic.com's Chris Calimpong, "In 2010, education spent almost 2 billion in computer software for classroom usage." As we have learned there are many learning management systems (LMS) out there, and each of them has a number of benefits.
In choosing a LMS we must look at a number of factors:
- Your audience
- Your budget
- Your prioritized list of requirements
- Your future plans- does this fit...?
We know our audience- I hope. We understand our budget constraints, so let us focus on our requirements. What do we want in an LMS? What is important to us down the road in the next decade? Is it customization? Support? Use of 3rd party elements? Implementation? What do you think?
Technology grows so fast, the platforms are always changing- which platform best suits your classroom, your grade level and your building, or your whole district?
The answer at the college level has become MOODLE (take a look at the Butler University proposa(
Learning Management System Evaluation and Recommendation ...)
. YES MOODLE! Why you ask- well the basic conclusion is that it is CHEAPER than BLACKBOARD, and many other schools have adopted it as their platform and it is compatible. So while many of us chastise MOODLE, the universities are adopting it as the industry standard over the once powerful BLACKBOARD. CANVAS is growing in popularity as well, in many cases, the schools that have transferred to MOODLE from BBoard, are now beginning to move onto CANVAS. Since 2012, a number of universities, who prefer the many nuances of CANVAS and the affordability, comparable to MOODLE, are beginning to make the shift, and experts seemingly prefer CANVAS.
So what do you think? What are your priorities? Which platform is best suited for you and your students? Why?
Let the debate begin....
- Resources:
- How to Choose a Learning Management (Barrish, 2013) and
Why Use a Learning Management System (2012)
I feel like in a short amount of time, this debate will become pretty obsolete. There's a big issue in education now that there is no "go to" LMS out there with everyone agreeing what is the best to use. Because of this, I believe we will continue to see a plethora of various LMS platforms being developed. And in my opinion, I don't like any options that are currently available. There are aspects from each that I would combine for the perfect LMS which I'm confident we will see in a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think that there are different pros and cons to the LMS' that are out there currently. I believe that more and more companies are going to be coming forward with more LMS' and it is my hope that one of them will have everything that we need. I also think that because things are changing so quickly that we need to prepare our students on how to navigate different kinds of LMS by exposing them to multiple ones. Way to go Oak Hills for already doing this by allowing teachers to choose which LMS works best for them.
DeleteWith the brief amount of time I've had to use Canvas and the reading I've done on it, it really seems that if you have to choose between moodle and canvas, canvas would be the better option. I really like the fact that you can use canvas for free and then the more in depth that you or your company gets with it, you can choose to scale up for paid support from Instructure. Canvas can be either hosted or supported on-premise and can be supported internally for free with their community version. Canvas also advertises "easy, fast, and innovative grading" as well as video chat.
ReplyDeleteJay you may be right in some aspects, and probably the majority of people. Moodle is good for those who have extended knowledge of coding, html, java, etc. For those who have this kind of knowledge, from what I know about Canvas, Moodle would be the preferred LMS. I think Canvas would be more easily usable by the masses. However something to think about, if coding takes off like I hope it will, our students will be the ones who will be able to make a Moodle-like LMS work!
DeleteThis is a question for anyone. The last I set up supplemental classroom activities on an LMS, the district was promoting the use of Moodle with students. I thought that was our only option. Is it okay to try other Learning Management Systems with students, such as Canvas or Schoology?
DeleteKate, teachers in Oak Hills can choose any platform for their companion sites. :0)
DeleteHonestly, I really like how Oak Hills is going about the whole LMS conversation because while on the one hand I do believe that some LMS’ are better than others, I also think that students need to be exposed to as many different LMS’ as possible. As you pointed out, there are those LMS’ that are favored by different education levels. However, they are changing and beginning to change quicker than ever before. I remember when Blackboard was the ONLY one that schools used. While some have gone to Moodle, others have gone to Canvas. I don’t think that all universities will all settle on just one platform. Therefore, we need to make sure that our students are exposed to a wide range of LMS’ so that they can navigate whatever LMS their college uses. I think that by Oak Hills allowing teachers to choose, it is helping our students become ready for the next level of their education.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that allowing teachers to choose has benefits, it is also very frustrating for students. I also get complaints from parents who want a uniform platform to help their kids. While tech savvy kids and parents like the diversity, I can see the frustration others.
DeleteI think having multiple LMS's, especially as technology improves and budgets decrease, is a part of our future in education...especially at the K - 12 level. I'm not sure where we can draw the line in the sand...unless we find something amazing and make it mandatory. However, as soon as you make something mandatory, you start to put limits on yourself or your company and in-turn are stifling one of your main goals for students and teachers; creativity, thought, and ideas.
DeleteI totally agree about the mandatory part Jay... definitely limiting to teachers and staff on ways that they can explore creativity. Everything has its pros and cons but we still need to keep in mind the ultimate goals of the LMS and view it from the whole district perspective... with all levels involved.
DeleteI agree that students need to be exposed to as many LMS as possible. The skill of adapting and learning a new system is a skill they will need in the future, especially in college. By the time are students are in college who knows what kind of LMS they will be using.
DeleteI understand the frustration of using multiple LMS (from a parent and student perspective). But, we have found that if you let teachers use the tool with which they are most comfortable, they will use it more--which benefits everyone.
DeleteStudents seem to like Moodle and I find it much easier to use from an administrative standpoint than Blackboard. However, I have had my interest peaked by Canvas.
ReplyDeleteOne issue in having multiple LMS platforms in working with late adopters and non-tech based teachers. Several teachers was the school to give them an LMS, and then train them on that single model. Options sometimes create chaos.
Wow...that was a lot to take in... So I didn't have much experience with Moodle and have started getting used to Schoology this year a bit...but used Blackboard in college way back when....
ReplyDeleteI agree that making all teachers use the same LMS platform is tricky because of the various teaching styles..but as with anything, change is a difficult thing. Options are sometimes a headache like Ben said because of the varying parents/students that may have to use multiple platforms as well. I have heard time and time again...that parents have wished that all teachers used the same because they too can't keep up with multiple children.
I love to learn new things, but sometimes have trouble fitting in time to actually "learn" them well enough to use/adopt them without anxiety and assistance.
I've found that I have had to teach myself as I go. I started with a one-hour moodle training session through Oak Hills, then found myself alone and wandering. Now, I consider myself a pretty tech savvy person, but it has taken me nearly a year to get my LMS site the way I want it. I am even teaching others how to work through the system and all its capabilities. My point is though, that we need to have more instruction for teachers to get these things under our belt, before we ask our kids to do it.
DeleteAt the elementary level, Learning Management Systems take on a drastically different role. Our learners require visual resources and supplemental work that will help them with skills- not so much communication. I use Moodle in my classroom as a portal for the kids to watch videos, play games, check homework, and so forth. These are my priorities for an LMS, and that is why I chose (and like) Moodle. It seems more kid-friendly to me, which in the third grade, is all I really need.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what happened to my comment. Andrea. I love how it is possible to package visual resources for young kids (video clips) and limit what they can click on for safety reasons. I also love to use LMS for the little kids to encourage writing skills (upper elementary grades). I'm looking forward to having a look at Schoology, which Melissa says looks much more kid-friendly than some of the other options.
DeleteI have had experience with several LMS, blackboard, Moodle, Schoology and Canvas. I would say that I still prefer Schoology. I believe that each teacher needs to look at the purpose of their LMS and then decide which system to go with. I personally use it to aide my instruction with videos, discussion and other materials. I look forward to continue to research new LMS.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I'm glad you mentioned Schoology. I wasn't familiar with it, and it hadn't appeared in the first several listings when I did a search form more kid-friendly-looking LMS design. Have you used it with children? Is it free?
DeleteI have used Moodle successfully with advanced/gifted reading groups in the fourth and fifth grades, and the students have given it a big thumbs-up. Canvas seems to be working well so far, though Moodle may be a bit simpler for younger kids to navigate. Also, the design of Canvas is very high school/collegiate-looking, though judging by the graphs and tables in Andy's blog entry, Canvas has a lot to offer (glad we are trying it out since OH has used Blackboard and Moodle). In a brief Internet search for LMS programs geared toward elementary learners (ones with a more kid-friendly design), I could not find many options, and nothing for free. There is one LMS, Elementary Planet, that costs about $16/kid. It would be nice to have a really simple, young-kid-friendly LMS. Does anyone know of one?
ReplyDeleteSchoology is awesome! Schoology is the LMS of choice at the middle schools. It's much more kid friendly! Looks just like Facebook and very intuitive. It's free!
DeleteThanks for this thought. I will check it out for use next year. My kids LOVED using Moodle.
DeleteYikes! I didn't realize how many features were available on Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas. Maybe more appropriately, I didn't realize some of these LMS's even existed ("Desire to Learn" and "Sakai"). There is also Schoology, and Edmondo. I would be curious to see an unbiased comparison chart between ALL available LMS's. At this rate of new LMS releases, I wonder if it would all fit onto a single table???
ReplyDeleteHmm the final graph is trash. Cloud is not an advantage nor a feature. Cloud literally means its on the internet. All of them are on the internet. The way the server is set is the only difference and there is no advantage to it being a container based VM. Its still a shared server on a 3rd party property hence zero security and your system is at the whim of the lowest paid employee at said company.
ReplyDeleteOther stuff like "annual open security audit" is nothing more than marketing BS. GPL software is always in audit 24/7 365 days a year. They are trying to spin this as a good thing. It isnt. And surely big companies like Blackboard audit much more frequently than once a year.
Next, the idea of having a separate mobile app is also not an advantage, its a liability since its yet another piece of software that is vulnerable. An IOS app will be in objective C which is a huge security risk. Android will have Java and all its terrible security history. Further, its simply stupid to have a app for something that is already web based.
Last in terms of languages used.Ruby is good for development but has a lot of security issues itself. Its simply not as hardened as PHP for web content. Javascript is not bad too though its server side stuff is stuff is young as well and usually its used by the worst developers on earth who only use it to cut corners by implementing easy to use frameworks (which later become a huge liability to the software owner with a few exceptions).