Learning Management Systems

Comparing the usage of and pros and cons of Edmodo, Collaborize Classroom and Course Sites.

Edmodo has a similar set up as Facebook.  I think that makes this site a big plus, because students are use to the layout.  They will automatically feel familiar with the site.  Emodo can be used for sharing ideas, discussions, creating polls, sharing videos between the teachers and students in real time.  Parents can also gain access to see the progress their student is making and the grades.  This is a secure site that can only be accessed through a password to those who are invited to participate.  Students receive notifications when a teacher adds a new assignment, grade or comment.

Unfortunately, if a student doesn't have access to a computer at home, using the site might not even be a possibility.  They wouldn't be able to contribute to discussions or post their assignments, etc. through the site.

Collaborize has many pros as well.  It will save on printing, increase student participation, can reduce grading time, creates detailed participation reports. Using this site can engage all students and give the shy student a chance to participate when in a classroom setting they may be reluctant to say anything.  Every student will have a voice.  The students can learn from each other and the teacher can check the students understanding of the material through their discussions. Using Collaborize, creates unlimited classroom time.

Unfortunately the functionality is limited to a supplement to the real classroom and only provides the ability for short discussions.

Course Sites with engage students in learning, incorporates multimedia into the classroom, allows the teacher to assess and manage the grades.  Course Sites allows the teacher to communicate with students and encourage collaboration.  As long as the internet is available to the student, the course is available 24/7. 

Course Sites is designed for all ages K through senior citizens.  It can be used for lectures, social learning and also employee training.  

It seems that Course Sites is the most complicated to set up and isn't as user friendly.  Again it is limited by the fact that a student has to have a computer and the internet  at home.

All of these sites can be beneficial for the teacher, students and parents.  I think it depends on the age of the students and the topic as to which site would be best to use.  

Customer Service

This is a great tool that I will be able to share with my employees. Working in the Business Office of a university, it is our responsibility to collect the tuition, fees and any other incidentals. We often encounter angry parents or students. With today's economy, paying bills can be difficult, and tuition is a large bill to pay. Often times not having the resources to pay, can create frustration that turns to anger. These are tools we can use in our office to calm a customer and assure them that we will do everything we can to solve the problem. For example, putting them in contact with the financial aid office, setting up a payment plan or giving them extra time to pay without penalties.

Alternatives to PowerPoint

I didn't realize there were any other options besides PowerPoint to create presentations. I liked the look of Animoto best but wasn't able to upload the pictures I wanted to use. I will have to explore that site more. Prezi seemed to be the most user friendly. However after completing my presentation, I couldn't find it. I did discover it saved in "My Pictures" file folder. I created the prezi presentation again. I have tried to embed it using the directions I found, but it doesn't seem to be working. I am going to embed it again in addition to emailing it to you.

http://prezi.com/hdubznrrqtpf/customer-service/

Customer Service on Prezi

PLN's

This is my first experience with PLN's. I have learned that PLN's will allow a person to have unlimited information at their fingertips. Exploring the different sites, I discovered there is information provided that I would find otherwise, because I wouldn't even know to search for it.

In social bookmarking, I decided to join delicious.com (www.delicious.com/lschaeffer). I discovered there are many people with much information to share. It is refreshing to know there are others exploring and discovering some of the same topics. Since this is my first experience with social bookmarking, it was intimidating at first, but once I explored the site, I found it to be easy to create stacks and follow others.

In professional networking, I first tried to join arted20.ning.com, but never received an approval email. Thinking I must have typed my email address incorrectly, I tried to join again but with no luck. My next choice was rezedhub.ning.com/profile/LindaSchaeffer. I was approved right away. I choose to leave a comment.

When I went to create a blog on BlogSpot, I realized I must have started to in 2008 but never posted anything. This is my first experience blogging myself. This is my second time to type this post. The first time when I was finished typing, I selected publish post. Then the screen went back to the log-on page and all my information was lost. I have read other blogs and have followed "professional" bloggers. I hope that my blog can be just as useful to others someday.

Module 2