SharePoint LMS at Queens University
September 4, 2008 by John St.Clair
An interesting case study is available on the Microsoft site which details the adoption by Queens University (Charlotte, North Carolina) of SharePoint Learning Kit as an enterprise LMS. Looking to avoid the major expense of thier previous LMS (Blackboard), Queens adopted SharePoint both as an enterprise network framework and as an LMS. Like UMW, Queens had been a Novell installation.
A few years earlier, Queens had traded its Novell directory for the Active Directory® service, its Novell-based file and print servers for servers based on the Windows Server® 2003 operating system, and its open-source e-mail messaging system for Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003.
Dr. Williima Clyde, Queens VP of Academic Affairs, explains his pardigm shift by stating:
Many of the LMS solutions began as kernels written by graduate students back in the 1990s. They’ve been expanded by different people at different times using different code, resulting in products that were not strategically planned or designed to work well together.
Good point. Microsoft does have enterprise level solutions for authentication, document management and collaboration, meeting scheduling, email, calendaring, live conferencing, etc. Of course, adopting an LMS not specifically designed for the support of distributed learning does give pause to an old dog like me. There do seem to be definite advantages and SharePoint Learning Kit has improved recently to include features such as a grade book utility which moves it more into the realm of an actual LMS.
Being an Iconoclast is such a burden - due diligence and all.
How many people are doing exciting work with SharePoint and pushing the boundaries by inviting their faculty and students to learn on the open web? –to create a vibrant community of users that are encouraged to share and discuss their intellectual pursuits? Moreover, how much of that space is theirs? Do they maintain it? Can they control it? Can the export their data easily and import in where they like?
Does SharePoint interface easily with tools like Flickr, YouTube, etc.? Are we building a centralized repository of control rather than a distributed, syndicated framework for teaching and learning? A Microsoft test case is fine, but I spend a lot of time in the EdTech blogosphere and haven’t heard word one about folks taking SharePoint to the next level. It is at its heart an administrative, enterprise tool being forced into the role of a CMS, that’s all fine and good, and if we have to use I imagine we will.
But it doesn’t really get after the larger questions of allowing students and faculty to harness the unbelievable power of the internet for teaching in learning. Does SharePoint share documents better than Google Docs? Does it share images better than Flickr? Share videos better than YouTube? Can it re-publish content seamlessly harnessing the power of RSS? This is the due diligence I need to follow through on.
Moreover, can we add features to it on the fly? How much does it cost to customize a proprietary system like this? How flexible will it allow us to be?
Seriously, though, good questions all. And I have them written down for the next CMS Review meeting and will press for answers. I agree we must be able to take advantage of Flickr, YouTube, Google Docs (my personal fave), UMWblogs and other tools that faculty are already using effectively and are reliant upon. When the MOSS bombshell was first dropped, I was extremely hesitant. Now I am still very hesitant - but one must admit that leveraging the authentication and document sharing capabilities might be useful. And you have the DRM protection for intellectual property.
Still - it is hard to teach an old dog (like me) new tricks (especially when they involve moving to an alternative reality in a parallel universe).
All in the pursuit of greatness
Welcome to the coliseum!
> SharePoint / Office 2007 Web Parts for Moodle integration
> http://www.codeplex.com/Moodle2003WP
>
> Erie Community College uses both SharePoint and Angel Learning.
> May have some means for integration:
> https://myecc.ecc.edu/Pages/Default.aspx
>
> Marquette University runs both SharePoint and Desire2Learn:
> http://www.marquette.edu/its/help/d2l/d2l.shtml
>
> Townson University has an interesting comparison of Bb and
> SharePoint with documentation notes:
> https://carbon.towson.edu/Pages/comparison.aspx
How deep SharePoint Learning Kit was integrated into the learning process? Is it successful? What are the main points (parts) of the eLearning solution are used in the learning process?
Have you tried another developed by ElearningForce company commercial LMS for SharePoint - SharePointLMS http://www.sharepointlms.com) ? They offer both BB and SLK -> SharePointLMS convertors also.
Recently Microsoft pays a lot of attention to this tool and help them with marketing and spreading as an educational solution for MOSS 2007 platform…