Why use a CMS?
December 8, 2009 by John St.Clair
Is it possible to conduct an effective online program without a centrally administered course management system? I’m not talking about a class or two here and there. Nor am I talking about web enhanced courses. Without question, the web-savvy instructor would do well to put together a highly focused class comprised of online tools that fit the class. And web enhanced courses can rely on the face-to-face portion of classroom for “course management” activities.
This question has been put to me because the continuing cost a centralized course management system is increasingly more than our strained budgets can afford. At UMW, approximately 10% of classes make very extensive use of the CMS (we currently use Blackboard). Another 40% or so make moderate to occasional use of Blackboard. Somewhere near half of our classes make no use of Blackboard. So, the question is, should UMW purchase a costly software service for the benefit of only half of her classes?
Of course, another argument might be should we encourage more extensive use of Blackboard so as to better exploit a current operational cost. So I am writing this page to organize my own thoughts.
Functions of a Centrally Administered Course Management System
|
Issue
|
Easy Web Alternative?
|
| Access publisher course cartridges | No, but some textbooks have significant web assets. |
| Access to SCORM compliant third party tools | No |
| Ad-hoc student groups | Yes, via collaborative websites such as Google Docs. Security? |
| Adaptive Release of Content | Not without instructor intervention. |
| Adaptive Release of Quizzes | Not without instructor intervention. |
| Assignment submissions | Via email attachment. Security of email attachments? |
| Automatic grading of objective test questions | Yes, third party sites. Security? |
| Authenticated private access | Yes, via sites like Ning. |
| Central administration | No |
| Central repository of course content | No |
| Class calendar and/or due date reminders | Yes, Calendaring sites. |
| Combined classes | No |
| Common cartridge compliance | No |
| Common interface (both for faculty and students) | No |
| Conditional release of tests | Yes, third party sites. Security? |
| Confidentiality of student work | Iffy |
| Copy course materials between courses. | No |
| Course archives (entire course in one zip file) | No |
| Cross-listed classes | No |
| Early warning monitoring for low achieving students | No |
| Ease of course transitions during product upgrades. | No |
| Efficiencies of scale | No |
| Email via class roster | Maybe? |
| End user operating system agnostic (added 12/9/09) | Maybe? |
| Fair Use (as opposed to open posting of copyrighted material) | Iffy |
| Familiar environment for techno-phobes | No |
| FERPA | Iffy |
| Immediate feedback on quizzes | Maybe? |
| Integrated backup processes | Maybe? |
| Integrated system of tools in common interface | No |
| Known problem set versus unknown problem set | No |
| Learning outcomes reporting (institutional effectiveness) | No |
| Limited support staff for faculty assistance mitigated by common toolset | No |
| Mechanisms to provide feedback | Yes |
| Multiple attempts for tests | Maybe? |
| Multiple question types for objective testing | Yes, third party sites. Security? |
| Optional features – example, ePortfolio | Yes, but not integrated |
| Peer rating of discussions | Maybe? |
| Provides a core set of tools that are commonly used | No |
| Quality control of upgrades | Maybe? |
| Random ordering during testing | Yes, third party sites. |
| Reusable learning objects | No |
| Review test results | Yes |
| Rights management by role | No |
| SCORM compliance | Maybe? |
| Security | Iffy |
| Self progress monitoring | No |
| Single Sign On to affiliated resources (library, etc.) | No |
| SIS – Course Roster Integration | No |
| Stability of CMS vendor | No |
| Standardization important for third party vendors | Maybe |
| Student access to grades/progress | Maybe |
| Support for multiple browsers (added 12/9/09) | Maybe? |
| Technical support | No |
| Tests from large question pools. | Yes |
| Third party providers EULAs | Varies |
| Third Party providers’ copyright policies | Varies |
| Third Party providers’ data security | Varies |
| Threaded discussions | Yes |
| Time spent on lesson planning/content preparation/ teaching rather than medium Varies |
Varies |
| User Community | Varies |
References:
Bergeron, Brown, Brusca, Caiden, Davis, Dyer, Gibson, Hess, Hurst, Lambert, Lowenthal, Lowery, Lynch, Parker, St.Clair, Wilson, Zvacek. (10/31/09 – 11/4/09). Blackboard vs a Web Server, BLKBRD-L at ASU.EDU. http://is.asu.edu/instruction/faq/usingBLKBRD-L.html.
Depaul Instructional Technology Development. 75 Reasons to Use Blackboard, http://www.itd.depaul.edu/website/documentation/75ReasonstoUseBlackboard.pdf
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As far as Sharepoint is concerned, for me the problem lies primarily in its highly different user experience across browsers and operating systems. For an administrative and document management system, that’s not so big a deal. But, with teaching and learning, I have long hesitated on pronouncing it the ultimate solution since that is the place where there will be greatest variation user agents, and that can’t really be controlled. For all the good there is in Sharepoint, that’s a big barrier to me.
By the way, I know I’m an IT type, but I’d like to see that a CMS gives you the potential for backend data integration and provisioning in real-time. Open source solutions can do that, but need lots of customization on the backend, and with limited resources, out-of-the-box provisioning and security abilities seem to me to be a no-brainer.
More questions than answers, I’m afraid
However, I agree with the previous poster. It would be nice to know which features are a “must have” versus, “can do without” type setup. I’ve done my share of software consulting before, and I often split it up in three different categories: Must-Have, Important, and Would-Be-Nice. Although I can think of features that are necessary for any type of organization of size (SIS integration, FERPA complaince, Central Administration, to name a few) , I also think there may be additional functionality that can be gained by going away from the traditional CMS (open standards, easy sharing and collaboration). In the end, I think you would end up somewhere in the middle, at which point you may or may not choose a CMS.
Thanks again, very useful.
I think WPMU is a great resource for some classes, especially those working from a constructivist or constructionist framework. Right here on UMW Blogs there are dozens if not scores of great courses supported by blogging. But most of these examples are from web-enhanced classes rather than fully online courses.
I think Drupal is another candidate for someone who likes tinkering and is not afraid of technology.
When I was a math professor some years ago, the local distance learning director came to me wanting to use an early version of WebCT. I refused. I had my own LMS written in Perl. It was working very well for me – imagine the great math tests I made when able to script my owning grading algorithms using regular expressions!
But now I’m the distance learning guy and I need to look out for the needs of a very diverse teaching faculty. Some like tech, and can tweak WPMU or Drupal or whatever to meet their needs. Some need a centralized, easy to learn, easy to use platform.
Hold on – I know WPMU is easy to use and centralized – but does it do all those things listed above (without tweaking)? How about an integrated gradebook with two way communication to Banner SIS? What about randomly selected multi-typed questions from a large question pool?
What about archiving a course into the common cartridge format?
Well suppose all of those things are available or are under development. Suppose WPMU can do all the things Bb or D2L can do? Doesn’t that just mean one has traded one megalith for another?
If we are talking about blogging – no argument, WPMU is GREAT (in Tony the Tiger voice). But why try to use it as an LMS? Why not use it as a blogging tool and use SlideShare for displaying PowerPoints, VoiceThread for conversations around media, Delicious for collaborative bookmarking?
Does one ring really have to rule them all?
Note: Not trying to be sacrastic, really. I realize there are folks that want everything to be integrated into one big social collaborative mashup. I’ve just always been one to eat my peas first and never let them touch my mashed potatoes.
I’d like to see something absolutely pared down to the bare minimum in terms of those functions that require scale and security, and allow the other tools to be more experimental and untethered to the snail’s pace of development cycles for these gargantuan applications.
What that is, I have no idea.