Data from the second Tool Evaluation Form (File Management) completed by committee members was distributed. Please take a look at what committee members thought about File Management in Moodle and Blackboard 9.1.
This week we examined the Quick Communication Tools in each of the Learning Management Systems. These are the tools available that allow instructors and students to quickly communicate about course content and/or student status in a course. Blackboard 9.1 offers a feature, The Notification Dashboard, that provides students and instructors with a quick glance of where things stand in a given course. Announcements, "What's New," "Needs Attention," "To Do," "Alert," "Report Card," and "My Tasks" are all blocks that can appear as part of the Dashboard. The Calendar continues to be a way to quickly communicate to students deadlines and events in a course.
Moodle offers a default forum entitled "Latest News" where instructors can post announcements for students. A Latest News" block can also be displayed along the side of the main course page highlighting the most recent news through a live link that, when clicked, brings users to the full Latest News forum. Moodle also has a Calendar which allows for the posting of student deadlines and events. An "Upcoming Events" block can be displayed along the side of the main course page highlighting immediate upcoming events through a live link that, when clicked, brings users to the full Calendar. Moodle also include a Choices activity which allows instructors to post a single question poll for quick student feedback.
If you wish to learn more about Quick Communication Tools in either LMS, please post a comment here or contact a LMS Review Committee Member.
I cannot quite figure out what a "Report Card" is! The "Task" tool seems new- How is it different from Assignments. Discussions or Quizzes? I just assumed that the Announcements would show up as pop-ups as in CE6. I wish the e-mail was all kept within Blackboard as it is now. When teaching more than one course, all the e-mails will get confusing for students will just assume you know what course they are in!
ReplyDeleteMoodle has an advantage because all the "Events" and "News" show right up on the Homepage. Students cannot miss them.