Learning Management Systems

What Do Educators Really Want in an LMS?

If you were at the session that Harriet and I presented recently at the Sloan-C Emerging Technology conference, you probably saw us take a different approach to the session.  Well, other than the play dough and Tupperware Shape-O-Ball toys we used.  Props are just standard for us.  No – what we first did was asked the people there what they wanted in a Learning Management System.   Harriet wrote those suggestions down, no matter how far out there they were.  Most sessions don’t start with feedback like that… maybe at the end, or as they are going along.  But we wanted to start with feedback first and then go from there (and, to be honest.. I didn’t even know Harriet was going to do that. She just walked in with this huge piece of paper.  That’s just how we roll…)  We got a surprising and intriguing list from the participants:

  • a menu of tools
  • adaptability / accessibility
  • interactive virtual agents
  • ease of collaboration
  • seamless integration
  • tactile activities for any sense (smell, touch, taste, etc)
  • modular learning (customizable)
  • holodeck
  • capture, evaluate, and weigh user created content
  • useful
  • game based interaction with in game assessment
  • simulation
  • translate into different languages, including American Sign Language

As you can see, quite a diverse list… even some crazy ideas.  I like crazy ideas.  This was at our presentation on New Vision for Learning Management Systems.  Interesting how people that had come from all over the country came up with many of the concepts we are trying to capture with New Vision.  Coincidence?

Opera Unite Brings In a New Idea Out of Left Field

Okay… scratch my last post.  What if the browser was your LMS?  Think about it – what is the biggest problems with most social networking sites?  Privacy and ownership of content.  Huge battles are being fought over who owns what when you upload it and issues like “how private is your stuff anyways?”  Opera released a new product today called Opera Unite.  The basic idea is that you take control of what you share online because your browser is a web server.

Interesting concept.  You retain all rights and controls over everything you want to share, because it is served up from your computer.  What a crazy thought.

So, what if the browser itself becomes the LMS?  What if the instructor created a bunch of activities that students worked on and then shared back with the class through something like Opera Unite?  The technical details would be crazy to make it work right, but think if it could get to work right?  You would have to authenticate all students and instructors through an official school database, of course.

But this could take our New Vision for Online Learning in a whole new direction.  Just some crazy thoughts.

Also think of combining this idea with Google Wave?

My head hurts from the possibilities….

Will LMS Companies Ever Get Into Browser Plug-ins?

I was pondering Learning Management Systems this morning. I do that way too much.  Maybe Google Wave will get released soon and it really will be able to deliver on the hype and all my problems will be solved!  But until then… got to ponder….

FireFox plug-ins are pretty nifty little deals.  And many of them have educational uses.  A few more are even totally educational in nature.  But I wonder if LMS programmers will ever get into the business of making plug-ins that will enhance their products?  Have some done that already and I just missed it?

Yeah, I know that would force people to use a specific browser.  But just imagine if the concept of plug-in goes universal and all browsers end up being able to use the same plug-ins interchangeably for a moment….

Because I am thinking we are really going to need this – like yesterday.  I checked around for a plagiarism checker – one like “Map This“, where you just highlight some text and click “check for plagiarism” – and couldn’t find one.  I found a couple of dead links to some here and there, so maybe it is out there and just hard to find.

Because, let’s face it – going EduPunk or GoogleWave or what not with your class would mean that you might not be able to check that cool blog post against your plagiarism software.  Or maybe you can.  But wouldn’t it be nice to to integrate it with your browser instead?

Or what about designing your LMS to work with existing plug-ins like Zotero?

There are probably a hundred different ways to create plug-ins specifically for online courses.  Is there someone out there doing this, and I just haven’t searched enough?

Random thought that hit me today…

EduPunk Movement Gains More Attention

If you haven’t already read the interesting article on how some colleges are weighing using blogs instead of Blackboard at The Chronicle, check it out here:

Colleges Consider Using Blogs Instead of Blackboard

It has a fairly balanced look at both sides of the issue. The last paragraph proves my point that I have made over and over again about Blackboard: the people in charge just don’t know what they are talking about.  Here is the direct quote:

Blackboard is trying to keep up.

Michael L. Chasen, the company’s chief executive, has told The Chronicle that the latest version of the software integrates some Web 2.0 tools and still offers plenty of features that blogging packages can’t match, like online gradebooks.

Good point.  Except, of course, for the fact that WordPress has a grade book plug-in (well, two actually). And some really cool social networking plug-ins, too.

My question has always been – why do you need an LMS or program of any kind?  Why limit your students to just a blog or a LMS?  Why not create a simple platform that aggregates whatever tool they use into one spot for easy of collaboration accross tools?  That has been the question we have been asking with our New Vision for Learning Management Systems idea, that will hopefully morph into an open source project soon.

UPDATE:

I forgot to also respond to this legitimate concern raised in the article:

Some professors asked whether it was possible to run a blog that only students could see, noting that they had concerns about making course activities public.

The short answer is, in WordPress and a few others, yes.  The University I work for installed WordPress MU for anyone (student or teacher) to use.  They were easily able to connect it to our university system – you log in with the same ID/password you use for email, and your blog is automatically set-up. Custom blogs for, say, groups or departments can also be created.  There are also a few instructors that keep it private for only their classes.  Our IT department was able to connect specific blogs to specific class rolls.  But even if you can’t do that, there are plug-ins that let you authenticate with users you want and then only authenticated users can see the blog.

Blackboard Tries To Improve It’s Image by Assimilating Angel?

I guess it was inevitable. As much negative press as Blackboard garnered over recent legal actions (in addition to the negative experiences some of their customers are always complaining about), they had to do something abut it.  I can see the board meeting now:

“We’re taking a beating over this lawsuit. What can we do to improve our image?”

“We need to do something that people like. And, Bob – no more stealing Start Trek jargon to name our new software versions, okay?”

“sighhh….. but NG sounded so futuristic and cool!”

“Maybe in the 90s! But focus – we need to do something good for our image.”

“I heard the other day that people like angels. Maybe that should be the new name for our next software version.”

“I like it! People want to make us out to be devils, let’s force them into calling us angels!”

“Oh, wait… I think we have a competitor named that already.”

“Even better! We can just buy them and get their image without doing any work! Just like we did with WebCT!”

I was really shocked when Katrina told me the news. Yes, she is still active in the Ed Tech world – even though we rarely hear from her here. She did recruit Shaun after all… so she is helping in some ways :)

But I just can’t see the logic behind this purchase, even from a twisted business CEO pointy-haired boss perspective.  From what I have read, a huge chunk of the people using Angel chose Angel because they were fed up with Blackboard.  Why do you want to acquire such a huge population of users that have proven that they will change software when disgruntled… and they were with the company you bought because they hated yours in the first place? Not to mention the fact that Blackboard is saying that eventually the two products will merge.  How? They are so vastly different.  That just doesn’t seem possible.

And let’s not forget how bad they botched the WebCT purchase.  Oh, wait… they are saying they learned a lot from that and will do better.  But… wait… WebCT wasn’t their first purchase. Prometheus anyone? If they didn’t learn enough from that one to help with WebCT, don’t count on them having learned enough from WebCT to make the Angel acquisition any less painful.

I just can’t help but thinking of Dilbert whenever I read anything from Michael Chasen of Blackboard.  I love how he pointed out that there is more competition now in the LMS market than there ever was… because new ones are starting every year.  Yep, there is a greater number of competitors, so that means greater competition, right? Nope – that means nothing for competition when those new options are just competing for the same small slice of customers that won’t go with the bigger options.  Percentage-wise, this purchase essential creates a monopoly.  One can only hope this will not be approved by the FTC.  But, then again, they should have never approved of the WebCT purchase.  So I’m not holding my breath on that.

Why NG Has To Knock Our Socks Off

In general, I would say that I believe in equal standards.  Treat all people as equals.  That works best when you are talking people.  When it comes to corporations, there is a lot of room for differing standards.

Of course, I am not talking about regulations – all companies should follow all that apply.  When it comes to new services, new products, new features… you just expect more from certain companies than you would for others.  You can’t compare your locally-owned grocery store to a Wal-mart for example.

I was thinking this morning that would also apply to Blackboard’s NG, or whatever it is they are calling it.  Apparently, they don’t do versions anymore.  But the next whatever spills out of Bb headquarters will have to not just be good… it will have to knock our socks off.  Not just in features, but in easy-of-use, originality, and educational potential.  Here is why:

  • Money.  With somewhere around 80% of the market share, Bb gets more green than anyone else by far.  Don’t give me anything about costs, or economy, or overhead, or even mis-used funds.  “To he who much is given, much will be expected.”  No, it was not Spiderman’s Uncle that said that…
  • Boastful commercials.  You made them.  You stuck them online.  You hyped your own product.  Don’t make it smell like something your dog left on the lawn this morning (you can thank a “friend of mine” for that stinky analogy….)
  • Lawsuit.  If you are going to sue someone else for copying you, you better prove to us that you can do better than the company you are suing.  Your consumers are not copyright lawyers (even though you seem to think we are too stupid to be one)… so we don’t have to care about the outcome or who did what.  To us, you have to prove that you are worthy of even filing the lawsuit in the first place, or our money goes elsewhere.  Well, at least our respect…
  • Competitors.  Your competitors have put out better products without near the same resources you have.  NG is already starting out behind the curve in many ways because of whatever you call this current vers… er… release.. no… ummm…. yeah….  Anyway, you are still releasing new features that existed in other programs years ago.  And you are lucky they didn’t copyright those ideas.
  • Web2.0.  Web2.0 changed everything else online.  Learning Management Systems are still basically the same as they were 10 years ago.  It’s about time for a new model people.  Oh, wait… that sounds familiar….

Of course, these are also the same reasons why Bb might also not do that good of a job:

  • Money.  Scare people with the thought of how much it will cost to change to another LMS.  They’ll cringe so much at your inflated figures that they won’t care if this new version is awesome or not.  Just save me from the evils of a five minute course conversion.  Oh, wait… it’s only 5 minutes?
  • Boastful commercials.  Who needs to deliver on hype when you can just let people watch your commercials and have their opinion fed to them?  It’s worked for Coke for decades, after all….
  • Lawsuit.  You win a baseless copyright application and then win an even more baseless lawsuit in a rocket docket pro-big-business court.  You can probably do anything you want to from now and get away with it.
  • Competitors.  No one is churning out any Bb killers any time soon, but they are supplying you with cool ideas.  Wait for them to churn out some more and then claim them as your own.  Microsoft has made no bones about that working for them for years.
  • Web2.0.  It’s all hype anyways – so who cares about changes?  Claim “sound pedagogical principals” and snobbishly tell people some gibberish about how this 2.0-hype just doesn’t cut the pedagogical cheese.  Sounds pretty stinky, but that one has worked for traditional schools for over 100 years…

Now, despite my cynical nature, I do think Bb has a chance of pulling this one off.  No one outside of the Jobs-cultists really thought Mac could make the iPhone incredible when they first heard of it.  But Apple beat expectations and pulled out a winner (despite what some say, they don’t always do that).  Despite what some same about Bb, they might pull out a winner, too.  But anything less that than an iPhone level game changer will probably be an ultimate let-down… so the stakes are pretty high.

Close Encounters of the Blackboard Kind

For my day job last week, I was part of a meeting with a Blackboard rep.  He was a nice guy, but still a salesperson.  A good salesperson at that.  I know there are good sales people out there, but beyond the good ones that I have met, I find the rest of them tiring.  Of course, I know many of them have to spit out the required company propaganda line every where they go – whether they want to or not.  Because of this, I am sure they usually find solace in the fact that most people don’t know much about the truth behind what they are talking about, or maybe even that mots people don’t know if their product lives up to the hype or not.

Maybe they just should have never let me in to this meeting.  Blackboard rarely lives up to its hype in most cases – mainly because they have too much hype (that no one could ever live up to, to be honest).  So having me in a meeting, knowing this about Bb hype, and I have a bad habit of not keeping my mouth shut = not a good combination.

The meeting got off to sluggish start with the rep trying to tell us that Bb is not using the term “version” any more.  That in itself is not that bad of an idea… but terribly impractical in real life.  How do you communicate anything in the IT world without using the world version?  We found out just how impossible… and ultimately frustrating for the person pushing that idea… this can be.  Actually, it was quite entertaining for us… not so much for our rep.

Then, of course, we spent a good chunk of the meeting looking at “new” features we already knew and used.  Common sales rep mistake – assuming your people don’t know anything.  Finally, I was nominated to speak up and let him know he was showing us features of a version (what other word could I use there, really?)  that we were already using.  Of course, instead of switching gears to NG, this inspired him to find something we hadn’t seen.

I have to take a minute and point out that I don’t intentionally try to make people look bad.  Just be careful in what questions you ask me – I will answer you honestly if you ask me a direct question that puts me in a corner.  Here is an example: this sales rep then showed us the rating and feedback feature of the Bb discussion forums.  Then he looked right at me and asked “Bet you haven’t seen anything like that before, huh Matt?”

What I was thinking was “yes, I have… several years ago in Moodle and a few years before that in about every discussion board program like phpBB.”  All I actually said was “well, yes, in other LMS programs.”  Not that tactful, I admit – but really nice compared to what I could have said.  In my defense, I could have ate his lunch right there.

After this, there was the usual misinformed pitch about how open-source is really more expensive than Bb when you roll in support and maintenance (not true actually) and even some line about how Moodle and Sakai are really only good alternatives for smaller installations because of scalability (also not true).  I can’t blame Bb for taking that view – but I can’t agree with them either.  I tried to disagree with him but was cut off as he maneuvered to the next issue (good move, BTW).

Also, I found it funny how they highlighted the FaceBook Sync app, which has proven to be rather unpopular (only a little over 5,000 current users out of tens of millions of possible ones).

If you have seen the NG example videos up at the Bb site, then you have see what we saw.  A lot of stuff copied from Google and other sites.  Stuff that I really do like, but have a hard time accepting from a company that is suing others for copying them.

(as a side note here, some rumblings are indicating that the concepts that Bb patented were actually in widespread use in educational circles as early as 1993.  Bb became a company in 1997.  You can do the math on that one :)

Strange things are brewing in LMS land, indeed….

(Edited to make this sound a little more positive – the meeting wasn’t as bad as I first made it seem. Also, needed to make sure I made it clear that this was a meeting at work and does not reflect in any way the opinion of my employer, just mine.)

Hello. I’m a Copycat. And I’m an Original.

Oh, BlackBoard. I really do try to give you a fair break. You just make it so hard not to. Recently I linked to some videos that highlight the new changes coming in BlackBoard NG:

http://www.blackboard.com/projectng/

Chapter 2: User Interface… Something about that looks familiar. What is it… [stares off blankly at my iGoogle page] hmmm…. not coming to me. I’m sure it will soon….

Then, a friend sends me this link to BlackBoard NG ads:

http://www.blackboard.com/projectng/ads/

While it would be so easy to mock the acting, the blank stares, the stand-ins with the look of “will this come back to haunt me when I finally land that sweet job at Google?” on their faces… that would be too easy. I mean, with as much money as BlackBoard makes, couldn’t they actually afford actors and script writers? Probably even the real PC and Mac guys?

Nah – I won’t go there. The thing that gets me is the righteous indignation that surfaced when defending “the patent.” How they so defiantly defended how innovative and original they are. And then sued Desire2Learn for a system that basically comes close to their patent (but isn’t really a down right copy). So, sue those that kind of copy you, but then blatantly copy others? Brag about being an innovative and cutting edge company, and then follow others? Hmmm…..

Are EduPunks Really the Source of the Problem?

If you don’t know what EduPunks are – well, you probably are one if you are reading this blog. Or, at least one at heart. We’re all probably EduPunks here at EGJ (even though I personally hate the label). We want to bring change to the online education world, and some of us are even advocating leaving Learning Management Systems behind in favor of do-it-yourself classes created in blogs, wikis, and probably a whole slew of Google sites.

In the comments section of my last post on LMS problems, a colleague of mine (Chris) made a comment that got me thinking: why are LMS programs the way they are? The hard reality we EduPunks have to face is that Ed Tech products, just like almost any other tech product, are consumer-driven. They are the way they are – in large part – due to end user demand. Even something as dense as BlackBoard still had someone sitting there saying “our customers want this!” Yes – many got it wrong – but even those that got it wrong sometimes still thought about what customers wanted at some point. And many companies do ask for or at least listen to customer input. Some times customers either just get complacent and satisfied with what they have, or they leave a product or service without saying why (or worse yet, raising a huge stink). If companies think everything is okay with the status quo, they won’t change it. And if you rave like a crazed banshee because of something – they probably won’t listen either.

But it’s those that leave that make companies worry the most. When the powers that be saw the EduPunks leaving the LMS for blogs and wikis and other tools – what do you think they did? “Hey – we need to add those tools to our product!” Instead of seeing these as tools to be connected with, they started seeing them as competitotrs. The sad truth is – EduPunks are probably more responsible for creating the “walled garden” effect than anyone else. The more we leave the LMS behind, the more they are going to try and assimilate what we are leaving for… rather than trying to understand why we are leaving. That’s just the way businesses work. They usually want to add more features to an existing product rather than re-think the whole thing from the ground up.

So the battle to change online education tools is really within the confines of the LMS… not as a rebellious outsider. We need to try to win other professors and EdTech people to our cause from the inside. We need a tool that is native to professors (as Chris suggested), that allows them to teach in a way that their learners need to learn. Once the demand is there… once there is enough buzz being generated to get the attention of educational software companies… then we will probably see the changes we need.

Death of the Learning Management System? (part 5)

As I’ve been pondering the status of the Learning Management System in education, I’ve noticed something interesting. I seem to use the system differently than many people. Some refer to LMS programs as prisons that trap learning. Content is dumped in to a repository, and then all interaction with that content and other students is kept walled up in said repository forever and ever.

I know that happens, too frequently sometimes, but I always classified that as “bad instructional design” – even if I was the one that had to do that. (Just because I don’t like to do that doesn’t mean I can convince all professors not to. Most, yes. All – no).

I am coming to believe, however, that some LMS programs are starting to head off in the wrong direction, and also that our concept of the LMS needs to change. I used to be okay with the fact that many LMS providers were trying to incorporate new tools like blogs and podcasts in to their program. This week, I think I am turning the corner and deciding that is the wrong direction to go. Here is why.

Adding tools like that will head us in to the realm of the walled garden. We don’t want our classes to end up looking like this:

No matter how pretty it looks and how many windows we put in it, it is still a walled garden.

We need to start seeing the LMS as the control panel of a subway system. As trains go all over the place, the relay information back to the control panel so that the head conductor can know where they are going and what they are picking up on the way. In other words, use the tool to make the instructors job easier while also launching students out on to the web to learn:

(that’s a map of the Moscow metro system, in case you are wondering – I think it best illustrates the point, even thought its not in English)

Part of the problem is that we need to change our perception of the LMS program. I think they need to be called Course Management Platforms more than Systems myself. But we also need to change the direction of tool development for the existing programs.

Take blogging for example. Instead of adding blogs to an CMP program, why not create a function that draws RSS feeds in to the CMP and formats them for the instructor – maybe even connected to a rubric grader? Students can then choose any blog they want (and any security level they want), and then create a tag for their school assignments. Upload the RSS feed for that tag. There could even be a randomly generated “code” to insert in the blog, only displayed in the CMP, that lets instructors “prove” that students did their own work.

Or, instead of a place to upload Word Docs, why not create a place for students to submit a basic URL or embed code to display their project. Instructors then get a window that allows them to pull up student work in a window, scroll through everyone’s work, and then add a grade.

The technology for all of this exists and is pretty simple. In fact, I think I will start working on some plugins for Moodle :)

I think I am going to change the title of the series to “A New Vision for Learning Managment Systems.”