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Navigate 3 - LMS Tool Categories

Answer: What are the most relevant features offered within an LMS?  Which features directly relate to effective online instruction?  How might you use these features in the online classroom environment.

 Instruction in any format -- online or traditional -- is only as effective as the communication that takes place during the process. To ensure lasting learning, communication must be a part of the learning process.

  • Students must communicate what they have learned to their instructor (assessments OF learning).
  • Students must communicate with others about their learning during the learning process (metacognitive and formative assessments FOR learning).
Therefore, the most important and relevant tools within an LMS are those used for communication. Examples of these tools and their uses are briefly outlined below.
  • Discussion Boards and Forums are helpful ways for students to interact with one another as they promote self- and peer-assessment, critical thinking, and collaboration. As a science teacher who teaches in a blended classroom, I use DBs to promote student:student interaction and collaboration on things such as projects or virtual labs.
  • Chat/IM are helpful ways for students to interact with other students or with instructors when they need immediate assistance. They can exchange questions and answers, problems and solutions in realtime. I have used Chat/IM during YouTube Live lessons or review sessions to gather feedback and receive questions from my students who were viewing the live lesson.
  • Calendars communicate upcoming due dates and course events. Often assignments or tasks within the LMS are linked to a specific due date, and these are directly added to the students' calendars. I post a daily plan to an online Google Calendar for students/parents to have an overview of each day's learning activities. I also attach to this a full lesson plan or unit plan (viewable only by administrators or co-teachers) that details plans for assessment, details about differentiation, etc.
  • Synchronous learning (Live Lessons, GroupChat, Webinars, etc) offer opportunities for whole group instruction or review, bringing back that essential element of the traditional classroom that many online students miss: interaction with the whole group. Again, I supplement traditional "in-person" instruction with periodic online help sessions or review sessions, using technology such as Google Hangouts and YouTube Live. Students appreciate these opportunities for extended and personalized review outside of our typical classtime.
Many of these communication tools are useful not only for communicating with students, but also with other stakeholders, including parents/guardians and administrators. For example, the calendar helps communicate plans for each day of class, helping parents understand what took place when their child was absent or when the next assessment will be. For administrators, this is a means of communicating what is supposed to be taking place in the classroom if they come for an observation/evaluation. And ultimately the gradebook is a means of communicating information about students' learning to all stakeholders, stuents, parents, and administrators.

 As I currently teach in a blended classroom, and if I ever teach truly online, these are all features that I feel are non-negotiables in an LMS.
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