As a part of the LMS Pilot for Moodle and Desire2Learn, there are some resources available.
Here is a link to the resources for Moodle: https://psu.mrooms3.net/mod/glossary/view.php?id=1012
Here is a link to the resources for Desire2Learn: https://sandbox9.desire2learn.com/Shared/Online%20Help/9.0/Online_Help_9.0.htm
It has been interesting looking at these systems and how they fit into the system of a large university. I’ll be saying more as we pilot Blackboard in Spring ’11.
During Fall ’10 and Spring ’11, I have been working with IST 110 in Moodle, Desire2Learn, and Blackboard. So are my perceptions.
Moodle
From a personal stance, I like the idea of the power of the community which an open source tool like Moodle allows. But in application to a large university like Penn State, I’m not so sure this is the best direction. During the pilot, we used Moodle Rooms. I also supported a non-pilot course that was not in Moodle Rooms. What I found is that we had less issues in the non-pilot course. One thing is that we only had to worry about one class. When a few items arose at the beginning of the course, I was granted administrative access and was able to solve the problems. From discussions with the faculty, the gradebook was a problem in the pilot.
Desire2Learn
This was the smoothest and most intuitive tool that I examined. The training and support staff were so helpful and willing to make adjustments to the tool to make it better.
Blackboard
As a student, I used blackboard, so it should have been familiar. But during the training, I found this tool to be difficult to use. It is not intuitive and involves many steps which can easily be missed.
Which direction the university takes is still up in the air, but these are my thoughts.
It’s been a bit since I’ve gotten a chance to reflect. With the pressure of the beginning of a new semester in January and all that precedes the arrival of our little one, I have had little time to complete my tasks, let alone think about what I have been doing.
One thing that slowed me down was the sad news of the death of one of my former colleagues, Paul Wolfe. I found myself telling many of my present colleagues about Paul because he was one of those people who although not a close friend, made you feel important when you were around him.
I met Paul after getting my first “real” job at Lower Dauphin Middle School. At that point in Paul’s life, he had been a middle school math teacher for about 25 years and I was a 21 year old, recent college grad. Although I had another official mentor, I watched how Paul handled himself and patterned myself after him. Paul was a fun-loving teacher who always had a bad joke ready to pull on his students. I found him to be extremely humble man who was never above asking the “new guy” questions about math. We had come from such different backgrounds educationally. During his time in college, he ended with learning Calculus while the curriculum that I had take started with Calculus.
Teaching middle school math involves working with people. Paul had honed this craft, and I learned so much from his example. Paul was at all of the dances and always advised the student council. Paul helped finish out a season as a wrestling coach when necessary. In short, Paul picked up any slack with a great attitude. He was a real team player.
Paul was a talented man with his hands. He had so many skills as a carpenter that he built his own house from the ground up. He also loved cars and had rebuilt several cars.
Paul was generous with his talents. One friend who spoke at Paul’s Memorial Service, mentioned that Paul may have been the last American who would still stop to help a broken-down motorist. Dozens of his colleagues benefited from his skills with additions to houses and decks.
I’m so glad to know Paul and hope leave even part of the legacy that this man has.