Following up on our post from last week on digital learning spaces, we would like to continue to explore the topic of LMSs and how to facilitate learning experiences online. After working in an LMS for awhile, teachers might be wondering, “How can I continue to improve my digital learning space and the online experience for my students?” We have identified four areas that we feel teachers can examine to really scale up their student’s online learning experience. They include:
Communication
Differentiation
Accessibility
Organization
We chose these areas expressly because they align well with some of the key components of blended and personalized learning. We have created a rubric to support teachers in examining their practice in using an LMS in these areas. With respect to communication, we focus exclusively on the idea of facilitating online discussions for learning with students. We also felt that the ability to differentiate learning objects and learning paths to students via the LMS can help support teachers in getting to personalization. Accessibility features in the LMS and the ability for students to customize their learning environment help support all learners. Finally, the flexibility to organize content in different ways in the LMS can help support support teachers making shifts to blended/personalized learning for students.
To support teachers in continuing to refine their practice in designing and delivering blended and personalized instruction in an LMS, we have created this rubric. The below rubric is an image and is linked to a live Google doc with links to additionally articles and learning resources around this area.
We know that the rubric is not all encompassing and there are many other areas that could be identified when considering areas to scale-up in the designing an online learning space. We would love to hear your feedback about what we missed to make our rubric even better.
Gina Rogers & Mindy Cairney
Digital Learning Consultants
GWAEA