Elisa Goins Harris



Elisa Goins HarrisModule 2Course Management Systemscenter850008549640July 8, 2015Dr. Benson 1000000July 8, 2015Dr. Benson AIL 631Part 1 Google SearchIntroduction on Learning Management SystemsOur committee has been given the task of researching, comparing, and selecting an appropriate learning management system (LMS) for our school system. Our committee is made up of three teachers, two students, one parent, and the technology coordinator. Our goal is to select an LMS within four months that will facilitate teacher efficiency while providing instruction to our 3,500 K-12 students. It is our desire to select an affordable LMS which focuses on student learning outcomes as well as offering a variety of tools to meet the needs of the twenty-first century needs of all students. The LMS selected will primarily be used in a face-to-face environment; however, can be used by homebound or absent students in an online environment. Our plans for this project include establishing the criteria for selection, researching various LMS options, selecting the top five options based on our criteria, and hosting a public demonstration where representatives from the five finalists share their product with stakeholders. CriteriaOur criteria, in order of importance, for selecting an LMS that meets our goal are: 1) provide tools to facilitate instruction, 2) provide tools to facilitate learning, 3) affordable cost, 4) offer time saving features for teachers, 5) assessment tools, 6) accessibility options, 7) compatibility with our existing technology network (both hardware and software), 8) parental access, 9) classroom management tools, and 10) training and technical support availability. Using these criteria while exploring LMS options, we selected the five finalists. Our research produced five learning management systems that we found appropriate in meeting our primary function of facilitating teaching and learning in our school system. A summary of our results of Brightspace, Moodle, Canvas, Edsby, and Schoolbox are included below. LMS 1 - BrightspaceDescription: Brightspace was created by Desire2Learn in 1999 in Canada. It is a web-based LMS. Cost: The company offers a free 30 day trial. After being informed by Desire2Learn that they would not reveal prices in an email, we were unable to obtain the specific subscription costs of Brightspace beyond the trial period; however, cost analysis from academia.edu, indicates that it could be $10 per user each year. At a cost of $10 per user, 3,500 student users and 200 teacher users would result in a cost of $37,000.00 per year. Brightspace does not offer an open-source option. Advantages: Some of the advantages are the ability to access online and through mobile apps. Apps are available for IOS and Android devices. Two other significant advantages are the ability to customize themes and the assignment grader feature. Disadvantages: The disadvantages to Brightspace include the lack of a classroom management tools and lack of a gradebook feature. Compatibility: This LMS is compatible with our existing hardware and technology infrastructure. It is compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems as well as accessed through all major web browsers. Additional Information: Some other features offered include the ability to group students and track skill development of students.LMS 2 - MoodleDescription: Moodle was developed in 2002 and is used throughout the world as an open-source, online learning management system. Cost: It is free to all users. Advantages: The most significant advantage of Moodle is the ability to develop courses and the administrative features are superior to many competitors. Along with the web-based version, there are IOS and Android mobile apps available. Moodle offers the ability for bulk course creation with customizable layouts. Disadvantages: Although Moodle is used in K-12 settings, a distinguishing disadvantage of Moodle is that it is most commonly used for post-secondary education. Another disadvantage to instructors who use Moodle, is the management of plug-ins necessary for some content delivery within a course. Compatibility: Moodle is compatible with our existing IT environment and hardware. It can be accessed on Mac and Windows platforms as well as from all major web browsers. Additional Information: Other features included with Moodle are classroom management, gradebook, student portal, skills tracking, assessments, a calendar and collaboration tools. There is also online support available 24/7. LMS 3 - CanvasDescription: The next LMS considered was Canvas developed by Instructure Inc. in 2008. Canvas is an open-source, cloud-based learning management system for universities and K-12 schools. Cost: Canvas Cloud is free for K-12 teachers. If upgraded to a commercial license, the cost is $4.82 per user as well as a one-time implementation fee of $4,500. This results in a net cost of $22,000 for the first year with a commercial license. Advantages: Three unique advantages of Canvas are the magic marker and speed-grader apps, and the learning mastery gradebook. The magic marker app allows teachers to link course outcomes, grade assignments, and download to the gradebook. The speed-grader app allows for alignment with common core standards. Teachers can provide scores and feedback without uploading files and grading can be accomplished using an iPad or a computer. Grades are automatically transferred into the gradebook. The learning mastery gradebook allows for easy view of student performance by students, parents, and teachers, and is aligned with learning outcomes. Disadvantages: A major disadvantage of this product is that it is fairly new to the LMS market and only available in the United States. Compatibility: Canvas is compatible with any standard web browser and both Windows and Mac operating systems. It uses an open API (application program interface) which allows the integration with our current IT environment. Additional Information: Other desired features included in Canvas are calendar, eportfolio, parent enrollment, skills tracking, student portal, class management, data import and export, and the ability to create random groups. Instructure offers training webinars, live online training sessions, and in person training.LMS 4 - EdsbyDescription: Our committee also reviewed the LMS, Edsby. It is a web-based LMS for K-12 teachers, students, and parents. Cost: The cost of Edsby is $4 per year per user while parent accounts are free. For our school system, this cost translates to $14,800 per year. Advantages: Some of the advantages include the integration of email, report cards, and the district wide collaboration tools which could improve professional development opportunities. Another advantage over other systems is the ability to create areas for teams and clubs. Disadvantages: Since there is not an open-source version to try before committing to Edsby, the cost is a disadvantage. Compatibility: Edsby offers mobile learning through IOS and Android apps and can easily be integrated with existing SIS systems. It also supports the option of integrating with our current directory server which will result in the ability to use system passwords that already exist. Edsby can be accessed through all modern browsers. Additional Information: Edsby has many similar features as the other systems reviewed, such as, skills tracking, testing, calendar, and group creation. LMS 5 - SchoolboxDescription: The last LMS considered by our committee was Schoolbox. Schoolbox is a cloud-based, virtual learning environment designed for K-12 schools. It serves as an LMS as well as intranet for a school system. It was created in Australia by Alaress in 2010. Cost: A free trial is available; however, after the trial period parents pay a single membership fee allowing all of their children to access the software. The specific amount of the subscription fee was unavailable. Advantages: Two distinguishing advantages include a plagiarism checker and the ability to centralize student data and resources. Disadvantages: The disadvantage for this LMS is the inability to access the membership price as well as a slight disadvantage of using software developed in Australia. Compatibility: Mobile and online learning is available while the software integrates with all popular SIS’s. Additional Information: Other features included are gradebook, email integration, attendance, skills tracking, testing, grading, calendars, classroom management, and Wikis for collaboration. There is ongoing professional development provided as well as live online and webinars for training. Part 2 Final ProposalWhat and DescriptionAfter careful comparison of these features, assessing how these systems met our established criteria, and hosting a public demonstration allowing input from other stakeholders, we have concluded that Canvas will best serve our school system for many years. Why CanvasMost features of Canvas serve to facilitate instruction. The ability to create groups serves as a time saving feature which allows teachers to allow for collaborative learning opportunities. The speed grader app allows teachers to comment on assignments providing valuable feedback to students. Data is easily imported and exported allowing teacher made assignments to easily be added to the course. Although cost was not our first criteria in making our selection, it was our third. According to the Educause Review article, “although determining the return on investment (ROI) within the teaching environment can be difficult, you must consider the costs of investing in an LMS.” (p.3) The use of Canvas Cloud without a cost to the school system will allow us to use the software before making a commitment of several thousand dollars while not compromising our desired features. Teachers will have access to magic marker and speed grader apps which should become a time saving feature for them. The ability to align assignments with common core standards will be another time saving feature. It is our desire to select an LMS that allows parental access. This access provides parents information concerning their child’s learning and performance. Our school system encourages the use of student portfolios and the eportfolio feature will enable teachers to create a portfolio of student work samples that can be accessed at any time during their attendance in our school system. The portfolio feature allows teachers to facilitate learning activities and measure learning outcomes. If we decide to move to the commercial license in the future, this data can be imported into the new version of Canvas. The mobile learning apps will be very useful to students and teachers. Our system is a BYOD system where students have access to a variety of devices using various platforms. Since there are Android and IOS apps available will allow all student with devices to access the LMS. Training of faculty will occur in person while new employees can be trained by IT staff as well as accessing online training offered by Instructure. Even though Canvas is one of the newer products, we feel this will only enhance the features that may be developed in the future. Cost and Comparison QuoteWe contacted Brightspace, Canvas, and Schoolbox by email to request a price quote. The Canvas representative quickly replied with an approximate cost if we chose the commercial license; however, our school system could use the open source version for free before making the costly commitment to the commercial version which would cost approximately $22,000 for the first year. Schoolbox did not reply to our request for a price quote on the subscription fee after the free trial ends. Brightspace responded stating that they would not reveal their price in an email. We did discover from academia.edu a cost analysis revealing a $10 per user per year which results in $37,000 per year if this is correct. Edsby has a cost of $4 per user per year while parent accounts are free. This net cost for our system is $14,800 per year. Moodle is an open source software that is free to all users. The following chart was used to create our cost and comparison quote:LMSFree TrialCostBrightspaceFree 30 day trialIt could be $10 per user each year. At a cost of $10 per user, 3,500 student users and 200 teacher users would result in a cost of $37,000.00 per yearEdsbyTeachers and student costs are $4 per year/user and parent accounts are free; $14,800 per yearCanvasCanvas Cloud is Free for K-12 teachers;Approximately $4,500 one -time implementation fee for the commercial license plus$4.82 per user if upgrade to a commercial licenseMoodleFree for all usersSchoolboxA free trial is available;Parents pay a single membership fee for all of their children to accessJustification of ChoiceMoodle was not selected due to its focus on post-secondary schools and its emphasis on course creation. In a K-12 setting, we do not have a large demand for this feature. Edsby was not selected primarily because of the cost and the lack of a trial offer. Edsby would result in a commitment of almost $15,000 without any experience with the LMS. There are features provided by Edsby that our system does not need such as email integration and report card creation. We provide email through Google Apps for Education and we use INOW to generate report cards. The ability to collaborate across the school system for professional development is not necessary in our small school system. All of our schools are within five miles of each other; therefore, it is not difficult to coordinate professional development between schools. Even though Schoolbox includes the plagiarism checker that we desire, the centralization of student data is not a need for our school system. Also, there are more desirable features offered through Canvas, such as ability to create groups and the time saving features for teacher, that are not provided in Schoolbox. The closest competitor to Canvas was Brightspace by Desire2Learn. Brightspace allows the teacher to customize themes and has the assignment grader similar to Canvas’s speedgrader. Brightspace is an established LMS; however, the inability to use Brightspace beyond the trial period for free and the lack of more of the time saving features for teachers contributed to our decision to select Canvas as our school systems learning management system. We were also concerned with the lack of specific cost information concerning their product when we contacted them. Canvas responded quickly with our request for approximate costs for commercial licensing when we contacted them by email. The following chart was used to select the LMS that best met our criteria where we ranked each LMS according to how well it met the criteria, on a scale of 1-5 where 1 indicates few features and 5 indicates most features.LMSInstructional ToolsLearner ToolsTime SavingAssessmentAccessibilityCompatibilityParent PortalClass Management toolsTrainingBrightspace453555115Edsby553555553Canvas555555555Moodle442455153Schoolbox453555545We believe that Canvas will meet the majority of our criteria while not obligating our school system to a long term commitment. As we use Canvas over the first year, we can reconvene as a committee to discuss how well Canvas has met our goal of facilitating teacher efficiency while providing instruction using online tools for all of our students. Our committee can reevaluate the situation and make a decision concerning if we should upgrade our LMS to the commercial license of Canvas or choose another LMS. If we choose to remain with Canvas and upgrade, all of our data can easily be imported into the upgraded version.Works CitedBest LMS (Learning Management System) Software | 2015 Reviews of the Most Popular Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from Brightspace. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from CANVAS. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from Compare Learning Management Systems (LMS). (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from Edsby. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from K-12 LMS Features | Canvas Learning Management System. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from Learning Management Systems - Cost Benefit Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from Moodle. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from Schoolbox. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from Selecting a Learning Management System: Advice from an Academic Perspective (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2015, from ................
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