Learning Management Systems, such as Blackboard and Moodle, are an excellent learning tool in educational settings as they can be used for many purposes and accessed by students from both school and at home. Some of the main uses of LMS are providing content information, managing assessment and homework tasks and providing password-protected, safe and monitored online collaboration spaces such as discussions and forums.
Student participation in discussions and forums is a highly effective constructivist learning strategy. Students are scaffolded to construct their understandings of the content by viewing other student’s knowledge and opinions and posting replies in which they can contribute their own thoughts as well as constructively challenge others ideas, all of which assists students to reflect deeply on the content in ways they would not have been able to attain through individual learning. An example of this social learning through LMS can be seen in the Managing E-learning ‘Learning Theory and Active Learning’ forum where a student states that she was able to understand a particular concept at a deeper level as a result of viewing another student’s reflection. Click here to view this discussion.
I have observed LMS used in primary classrooms with great success. One of the things I find most appealing about them is that students can log in from home to complete homework, view information at their own pace and connect with their learning manager and peers in one safe location.
No comments:
Post a Comment