Course Management Systems at Mission College

Review of Course Management Systems at Mission College – Oct. 2009

Goal - Review the current Course Management Systems ("CMS") at LA Mission College and determine if a single CMS should be adopted.

Reasons for adopting a single Course Management System ("CMS")

  • Gain support from key stakeholders for selecting and migrating to the CMS.
  • Create a dialogue on how and why to use CMS.
  • Understand the role of CMS within other systems, and understand how we want the systems to inter-operate.
  • Reduce confusion for faculty and students by providing a single entry point to course-related web sites.
  • Enhance the opportunity for integrating the University’s various information systems (course management, library, digital asset, student information); provide better value to faculty and students for the resources used.
  • Understand the cost of different scenarios moving forward, and develop a financial model to understand the investment required in CMS implementation to achieve the desired academic value.
  • Accreditation requirement of Student Identity Authentication

Student Identity Authentication

Accreditation now requires that all DE classes take steps to ensure the students who login to online classes are the same students registered for the class. This new accreditation requirement (as of 2010) is met when a CMScan upload the student rosters from the SISsystem and a standard login format is required (such as Student ID for username and month and day of birth for the passcode). Currently Etudes has been uploading student rosters for the past five years. Moodle at Trade Tech is also uploading student rosters, and Mission Moodle will start to upload rosters in Spring 2010.

Coursecompass as it is owned by Pearson Publishing, in its current form may not be able to comply with the accreditation requirement and further investigation needs to determine if Course Compass can take the necessary steps to comply with Student Identity Authentication.

Mission uses 3 different course managment systems - etudes, coursecompass and moodle.

Fall 2009 Online Classes- total 56 classes online

moodle / 45 %
course compass / 30 %
etudes / 25 %

Moodle 25 classes

Course Compass 17 classes

Etudes 13 classes

Internetlogic 1 class - Phil 33 - Comparative Religions

Types of Classes

Moodle

AJ1,CD1, CS 2,7,8,37, CoSci401, Nutrition, FSM Internship, Health 11, Law 1,2,10,11,12,13,16,17,18,19,20,34

Course compass

CD1, History 11,12, Phil 01,06, Pol Sci 1,2, Pscyhe 1, Soc. 1,2,3,4, 7, 28

Etudes

Bio 33, Bus. 01, Finance 08, Health 11, History 86, Mktg 21, Mgmt 2, 13

Review of area colleges and their CMS Platforms:

Course Management System Software / College
Moodle / Mission, Pierce, Trade, Southwest, CSUN
ETUDES / West, Harbor, Valley, City, East, El Camino
Blackboard / COC, Pasadena, Glendale, CSDH, CS Fullerton, CS San Bernardino, Mt. Sac, Rio Hondo, Orange Coast, San Diego (all three campuses)
[1]Blackboard/WebCT Campus Ed. 8 / Glendale
eCompanion / SMC
Course Compass / Mission
WebCT / CSUN, CSLA

Costs

Moodle - None - Mission participates in a 3 college consortium with Pierce and Trade Tech who currently host and pay for hosting for moodle at Mission, Pierce and Trade Tech - about $20,000 per year (estimate)

Coursecompass - Students bear cost at about $35-$45 purchase of access key for the course

Etudes - Mission costs - $16,000 - 2009-2010 (June 30,2010)

Fall 2003 Semester

course system / # sections / students / % of students
etudes classic / 16 / 400 / 95 %

Fall 2007 semester

course system / # sections / students / % of students
moodle / 20 / 677 / 46 %
etudes ng / 14 / 425 / 29 %
coursecompass / 11 / 297 / 20 %
nicenet / 2 / 56 / 5 %
totals / 47 / 1465 / 100 %

Costs of Etudes for LAMC

Year / Cost $ / Paid By
2004-2005 / 22,000 / LACCD
2005-2006 / 28,000 / LACCD
2006-2007 / 13,400 / LAMC
2007-2008 / 13,200 / LAMC
2008-2009 / 16,000 / LAMC
2009-2010 / 16,000 / LAMC
Total Cost / 108,000

Moodle is the exclusive CMS at Trade Tech and Pierce

Etudes is the exclusive CMS at ELAC, West, and Valley.

Etudes costs to Colleges in the District - 2009-2010

LAVC / 32,500
ELAC / 51,725
LAMC / 16,215
LAHC / 50,064
LACC / 97,770
WLAC / 161,500
Total / $434,329.00

General Comments:

The American Association of Community College’s Instructional Technology Council (ITC) has just published its2007 Distance Education Survey Results, covering data from 154 U.S. community colleges.

  • Distance education continues to grow at a very healthy clip, particularly in this market segment.
  • Blackboard is losing market share rapidly
  • Moodle doubled it’s market share in the past 12 months and now has the highest market share after Blackboard/WebCT in this market segment.
  • ANGEL and D2L also grew their market share.
  • We have reason to expect more LMS churn in the near future, which is bad for Blackboard.
  • The top 5 areas of likely distance learning-related service growth in this segment are (1) online student organization web site and services, (2) online counseling and advising, (3) online plagiarism evaluation, (4) audio/video streaming, and (5) online textbook sales.

Advantages/Disadvantages of each CMS

Moodle

Advantages - open source, no per student or per cpu costs. consortium with Pierce and Trade Tech. Moodle hosting through Remote Learner - recent migration to new servers - solid connectivity - little down time - reliable - local control by campus administrator - training through @One, quality and quantity of support by the Moodle community, Moodle is created in the PHP language with a MySQL backend. These technologies can be scaled to handle thousands of users. Moodle is very scalable. From a performance perspective, the application is built on what is called the L.A.M.P. stack. That means that it runs in Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP. It is also fully compatible with Windows and IIS. This architecture for web applications allows you to separate the jobs out among multiple computers in a clustered system capable of handling an almost unlimited number of users.400,000 registered userson the moodle.org website spanning over 190 countries. UCLA decided to converge on a single open source platform as the standard campus solution for their course/collaboration tools and adopted moodle campus wide in 2007 -see functionality of moodle - see itsevaluation assessment between Moodle v. Sakai (etudes)

Strengths

Moodle has a pleasant interface, making it easy to understand and get started quickly. One can set up a simple course (content pages, forum, quizzes) relatively quickly, yet Moodle offers other more advanced activities as well (such as Wiki, Assignments, Glossary, Survey, Lesson, etc.). Even with these additional options, the interface remains clean, uncluttered and pleasant to use. The Moodle user community is quite active, as seen in the forums on moodle.org.

Disadvantages - free now, but will cost for hosting in future, Hosting - Hosting is a big consideration. If you have in-house staff with experience with web servers, PHP and MySQL, then I would consider hosting it internally. If this is your first rodeo, then I would really recommend finding a hosted solution. By taking the technology component off the table, you can concentrate of the creation and delivery of your E-Learning endeavor. From the technical side, you really have to know your technology. Backing up MySQL is more challenging that say Microsoft SQL server.

Weaknesses

The documentation (Teacher's Manual) gets you started with simple features quickly, but some more advanced features are not quite as well documented and may require a search at moodle.org forums to find information.

Moodle advantages over Blackboard:

  • Easier to maneuver (fewer “clicks”!)
  • Less area monopolized for navigation
  • Easier to incorporate multimedia elements
  • More tools available (glossary, poll, lesson, journal)
  • Track student activity to see which parts of the course are preferred
  • Quiz tool scores correctly and provides details on the student’s use
  • Can be customized to add desired features
  • Features are robust
  • Survey allows as few as two choices

Comparison Evaluation of Moodle v. Blackboard - by Humboldt State

Etudes - Etudes supports over 104,000 student enrollments across25 client institutionswith its platform.

Consistent interface across classes

Easy to use navigation tools

Easy to learn e-mail, discussion, etc. tools

Help desk support – 24/7

* available at additional cost

One interface for all course-related communication and activities.

Ability to access multimedia materials

Easy to use Bulletin Boards - threaded discussion

Real time discussion forums (chat)

Access to their own grades from instructor’s gradebook

Automated password reset features

Group pages where they can work collaboratively

Pages which are accessible to students with special needs using assistive technology*

Etudes Alliance

TheEtudes teamis leading the development of three tools:

  • Melete Lesson Builder Tool

Melete allows instructors to publish learning sequences that can be created by using a rich text editor, uploading learning objects, or pointing to existing URL resources. Instructors can design content that supports instructor facilitated learning or system managed self-study. Lessons can be released automatically based on start and stop dates. Melete supports IMS Content Packaging and SCORM 2004 export. Future features include conditional release of lesson sequences to students based on completion of tasks. Melete stores its content in a private area of content hosting.

  • JForum Discussion & Private Messages Tool

JForum is an easy-to-use, yet robust tool that offers industry-standard functionality to users. Instructors can set up unlimited categories and forums, moderate topics (move, edit, delete, lock, or unlock), read recent topics and mark them as read, watch and bookmark topics, and much more. JForum comes with built-in private messaging that allows site members to communicate privately while discussing issues or collaborating on projects. JForum has a familiar (popular phpBB) graphical user interface. Additional popular functionality is support for private group work and ease of grading of discussion topics and forums.

  • Mneme - Tasks, Tests & Surveys

Mneme is anaward-winning comprehensive assessment enginefor Sakai that consists of an authoring module for creating questions and managing pools; a module for publishing assignments, tasks, tests and surveys; a grading module for evaluating assessments, optionally integrated with the Gradebook; and a delivery module for administering assessments to students. Additionally, a test-drive component allows instructors to take assessments as students.

Course Compass

Pearson MyLabs in CourseCompass offer innovative homework, student assessment, and multimedia instructional tools that enrich student learning and improve course outcomes. Using our detailed grading and customization options, instructors can easily monitor student progress and save valuable time.

Popular courses include:

MyMathLab provides a rich and flexible set of course materials for Pearson textbooks in mathematics and statistics. MyMathLab courses feature free-response exercises that are algorithmically generated for unlimited practice and mastery. Students can also use online tools, such as video lectures, animations, and a multimedia textbook, to independently improve their understanding and performance. MyMathLab's online Gradebook automatically tracks students' homework and test results and gives the instructor control over how to calculate final grades.

Beyond homework, MyEconLab provides a range of assessment options and tutorial resources that help students learn from their mistakes. Instructors can use MyEconLab as an out-of-the-box resource for students who need extra help, or take full advantage of its advanced customization options.

MyAccountingLab is a web-based tutorial and assessment software for accounting that not only gives students more "I Get It" moments, but gives instructors the flexibility to make technology an integral part of their course or a supplementary resource for students.

Using the same technology as MyMathLab, MyStatLab displays online tutorial exercises that regenerate algorithmically for unlimited practice and mastery. MyStatLab courses also include Java applets, statistical software, and other resources designed specifically to help students succeed in statistics.

MyHealthLab makes it easier than ever for instructors to organize their personal health or fitness & wellness classes, personalize students' educational experience, and push learning to the next level. MyHealthLab is a one-stop spot for accessing a wealth of preloaded content and tools, while giving instructors the ability to customize their courses as much (or as little) as they choose.

MyNutritionLab makes studying convenient and fun for students while they earn better grades in their nutrition course. Like MyHealthLab, MyNutritionLab makes studying convenient and fun for students while they earn better grades in their nutrition course. Like MyHealthLab, MyNutritionLab makes it easier than ever for instructors to organize theirnutrition classes, personalize students' educational experience, and push learning to the next level.

Pearson science courses – These courses extend beyond the scope of the textbook and provide instructors and students with a comprehensive teaching and learning resource for a specific discipline. The courses include interactive learning activities, current research news, web links, and customizable practice exams keyed to the text. Some examples areHuman Anatomy and Physiologyby Mareib,Nutrition: An Applied Approachby Thomson and Manore, andBiologyby Campbell.

Other MyLabs and courses – Do you know about Pearson's other powerful MyLabs and products? To learn about everything Pearson offers, just visitPearson eLearning & Assessment Solutions.

See Review of Course Compass at

CourseCompass ( is a customized version of the Blackboard platform, and is made available free of charge to instructors and institutions who purchase content from the Pearson Education publishing group. The product allows instructors to build a course from scratch, or to supplement Pearson texts with their own materials. A large selection of published examinations is available for us “as is” or modified by the instructor.

Pearson hosts the server software and no local installation is required. Instructor access to the CourseCompass system is limited to legitimate instructors who agree to make use of publications produced by Prentice-Hall or subsidiaries of Pearson Education. Full access to a Blackboardbased program is provided, with all downloads, instructor tools, and telephone support. For this evaluation, we were given full instructor and student access. At no time did any representative of the vendor company attempt to influence the evaluation.

A 30-minute introductory course, and downloadable “quick start” guides orient students and teachers to all CourseCompass features that they need for their classes. The platform’s screen displays are intuitive and easy to navigate. Even though its primary purpose is to act as a platform for the texts and courses already prepared by the Pearson group, the product is flexible and can be customized by instructors and students within a standard “look and feel” - an advantage for students who take more than one course. Special character palettes are available for French, German, Spanish and Italian. Students can set their own passwords and can modify their personal profiles, helping to streamline records administration.

They can attend virtual classes, read and post to discussion boards and participate in text-based synchronous chats. A digital “drop box” is provided for delivering and retrieving assignments, which can also be submitted as e-mail attachments.

Test banks are available to the instructor, mostly in a “truefalse” or “multiple-choice” format, and a test-generating plug-in allows the instructor to create new tests and modify those provided with the textbook. Automatic and manual marking procedures are available, with the assigned marks stored immediately in an integrated grade book that tracks assignment completion. When giving students assessment feedback, the instructor can include links to the section of the online textbook that discusses the topic in question.

A calendar enables the instructor and students to see the course and assignment schedule at a glance, and allows the instructor to set the date on which each individual item of course content becomes available to the students. The lack of audio/video-conferencing will be noted by instructors whoencourage online student discussion and interaction in these modes. While the online version of the textbook is likely to provide the backbone of content for a course,

CourseCompass allows various types of supplementary content to be added. The instructor can post documents, URLs, slide presentations, and other content formats in the students’ documents or assignments folders, and can lead the students on “web safaris” via the whiteboard in thevirtual classroom. Students can be divided into “breakout rooms” for small-group text conversations. Access to a comprehensive library of academic journals and other subscriptionbased content services is included with all courses offered on the CourseCompass platform.

These include EBSCO’s ContentSelect, the New York Times searchable archives, and a collection of professionally selected research sites accessed through the Link Library. An additional large section offers guidance on researching, writing essays, and citing references. Blackboard was selected as the vehicle for CourseCompass owing to its compliance with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) standards of scalability, interoperability, file-sharing and integration characteristics. Blackboard maintains relationships with major hardware and software vendors in order to ensure the functionality of its product.

CourseCompass’ success as a course delivery platform is indicated by the fact that, in just three years, it has grown to serve over 15,000 instructors with more than a quarter million students.

The merits of CourseCompass can be summarized, according to the evaluation criteria of the American Society for Training & Development, as follows:

Cost:

• free if proprietary content is purchased;

• no infrastructure costs;

• student access can be purchased as part of textbook bundle, or as a separate card for

approximately $20.00.

Complexity: