Review of Course Management Systems

Review of Course Management Systems:


I reviewed 15Desks, Schoolweb, and ectolearning and found that though they all had some similarities they were very different in their formats. Schoolweb is the CMS that my current employer uses throughout our district. The three software’s offer the major components that the textbook authors recommend for a CMS. Each software offers: course management, readings, content presentation, course communications, digital drop-box, group project space, course evaluation tools, student assessments, and course and system statistics.

The CMS software 15desk has mobile access features, duplicate course, security and backup, OS and Hardware indifference, Grade Book, Emailer, announcements, and teaching assistance access. All of these features including the afore mentioned features make it a great asset. I have read that in the instructor mode they have a wizard to help set up a class that is easy to maneuver around. I was not able to locate this feature.

15Desks has a plethora of features none of which I found to be user friendly I have used a multitude of software over the years and this does not have the drag and drop features that I anticipate in a software that boast the feature of easy in use ability. I am a software snob, technology is designed to simplify your life and enable you dissimenate information in a timely and efficient manner. At first as I reviewed the many features that 15desks boast they provide and the various user friendly options I was excited. After I downloaded the software I was frustrated and left wondering how to review something that I could not access as the features had expressed. I would not use this software based on the time it took me to review it and I still could not drag and drop in data and get up in running in a short time.

After evaluating the three software applications ectolearning had all the bells and whistles. The easy to understand instructions and the familiar layout were immediate attention grabbers. I quickly was able to upload images, add links to my blog and set up a class. I found myself lost in the possibilities of using the software instead of my current software Schoolweb. In Schoolweb I am limited to the groups in my school district and access is limited to members of the district. Should I leave the district all my information, effort, and groups would be lost. In contrast with ectolearning I have free access anywhere I have an internet connection and can add to my groups from a global population. The idea that all of my creativity would not be lost should I change jobs is also exciting and would make transitioning to a new position easier. Ectolearning offers a wide variety of group and library of pages and links that easily connect to my dashboard. I found of the three CMS that we evaluated this week ectolearning was usable, aesthetically pleasing, simple to use, and extensible (Smith,2009).

References:

CollegeBrain, Inc. (2010). 15Desk features. Retrieved from https://www.15desks.com/features.php.



LectureShare. (2010). About. Retrieved from http://www.lectureshare.com/about.php.





Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.