The modules have been uploaded into Bb Vista. It will need to be approved by Charlene, since it is her hybrid course I am creating for her. I have made friends with Bb Vista and found it extremely easy to use. It has its short-comings. The discussion thread is prehistoric and the email is very outdated. The only real updates would be to make it more open source and up-to-date. With that being said, it appears the college may be looking at Instructure Canvas as its new system.
I am not certain how I feel about a system like that. At first I was all for the system. Since I have tried to create my own course and put it into the free application, I am not quite as sold on it. But, I hope to give it a fair shot at some point in the near future. It certainly was a top three pick of mine when trying out and learning about the new Learning Management Systems. One of my instructors, Jen who taught us “Backward Design” and how to manage a course once it was online, loved the system. I am certain she would approve.
My primary concern is the discussion thread area and storage for videos and links when learning in the system. One should not have to go outside the system to store the research one finds on-line for the class. However, once the course is over anything stored in a LMS is lost. So far I have seen nothing that gives learners the security it needs to keep this information other than “Diigo.” Not only does Diigo save the learners research; but it saves all the discussion that is taking place in it. No learning system I know will do this. Once the quarter is over, the information is gone and cannot be referred to at a later time.
My second concern, is the email portion of the LMS system. Since the two most important features of any LMS system are the discussion thread and the communications feature of email and chat, those should at least be as advanced as they are outside the system. I am finding the chat room is out-of-date in Bb Vista and the emailing feature is well lets just say…belongs to the days of typewriters. I want to be able to email my learners quickly without a lot of hassle and be able to place them in a folder so I can refer back to them if I need to. I want the feature of sending video (not yet a capability on Comcast my email service) and not just links; and I hope someday the techs will solve this problem.
With the cost of gasoline around $4.00 a gallon and rising in the Seattle area, I think not only hybrid courses but online courses will become a necessity. At $5.00 a gallon, I would find it difficult to go to work and still be able to pay my bills. Being a student, I can understand their struggles when it comes to money. College tuition keeps going up and what is left of their funds disappears very fast. Finally a way to cut cost for them is the possibility if ebooks and rentals. My wish is this new course will help their budget a bit. I will have to wait and see how many students sign up for the class.
JOYSTECHTOOL 