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I think I'm breaking up with moodle...

I've been with moodle for a while now. And we have had a good run.
I've loved having a space for my class to find all of the information we
are using. I've embedded video and posted links. I've made quizzes
and assigned journals. I even got into SCORM authoring so I could
create interactive lessons.

But lately, I've felt something missing from moodle. It just feels kind
of one-sided. Like, I post an assignment of some kind and my students
post their response. Maybe I can get a discussion going in a forum, but
it's always separate from the work the students are doing. What I want
is a space where students can post their own ongoing work--the video
that's in progress, the podcast they've just finished--and other
students can give feedback, discuss, question, even download and
re-mix. I need a space that works more like a social network and less
like a digital version of a standardized test.

So we've been using a private YouTube channel, googledocs, and 21Classes
blogging platform. And all of those work fine. But I want a LMS that
lets the students have a little more freedom to interact (even though I
know that sometimes freedom brings mistakes--bring 'em!--maybe we'll
learn something from them!).

So, if anyone out there has the perfect LMS, let me know! I know someone must have created exactly what I'm looking for. In the meantime, what would be in your perfect LMS or CMS?

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Poole on January 12, 2011 at 1:24pm

I'm actually having a really good time with my trial run of schoology. It's free and hosted, so you don't have to do anything to get it up and running except sign up.

Of course, you can't add modules and new things like you can with moodle. But my students love the interface because to them it looks like facebook. I can do many of the things I could do with moodle and the process of doing them is a LOT easier.

So far, I recommend schoology--but I'm not finished with my search!

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Permalink Reply by Dodie Ainslie on January 15, 2011 at 6:07pm

I too am having a great time with schoology- it is user-friendly (more so than edu 2.0 I think). My thought is certainly to offer it to our teachers as a choice. Edmodo is also very promising, again depends on purpose.

I am also hoping that our district will be adopting SchoolCenter as our website and will allow teachers to have websites off the website. This would allow for those who simply want to have a website that can easily be accessible and enhance the school/home communication an easy platform to do that.

I'm excited! Thanks so much everyone for your input and ideas!!!

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Lake on January 12, 2011 at 1:52pm

Last year, we hosted it on our school server. This year, we are hosting it on our Division server. It's too bad your techs don't want to have anything to do with it; they are missing out on a great LMS. Maybe you should plead your case to your Division. There may be like-minded teachers who would also benefit. All High School and Middle School students in our Division (10000) have a moodle account. Teachers in one school can offer their course to students in another school. It has really changed the way we do things here...maximizing student learning and giving them more options for flexible learning. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by hbarlaam on January 15, 2011 at 7:40pm

To be fair, I don't know why our tech department seems to not want to work with it. I think it is because there aren't many teachers that are interested in using it. There was another teacher who used to use it and hosted it himself, but he is no longer using it. It's been very frustrating trying to learn about it!

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Permalink Reply by David Deubelbeiss on January 12, 2011 at 5:07pm

I have a free hosted eFront (similar to moodle, add modules/components, gradebook, forums etc..) that educators can use. Set your course to private and you are totally on your own and set up. eFront has a great set of help videos/documentation.

Hit the LMS button on the main page of EFL Classroom 2.0

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Permalink Reply by Erica Fischer on January 17, 2011 at 5:12pm

I'm hoping to create something like this to allow teachers to collaborate on curriculum. A hybrid wiki-social network- content upload and rating sort of site. I think it would transform our ability to effectively collaborate. I'd love to hear thoughts on what it should include.

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Permalink Reply by John Patten on August 20, 2012 at 11:19pm

You want a big'ol server with Apache, MySQL, and PHP with something like CPanel that will allow students to install any tool they want on it i.e. WordPress, Mahara , OpenSim, Drupal, etc. ...and then something that acts like a global directory that explains who installed what, and why they installed it, to let visitors see what's there and visit what they find interesting. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Carrie L Saarinen on September 11, 2012 at 10:32am

Have you seen Canvas K12? http://www.instructure.com/k12? released earlier this year, Canvas K12 is quickly gaining momentum. You can try it for free - but first watch some of their videos to learn more.

Canvas K-12 by Instructure from Instructure on Vimeo.

Disclosure: I work for Instructure - however, that is a recent move. I was working at Brown University as an instructional designer and was part of the LMS assessment project (to replace Blackboard). Canvas was our selected LMS replacement and I was then a lead ont he Canvas implementation project. I developed the faculty training plan and provided training and support for Brown faculty, staff and TAs during the first 3 semesters of use. Canvas is an AWESOME LMS and it is changing edtech for the better. I believe in the product and i believe int he company, which is why I now work with them more directly.

I also teach at Salem State University who, like Brown and hundreds of others, changed from Blackboard to Canvas (I was not part of that decision or project). I LOVE teaching with Canvas. My classes are 100% online and I can tell you that my students are completely satisfied with their online experience.