EDT 8140 - LMS and Evaluation
In this page I will go through the steps needed to perform the following tasks and provide an evaluation regarding the ease and quality of the result for two learning management systems, D2L and Blackboard Learn.
- Dropbox with differentiated release conditions
- Quiz with differentiated release conditions
- Providing alternative learning material (YouTube video w/CC)
- Using Accessible HTML Template
- LMS Reviews by accessibility organizations
D2L Evaluation
1. Dropbox with Differentiated Release Conditions - D2L
Select “Dropbox” from the COURSE ADMIN tab. In the screen that appears, you can either create a new dropbox or edit one that is already created. In either case you end up with a page that has three tabs, Properties, Restrictions, and Objectives. To set special release conditions, first select the Restrictions tab and then scroll to the bottom of the page. There you can click on the button “Add Users to Special Access”. Now you can select students from the list at the bottom and adjust the Start Date, Due Date, and End Date specifically for only those students (see arrows in figure). This can be repeated such that different students have different restriction dates.
Select “Dropbox” from the COURSE ADMIN tab. In the screen that appears, you can either create a new dropbox or edit one that is already created. In either case you end up with a page that has three tabs, Properties, Restrictions, and Objectives. To set special release conditions, first select the Restrictions tab and then scroll to the bottom of the page. There you can click on the button “Add Users to Special Access”. Now you can select students from the list at the bottom and adjust the Start Date, Due Date, and End Date specifically for only those students (see arrows in figure). This can be repeated such that different students have different restriction dates.
2. Quiz with Differentiated Release Conditions - D2L
Differentiated release conditions for quizzes are set up with a similar sequence of steps we used for the dropboxes. First select or create a quiz starting from the “Quizzes” icon on the COURSE ADMIN tab. Then select the Restrictions tab and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the “Add users to Special Access” button. This will bring up a new page with the class list at the bottom. Select students who need special access, set the new start date and end date and then click on the “Add Special Access” bottom at the bottom of the page. Finally, click on the “Save and Close” button at the bottom of the next page to store your selections.
Differentiated release conditions for quizzes are set up with a similar sequence of steps we used for the dropboxes. First select or create a quiz starting from the “Quizzes” icon on the COURSE ADMIN tab. Then select the Restrictions tab and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the “Add users to Special Access” button. This will bring up a new page with the class list at the bottom. Select students who need special access, set the new start date and end date and then click on the “Add Special Access” bottom at the bottom of the page. Finally, click on the “Save and Close” button at the bottom of the next page to store your selections.
3. Providing Alternative Learning Material - D2L
First, you must obtain the embedding code from your selected YouTube video. Find the “Share” button under the video and then select Embed to have the embedding code appear. Copy all of this code to the computer’s clipboard. Next we put this code in the Content of our D2L course. Select the CONTENT tab from the home page then either add a new module or select an existing module from the column of choices on the left. Once the module is selected, choose “New” and then “Add File”. An HTML text box will appear. Choose the far left button at the top menu (Insert Stuff). This opens another dialogue box in which you will select Embed. Yet another dialogue box opens in which you can finally copy the embedding code from YouTube. Accept this, Insert it, and Save it and you’re done.
The sort video below will demonstrate this process for adding a YouTube video to your D2L course.
First, you must obtain the embedding code from your selected YouTube video. Find the “Share” button under the video and then select Embed to have the embedding code appear. Copy all of this code to the computer’s clipboard. Next we put this code in the Content of our D2L course. Select the CONTENT tab from the home page then either add a new module or select an existing module from the column of choices on the left. Once the module is selected, choose “New” and then “Add File”. An HTML text box will appear. Choose the far left button at the top menu (Insert Stuff). This opens another dialogue box in which you will select Embed. Yet another dialogue box opens in which you can finally copy the embedding code from YouTube. Accept this, Insert it, and Save it and you’re done.
The sort video below will demonstrate this process for adding a YouTube video to your D2L course.
4. Using Accessible HTML Template - D2L
To enable HTML templates in D2L, first choose the CONTENT tab from the course home page and then select “Settings” on the right side of the screen. A new window appears. Select “Enable HTML Templates” to check the box (see arrow in figure). Now when you create an new file from the Content page, you can select the proper heading and paragraph from the template using cascading style sheets (CSS).
To enable HTML templates in D2L, first choose the CONTENT tab from the course home page and then select “Settings” on the right side of the screen. A new window appears. Select “Enable HTML Templates” to check the box (see arrow in figure). Now when you create an new file from the Content page, you can select the proper heading and paragraph from the template using cascading style sheets (CSS).
5. LMS Reviews by Accessibility Organizations - D2L
The Athen Collaboration is an organization sponsored by the Illinois Center for Information Technology Accessibility. This group includes a D2L interest group, formed in 2006, which holds periodic teleconferences to identify issues pertaining to accessibility and then communicate with D2L to find solutions. A list of current action items and lists of issues is maintained on their website. The organization also publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which contains recommendations for web designers to improve the accessibility of Web products.
A group of faculty from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana have published “A comparison of learning management system accessibility” which compared four LMSs, Blackboard 9.1 SP3, Desire2Learn 9.2, Moodle 1.9, and SAKAI 2.8.0. Eight categories were evaluated:
Login and Configuration/Compatibility Testing
Personalization and Customization
Navigation
Common Modules/Tools (Student Facing)
Forms
Authoring Tools/Content Creation (Instructor Facing)
Help and Documentation
Features Unique to LMS that Affect Accessibility
The complete review is available on the following Website: http://presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2011-03-csun-lms/desire2learn.html#login
In general the review of these criteria for D2L was favorable. In addition, the authors mentioned that the D2L system forces some degree of accessibility by certain requirements of the users developing course material.
The Athen Collaboration is an organization sponsored by the Illinois Center for Information Technology Accessibility. This group includes a D2L interest group, formed in 2006, which holds periodic teleconferences to identify issues pertaining to accessibility and then communicate with D2L to find solutions. A list of current action items and lists of issues is maintained on their website. The organization also publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which contains recommendations for web designers to improve the accessibility of Web products.
A group of faculty from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana have published “A comparison of learning management system accessibility” which compared four LMSs, Blackboard 9.1 SP3, Desire2Learn 9.2, Moodle 1.9, and SAKAI 2.8.0. Eight categories were evaluated:
Login and Configuration/Compatibility Testing
Personalization and Customization
Navigation
Common Modules/Tools (Student Facing)
Forms
Authoring Tools/Content Creation (Instructor Facing)
Help and Documentation
Features Unique to LMS that Affect Accessibility
The complete review is available on the following Website: http://presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2011-03-csun-lms/desire2learn.html#login
In general the review of these criteria for D2L was favorable. In addition, the authors mentioned that the D2L system forces some degree of accessibility by certain requirements of the users developing course material.
Blackboard Learn Evaluation
1. Dropbox with Differentiated Release Conditions - Blackboard Learn
Assignments can be edited to restrict viewing and availability of individuals or groups. For this create a new assignment (see page 3) or edit an assignment by selecting “Content” from the main course page. Then select “Adaptive Release Advanced” from the pop-up menu from the assignment options (see arrow in figure). From the page that then appears, you can create a new rule and assign the rule to individual students or groups. If any of the rules are satisfied for an individual, the assignment will be released to them. For example, you can release the assignment to the entire class until a specified due date and then create a second rule to have a later due date for other specific individuals.
Assignments can be edited to restrict viewing and availability of individuals or groups. For this create a new assignment (see page 3) or edit an assignment by selecting “Content” from the main course page. Then select “Adaptive Release Advanced” from the pop-up menu from the assignment options (see arrow in figure). From the page that then appears, you can create a new rule and assign the rule to individual students or groups. If any of the rules are satisfied for an individual, the assignment will be released to them. For example, you can release the assignment to the entire class until a specified due date and then create a second rule to have a later due date for other specific individuals.
2. Quiz with Differentiated Release Conditions - Blackboard Learn
To set specific release conditions for a quiz, a similar series of steps are performed. Once the quiz is selected from the Content page, select “Adaptive Release Advanced” as was done for the dropbox above. Then select “Create Criteria” and click on “Date” from the pop-up window that appears (see arrow in figure). A series of pages then will step you through the next steps of defining the due dates. Then the membership that the rule will apply to must be defined from the same pop-up menu under the “Create Criteria” selection.
To set specific release conditions for a quiz, a similar series of steps are performed. Once the quiz is selected from the Content page, select “Adaptive Release Advanced” as was done for the dropbox above. Then select “Create Criteria” and click on “Date” from the pop-up window that appears (see arrow in figure). A series of pages then will step you through the next steps of defining the due dates. Then the membership that the rule will apply to must be defined from the same pop-up menu under the “Create Criteria” selection.
Assignment dropboxes are created in the Content page of the main Course menu. Select “Assignments” from the Assessments menu (see arrow in figure) to open the page for creating the assignment. Provide a name, instructions and other information as needed. Only the name and points are required entries. Here you can add the grading rubric that you created above. Click on “Submit” and the assignment will now appear on the course Home page.
3. Providing Alternative Learning Material - Blackboard Learn
First, you must obtain the embedding code from your selected YouTube video. Find the “Share” button under the video and then select Embed to have the embedding code appear. Copy all of this code to the computer’s clipboard. Next we put this code in the Content of our Blackboard course. For this, Select “Content” from the main course page and then click on the “Build Content” button. Choose “Item” from the pop-up menu that appears. Give the item a name and then open the “HTML” selection on the text box. This will open another window into which you will paste the embed codes that are currently on the clipboard. Close this HTML window and click on “Submit” to save this content.
First, you must obtain the embedding code from your selected YouTube video. Find the “Share” button under the video and then select Embed to have the embedding code appear. Copy all of this code to the computer’s clipboard. Next we put this code in the Content of our Blackboard course. For this, Select “Content” from the main course page and then click on the “Build Content” button. Choose “Item” from the pop-up menu that appears. Give the item a name and then open the “HTML” selection on the text box. This will open another window into which you will paste the embed codes that are currently on the clipboard. Close this HTML window and click on “Submit” to save this content.
4. Using Accessible HTML Template
Blackboard has CSS templates built into the application. They are available when adding an Item from the Content page. Select the proper heading from the pull down menu on the tool bar of the HTML text box (see arrow in figure). Pressing “return” at the end of the line resets the template to the paragraph level.
Blackboard has CSS templates built into the application. They are available when adding an Item from the Content page. Select the proper heading from the pull down menu on the tool bar of the HTML text box (see arrow in figure). Pressing “return” at the end of the line resets the template to the paragraph level.
5. LMS Reviews by Accessibility Organizations - Blackboard Learn
The Athen Collaboration is an organization sponsored by the Illinois Center for Information Technology Accessibility.This group once included an interest group for Blackboard products.These tasks now have been taken over by Blackboard. Individuals can contribute to the working group if they sign a non-disclosure agreement with Blackboard.An archive of past projects of this subgroup is available on their website.The Athen organization also publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which contains recommendations for web designers to improve the accessibility of Web products.
As mentioned above for D2L, a group of faculty from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana have published “A comparison of learning management system accessibility” which compared four LMSs, Blackboard 9.1 SP3, Desire2Learn 9.2, Moodle 1.9, and SAKAI 2.8.0. Eight categories were evaluated:
Login and Configuration/Compatibility Testing
Personalization and Customization
Navigation
Common Modules/Tools (Student Facing)
Forms
Authoring Tools/Content Creation (Instructor Facing)
Help and Documentation
Features Unique to LMS that Affect Accessibility
The complete review is available on the following Website: http://presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2011-03-csun-lms/blackboard.html#login
In general the review of these criteria for Blackboard seemed less favorable than that of D2L; however there were many items which were still under investigation at this time, and Blackboard does have several features which improve its accessibility.
The Athen Collaboration is an organization sponsored by the Illinois Center for Information Technology Accessibility.This group once included an interest group for Blackboard products.These tasks now have been taken over by Blackboard. Individuals can contribute to the working group if they sign a non-disclosure agreement with Blackboard.An archive of past projects of this subgroup is available on their website.The Athen organization also publishes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which contains recommendations for web designers to improve the accessibility of Web products.
As mentioned above for D2L, a group of faculty from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana have published “A comparison of learning management system accessibility” which compared four LMSs, Blackboard 9.1 SP3, Desire2Learn 9.2, Moodle 1.9, and SAKAI 2.8.0. Eight categories were evaluated:
Login and Configuration/Compatibility Testing
Personalization and Customization
Navigation
Common Modules/Tools (Student Facing)
Forms
Authoring Tools/Content Creation (Instructor Facing)
Help and Documentation
Features Unique to LMS that Affect Accessibility
The complete review is available on the following Website: http://presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2011-03-csun-lms/blackboard.html#login
In general the review of these criteria for Blackboard seemed less favorable than that of D2L; however there were many items which were still under investigation at this time, and Blackboard does have several features which improve its accessibility.
LMS Weekly Recommendation
1. Differentiated release conditions were much easier to enable in D2L. All the choices (e.g. dates, student list) were included in a single page in D2L while in Blackboard Learn it was necessary to open a series of pages. In addition, in Blackboard Learn the use of "Rules" was not intuitive and required some thinking in Boolean logic.
Score: Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
2. The issues raised above for the comparison between D2L and Blackboard Learn apply to the differentiated release conditions on quizzes.
Score : Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
3. Inserting alternative materials such as a YouTube video was performed similarly in both learning management systems. The only difference was the necessity of opening an additional HTML box in Blackboard Learn, but this is a minor difference which does not affect its usability.
Score : Blackboard – 1 : D2L – 1
4. Both systems use a similar design for defining and using HTML templates. Each includes a style pulldown menu in the text box in which you can define heading levels in fonts which provide cascading style sheets. Equal points here for each learning management system.
Score: Blackboard – 1 : D2L – 1
5. The reviews of the two learning management systems by the faculty group were thorough and insightful. Although the analysis did not provide an overall assessment of the systems, looking through the lists to see which learning management system had the greater number of satisfactory scores on the various criteria put D2L above Blackboard Learn.
Score: Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
Final score:
Blackboard – 2 : D2L – 5
D2L ran the table this time and again furthers it's lead overall.
1. Differentiated release conditions were much easier to enable in D2L. All the choices (e.g. dates, student list) were included in a single page in D2L while in Blackboard Learn it was necessary to open a series of pages. In addition, in Blackboard Learn the use of "Rules" was not intuitive and required some thinking in Boolean logic.
Score: Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
2. The issues raised above for the comparison between D2L and Blackboard Learn apply to the differentiated release conditions on quizzes.
Score : Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
3. Inserting alternative materials such as a YouTube video was performed similarly in both learning management systems. The only difference was the necessity of opening an additional HTML box in Blackboard Learn, but this is a minor difference which does not affect its usability.
Score : Blackboard – 1 : D2L – 1
4. Both systems use a similar design for defining and using HTML templates. Each includes a style pulldown menu in the text box in which you can define heading levels in fonts which provide cascading style sheets. Equal points here for each learning management system.
Score: Blackboard – 1 : D2L – 1
5. The reviews of the two learning management systems by the faculty group were thorough and insightful. Although the analysis did not provide an overall assessment of the systems, looking through the lists to see which learning management system had the greater number of satisfactory scores on the various criteria put D2L above Blackboard Learn.
Score: Blackboard – 0 : D2L – 1
Final score:
Blackboard – 2 : D2L – 5
D2L ran the table this time and again furthers it's lead overall.