Jared Stein – Education, Technology, Culture, and the Internet

Nixty.com is billed as “a truly disruptive educational platform”, a free, public LMS aimed at delivering both traditional and informal, open educational experiences. Seth Gurell and I reviewed Nixty pretty thoroughly this week, then co-wrote this review. Michael Feldstein, Alan Levine, and others[1],[2],[3] have already provided some insights and serious commentary on the idea of Nixty and its claims. Our review neglects that side of the discussion and focuses on the basic features, usability, and feasibility of the system from a designer and a user perspective (more…)

There’s been a real debate about the role of the LMS–if any–in modern online learning going on for the last 5 years or so. I’m situated somewhere in the middle: I’d love to see real-world examples of disruptive applications of technology to online learning that prove effective for learning; I also realize that many online learning experiences can be–and in some cases, perhaps excel when supported by what we now know as a traditional learning management system. Here in Utah we’re examining potential replacements for Blackboard Vista. I’ve listed the following broad must-haves I think an e-learning platform should do (more…)

I conducted a 1hr demonstration of the open source learning management system Moodle 1.9.5 for higher ed folks in Utah and the Utah Education Network. The demo went well enough, and I hope some of my colleagues from around the State got a little taste of Moodle, especially as it compares to Blackboard/WebCT Vista (more…)

Jon Mott blogged about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the course management system (CMS, aka LMS or VLE) and a personal learning network (PLN, sometimes associated/equated with PLE). The LMS/PLE “dilemma” has been itching my brain for some time now, so Jon’s post was a timely motivator to begin to think the issue through in print (more…)

This semester I elected to test Instructure‘s (pilot? beta?) learning management system with my own online course, DGM 2740: Web Design, the third course in the Digital Media web development track at UVU. Instructure is showing us how it’s done with strong AJAX enhancements for more streamlined user processes (more…)