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Introduction. Mohawk’s Innovation & Applied Research department has responsibility for the College’s Learning Management Systems (WebCT and FirstClass (FRED)) and for faculty support and training on MoCoMotion Course Tools. This session…. Reality Check #1:
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Introduction Mohawk’s Innovation & Applied Research department has responsibility for the College’s Learning Management Systems (WebCT and FirstClass (FRED)) and for faculty support and training on MoCoMotion Course Tools.
This session… Reality Check #1: The actual use of Course Tools to augment a course in a blended format or to deliver a course over distance is beyond the scope of this workshop. This session explains ‘what the buttons do’. • is short on presentation and long on ‘hands-on’ Workshop. • introduces you to the Course Tools environment and demonstrates features and capabilities. • will steer away from discussion of the MoCoMotion portal in general…except when it influences the use of Course Tools.
This session… Reality Check #2: Course Tools is new to us in IAR too, and we have little experience with them. Compounding this is that we have yet to see them used in any meaningful way to support or deliver a course. We will not be comparing Course Tools to Mohawk’s other LMSs, except where necessary. (Feature-for-feature comparisons of software and on-line learning environments is not particularly helpful and leads to oversimplification.) We also want to hear your thoughts, so ask lots of questions!
What are Course Tools? • Course Tools is the content delivery and class communication application within Luminis. • It assembles a collection of useful functions within a single environment. • It is modeled after Group Studio. • Is it another LMS? Sure. • Course Tools are/will be available to (probably) all faculty and for (probably) all courses.
What are Course Tools? Course Tools may become the default class communication/content sharing application at Mohawk, simply because • Access is built-in to our portal • All faculty and students will have accounts • Course home pages are automatically created and auto-populated • They are powerful enough for many users • They are easy to use
What are Course Tools? From the SCT point of view: • Course Tools is the simplified course management/delivery vehicle offered through Luminis. • Faculty requiring a full-featured course management system will use their other product, WebCT.
The Tools This is the full set of available Tools. You can start with a lesser set and add Tools as you want/need them. You can also delegate the administration of any of the Tools to others in the Course. Homepage Announcements News Photos Links Files Message Board Calendar E-mail Chat
Strengths • Class/group email is easy • Student email addresses are predictable • Faculty email is easy • Familiar Luminis interface and methods • Familiar LMS features- Calendars, File Sharing, Message Boards, etc.
Concerns/Unknowns/Comments • Unproved/untested at Mohawk • Unknown stability/driven from Luminis • High bandwidth requirements • Limited functionality • Heavily templated- may be difficult to adapt to your teaching style • Luminis interface
Anatomy Course Tools homepages are available under the Teaching tab, by following the My Courses link and clicking on a course link.
Leader Responsibilities Courses within Luminis have ‘Leaders” (usually the instructor) and Leaders are responsible for: • Determining the tool set • Creating and managing the homepage, including links, articles, files, and photo content • Setting up the Message Board with topics, and managing the board • Managing the calendar • Assigning and delegating privileges
Initial Setup Activities Create photo section Set up Links Create and post News Set up Message Board Set up Calendar Create initial Announcements Post initial Files Set up featured Content Ongoing Activities Delegate responsibilities Review Submissions Update content Manage profiles Course createdby Banner Leader Responsibilities(cont.)
Leader Responsibilities(cont.) Leaders (by default) need to manage many of the Tools, including Links, Photos, News, Files, Announcements, etc. Managing these Tools involves reviewing submitted information and files, and • Activating, • DeActivating, or • Deleting the submissions. In this way, all information appearing to students withina Course Tools home page has been approved by the Leader (or a delegated representative).
Who Will Use Course Tools? Course Tools may prove to be a good starting point for faculty who are currently using no other LMS. Many may want/need more functionality than the Tools offer, and for those people there is WebCT and FirstClass (FRED).
Conclusion • Course Tools adoption and use will roll out over the next year+ • IAR has assumed responsibility for faculty training and support • We encourage everyone to try them… and we’re looking for a few volunteers to use them in their teaching, to help us with best practices and to help us improve our training modules.