A course management system is an online management system used by professors to share content, assignments and provide course materials. CMS also provides a platform for students and professors to interact with each other outside of the classroom. In distance learning, the CMS platform is used to conduct the instruction, monitor students’ participation, grade assignments and provide feedback to students.
There is no shortage on CMS platforms available to educators to use. In colleges and Universities, the school will provide the platform the instructors will use. The choice of which platform to use depends on the CMS’s ability to provide proper services such as, video, discussions, modules, announcements, blogs, grade books, etc. Universities that offer full online courses have a CMS that is prepared before the class begins for the instructor to monitor and implement. The CMS allows the instructor to communicate with students and provide feedback instantaneously with the class. The barriers between the instructor and the students becomes less defined (Daniels, 2009). I use CMS’s in all of my classes whether they are a traditional class, hybrid class or online. I have used the CMS platforms Blackboard, Learning Sphere, and Canvas. I provide students with power point slides, discussions, videos and web links. For the online courses, the most important feature is the grading option. The Learning Sphere CMS is difficult to navigate the grading portion. I find that I spend more time attempting to grade and provide feedback to students than I do in both Blackboard and Canvas. Learning Sphere also lacks the “announcement” feature and instead uses a “blog” feature. I like the announcement feature in my CMS because I can record a short video and send it to all the students at once or send the students updates and reminders for the course. The feature is on the main page and easy to access.
I like the video chat/virtual classroom feature in Canvas above all the others. It is easy to invite others to your video chat room. The video streams well and I find that you do not lose the connection often. Canvas also allows the creator of the course to customize the look of the CMS more than the others. I have not had the opportunity to utilize the program “TurnitIn” in Canvas of Learning Sphere. TurnitIn is essential for me to ensure quality and original work from my students.
Regardless of the CMS platform you use, it can be used to enhance the classroom instruction or facilitate an online course. Mohammad Jarrrahi (2010) discusses some of the reasons instructors use CMS platforms and why some instructors do not use CMS platforms to their full potential. Instructors that do not have a strong background in technology use CMS as a replacement for a copy machine. They may post the classroom handouts and lecture notes. Even with this limited use, it is useful for the instructor because the instructor does not have to remember handouts or remember which students were absent and didn’t receive handouts (Crawley & Frey, 2008). The handouts would be available within the CMS. The copy machine replacement does not implement many of the other available features. Instead of just e-copying, the professor can provide multimedia access, assign real time group work, provide virtual office hours, and use mailing lists. CMS requires some training of the professors that are going to utilize a CMS platform.
The benefits of incorporating CMS into your classroom come with some obstacles. The first is the aspect of training. If a college or university adopts a CMS for in-class or online courses, they will need to invest time and money into the instructors so that they would be able to utilize as many of the tools provided within the CMS. Teaching courses that have a hands-on aspect do not translate fully in a CMS platform. For example, teaching a crime scene course completely online does not allow the students online to participate in hands-on evidence processing skills.
Using a CMS in a police organization would be difficult to implement. First, the organization would have to create the courses in which they want to teach. They would have to assign an instructor to monitor the participation of the course users. Unlike the blog or a short training video, a CMS is for a full course to be offered. Most police departments are not willing to invest the time into creating a CMS course and investing the time to conduct the course. Another consideration to consider before implementing a CMS in a police organization is deciding who will “attend” the course. Will departments be willing to pay for the training outside of work hours? Or provide time while on shift to complete the CMS course?
I don’t think a CMS would be an effective training tool for police agencies.
I have the best working knowledge of Blackboard and Learning Sphere.
References:
Crawley, D. C., & Frey, B. A. (2008). Examining the relationship between course management systems, presentation software, and student learning: An exploratory factor analysis. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 4(1), 1-14. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.lib.rivier.edu/docview/289811457?accountid=3782
Daniels, P. (2009). Course management systems and implications for practice. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, 7(2), 97-108. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.lib.rivier.edu/docview/223212695?accountid=3782
Jarrahi, M. H. (2010). A structurational analysis of how course management systems are used in practice. Behaviour & Information Technology, 29(3), 257. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.lib.rivier.edu/docview/218178741?accountid=3782
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