29. What do we see on the survey cards from the DC attendees?
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33. What to do when your LMS can’t do it all Byron Brown, [email_address] Susan Simkowski, [email_address] David Stack, [email_address] Anastasia Trekles, [email_address] eli2011.pathable.com/talks/14771
Notas del editor
Central IT has concerns about the use of systems and tools that are not provided by institution. Faculty members should balance the risks they are taking with the enhanced capabilities and pedagogical advantages of tools they find in the consumer market.
An important FERPA provision is that in most cases an institution must have a student’s permission before disclosing any of their educational records. Institutional LMS is deployed with built-in FERPA defaults. Will a Web 2.0 or cloud service publicly reveal student educational records? Do you and your students read and/or understand the implications of the privacy agreements that are inherent in most consumer social media and Web 2.0 tools? Do you and your students truly understand what it being kept“ private” to the class and what is generally visible on the Internet? Can a configuration change by one student on their personal profile accidentally expose class conversations, etc., that the others are assuming are private?
The institutional LMS make use of existing campus IDs and passwords and conforms to campus IT policies that the students have already accepted one way or another when they got their campus accounts. Will using a non-campus service require students to enter into a contract with a 3 rd party. Do you want to require or even just imply to your students that you are requiring them to do so? Do you and your students read and/or understand the implications of the licensing agreements that are inherent in most consumer social media and Web 2.0 tools? What if a student doesn’t want to agree to a license with a non-campus services, e.g., Second Life. Are they disadvantaging themselves or risking their grade by holding back?
The institutional LMS is probably integrated with the course registration system so that students who enroll in or add or drop the class are automatically added or removed from the appropriate course sections. Use of a 3 rd party tool may require the instructor to manage student accounts for functions like document sharing or chat rooms. Are you willing to do that manually for a small course? A large course? Will you even be made aware of a student who quietly adds a class part way into the semester so that you know to add them in a timely fashion?
Central IT is very careful about when it makes upgrades or changes to enterprise systems. Usually the cardinal rule is to not change anything mid-semester except to fix a grievous problem. Providers of consumer tools make changes and upgrades according to their product roadmaps and timetables. The look and feel and features and privacy settings of a non-campus tool could change mid-semester.
Official, campus enterprise systems, such as an LMS, have support structures built around them. In the event of a difficulty the Help Desk or the Learning Technology Center are probably readily via a number of venues. Finding assistance with consumer tools has both pros and cons. There may be lots of people on the Internet with who have knowledge in the tool, on the other hand maybe no one on the Internet can tell you why Skype won’t run wirelessly in the classroom you’re using.