Choosing an Effective Learning Management System

According to Moore and Kearsley (2012), the roles of instructors will change as more institutions adopt distance education systems. I teach in a school district that already uses Google Apps for Education in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. The mission statement for the district is “to make every student a graduate and every graduate prepared.” Digital natives require a learning environment that encourages and utilizes technology in innovative ways to ensure all students are prepared for a globalized world.


While Google Classroom doesn’t have some of the social networking components compared to Edmodo, students can still work collaboratively by leaving comments on documents and on the main Google Classroom page. I have found Google Classroom to be especially useful for extracurricular activities. I sponsor a coding club and book club. I use Google Classroom in both settings to share links and post announcements. For my book club, I use Google Docs, and share the link with all of my students. When I give students editing rights, they can post new questions and leave comments. With limited time for club meetings, Google Classroom provides a very beneficial way to encourage students to keep reading. This allows students to continue a dialogue about the books outside of the four walls in a traditional classroom setting, regardless of the device they are using. This same approach could be used across the curriculum. Posting information for students to read or watch outside of class frees up more time for higher level discussions as well as small group time for individualized instruction. The following videos are tutorials I created to introduce Google Classroom and how to post announcements and assignments.



As a special education teacher, I do not maintain a classroom page for my students. However, the inclusion teachers I work with list me as a co teacher in their classroom. The co teacher function allows teachers to have the same rights as the teacher who created the classroom page. The main concern is there is not a way to give a teacher access to specific students. In my case, I do not need access to all of the students in one particular classroom, only the students I case manage. Without singling students out by creating an additional classroom page, there is not a way to provide a co teacher with access to certain students. 

Another drawback to Google Classroom is parents do not have the same access to information as the students. While some students are responsible with grades, announcements, and due dates, many are not. I found the following video to be a helpful way to ensure parents are seeing important dates and announcements.





Moore and Kearsley (2012) explain that distance educators should be thinking about ways that communication technologies can be used, which are the best for a given subject or group, and how media can be combined for maximum effectiveness. While many intermediate level teachers and beyond are attempting to include Google Apps, there is a learning curve involved with all of tools available. Training is key to ensure all teachers are effectively engaging in Google Apps, or any Learning Management System, based on the needs of their classroom and school district.

References

Moore, M., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance Education. Wadsworth

         Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA.

Teachers Tech. (2015, November 8). Google Classroom-How to Share with 
         Parents [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
         v=swNr2hYq0R0