Course+Managment+Systems

=Course management systems = Adam Chekour

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Description and Uses of Technology
Course Management Systems (CMS) became widely available since 1997, and are application systems designed to manage numerous educational courses and also facilitate the teaching/learning processes. The CMS also enables teachers to manage classes, course material and keep track of students' performance and achievement, in an easy-access environment. Examples of such application systems include [|Blackboard], [|Moodle], [|eCollege], and [|WebCT]. Standard features of course management systems include: The ability to place course materials online; Asynchronous communication tools, such as bulletin boards and email, and synchronous tools, such as chat and whiteboards; Assessment tools and aids, such as quizzes and electronic assignment submission facilities;Notice boards and calendars;And tools to help teachers monitor the progress of students and manage courses (Williams, 2003, p. 60).

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Although CMS can be used in face-to-face learning setting, it is sometimes named virtual learning environment as it's usually used in distance and asynchronous education. Ullman and Rabinowitz (2004) characterize CMS as being an "Internet-based software that manages student enrollment, tracks student performance, and creates and distributes course content." (para. 1) To some institutions, which are mainly characterized by online delivery of instruction, these CMSs are indispensable to either create and deliver new courses or modify and re-design existing courses. ====== ==== Both traditional and online education use the Unit-Module-Topic structure that is compared to a book's table of contents, which allows an easy access, navigation, and organization of the course content. ==== ==== These features and others make CMSs a necessary tool for online education as claimed by Simonson (2007) "Certainly a CMS is an essential tool for the distance educator. More generally, the CMS may be one of the most important technological tools now available to education and training." (p. viii) ====

The advantages of using CMSs on students’ outcomes can be summarized in the following:

 * 1) ======Easiness in finding, navigating through, and exchanging the learning material as far as the material is organized and can be found in one place. ======
 * 2) ======Easy access to grades, information about teachers and their office hours. ======
 * 3) ======Creation of dynamic collaborative learning communities, which is consistent with a social constructivist perspective. ======
 * 4) ======Increasing students’ involvement and responsibility. ======
 * 5) ======Efficiency of the learning/teaching process. ======
 * 6) ======User friendliness of the web designed courses. ======
 * 7) ======Reduces students' anxiety. ======
 * 8) ======Convenience of access in asynchronous setting. ======
 * 9) ======Self paced and regulated learning for students. ======
 * 10) ======Increase in students’ perception and satisfaction. ======
 * 11) ======Effective evaluation and assessment of students learning outcomes. ======
 * 12) ======Cost effectiveness due to providing paperless information to students, such as handouts, eBooks, and websites material. ======

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 In addition, Rossin et. al., (2009) argues that activities flow enhances students learning outcomes. This flow is characterized by three major features: “goal clarity, feedback and a perceived balance of challenge and skill” (p. 88); which can be enhanced through effective design and delivery. ======

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Goodfellow (2007) states that “the use of cooperative learning strategies in Web-enhanced traditional courses promotes discovery and stimulates students to share knowledge. In addition, students learn the importance of collaboration and develop leadership, decision-making, and conflict-management skills. Communication skills, albeit electronic, are greatly enhanced and general computer technology skills are increased.” (p. 236) ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> CMSs incorporate a creative and dynamic interface that reduces response time, allows users to work off-line and synchronize, and enables real-time spell checker and dynamic notification for changes in the online course. It also allows changes in the look-and-feel, and provides for set-up of a personalized keyboard driven Interface. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Although “the advantages of using a CMSs far outweigh the disadvantages” (Goodfellow, 2007, p. 240), there are still some limitations to the use of these systems. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">CMSs definitely support interaction among students and between students and the teacher. According to Ioannou & ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Hannafin (2008), “today CMSs support thousands of courses at colleges and universities, and that number is growing ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">at a staggering rate. These systems can also coexist with the traditional face-to-face instruction to form a blended ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">environment, which is a growing pattern in colleges today” (p. 416). The main advantage of the CMSs is the easiness ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">in incorporating and organizing content material in both asynchronous and synchronous methods of delivery. As a ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">result, these two features and others “made Blackboard, Inc. the world’s leading provider of integrated e-learning ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">systems, by itself serving more than 3,650 academic clients in more than 60 countries worldwide” (p. 416). ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">While the free CMS named Moodle found its way to K12 education market, its rival Blackboard is much more ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">appreciated and more commonly used as an e-learning tool. Trotter (2008) claims that “…expects the K-12 market for ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">course-management systems to expand. High schools, in particular, may see them as a way to help prepare students ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">In addition, CMSs are also increasingly used in the fields of development and training. In these environments, the ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">CMSs take a new facet of learning called Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs), which characterizes any public ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Goodfellow (2007) suggests that “cost, learning curve, and overall strengths/weaknesses of delivering online ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">instruction were identified as key factors in determining the selection of a CMS.” (p. 231). Depending on whether the ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">CMS is a web application based or client site software, students will experience, in the latter, a lot less frustration with ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">troubleshooting, speed and performance. Ioannou et. al., (2008) claim that client applications “make CMSs more ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">useful and efficient, thus increasing student and instructor satisfaction and improving the overall learning experience.” ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">While most of studies focus on the technological benefits of CMSs, few issues are worth to be mentioned, such as, ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">students’ frustrations with the design, efficiency, and performance of these web applications. Other issues that students ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">might experience include the lack of prompt feedback, warning and notification mechanisms within the system. The ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">discussion threads, when populated, become more and more ramified causing students to lose track of the order of ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">The lack of attention grabbers and clarity of content objectives and instruction within each educational unit might ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">While students need to trust the major role that Web courses can play as long as teachers participate, the ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">asynchronous aspect of the web based instruction might create a feeling of disconnection among students, unless the ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">instructor creates a welcoming and sharing environment that can keep these students grounded throughout the ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">course. Now, from a teacher’s perspective, and when it comes to assessing students’ submitted products, plagiarism ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, there are yet more studies to be done on technological drawbacks of CMSs in order to make them ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">more effective and intuitive. Educators need also to understand and discover how a CMS can help improve their ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">academic practices to achieve both effectiveness and efficiency of learning delivered by CMSs, which in its turn can ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">In addition, training and development of course materials can be somewhat frustrating and time consuming process, ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">especially to those who are not comfortable with computer technology. Goodfellow (2007) suggests that “it is ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">imperative that the University has an infrastructure in place that is supportive, offers training and tutorials, and is ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">available when help is needed.” (p. 232) Therefore, faculty development sessions should be put in place so that new ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">strategies and methods of teaching in the virtual classroom can be learned. Furthermore, teacher development ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">activities need to emphasize the pedagogical aspects as much as the “nuts-and-bolts” aspects of using the CMSs. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Finally, while most of institutions invest most of their money in implementing products that enhance speed and ease of ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">use of CMSs (which are two major things users care about and that are both characteristics of a client application), ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">users should also impose their side on the presented information and knowledge, as Ioannou et. al., (2008) argues that ======