WEEK #2 Summary and suggestions
LMs evaluation introduction
Welcome to week 2 of our LMS evaluations. This week’s focus was on groups and grades. These two items have a significant impact on user satisfaction so I made sure that I tested each option fully. I did encounter one trouble spot this week. Since I am using a trial version for the D2L system, I was unable to set-up a collaboration session. I have seen this feature working and I am certain that it will work well for our distance-learning students. Please review the screenshots and explanations below to discover how easy these tasks are in both the D2L and Canvas system.
LMS 1 - D2l lms evaluation
CREATE ELECTRONIC GRADEBOOK CATEGORY/ITEMS
D2L allowed for easy grading structure creation. The interface was intuitive and featured many different options. The options included the ability to grade based on score, percentage and a pass/fail option. In addition to the variety of grading options, the system allows for weighted scoring which is very beneficial for our New Hires and incumbent associates. This feature will allow us to ensure the most important parts of the training curriculum are provided the appropriate weight. |
CREATE GROUPS
Creating groups is an essential part of every LMS system and D2L allows for easy group creation. To create groups you simply go to the groups tab and create a Category Folder. The Category folder is where you house groups for a similar purpose. This is one of the unique abilities of the D2L system. You have the ability to create multiple groups within one course. This could be very beneficial for courses that have multiple work groups in attendance. We could have the students from the same workgroup in a group to discuss how the materials impact their area and then we could have them split into other groups to encourage sharing across functional areas. |
CREATE GROUP DISCUSSION TOPICS
Creating Discussion Topics in D2L is as simple as clicking “New” and selecting a few options. There is one catch, however. You must select a forum before you can add topics for the students to discuss. If you miss the step of adding a forum, the attendees will not be able to see the topics. This could be a common issue during the initial transition phase. I do not feel as though this problem will be ongoing and last for long. We will just need to make sure that in the instructions we specify the order that things need to be created. |
CREATE SYNCHRONOUS WEB CONFERENCE SESSION
This feature was not available within the trial version of D2L, however, I have personally used this feature and it is very helpful in providing the sense of a face-to-face class for the participants. It has several features, which are very useful to facilitate collaboration and encourage open sharing. |
QUALITY CHECK AS DEMO STUDENT AND GRADING
D2L allows you, as the facilitator, to add a “Demo” student to do quality checks and make sure that the features of the class are functioning as expected. To view the course as the demo student, all that you have to do is access the class list and select to view the class as the “Demo” student. When you are done, a quick click returns you back to your profile.
Grading is easy to do in D2L. Once you have set-up your gradebook structure all you have to do is go to the gradebook and assign credit for the activities. Since this process involves a few more steps than some of the other tasks reviewed today, I have created a supplemental video for you to watch to see how it is done.
D2L allows you, as the facilitator, to add a “Demo” student to do quality checks and make sure that the features of the class are functioning as expected. To view the course as the demo student, all that you have to do is access the class list and select to view the class as the “Demo” student. When you are done, a quick click returns you back to your profile.
Grading is easy to do in D2L. Once you have set-up your gradebook structure all you have to do is go to the gradebook and assign credit for the activities. Since this process involves a few more steps than some of the other tasks reviewed today, I have created a supplemental video for you to watch to see how it is done.
lms2 - Canvas by instructure lms evaluation
CREATE ELECTRONIC GRADEBOOK CATEGORY/ITEMS
The gradebook feature was a little clunkier in canvas as compared to D2L. While the individual features for assignments were simple to use, the overall feeling was a bit cumbersome. Some of the screens I needed to access to update the way assignments were scored were hidden within the settings of the class profile. I do like how easy it is to set-up simple grading and lessons but it gets more complex, as compared to D2L, the more detailed the lesson gets. |
CREATE GROUPS
Creating groups was very easy in Canvas once I figured out that I needed to set-up a “Group Set.” While I get the reasoning for this step, it adds an additional step that does not seem to add any real value. One feature that I do like about creating groups in Canvas versus D2L is the ability to drag-and-drop names into groups. Features like this are what make Canvas feel more modern. |
CREATE GROUP DISCUSSION TOPICS
Group discussions are not as easily set-up in Canvas as they were in D2L. Canvas required several clicks/steps to create the topics. Additionally, once the topics were created I could not find an easy way to reorder them. Group discussions did allow many ways to add different content for the students. However, that is where the ease-of-use ends. With all of the options, it is not very intuitive. It will take some time to learn the best way to add information in the best way. |
CREATE SYNCHRONOUS WEB CONFERENCE SESSION
The built-in web conferencing software was very intuitive and easy to use. Since I was unable to access this feature in D2L, I am not sure if it was better or worse. From my experience, both systems seem to offer the same options for the conference. One feature I liked in Canvas was the ability to easily add video and sound from the users. This will really help to customize each session and increase the amount of user content. The web conferencing also features an easy recording option, which is great for attendees who miss part of a session or the entire session. |
QUALITY CHECK AS DEMO STUDENT
Doing a quality check as a demo student was not as easy in Canvas as it was in D2L. While the standard display pages feature both the instructor options and the student options, in order to see the class completely as a student I had to create a separate account using my personal email address. Once I logged in as a student, I was able to check and ensure that I had set-up everything correctly.
Grading was straightforward in Canvas. The module immediately showed everything I set-up earlier allowing me to easily add the grades for the students. One feature I really like was the ability to immediately see the running summary of the final grade. This makes it very easy to spot troubles
Doing a quality check as a demo student was not as easy in Canvas as it was in D2L. While the standard display pages feature both the instructor options and the student options, in order to see the class completely as a student I had to create a separate account using my personal email address. Once I logged in as a student, I was able to check and ensure that I had set-up everything correctly.
Grading was straightforward in Canvas. The module immediately showed everything I set-up earlier allowing me to easily add the grades for the students. One feature I really like was the ability to immediately see the running summary of the final grade. This makes it very easy to spot troubles
lms weekly recommendations
Based on this week's activities D2L is the preferred option for our new LMS system. Both system allowed me to complete the tasks for this week, however most of the items were easier to complete in D2L. You can tell that D2l is designed for large groups of students and the process for adding groups and discussions was more streamlined. One item to note is that I preferred the web conferencing in Canvas to the one in D2L based on being an end-user.