Certificate III in Education Support  
 
  CHCEDS321  
 

Use an e-learning management system

 
 

 

An e-learning management system or sometime called a learning management system is simply a virtual learning environment where a set of teaching and learning tools are in place to enhance and assist a student in their learning experiences while using on-line digital environments.

Definition: Learning management system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_management_system)

This unit covers the use of an e-learning management system that supports self-directed e-learning within the context of a set course.

The competencies of this unit are embedded throughout this course. In Queensland, the majority of schools use learning management system called:

 

This course is delivered via the e-learning management system Blackboard. By working through the units of this course you gain the skills and knowledge that form this unit. However, you must also be able to support a person in using a learning management system at a basic level, e.g. providing basic instruction on how to access parts of the system, providing support mechanisms to assist another person to maximise their learning.

In working through this unit, you are to follow the sequence below:

  • Download the Blackboard Student Manual (, 433 Kb). Use it as a resource in this unit and throughout your use of B
  • Read the theory behind a learning management system approach
  • View the videos of using Blackboard (if interested).
  • Work through the attached Learning Object: LMS
  • Work with Blackboard and contribute any of items of interest to the course's discussion forums, blog and wikis

If you have any questions about problems on using Blackboard try our Blackboard FAQ site.

1. Learning Management Systems: The Theory and Background

The common features of any learning management system include:

True-to-life Closely follows real world activity
Synchronous Enables real time interaction between learners and teachers
Asynchronous Enables self paced engagement in the learning through such elements as email discussion boards, etc.
Interactive Provides opportunities for learners to engage with one another and their teacher through such elements as chat, blogs, wikis.etc.
Dynamic The content and direction of the course can be rapidly changed to cater for new materials, student needs, etc. The course' content is not permanent.
Situative The relationships and possibilities reflect the learning community's existing social framework.
Identity The space can reflect the culture, images and processes of the real world institution or organisation.

There are several ways in which students are able to engage in learning within a learning management system:

Learning by exploration
Students select the learning paths themselves on the basis of their own interests and associations, and use their own strategies to learn the required skills and knowledge.
Learning by searching for information
Students are able to search engines, digital libraries, resource repositories and forms of on-line information. Information can be found on an international, national, regional and local levels.
Learning by discovering and experiencing
Students are provided with the opportunities to plan, organize, control, and evaluate their work themselves and within the peer groups.
Learning by communication
Digital communication methods are used, i.e. email, discussion boards, virtual conferences, wikkis, blogs, etc.
Learning through collaboration
Students do not learn in isolation; there is interaction with others through virtual conferences, virtual seminars/workshops, on-line classrooms, audio-lessons, online games, simulations, and group projects.
Learning through storing and information management
Students handle information they regard as important, searching and finding, remembering and checking, comparing and relating, and is integrated into the learning process.
Learning through representing and simulating
Students experience repetition, training or application activities to in the retaining of the information they learned.
Peters, O. (1999). A pedagogical model for virtual learning space. Retrieved, October, 2007, from http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/zef/cde/found/peters99.htm

Readings:

Virtual Learning Spaces (an excellent short paper on the theory behind learning on-line)

2. Videos of Blackboard

Here are some sites that hold video instructions on how to use Blackboard. These videos have been developed for different organisations so the videos refer to courses you may not heard of and the Blackboard may look slightly different to the one you use:

Guide to Blackboard

Using Blackboard

3. Student Handbook

Here is our Blackboard Student Manual (, 433 Kb).

You are to work through this guide ensuring you can competently use this learning management system.

4. Learning Object

Work through the Learning Object LMS completing the tasks and participating in your group's activities where directed.

5. Start to use Blackboard...

Now you must start to use Blackboard and make at east two contributions to the discussion 'threads' during this week. Your contributions may be...

  • questions about Moodle that are not answered in the Student FAQs site, or;
  • interesting things you have discovered through your own investigations and explorations.

Want to know more...

If you would like to investigate all the parts of a Blackboard course and understand how to use it then investigate the Blackboard world wide network...
 
 
   
 
 


© 2010 AADES Training

  Ver. 1-1 January 2010