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Written by Ken Task
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Sunday, 23 August 2009 10:41 |
Blackboard vs Moodle
There is mound of true research by institutions of higher education and many teacher blogs/wikis/etc. that discuss this topic. A search of Google for comparisons and what's "out there" in the collective wisdom of the globe:
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=Blackboard+vs+Moodle&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
renders many links. If one takes the time to follow the links and investigate, one can see there appears to be difference of opinion and some of those sharing information more experienced in online learning than others.
Example, BB vs Moodle - ISTE Communtiy (via Ning):
http://www.iste-community.org/forum/topics/blackboard-vs-moodle
Some are first hand experiences of teachers themselves.
Like this one:
http://ssedro.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-moodle-instead-of-blackboard.html
In the posting above, the teacher ask some very good questions, to which I'd like to add senarios of my own. The question asked below each senario is pointed to any one using Blackboard and based upon my desire as an online instructor to be able to structure an activity to do what is described in the senario.
Senario 1:
I want my students to use a blog to record their impressions/reactions/etc. to events/activities presented throughout a semester/year course. The students and the instructor are the only ones that can see the blog entires. In other words, students cannot see other students blogs. This activity will be graded on a rubric and after the grading, students will be able to see other student blogs.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 2:
I have several forums setup in a course. To facilitate notifications concerning new information in each of them, I want my students to be able to subscribe to an RSS feed for each of the forums.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 3:
I teach English as a Second Language. My students have IPods as portable learning devices. I desire to use an online LMS to not only provide digital voice (either recording or playback) in such a fashion that students can integrate their personal learning device ... ie, the IPods. This involves a "podcast" - which could be audio and/or video.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 4:
I teach English/Language Arts. I want students to write a short story and have peer review where students are placed into collaborative groups and each student reviews the short stories of the other members in their group. Each student is allowed to critique/offer suggestions to the other students (their critiques/suggestions are part of the assignment and will be graded). I then desire the students to be able to revise their work should they deem a peer review to be of benefit.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 5:
I have an online class that's blended in format. I keep after school "office hours" for an hour in the evening where students can, should they seek individual attention and extra help, communicate directly with me via Instant Messages or via Chat in a safe online environment where the "conversations" are recorded for later review.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 5.1:
Using the same situation above, parents often seek information about helping their child in something. I want to allow parents of my students to be able to access my online class, see their childs work ONLY, and interact with me online during after school office hours. I want to do this inside the online system.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 6:
I teach Social Studies (American and Texas History). I want my students and students from a "sister community" (any where in the US or foreign country - like England or Austrialia) to be able to access a single History course via the internet where they can contribute a local multimedia history of their community and share that information. In the course, my class will concentrate on the local history of my community. The students of the sister community will concentrate their publishing efforts on their own community. Students in each are to work collaboratively in constructing the local history and the associated digital content. The local histories can (should) include a photo gallery, a podcast, as well as video clips of historical places/events within their respective communities. The students from either sister community will be able to ask each other questions and share information (as well as files) in a safe online environment.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 6.1:
In the context of an Introduction to the project, weekly planning/sharing, or a culminating activity, I desire to have an online conference with collaborative ISD classes through our learning management system. Since there is only one video conferencing system (lab) in my ISD (which is booked all day long for duel credit courses of older students), the conference has to be conducted without the VC system. We desire the collaborating teachers to able to "take control" of a portion of the online conference - ie, become the teacher of students in the other ISD.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 7:
I teach at the secondary level and use a web site for some curriculum content which includes quizzes and test.
I also sponsor a student teacher every year. I want my student teacher to be able to participate in my online curriculum content, but in a limited role. I want them to be able to see student work, but NOT grade student work.
Can I do that in BB?
Senario 8:
I am a campus administrator who is responsible for not only behavior of students but also evaluating teachers on my campus. All my teachers do a portion of their class online (blended) using a variety of "social tools". I want to be able to access each of their online classes with access rights to see all, but remain "stealthy" ... ie, hidden to students.
I can check on student online behavior (bullies, etc.) but I can also acquire insight into a teachers ability to teach and interact with students for evaluating them.
Can I do that in BB?
In closing, one should know that in EVERY senario given above, Moodle can do!
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