Tools within the LMS (Navigate 3.1.3)

Learning management systems include a number of tools that serve to facilitate communication between the student and to allow a teacher to view and analyze student data to provide specialized instruction to students.  While many of the tools available are necessary and valuable for teachers and students, others are perhaps gimmicky or unnecessary.

The tools within the learning management system that are most useful for teachers and students include:

• email
• discussions
• calendar
• blogs (portfolio)
• rubrics
• dropboxes
• quizzes/tests
• self-assessment

With these tools, teachers can effectively manage the online classroom, and students can easily understand expectations and participate in the class.  Because of its nature, the virtual classroom depends heavily upon communication to provide students with a valuable learning experience.  The LMS tools can allow a teacher to organize a course and its assignments, and then spend more time communicating with students and parents and using the data gained to ensure that students are absorbing the information and gaining the skills necessary to meet the expectations of the course.

The learning management system will also include a gradebook, which can be extremely helpful for teachers, students, and parents.  Through the gradebook, teachers can keep parents and students abreast of the grades earned on individual assignments and how those scores are incorporated into the grade for the course itself.  Features of the gradebook vary, but allowing students and parents to view the weight of particular assignments can be especially useful as students work to prioritize their time and energy.

Some of the other LMS tools, however, seem less necessary, obsolete, or perhaps gimmicky.  The storage capabilities, for example, are likely unnecessary and overly costly for the consumer.  Students and teachers frequently use flash drives or the cloud to store files, so the LMS need not include this feature.  The social profiles also seem unnecessary--perhaps an attempt to appeal to students by incorporating some of the features of social media.  The instant messaging feature, too, seems unnecessary as email can serve the same purpose.

The grade level of the students, the types of students served, and the disciplines included in the online school will determine which LMS features are most valuable.