(The term “online learning environment,” or OLE, is often more appropriate with some modern systems. Some have moved well beyond being simply repositories of files accompanied by “management” tools.)
The following example uses Desire2Learn (recently rebranded as BrightSpace). Other OLEs might have similar features. Note that this is an explanation of some of the “manual” features available and does not venture into the more powerful artificial intelligence capabilities available via Desire2Learn Insights.
A concise graphical overview provides key student information. In the following example from a course (with student names blurred and photos removed for privacy), a teacher can gain rapid insights into student involvement. The following summaries are available at a glance:
- Frequency and recent dates of logins to the course;
- Amount of course content covered;
- Involvement in discussions (including posts read and replied to); and
- Results of course quizzes.
These summaries are also interactive/live. Hovering a mouse cursor over one provides more detailed information. The following image shows what happens when the cursor is hovered over one of the columns of the column graph in the Quizzes section. Some of the other summarizing images behave in a similar fashion.
This type of “dashboard” can be modified to provide different tools. For example, if a particular course uses few discussions, the Discussion summary could be replaced with another, such as a Checklist Completion Summary or another from the list in the screen shot below.
- The traditional classroom works so why change it? - February 23, 2017
- Are outdated computers reverting students to a prehistoric era? - November 17, 2016
- Blended learning and the paradox of the experienced teacher - September 30, 2014