Course Management Systems; Are they Good or Bad?

If you guys don’t recall from my earlier blog post, I stated how I feel as if virtual education is not the best way to learn any material. My reasoning being is because the students will feel lost and on the professor’s end they do not need to be an expert in the topic that they will be “teaching”. I completely disagree with that topic because students like clarification and confirmation sometimes just to make sure they are understanding the material. For me personally if I feel that my professors is not well rehearsed with the material I start to second guess myself and that then leads to even more problems.

Now as far as the course management system goes it has a great effect with the teaching and learning components seeing how this would be the main source of communication between the student and the professor. The course management system honestly is the students go to for everything that they may need in regards to the course. The course management system usually has the syllabus, course schedule, and contact for teacher’s assistant and their professor, the course library, announcements section and many other features. These are all helpful features because without them the student would definitely feel disconnected from the course.

The course management system does many things for the student but it does not really transform traditional instructions into something that is new. If anything the students would have to read a big chunk of text to know what the assignment is, the requirements for the assignment and the rubric that goes along with the assignment. That can be a ton of information to take in at once. Then of course, there are always those open-ended question that are bound to be asked. Since the students don’t have a set class time they would then have to set up a time to meet the professor and then finally ask the professor their questions on the topic. If you ask me that is a long drawn out process for the student.

Check out this video to see how Blackboard really functions. We think that we have it figured out since we use it on a daily basis but there are a lot of features that we do not know about. 

I can only see the course management system working in regards for the professor. There are different portals set up on the course management system for students to turn things in which makes it easier for the professor because they have everything all in one place. These type of systems are very organized and neat so it creates less work as possible for the professor. In an academic article titled Course-Management Systems by Susan Gibbons, states that “While “saves time” was the top CMS benefit perceived by all faculty, when limited to just those who actually use courseware, the benefit of “saves time” falls to just 7 percent. Instead, “better access” is found to be the top benefit by faculty with CMS use”. Basically what I took from this is that professors like this idea because it is more time convenient and requires less work for them. However, when educating someone I don’t think time should be a factor. Making sure students grasp the concept is what is important, in my opinion. All students learn at different rates so when the professor only thinks about themselves that is when students get left behind.

Overall the course management system can definitely be an asset to the learning environment but professors should not rely solely on that as the only learning method. Professors are being hired for a reason and we should definitely take advantage of that. There are some things that technology can’t do but the human body can.

 Blackboard Learn: Simply Better for Educators. Dir. Blackboard Inc,. 2008.YouTube. 1 Feb. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Gibbons, S. (2009). Course-management systems. Library Technology Reports, 41(3), 7-11.