RCampus

RCampus is a fairly new learning environment. Watch the 2-minute introductory video to get an overview:

I stumbled across this site while looking for a quick way to create rubrics and although I came across many sites, I preferred this one because of its simple sign-up and the fact you can customise existing rubrics rather than starting completely from scratch. They can be embedded in sites, wikis, blogs etc. or printed making them fully portable.
RCampus offers all the features you'd expect from an online learning environment. What distinguishes them is that one of their 'selling' points (even though its free) is that the tools provided support collaboration for learners and teachers, so if you're looking for a platform that guides your pedagogy in this direction, it's worth checking out. Make use of the features that interest you - there is no need for full migration to the system for it to be of use.

Integration:

• Use the rubrics with learners when completing tasks - they can create their own once they are familiar with the idea; learner assignments can be assessed with the interactive rubrics and results are automatically stored to your gradebook
• Build webpages and websites together with the online editing suite
• Learners can create, build and share their own ePortfolios

Moodle

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to Moodle, but what I've seen so far, I like. I was never particuarly keen on it as Moodle forums always seem to be full of participants talking technobabble about xml, javascript and other such mysteries. Having taken the time to actually look at the manual, create my own Moodle site and tinker a bit, I would say that it is not for the faint-hearted or time-pressed teacher. It has amazing functionality - after all, it is a free and open-source tool that literally thousands of great minds are working to build - but it can be somewhat overwhelming, and I would say that to get the most out of it, you need at least basic coding knowledge, even if it's only a bit of html. As the average teacher has little time to become proficient in such things, it is possibly best for those who are serious about building complete online courses, rather than supplementing 'face time' with an online presence. 
If you've got the time though, there's plenty to keep you busy and entertained. Warning: It's very addictive, but also hugely time-consuming initially. However, once you're versed in the basics, the possibilities are endless, and when you do reach the end, you can just write more code to make it do what you want. A long-term investment of time and energy that will be worthwhile for some, but definitely not all.

[For alternatives, follow the Learning Platforms label to other featured tools]

Wikis

I quickly turned to wikis once I realised that my hands were tied on VLEs administrated by bods I rarely had access to, so frantically trying to deal with all the school's IT issues as they were. Wikis are great because you can administer them quickly and easily, moderate learners' usage and they are very straightforward to use. It's fairly easy to get a decent web address from them and they incorporate many useful features such as discussion forums, email notifications, embed media, polls etc. Not to mention that you can plug in most 3rd-party apps to make the whole experience that more engaging. Learners can have complete ownership of their pages, and the ability to revert to an earlier edition of a page means there is no fear of losing data through a careless click. 
On the downside, storage space usually fills up pretty quickly meaning you end up hosting documents elsewhere. All-in-all though, this is my top choice for project units, particularly when working with other schools. One I use regularly is Wikispaces - give it a go or suggest an alternative by leaving a comment.

[You can find all posts related to this Musing by following the label Learning Platforms]

Edmodo

If you haven't tried Edmodo yet with your learners, now's the time. It's Facebook-style interface means that learners feel immediately at home in this environment. The initial surprise and delight of my learners when they first logged in was palpable and throughout the course they regularly communicated with minimal instruction from me. In order to stop the learning-related comments being interspersed with chit-chat I created a room for this purpose, which they made good use of. Revisiting the site months later, I realised that some had even continued to use it to ask questions about other subjects so this is a real motivational winner. On the downside, the front page is not static as it is filled with the latest posts from the group - just like Facebook, but other than that, it's ace. Free registration, unlimited free storage, comment moderation - what's not to...er...like?

[You can find all posts related to this Musing by following the label Learning Platforms]

Google Sites

This was a huge favourite of mine this year. Not only could I create slick-looking sites containing the necessary fixed information about the course, but learners create their own pages and link their own sites to give their texts a real audience. By encouraging them to view and comment on each others' sites and pages, they were able to practically apply peer-assessment and support each other through building their texts. As our learners already have Google Apps accounts (used mainly for email), it was a pretty painless transition, with only one log-in for a multitude of services including Google Docs, discussion forums, Picassa (galleries) etc. If Google+ was integrated with Google Apps accounts, it would definitely be my choice for this year, but although there are rumblings that this may be coming, it's not yet available.




[You can find all posts related to this Musing by following the label Learning Platforms]

Learning Platforms

Online with Learners

How do you communicate with your learners online, if at all? For years, I've moved from one platform to another in search of the perfect solution. A one-size-fits-all is yet to be found.

When I choose a platform for working with learners, these are some of the features I am looking for.

1. Free and ad-free
2. Support for collaborative work - learners need to be able to share, discuss and edit
3. Easy-to-use-interface - teachers & learners will soon switch off if it's not intuitive to use
4. Reliability in terms of being accessible 24-7 - learning opportunities anywhere, anytime
5. An engaging environment for learners - I want them to be enthusiastic about logging in
6. Autonomy - I want to administrate for my groups and not have to ask the IT team to bestow permissions on a regular basis
7. Unlimited (or virtually unlimited) file storage
8. Functionality - we have multiple lesson formats and ways of learning; we want a platform that accommodates all of these & allows us to embed any other resources we like e.g. Glogster

While it is relatively easy to identify products that fill some or all of requirements 1-6, and a few can provide 7, it's point 8 (functionality) that is the holy grail of learning environments. I want something that I can use for day-to-day lesson materials, collaborative project work both within school and across the globe, a facility for learners to upload and comment on each other's work, forums etc. It's so much easier with one log-in rather than many, but as it stands, I have to choose best fit and incorporate tools from multiple sources to get the job done. However, I'm hopeful about Google+ when it is finally linked up with Google Apps accounts which my learners already have. In the meantime, the next few posts will give an evaluation of my experiences. Please feel free to share yours too.

[You can find all posts related to this Musing by following the label Learning Platforms]