Tools within the LMS

Common Tools in an LMS:

Many of these tools are actually necessary for instructional purposes.  The only one that I think is probably not as useful is the Social Profile.  As a teacher, I cannot select my students, so I don't see the real need to view their social media accounts.

Email is just a convenient and easy way to communicate.  And, it documents your communication.

Notification systems are important to alert students of new assignments, grades, etc.  Teachers need a notification to know when students submit assignments or pose questions.  Teachers have entirely too much to monitor to not use some type of notification system.  Many notification systems can integrate with smart technologies, so the cell phone and iPad can be a great alarm for those busy and on the go!

Discussions and Blogs may be similar; I tend to use them for similar things.  These are great for online chatting.  They also serve as documentation of communication.

Instant Messaging may not be necessary if students can correspond via email.  Teachers and students can enable both, but one doesn't need both.  For those students and teachers that are on limited text messages, I would not recommend the Instant Messaging option.


Learner Tools in an LMS:

All of the resources listed here are needed.  If I need to rid a tool, it would definitely be the Self-Assessments/Surveys.  Self-Assessments are for more metacognitive learning.  I value metacognitive learning when I read responses, but I tend to use it more for Honors and AP students because these students tend to take it more seriously and tend to be more sensitive.  Very seldom do I use metacognitive reflections in Regular courses.

The survey is probably appropriate for students to evaluate me.  At the post-secondary level, students complete surveys on their professors.  It could possibly be used in the same capacity.

The dropbox is a great way to have a definitive place for students to drop assignments.  This mechanism keeps emails from becoming clogged.  Teachers just have to remember to always have a dropbox readily available for each assignment.

Gradebook Functions:

Many students primarily focus on the Gradebook functions, but these functions are very important for student and teacher alike.  As an instructor, I especially like the feedback action where I can type feedback and possibly annotate student work (i.e., Edmodo lets you do this).  I type faster than I write, so providing feedback via typing makes life easier.  Also, The gradebook actually does the computing of information.  Data Import is very useful especially if a teacher is using an open source and wants to easily place those grades into the gradebook!