Download pdf - Choosing an LMS

Choosing an LMS: What ma1ers most to you?

Anthony Al9eri S213-‐Choosing_an_LMS-‐al9eri

Choosing an LMS: What ma1ers most to you?

Legal Mumbo Jumbo

•  All opinions and sugges9ons are my own and do not reflect those of my employer, this conference, or, really, any sane human being who has ever lived.

•  I do not in any way, shape, or form endorse any par9cular vendor or their product. Any men9on is purely for illustra9ve purposes ONLY. –  Though I am openly biased towards Open Source products

What will you learn?

• A basic methodology for evalua9ng and comparing systems

•  Some 9ps, tricks, and landmines to watch out for

• Considera9ons for ancillary costs and efforts such as hos9ng. “Where will it live?”

If you do not understand a thing, then it just is.

-‐-‐Zen Koan

No problem can be solved by the same kind of thinking that created it

-‐-‐ possibly Albert Einstein

Remember, you may have to grow old… But you don’t have to mature!

-‐-‐Red Green

Basic Student func9ons of an LMS

•  Track learning •  Assessments •  Deliver learning content •  Enrollment •  Consolidate learning •  Process payments/eCommerce

Basic Admin func9ons of an LMS

•  Repor9ng •  Security •  Integra9on •  Learning Management •  Student Management

What does an LMS look like?

Database: mySQL, Oracle, noSQL

Web Server: Apache, IIS

Applica9on Server JBoss, Websphere

Set of web pages, PHP, Java code…

OS: Linux, Windows

Why do I need a (new) LMS?

•  Changes in business needs

•  Current system is outdated or deprecated

•  Repor9ng needs have changed

•  Change in market/industry

The rule of “12 – 24 – 60” •  Remember that implementa9on will generally take 12 months

•  Plan to have your LMS for five years

•  Do NOT base your requirements on your needs for today… aim for the future!

•  Go into implementa9on knowing that requirements WILL CHANGE en route!!!!!

Talking the talk…

•  Course •  Class •  Offering •  Instance •  Scheduled Instance •  Session

Gather “Requirements” •  Klatch with stakeholders – It takes a Village – Managers, students, trainers, etc…

•  Ask – What do you need the new system to do? –  How important is each func9on?

•  Accentuate the posi9ve: –  The user should be able to view their transcript from the home page

•  Eliminate the Nega9ve: –  The current system won’t let you view your transcript from the home page

Build Requirements

•  Klatch with SME’s – Managers, trainers, etc…

•  Put all of the “Requirements” from your stakeholders into a single spreadsheet – Group by user (student, manager, trainer, admin) – Group by func9on (enrollment, cer9fica9on, content)

•  Remove/re-‐write nega9ve entries •  Send back to stakeholders for full evalua9on using a weighted scale

Evalua9ng the Need

•  Use a weighted scale on what func9ons are needed: – 0: We really don’t need it – Li1le impact – 1: Nice to have – More pleasant experience/Cool factor

– 2: Should have – Can work without it, but adds value to the system

– 3: Required – Uhm… Required

Evalua9ng the Need

•  Average out the values for each Requirement to determine and build requirements

•  Remove anything below a set value (1.0, for example)

Evaluate your current LMS FIRST!

•  Re-‐evaluate your current LMS with the same standards you’ll use on your candidates. •  Do this before weighing your candidates to find out what REALLY needs to change

Avoid the Dog and Pony Shows! •  Eliminate products that do not meet your requirements or are over budget.

•  Provide vendors with your weighted requirements

•  Focus the vendor on what is important to you

•  Direct how they present their products

•  Push for a Sandbox so you can test yourself

Candidate Self-‐Evalua9on

•  Use a weighted scale to see if the LMS measures up: – 0: The LMS doesn’t support the func9on at all – 1: The func9on is on the plan with no date or requires a customiza9on

– 2: The func9on is on the plan with a date/NO customiza9on

– 3: The func9on is supported out of box

Candidate Self-‐Evalua9on

•  Send the candidates your list of weighted requirements to self-‐assess which ones they support

•  Average out the scores and remove anyone scoring below a given threshold (example 1.0)

Evalua9ng the Evalua9ons

•  Set up Demos for those who score high enough

•  Get access to a Sandbox for your own tes9ng

Evalua9ng the Evalua9ons

•  Test out the requirements yourself to see if you would score the product the same as the vendor has

•  Remove candidates whose scores are suspect

Using a Hosted Product (SaaS)

• Will always get latest updates

•  Vendor support will have easy access for any issues

•  Lowers staffing costs


•  Lowers effect on network/data center resources

•  Fastest way to implement


•  Informa9on Security policies may not allow it

•  It may NOT lower overall hos9ng cost


•  Limits poten9al customiza9on/localiza9on

•  Updates are driven by outside forces. – You may get an update at a 9me when you can not be out of service

Build Systems, not STUFF! •  Abby the IA, h1p://abbytheia.com/

•  Know the difference between –  “I need to be able to reach my students” –  “I want a link to MyFace like ‘they’ have.”

•  The more STUFF you add, the more resources are required to manage it!

•  h1p://www.slideshare.net/AbbyCovert/build-‐systems-‐not-‐stuff

Put Differently: Don’t be a Clown!

“We need a bu1on for FaceTube cause all the COOL sites have one!”

29

“We should have a link to FaceTube to allow us greater reach to more students to bring in more traffic and revenue.”

The ballad of…

•  Avoid bloated products that promote func9ons you don’t need –  Trying to replace be1er purpose-‐built op9ons –  May not add any value to your implementa9on –  Creates dependencies that may make upda9ng or replacing more difficult

later on

•  Some9mes, less is more

A Word on Internal Customiza9on

DON’T! •  Use Skins or API’s to add/change func9onality •  NEVER change the core database!

32

“Free” isn’t always Free* •  Free sooware is not always open Source

•  Generally, you’ll need to hire more staff or contract out third party for technical support

•  Updates may be sporadic and may not meet your needs

•  Hos9ng needs may be complicated by dependencies (MySQL, TomCat, etc…)

* I’m s9ll biased towards Open Source products

33

The Process Paradox

•  If you can’t define it in the real world, it will never work in the virtual one

– Remember “If you don’t understand a thing…”

– Even if you can, do you really want to?

34

The Process Paradox

• What works in the real world, will rarely work in the virtual one

– Things may happen in a different order

– Things will happen MUCH faster!

Thanks!

•  Please remember to complete the survey – S213: Choosing an LMS

Anthony Al9eri [email protected] @aa_al9eri