tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post7268877073606287852..comments2023-10-31T10:26:34.348-06:00Comments on Evolving English Teacher: My Big Campus: An Online Learning Management System [Review]Glenda Funkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07020745976555044975noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-37483025003113341392015-11-12T06:00:38.893-07:002015-11-12T06:00:38.893-07:00Great post on learning management system. Thanks f...Great post on <a href="http://www.atrixware.com/" rel="nofollow">learning management system</a>. Thanks for the share.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07555017988902578033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-72204379386675732062013-09-16T06:56:00.662-06:002013-09-16T06:56:00.662-06:00Great information. Great site. Really enjoyed read...Great information. Great site. Really enjoyed reading the <a href="http://www.phoboslms.com" rel="nofollow">learning management systems</a> (LMS) information. Keep up the good work.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14428489714291014943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-44196162607172815602013-08-08T18:18:01.364-06:002013-08-08T18:18:01.364-06:00As the Technology Integration Coordinator for my d...As the Technology Integration Coordinator for my district, I feel compelled to ask what if any professional development support you received from your IT department? I would like to try and address certain issues you bring up and how we deal with them.<br /><br />"The site DOES NOT allow teachers to share ownership of a group (read: class) so that both teachers can create and grade assignments." While this it is true that teachers can not be co-owners of a group teachers can be made admins of the group. In this capacity any administrator can assign Schoolwork/assignments to the group/class. Now there is an issue with grades only be visible to only the teacher/administrator that assigned the Schoolwork/assignment. This issue was pointed out to the developers at this years MBC User Conference.<br /><br />Student Membership: This should be clarified a little bit in that as part of making My Big Campus a safe environment for you district all users do need to be added by your IT staff. We're in the process of automating this process through the use of a third party software called Clever, which is free for schools. Once Clever is synced our our district active directory and student information system, Skyward, it will automatically populate classes and students for teachers. Additionally, any changes in class roster happens automatically every 24 hours. Teachers need not do a thing!<br /><br />Quick Links are an internal bookmarking system allowing access to many of your favorite MBC groups or pages. Find a group/page/resource in MBC and just click the pin and the " Add this page to Quick Links" and now you have a bookmark for that page. Being and administrator I have over 50 groups I'm a part of and I use the Quicklinks feature to get to groups or pages that are important to me rather than scrolling through the long list of groups!<br /><br />We just recently use My Big Campus to launch our online learning environment and while it was bumpy, My Big Campus came through for us!<br /><br />I have to say I've been able to get support and response in a reasonable amount of time. I would highly recommend that you and other teachers in your district attend one of the MBC User Conferences in order to meet the MBC folks. <br /><br />Overall, many of the issues you bring up we've dealt with and shown teachers ways of making things work using My Big Campus. I am just left with wondering if you were unfortunately left to fend for yourselves and didn't receive proper professional development. If so your IT department needs to be fired!!<br /><br />If you ever need help please feel free to contact me through My Big Camus, Mr. Case.<br /><br />Take care and good luck!<br /><br />Jerry Case<br />Technology Integration Coordinator<br />MSD of Lawrence Township<br />Indianapolis, INAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-77695162373352256362013-07-17T22:47:51.331-06:002013-07-17T22:47:51.331-06:00We appreciate your review! Definitely understand y...We appreciate your review! Definitely understand your feedback about having multiple teachers/owners within a course. It is something our developers<br />are working on. Tonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10055383727072676985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-69612183130237146272013-07-17T17:42:48.933-06:002013-07-17T17:42:48.933-06:00I'm actually happier reviewing MBC in this for...I'm actually happier reviewing MBC in this forum than trying to get MBC to address my concerns in a way that solves the issue. <br /><br />I should have mentioned in my review that my colleague and I were never able to figure out how to use "quick links" or even what they are, and she has a MA in ed tech. Glenda Funkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020745976555044975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-78980999663567592452013-07-17T08:41:08.439-06:002013-07-17T08:41:08.439-06:00We take feature requests and user comments serious...We take feature requests and user comments seriously. All of your points have been passed on the MBC team and are being reviewed. <br /><br />Please feel free to email me should you want to continue this conversation. Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts. <br /><br />Toni<br />Toni@lightspeedsystems.comTonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10055383727072676985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-1233627203170480922013-07-16T20:37:49.532-06:002013-07-16T20:37:49.532-06:00Toni,
What does this mean?
"we are focused...Toni,<br /><br />What does this mean?<br /><br /> "we are focused on changing the LMS conversation. We are not interested in having the same features as other LMS providers, but instead, are focused on providing features and tools schools need to transform learning."<br /><br />I see no mention of any specific features unique to MBC. What is it about learning you want to transform? I'm not a fan of change for change's sake. My colleague and I aren't simply interested in "digitizing content and assessment." We had hoped for a platform that would allow collaboration that respected us both instead of labeling one "owner," a word that by its very definition marginalizes and excludes. <br /><br />I stand by my comments in the post above, a commentary I could have written at any point during the school year but didn't. Instead I gave MBC half the summer to remediate itself in ways that address my repetitive complaints. <br /><br />I can offer you some specific guidelines about how to listen better. My professional opinion is that MBC isn't listening, a claim for which I have ample evidence.Glenda Funkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020745976555044975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-6228801329605139732013-07-16T18:13:29.761-06:002013-07-16T18:13:29.761-06:00Hi Glenda –
Thank you for your post. We always a...Hi Glenda –<br /> <br />Thank you for your post. We always appreciate feedback from our users and are constantly taking their thoughts into consideration as we work to improve features and functionality.<br />I am sorry you have had trouble getting assistance. We strive to answer all inquiries and provide our users with helpful, easy resources. We will continue to work on this effort.<br /> <br />At My Big Campus, we are focused on changing the LMS conversation. We are not interested in having the same features as other LMS providers, but instead, are focused on providing features and tools schools need to transform learning. It is not about simply digitizing content and assessment tools. We understand different schools and different grade levels have different needs. However, we think My Big Campus can be customized and used to fit any grade, any student. We hope this will be the case in your classroom as well.<br /> <br />Again, thank you for your comments. I have passed this on to the My Big Campus team and we are listening.<br /><br />Toni Frantz<br />Lightspeed SystemsTonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10055383727072676985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-70155780769276465902013-07-16T10:06:21.425-06:002013-07-16T10:06:21.425-06:00I'm always suspicious about the decision-makin...I'm always suspicious about the decision-making process that determines the platform. MOODLE is free, and it's what our local university uses. I've heard that Blackboard is better than MOODLE but have never used it; however it costs. My district spent lots of money training support personnel and teachers on MOODLE only to back away and switch to MBC. Makes little sense to me.Glenda Funkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020745976555044975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-7761864063015690132013-07-16T09:47:14.133-06:002013-07-16T09:47:14.133-06:00Strange, but I have absolutely NO IDEA which platf...Strange, but I have absolutely NO IDEA which platform my school board uses. Perhaps they've created their own. <br />I do wish that feedback from the users - teachers, students - had a little sway in the decision making process for these types of purchases. I've had many frustrations with our new report card site, which we HAVE to use 3 times per year and which, sadly, cannot even be accessed by Apple products. What's a mac-lovin' girl like me to do?Mardiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12237463317290624819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-122643793296894942013-07-16T09:30:40.670-06:002013-07-16T09:30:40.670-06:00Gary,
Thanks for the chuckle. I should have noted...Gary, <br />Thanks for the chuckle. I should have noted in the review that MBC is a product of Light Speed, which is our server filter and comes as a "free" add-on w/ the LS subscription. I don't know how much we're paying for LS, but I'm sure it's a hefty sum. <br />One of the cool things about MOODLE is that the gradebook is integrated, and the ISU tech department set up everything for me. It's really simple and cool.Glenda Funkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020745976555044975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489583182385276767.post-11259544636401466142013-07-16T09:07:02.236-06:002013-07-16T09:07:02.236-06:00We use Mastery Manager. Annual cost: about $65,0...We use Mastery Manager. Annual cost: about $65,000. Last year I didn't even touch it until May, and then it provided no information that was useful to me or my students. It just sucked up some data and sent it somewhere.<br /><br />GaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com