One of the discussions that is likely just as active on my campus as anywhere else that has either Blackboard or WebCT running as their CMS is “what about open source”? Many institutions are looking at either Moodle or Sakai because they are open source and their costs can be controlled. I am surely hoping that people don’t think that moving to these systems is totally free. Quite the contrary, these systems are likely more expensive at the start as you need to hire developers and retrain your existing staff (it’s not that much, but the costs are still there), but what the conversion leaves and institution with is a cost for their CMS that they can predict and ostensibly control – wages and hardware only, not a third party support cost that can have another zero appear on the end of the bill.
So back to the “just enough” though that I had started yesterday and then ran out of time to write because of a meeting, all these technologies that we use to deliver courses are really just window dressing, because they are all capable of doing the essential elements much in the same manner. They are enablers for communication. With that in mind, communication is what the clickers are all about as well. So it really doesn’t matter what system you use, as long as the instructor can connect with the student and facilitate the student connecting with the content as well.
Unfortunately, this takes a fair amount of effort and in large classes, it is not feasible to match instruction to every student because there isn’t enough time in the day. So instructors generalize. But often that generalization extends further than it should and things become very bland. So for people using a BBBB system, they feel forced or obligated to use this system, so they do just enough to get by, another generalization. This attitude extends to the students as the attitude of the instructor toward the content and it’s means of delivery can make or break a course.
Looking at the open source systems, many of the conversion advocates point to existing users saying “I’ve never had a problem” or students saying “I like this so much better than blah”. In my mind, this reflects not on the technology, but the attitude of the people involved toward the course. If you think about Moodlers or Sakai-ers, they are usually motivated and driven to do better for their courses. This, in my mind, sounds much like the users of open source OSes or OSX. While it is true that Macs and *nix boxes or slabs are not as troublesome as their Windows cousins, much of that is the attitude of the user toward the system. So just as there are Windows users that never have an issue with their system, there are many WebCT/Blackboard courses out there that are well recieved by their instructors and students, there can be crappy Moodle courses and people (though I don’t know how ;)) that can have issues with their Mac.
This attitude toward the content exists on the support side as well – when using a dominant system, many people will fall through the cracks as people don’t know where to turn for help – many people comment that “System X would be great, if only there was someone to show/help me”. I don’t know why this is more prevalent at WebCT/BB installations, but it is likely because they are larger and open source installations tend to be smaller (even though this is changing now). Many times the people that support these underdog systems are much more motivated to make sure their users do well, and this is not always the case with systems that include a support cost (WebCT/BB). Just think about how many Mac users you know and the support network they create, and compare that with the network for Windows.
So to wrap this part up, in addition to the technologies that allow you to connect to the content and communicate between instructor and student with feedback systems, the other technology that is “just enough” is the attitude of the users which can be seen in any technology that people treat as the underdog. If you are connecting with the students and the content in some immediate or timely manner and treating the tools that are being used as “underdog”, then you are likely using “just enough” technology.
Ok, that was a load off…
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