Author: Laura Gekeler

intense principled introvert practical committed partner mother learning ecosphere higher ed specialist wearer of black authors: Elizabeth Peters, Orson Scott Card
Academic IT, LMS, lms evaluation

LMS Evaluation Viewpoint 2020

Laura Gekeler

  If you are faculty, if you’re ever surveyed about your institution’s LMS, participate! If you are faculty, if you’re invited to a focus group, speak up. If a member of administration renders a strong opinion, ask why, ask for sources. So tell us – what do you like about Canvas and why? What don’t you like? What do you like about Brightspace? Don’t like? Why? What about Blackboard, or the open source kids like Sakai and Moodle? Have you ever used them? Tell us, what do you like, don’t like? Be specific. Does it matter? Does open source matter to … Continue reading LMS Evaluation Viewpoint 2020

Day By Day

What focus today?

Laura Gekeler

Good Morning Robin Williams! Oh wait, he wasn’t even an LMS Administrator but he killed himself… So today. What initiative, fix, feature, campaign, education, development, or QA effort do I focus on? My list includes: Discovering if its feasible for CKEditor 4 (the RTE embedded in Sakai) could be configured with a fontawesome embed widget Discovering if anyone else thinks the CKEditor’s stupid buttons should be turned off/made invisible Stupid buttons here: You get this, right? When you press any of these 3 buttons, they tell you that your browser (any modern browser) doesn’t support using these buttons, just go … Continue reading What focus today?

Course Management Server-side, LMS, Sakai

All the Connecting Dots

Laura Gekeler

We’re planning an upgrade of our LMS. Consider these “dots” and their connections: The old gradebook is out. No further development. When do we take it away from our instructors? How many times do we notify them first? We’re in the middle of changing video on demand (VOD) providers. The old one was to have been available ’til Jan. 2019, but the old one does not provide a standard LTI integration and therefore isn’t ready for the upgraded LMS version. Also, there is no straight migration of content between the old VOD and the new one. Our instructors want to … Continue reading All the Connecting Dots

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Innovation in the Business of HigherEd

Laura Gekeler

  Innovation in higher ed? Are you kidding? The business of higher education is so not innovative. To suggest that higher education is innovative is like suggesting that ham sandwiches can fly. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. Take me to task: what is my definition of innovation?To be clear, when I’m talking about innovation in higher education, I’m talking about “a new idea, method, or device.” Or, to offer a synonym: “novelty.” Sure, in higher education we teach classes on entrepreneurship and innovation. Some of our institutions may even have a program or two that we consider to be novel in the way … Continue reading Innovation in the Business of HigherEd

Current Affairs, Here at Notre Dame, LMS

Notre Dame wants to get to know a Sakai developer – is that you?

Laura Gekeler

Shameless plug for a Learning Management Developer (One Year Limited Term) … You should come work for the Office of Information Technologies. And here’s why – The University of Notre Dame ranks 9th among “Best Places to Work in IT” for the third year running.  We were cool before that, but lately it’s official. We have a one year contract position open for a senior developer for Sakai. Are you scared to apply? If you’re experienced, you could be married, you could have children. You’re probably comfortable where you are. A one year contract? Are you kidding? No. I’m not kidding. Come to … Continue reading Notre Dame wants to get to know a Sakai developer – is that you?

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OpEd on Next Gen Online Learning: The tail wags the dog

Laura Gekeler

I read this morning in InsideHigherEd The critical difference between replication (with enhancements) of the classroom experience and the potential for the transformation of the classroom experience lies not necessarily in technology, but in four aspirations: A learner focus, an emphasis on interactivity, scalability, and a quest to reduce costs while maintaining quality. We see transformation happen when faculty members don’t see themselves as mere instructors, but as designers, coaches, and members of a learning development team with particular goals in mind. – Steve Minz, InsideHigherEd, “Next Generation Online Learning,” Nov. 19, 2014. Honestly, this statement is right on the … Continue reading OpEd on Next Gen Online Learning: The tail wags the dog