The Socially Networked LMS

The Socially Networked LMS

Much virtual ink has been spilled of late regarding BlackWeb's FaceBook integration -but I'm not going to prat on about the "creepy treehouse" -others have done a far better job, and faster. Instead, let's talk about what an LMS can and can't currently do in terms of mimicking or integrating with web2.0 social networking tools.

We just hosted the remarkable Gardner Campbell on campus for a faculty workshop in web2.0. Gardner's keynote speech posited the concept of "cognitive fingerprints" or "cognition prints" -visible ways in which we can seek evidence of cognition, or cognitive presence if you prefer.

When we say "critical thinking" and "LMS" in the same sentence, the next phrase that inevitably follows is "discussion board". Why? In the context of the repurposed groupware that is a commercial LMS (Michael Feldstein's definition), we have a somewhat limited toolset of instructional Legos that we cobble together in the form of a course.

Gardner offered a fabulous "well, duh" compare/contrast moment between a board in Bb and an open-source bulletin board he uses. The most glaringly obvious differences:

• the ability to associate an avatar of choice with your identity
• the ability to have the poster's profile only one click away, every time they post

More importantly, Campbell argues, is the evidence of authentic engagement with the subject matter at hand - most notably lacking in his hacked classroom are the Re:Re:Re subject lines that suggest that students are going through basic higher order primate conditioned reflexes - ie; hit the "Post" button X number of times to earn an "A".

It made me think: what if, besides this standard literary centric toolbar for students:

we had the near ubiquitous Web2.0 content sharing toolbar as well?