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Learning Management System - Flexibility In Learning Through An Lms

Posted on June 26, 2007 | Filed Under Elearning Articles 

Flexibility is the capability of being adapted or molded. Thus, flexibility of learning environments amounts to the adaptability of it to varied learner, instructor and subject requirements for achieving the best possible learning outcomes. Effective learning takes place in a typical setting that induces and compliments the learning activity. But flexibility in learning can mean different things in the real and virtual learning contexts.
virtual learning contexts.

Flexibility in real learning
Flexibility in a real learning environment is the ability of the physical settings to be changed according to varied learner, instructor and subject requirements. Like an archeology class would focus more on site visits than classroom training, while music learners would need a sound proof classroom equipped with instruments. Classrooms need to be, and to an extent are, configurable to varied needs, though we cannot expect a sit down arrangement in a conventional Indian classical music class to be transformed into a high-tech science lab. It is at the will of the instructor to have either a projection screen or a whiteboard in the room. This makes the classroom more flexible for different learner-instructor needs.

Flexibility in virtual learning
Virtual learning needs to be more flexible than its real counterpart because the tools employed by the latter need to communicate the exact essence of the content even in the absence of an instructor or interactive sessions between peer groups and learners-instructor. Different subjects, or different learning settings for that matter, need different environments to effectively function.

Why is flexibility essential
Fixed course content and rigid program structures not only mar the reusability of the course, but also render it incapable of delivering the essentials. Flexibility is essential to update the course in any future date as well as to effectively convey the crux of the material without hassles, to successfully execute its implementation.

How flexible is an LMS
The virtual classrooms in any learning management system are more of the one size fits all type. Features like discussion forums, calendars, test engines, group work spaces, gradebooks, chat capabilities, and instructional templates are definitely making the virtual classrooms smarter, but these features do not add to their flexibility in the sense that LMS’ are not efficient in teaching particular subjects to particular learners. LMS vendors scream themselves hoarse over the ‘any time any place’ learning adjective. But before jumping to conclusions about the flexibility of any given LMS, it is necessary to gauge whether all the tools employed by the LMS satisfy the flexibility criteria?

Measure of Flexibility
Flexibility of a course can be measured through different standards. Like a course can be termed flexible if it is reusable or adoptable to successive LMS models without much hassle. A flexible course also provides content in the form of chunks called learning objects that can be mixed and matched according to the instructor’s desire to render the course more effective. All in all, flexibility depends upon a number of variables.

Place and time flexibility
To check how true the claims of any time any place learning actually are, we need to gauge the place and time flexibility of an LMS. Let us analyze each tool of an LMS for its flexibility with respect to location and time. While web pages enjoy the any time any place flexibility, it does not hold true in case of discussion forums, chats, audio conferences and webcasts. Though these tools enjoy complete flexibility in terms of place or location, the interaction required in real time for these tools creates a barrier of sorts for their flexibility in regard of time. These are the tools that support live, real time interaction between the learners and the instructor. But, discussion forums offer a little flexibility in time, which lies between completely rigid and any-time flexibility. This is so because though learners are required to exchange messages with fellow learners and the tutor, it can be done over a considerable period of time, while discussion about a particular topic or course module is on. Once this discussion gets over, it is not possible for learners to interact with peers about that particular topic or module.

Factors governing time flexibility
Having seen that almost all LMS tools offer a fair flexibility in terms of place, the poor flexibility in terms of time is a deterrent to learners and instructors alike. So what exactly limits the time flexibility of LMS’? Time flexibility largely depends upon the following factors

The requirement of the learner to interact with peers and/or instructor

Whether the learner is learning individually or is a part of a group

Whether the tools employed in the LMS are time flexible or not

So, while a tool efficiently supports learning, it needs compromise on the time flexibility front, and if it delivers excellent time flexibility, it needs to compromise on the learning outcomes. This is more so because of the widespread use of blended learning techniques, which combine the self study approach that enjoys great time flexibility, with peer to peer dialogues and learner to instructor interactions.

Wrap up
Interaction and collaboration form one of the most essential components of learning, and providing for this interactivity robs the LMS of its time flexibility, with allowing it at the most over a period of one or two weeks. Thus the course developer is compelled to bargain between offering a better quality learning environment and increased time flexibility. With the abundance of time starved learners, who juggle high pressure corporate jobs, learning, and personal lives, interactivity in an LMS might soon become a thing of past. Thus, expecting our LMS’ to become more flexible over time, means approving upon a trade off between flexibility and interactive learning.

Viswanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems) (http://www.lmswizdom.com/).

About the Author:
He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts (http://www.blueappleonline.com/) to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques.
Tag: Learning Management System

[tag]Learning Management System, E-learning[/tag]

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