A little help please

Online instructors’ technical competence is enhanced by robust technical support for whatever learning management system employed. We’ve previously discussed a variety of learning management systems topics, but part of selecting a system should include a thorough scrub of the support services offered.

Re-visiting edutools.com, I made a swag at picking learning management systems for comparison. I’ll admit that my learning management system choices were based entirely on familiarity or having heard of the system. Not very scientific, I’ll admit, but the method served my purpose which was to compare specific attributes to make some attempt to gauge technical support. Edutools allows users to compare up to 10 different systems and 10 different features.

I chose Angel 6.3, ATutor 1.5, Blackboard 6.2 Enterprise, Desire2Learn 7.4, Moodle 1.5.2, Sakai 2.0, and WebCT Vista 4. I chose the following features from which to compare technical support: Instructor Helpdesk, Course Templates, Customized Look and Feel, and Instructional Design Tools.

The helpdesk support varied from face-to-face training workshops, online courses, or content sensitive help to online instructor manuals, online instructor help communities, or subscriber 24/7 help support.

Each system offered course templates to create content, but some offered templates to create calendars, announcements, or discussion boards. Some offered editable templates or the option to create templates.

All systems provided the option to use pre-defined look-and-feel templates. The compared systems also offered user-defined templates for those institutions desiring to use their own images and layouts.

With regards to instructional design tools, all systems but two offered the choice to design either linear or non-linear content. Some systems offered reusable content or document sharing.

I’m not going to say one system is better than the other, so you may ask “What’s the point?” Based on the needs identified during your assessment of learning management systems requirements, make sure you select the system that provides the level of help you need. Making the right, informed decision on what you need may pay dividends in reducing instructor self-induced stress and enhancing the final product’s effectiveness in promoting learning.