Documentation:Learning Platforms/Overview

Introduction

Increasingly, instructors at UBC are choosing open platforms and practices in the design and delivery of their courses. This resource is part of a series (in development) to provide a brief overview of the teaching and learning features of UBC Blogs, UBC Wiki and the UBC CMS.

Comparison

UBC CMS and UBC Blogs are two separate WordPress based web publishing platforms. UBC Blogs is designed to provide free individual or group webspace for the UBC community. It runs on a WordPress Multi-user installation which allows the UBC community to quickly sign up for and customize their own web publishing space with no prior approval needed. UBC CMS runs on a different WordPress Multi-user installation and allows for the creation of UBC Common Look and Feel branded websites for administrative and teaching and learning needs.

Feature Differences	UBC Blogs	UBC CMS
Domain mapping/unique URL's	No	Yes
UBC Common Look and Feel	No	Yes
Self Creation	Yes	No
Availability of Multiple Themes	Yes	No

The UBC Wiki provides a collaborative workspace for shared content authoring. It also allows you to easily embed a page into the UBC CMS or Connect. This way, resources authored in the wiki can be shared across multiple sites using the embed code. When content is updated in the wiki, it is updated across multiple sites. The UBC CMS offers an embed widget to make the process easy. If you are embedding in other sites, like Connect, you can grab the code by clicking on Embed Page in the Tools section on the left menu of any wiki page. Check this page for an example.

Considerations

Who do I want to be able to access my learning materials?

Only My Students	My Students and Others at UBC	My Students and Everyone
UBC Blogs	UBC CMS	UBC CMS
UBC Wiki	UBC Blogs	UBC Wiki
UBC CMS	x	UBC Blogs
Connect	x	x

What Sort of Learning Activities Should the Platform Support?

Discussions	Quizzes	Self Learning Assessments	Individual Student Projects (papers, ect)	Collaborative Writing
UBC Blogs	Connect	UBC CMS ((For example: Using the Gravity Form plugin))	UBC CMS	UBC Wiki
UBC Wiki	x	UBC Blogs(For example: Using the Gravity Form plugin)	UBC Blogs	UBC Blogs
UBC CMS	x	x	UBC Wiki	UBC CMS
Connect	x	x	Connect	x

What Sort of Learning Approaches Do I Want to Support?

Authentic learning (Diana Oblinger)
Student as Producer (social pedagogy - Derek Bruff)
Learning Portfolios, portfolio

What Assessment Models Will I Use?

Peer-based Assessments	Instructor graded	Automated Self Learning	Automated Grading
UBC Blogs	Connect	UBC CMS	Connect
UBC Wiki	UBC Wiki	UBC Blogs	x
UBC CMS	UBC Blogs	x	x
Connect	UBC CMS	x	x

What Sort of Course Administration Support Do I Need?

Automated Student Enrolment	Instructor Manually Enrols Students	Open Enrolment	Integrated Gradebook	Open Duration and Presence
Connect	UBC CMS. See Documentation:Adding Students to Your Course Website	UBC Wiki	Connect	UBC Blogs
x	UBC Blogs. See Documentation:Adding Students to Your Course Blog	UBC Blogs	x	UBC CMS
x	x	UBC CMS	x	UBC Wiki

Objectives

What is the difference between an open and closed learning environment?
What features of blogs, wikis and CMS support learning?
What does it look like?
How do I decide which approach is right for me, my course and my students?

Open and Closed Learning Environments

features of open - advantages/disadvantages
features of closed - advantages/disadvantages

Supporting Learning

features of wikis: this should be an overview - go in depth in other videos in the series (assessment, collaboration).

- collaborative editing (people with different roles can contribute to building course)
- talk pages
- integrating media
- assessment: contributions,...

features of blogs

- user roles can be assigned
- navigation and clustering (themes and ideas): categories, tags, posts and pages?
- integrating media
- comments for discussion
- forms/quizzes?

Examples in Practice

These are examples of how these approaches are used in learning environments at UBC.

Blogs

Phil 230: Intro to Moral Theory - Christina Hendricks.
ETEC 522: Ventures in Learning Technology (September 2013) - David Vogt and David Porter