Learning Management Systems

This post I am going to be discussing some dreaded "Buzzwords". Buzzwords is defined as "a word or phrase, often an item of jargon, that is fashionable at a particular time or in a particular context." dictionary.com. These words get thrown around a lot and often is followed with disgust or disdain. The Buzzword or phrase I should say that I am going to mention in this post is "21st Century Skills." Gone are the days of just teaching content to students (Thank God). Now educators are responsible for not only teaching the relevant content, but also equip the students with the necessary skills that will lead to success in today's globally connected world. 21st Century Skills are defined by edweek.org as,

"core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving that advocates believe schools need to teach to help students thrive in today's world."

Learning Management Systems allow for you as the educator to facilitate learning in a way that will create the opportunities for students to learn these different skills. There are online features that allow for students to collaborate on projects using Google Slides. Students can be assigned tasks to upload files or create videos teaching them digital literacy. Students can be asked to create solutions to a problem with online resources teaching them both critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As we all know the internet is endless and these systems help you as an educator tap into these resources to enhance your classroom.

Students of today are different from the students that we were at one time in the stone age. Students don't even know where their lockers are because everything is digital, they are coming into the classroom with laptops instead of books, online applications instead of notebooks, and online learning platforms instead of planners. As an educator we have to not only meet the student where they are at but also continue to advance our own craft. The biggest wave of the future in classrooms are Learning Management Systems (LMS). These systems will help you to connect with students and actually cut out on the unnecessary grading, papers, and stress of trying to keep everything organized for 20-30 students per class. Some of the popular LMS's are Edmodo, Schoology, Moodle, Canvas, Google Classroom, and Chalkup. Each of these systems offer different things and I am not going to advocate for one over the other. Instead I wanted to bring awareness to the different systems.


The top five benefits of a Learning Management System are discussed here.

I wanted to give you information on a two LMS's that I am debating between for my class in the next school year as I move forward with using a Learning Management System in my classroom.






1. Edmodo- You can set up a free account at edmodo.com

2. Schoology- You can create a free account at schoology.com  

As I mentioned earlier, I am still in the process of deciding for myself which LMS I will use next year. Here is a comparison of the two and a pros and cons for both Edmodo and Schoology. I hope you can find one that will work best in your classroom.