Development of an Evaluation Rubric
The following evaluation was part of the coursework for EDUO 652, and to make recommendations for adopting an LMS for workforce development programs and then implementing the LMS in parallel with creating content for the LMS.
This entire process of downselecting an LMS for our use cases is the focus of the presentation I will share as our Week 7 assignment for EDUO 652. Still, it paralleled the general process outlined by Niles (2020) to determine needs, focus on functionality, review learner usage, and consider valid sources and customer support when deciding.
My first action once I started was to identify my stakeholders (internal and external) and their needs, requirements, and influence on the selection process (Conklin, 2020). During these conversations, I confirmed that the organization needed an LMS, not any other content management platform (Bradley, 2021).
The following list was generated after better understanding my stakeholders’ needs. While some of these criteria are requirements for the project, most criteria focus on functionality. When evaluating potential solutions, I had three categories for each main criterion: low, medium, and high variants.
Table 1. LMS Evaluation Criteria
Cost |
Design and Layout |
Content Organization |
File Management & Exchange |
Accessibility |
Group and Learning Community Features |
Gradebook and tracking |
Testing and assessment tools |
IT/ Support |
Course building collaboration |
Workflow tools integration |
Modification to Existing Rubric
Knowing what I know now as we work to implement our solution, I would modify my earlier list and use the adapted rubric below. To start, I would employ better, more descriptive rubric categories, such as the categories provided by World Education (n.d.):
Figure 1. Screengrab of evaluation levels when considering EdTech tools (World Education, n.d.)
Several issues popped up for our particular use case as I was getting closer to making our final selection, which would lead me to modify the existing rubric if we were starting our search again.
Along the way, I learned more about various accessibility standards, government compliance issues, etc., which was information not uncovered through conversations with my original stakeholder groups.
Throughout those conversations, I also learned more as the process unfolded about the priority levels of each criterion and the influence various stakeholders have over deciding factors. A modified rubric would likely include a column assessing the priority for each requirement or feature.
Lastly, I had not included more specific criteria addressing thresholds of safety and security, which I would definitely include in a modified rubric.
Evaluation of the Moodle Platform
The following table shows the strengths and weaknesses of Moodle for our workforce development use case.
Table 2. Updated LMS Evaluation Rubric
Recommendations
Overall, I would still make the same recommendation to go with Moodle, given the relative priority of some of our criteria. From an administrator perspective, one challenge has been the extent to which I have had to learn some coding to truly get the integration and customization that Moodle touts. However, it’s a good fit for Maria and Ryan when looking at learner priorities. Moodle has expansive accessibility features and integrations. It allows an instructor to break learning content into blocks and modules that can be viewed by laptop or phone, making it easier for Ryan and Maria to fit learning into their busy schedules.
References:
Bradley, V. M. (2021). Learning Management System (LMS) use with online instruction. International Journal of Technology in Education (IJTE), 4(1), 68-92. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.36
Conklin, S. (2020). Evaluating LMS.Links to an external site. In D. Barreto, A Rottmann, & S Rabidoux, Learning Management Systems : Choosing the Right Path For Your Organization. EdTech Books.
Niles, L. (2020). Data driven learning design: Choosing a learning management system [Video file]. LinkedIn.
World Education. (n.d.). Online/Tech Tool Evaluation Rubric. https://edtech.worlded.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TTALE-Rubric-2.26.pdf
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