September 2005 — Industry Perspective
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eLearning that Goes Beyond Text and Graphics
- The learning management system that we had chosen in 1997 was designed for postsecondary education and corporate training; it wasn’t working for us. Thus, we needed a system that was student-centric and not course-centric.
- The integrated learning systems that we had subscribed to had their own proprietary gradebook and didn’t report to our eLearning platform. Also, lessons couldn’t be edited and supplemented, and many were boring and unengaging.
- We were tired of text, graphics, and quizzes. We needed variety. We needed a tool that could create fun, engaging, educational activities that could live inside our learning management system.
The decisions we made that spring to overcome our challenges changed our school entirely—and for the better. Several innovations emerged. First, Microsoft Corp. (www.microsoft.com) released a learning management system that was initially designed for K-12. They called it Encarta Class Server, but later changed the name to Microsoft Class Server to avoid brand confusion. Cyber Village Academy would soon become the first application service provider (ASP) for Class Server, its students, and for other school districts. The application service is currently marketed by Broad Education Inc.(www.broadeducation.com).
With Class Server, parents and students could log in and see in one place all of their assignments from every subject area. Students were no longer floundering, drilling into this course or that, opening a resource folder or an assignment folder. Their first screen greeted them with what they needed to do.
Additionally, assignments remained accessible to parents and students for the entire year or beyond, together with student responses, teacher evaluations, and rubrics.
“Today, CyberVillage Academy is at the top of its game. CVA teachers can choose activities from a library of thousands of resources, or they can create their own, no longer restricted to text, graphics, and quizzes.”
Suddenly, with Class Server, Cyber Village Academy didn’t need to subscribe to different integrated learning systems for different curricula. Companies like Ancept, Absorb Learning, Adventure Online, Interact, and many others were developing resources that would behave nicely in our “playground” —our learning management system. Students could access activities from a variety of developers in one coherent environment. Results would be reported to one central gradebook.
Today, Cyber Village Academy is at the top of its game. CVA teachers can choose activities from a library of thousands of resources or create their own. Through Class Server, and with the help of lodestar (see below), an eLearning content development tool, teachers are no longer restricted to text, graphics, and quizzes. They engage students in wonderful, meaningful activities that precisely meet the students’ needs.
Robert Bilyk is the director of CyberVillage Academy, and co-director of lodeStar Learning Corp. (www.lodeStarLearning.com) He holds an MEd in curriculum and instructional systems, and has been engaged in computer-assisted instruction at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels for the past 20 years. E-mail: bbilyk@cva.k12.mn.us.
