1.1.1 Definitions of Communication

I couldn't agree more with Sherry Turkle's message. We tend to overuse digital technology to feel connected to each other when, in reality, this is causing the opposite effect. As innovations in technology have evolved, my individual communication skills have certainly changed progressively. In the work environment, written communication has become the main means of sharing information and ideas. As a result, my written communication skills are now more polished. I have also learned how to use word economy to make my writing more effective when presenting my ideas.

Advancements in technology have also altered classroom communication, and it's predictable that future innovations will continue to change classroom communication further. The influence of social media is very present in the academic setting. In my online classroom, I am very vigilant and constantly monitor that my students follow netiquette rules when communicating with each other and with me. In my opinion, it is essential that students understand the parallel between a physical classroom environment and a virtual classroom environment. In fact, the core rules of netiquette from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea can be interpreted as classroom expectations or classroom rules. There are certain behaviors that are expected and other behaviors that are not acceptable in an academic environment, physical or virtual. It is for this reason that, as mobile and social media continue to grow, netiquette should be enforced in online instruction through establishing clear expectations as well as consequences for infractions.

4.1.1 Trend Impact

In my opinion, the trend that will make the most impact on digital learning over the next five years is Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This model for delivering online courses provides free, universal access to high-quality education, and it's provided by the world's best universities and colleges. MOOCs' greatest potential seem to go in the direction of training and professional development within the corporate world. As they continue to grow, higher education organizations are doing more research and investing significant resources seeking to improve MOOCs' reach as well as the number of learners that successfully complete their courses. It seems likely that, in the near future, corporations could start shifting from the use of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to MOOCs in order to satisfy their training needs. This could probably lead to mutually beneficial partnerships between higher education institutions and corporations. 

3.2.1 Tools for Deciding on an LMS

After researching several of the most popular Learning Management Systems (LMSs) associated with K12 education, I have selected the five top LMS options that seem to better fit the needs of all K12 stakeholders. All these five options offer features and tools that completely fulfill K12 requirements and help create an engaging, effective learning environment. Another criteria that I've considered when making my selection are reliability and technical support. Additionally, as a principle and in order to minimize cost, open-source solutions are always preferable in the K12 setting. All the LMSs included in my selection are open source.

1. Moodle
   
2. Schoology
   
3. EDU 2.0
   
4. ILIAS
   
5. CourseSites by Blackboard
   
   
   

3.1.4 LMS Reporting

Schoology, the LMS that I have explored during the Navigate skill, presents individualized and course-wide analytics in an easily read format. Graphs and assessment data are available at the individual, class, and system-wide levels. Although the system-wide level is certainly very important, in my opinion, the levels that are most valuable for the online instructor in regard to student performance are the individual and class levels. For instance, with Schoology, instructors can generate reports that detail how students performed on each question during a test or quiz. This way struggling students can be quickly identified, as well as concepts or skills that need to be revisited and retaught.

3.1.3 Tools within the LMS

Schoology is the LMS that I chose for my Navigate quest. The following are the academic features offered in this system:

• Personalized Homepage 

Schoology aggregates all the academic information in one easy-to-use, familiar interface.

• Course Profiles 

Schoology makes creating unique and flexible course profiles simple with a whole suite of student-centric content creation and learning tools and an easy-to-use, intuitive interface.

• Flexible Instructional Tools

Schoology empowers instructors with the tools to easily differentiate instruction, pace students individually, and implement group-based learning.

• Badges

With the ability to create custom badges using a choice of shapes, colors, and any image or animated GIF available on the web, educators are better able to build incentive and reinforce positive behavior in a fun way.

• Calendar

Schoology's calendar is an easy-to-use, robust way to manage personal and course events, ensuring communication for all. Schoology’s calendars are color coded, provide automatic updating, and can synchronize with other web-based calendars such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar.

• Online Assignment Submissions

Schoology's Assignment Submissions feature simplifies and centralizes the process of submitting, annotating, grading, and returning assignments so there's no unnecessary repetition.

• Create Assignments and Events

Schoology’s robust content creation tools and user-friendly interface make creating diverse assignments and events simple. Created assignments and events are automatically organized in the course, group, and personal calendars.

• Create Tests and Quizzes

Schoology’s assessment creation tools provide instructors with simple ways to create media-rich assessments using new, repurposed, and standards aligned content.

• Extended File Support

Schoology supports Common Cartridge, Web Content, QTI-compliant content, and other ZIP files to ensure that educators and administrators can use their existing third-party content in Schoology without losing its formatting.

• Make Learning Mobile

Native mobile apps extend this award-winning LMS to all iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire mobile devices for free, enabling cost-effective 1:1 and BYOD initiatives. Everything from assessment creation, submission, and grading to media-rich discussions are easily achieved from a mobile device.

• Online Gradebook and Attendance

Schoology’s Gradebook and Attendance save time by automating the redundant tasks of inputting grades and taking attendance. The gradebook offers custom grading scales and easily editable settings.

• Customized Grading Options

Schoology provides the tools to create custom grading scales. The easily editable settings make it possible to create rubrics as well as customize percentage scales and point-based scales.

• Standards and Outcomes Alignments

Schoology enables instructors and curriculum specialists to easily align content, assessments, and rubrics to Common Core, State Standards, or custom learning outcomes. Standards or outcomes-aligned test and quiz questions can also be archived for quick and efficient assessment creation.

• Track Student Usage and Course Analytics

With individualized and course-wide analytics presented in an easily read format, Schoology helps better understand students’ needs and develop strategies that improve their engagement and comprehension.

• Application Marketplace

Schoology's App Center provides educators and institutions with access to high-quality instructional and management applications that are seamlessly integrated into the platform.

• Email Address and Username Support 

Schoology lets students choose whether they would like to login with a username or an email address. This makes it easy to use Schoology with students that might not have an email address.

This LMS also offers valuable social features that are necessary to effectively host and facilitate an online course:

• User Connections (Professional Networks) 

Schoology lets educators collaborate and share instructional resources with colleagues in your school and other schools around the world.

• Messaging

Schoology facilitates better communication by providing instructors a way to send messages and share resources efficiently with their students and peers, and by providing students a simple and safe way to contact their instructors.

• Customizable Notifications

Schoology makes staying connected simple with email and SMS text notifications so everyone is always up to date.

• Announcements

Schoology's announcement feature turns any update into an announcement with one click, pinning it to the top of the activity feed so everyone gets the message.

• Discussions

With Schoology, instructors can create interactive discussion pages, engaging students on a more personal level. Discussions are threaded to allow for easy replying and organization.
A wide range of files (including documents, pictures, audio, and video files) can be attached to any post. Instructors can also connect their discussion pages with other class sections and courses for a more widely interactive experience.

• Group Workspaces (Collaboration)

Schoology’s learning environment facilitates collaboration on a number of different levels. Students and instructors can collaborate easily with each other and their peers by participating in live discussions, sharing resources and ideas, and much more.

From a language teacher's perspective, of all the tools listed above, the most valuable ones in an online learning environment are those that maximize student interaction and engagement. When students have more opportunities to participate in discussions and collaborate together using the target language, they gain a deeper understanding of the language and its culture.



References
https://www.schoology.com/home.php

3.1.2 Creation and Investigation into Courses

The process of creating a course shell and adding content is something I am very familiar with. Among all the LMSs I have worked with, Schoology is, in my opinion, the easiest and most intuitive management system. 

After creating a new course, which I named TOOL Section 1, I clicked on Add Materials and then on Add Web Content. I attached the zipped package provided in the 3.1.2 quest, and I finally clicked on Submit. These are all the simple steps that are necessary to complete in order to fully load a zipped package and make it viewable. 

3.1.1 LMS Tool Categories

From an online language teacher's perspective, the most relevant features offered in a Learning Management System (LMS) are those that provide more opportunities for students to interact and demonstrate their mastery of the target language. One of those tools are blogs. I utilize blog tools to provide students a mechanism to create journals as well as post reflections and long-form responses. Students greatly benefit from using an online journal to communicate with their classmates using the target language. Blogs also have great academic potential in second language instruction. They can be used to integrate content vocabulary in a meaningful way when analyzing facts, summarizing events, and expressing opinions.

Discussion forums have also many benefits as an interactive way of assessing students' level of understanding. This formative assessment helps me guide and differentiate my instruction according to students' needs. Often times, the discussion tool allows me to identify what students might benefit from specific remediation activities, and what students could deepen their knowledge through enrichment opportunities.

Another LMS tool that can contribute to increase the effectiveness of online instruction is the calendar. Calendar tools are mainly used to communicate upcoming dates and timelines for course events. However, I also have my students utilize the calendar as a virtual agenda to help them complete their assignments by the due date. This tool can help them greatly as they work on their organizational skills as well as their time management skills.