E-learning and learning management systems need to evolve with a changing world, just as other systems have.
Take Scrabble, for instance–the word game that tests your vocabulary and ability to arrange words on a board in a strategic way. I’ve always loved the game and considered myself a pretty good player.
But it’s changed in recent years–in the same way as education has changed. And the way of playing it has had to change with the different rules.
In traditional Scrabble, if I’m not sure the word I want to use is a real word, I either refrain from playing it or play it and take my chances. In case you aren’t familiar with the game, the chances were this: if a person wants to challenge my iffy word, they can do so–grab a standard dictionary and look for the word. If it isn’t there, I have to take my non-word off and forfeit my next turn as punishment. If the word does exist, the challenger has to forfeit their next turn. This part of the game was always, for me, quite essential, at the heart of Scrabble.
But on online Scrabble, this part of the game is no longer relevant. And yet, people are still playing and loving cyber Scrabble. I don’t play it myself, but I asked a friend who does how it works, and why it’s still fun. "Can’t you just look up words?" I asked her. "Can’t people just cheat?" "Well, it’s not cheating to look up words on online Scrabble," she replied. "So, of course you can."
E-learning courses can face the same conundrum. From online training and learning content to the use of discussion boards and other Web 2.0 tools for educational purposes, who’s to say a student isn’t simply looking up the answer, copying and pasting responses, learning nothing? This is possible in some settings, and depending on the content, it may have a profound impact on the content’s effectiveness.
That’s why built-in tools to track, test, and enhance student progress are essential e-learning strategies which can be provided by a robust learning management system.
Create and distribute engaging learning experiences with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Easy to use, robust and reasonably priced.
