Week #5 - Homepage
LMS Evaluation Introduction
![Checklist](/uploads/5/9/5/6/59564357/_8995974.jpg)
Welcome to the 5th week of evaluations between the capabilities of Desire2Learn and Blackboard. This week five tools were examined within each system. These tools included:
- Create a new customized course homepage
- Create "start here" information on homepage
- Add link to information in news widget
- Customize NavBar
- Post audio message in news tool
D2L LMS Evaluation
Tool #1 Create a New Customized Course Homepage
In D2L, you can customized your course homepage. If you go into the CourseAdmin tab and click on "Homepages". You need to make a copy of the course homepage by the clicking on the down arrow. Next, under the Active Homepage you need to select the copy you just made. If you click into the link on the coursepage copy (the page you just made) then you can make changes. These changes include: a customized title, a homepage type, the layout, and the ability to add widgets. You will need to save your changes before exiting. In summary, the overall findings of the customizing the course homepage:
- Strength: You have many options about the content and appearance of your homepage.
- Weakness: I did not find any weaknesses.
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Tool #2 Creating "Start Here" Information on Homepage
In any course provided, students should know where to start to find the appropriate materials to guide them through the beginning of the course. In D2L. a module should be created under the Content tab that is called "Start Here". You could then provide materials in this folder by uploading a file or creating a new file in HTML. In summary, the overall findings of the creating a "Start Here" module:
- Strength: The process is very simple.
- Weakness: I did not find any weaknesses in this feature
Tool #3 Adding a Link to Information in News Widget
In D2L, there are news item (a widget) that appear on the homepage of the course. You can add a link in the news widget. When on the homepage, you can click on "News" and select a new news item. Next, give it a headline, type a short message in the content area, and insert a hyperlink to a page we had already created (i.e. Executive Summary). This is done through the use of the "Insert Quicklink" where you designate the correct file and rename it if you choose to. In summary the adding a link to information in the news widget:
- Strength: Great option to use to guide participants to the correct start files.
- Weaknesses: If you click on the file name and not the little edit circle off on the right you will miss the options to rename the file and other options.
Tool #4 Customizing NavBar
In D2L, you can delete any tools from the NavBar that are not being used. Click on Course Admin and click on tools. You could deselect (turn off) any of the tools listed.In summary, the feature of customizing NavBar:
- Strengths: You can add and delete tools from your NavBar to avoid cognitive overload.
- Weaknesses: I did not find any with this feature.
Tool #5 Posting An Audio Message in News Tool
In D2L, there is a great option that every LMS needs to have. You can add audio messages in many places within D2L. The process for recording audio in D2L is pretty straightforward. However, you will need Adobe Flash to use the audio tool in D2L. In summary, the overall findings of the quality check as a demo student:
- Strength: Audio messages can be added throughout D2L.
- Weakness: I did not find any with this feature.
Blackboard Evaluation
Tool #1 Create a New Customized Course Homepage
In Blackboard, you can customize the homepage through different options. You can change the theme (color schemes) of the page. You can also reorder the appearance of the modules and add/remove modules as well. The video below will walk you through these features. In summary, the overall findings of the customizing the course homepage:
- Strength: You can customize the homepage in Blackboard which is desirable to reflect individual differences or standardized across departments.
- Weakness: I did not find any.
Tool #2 Creating "Start Here" Information on Homepage
In Blackboard, you have the ability to add content areas, so you can create a new area called "Start Here". You can move this to the topic of the list if you would like. You can create a new file and place your information into the text box. If you decide to cut and paste your materials please note that I had to use "ctrl v" to paste as the paste options did not work for me. In summary, I found creating a "start here" section in the content section:
- Strengths: Very straight forward process.
- Weaknesses: I did not find any weaknesses.
Tool #3 Adding a Link to Information in News Widget
In Blackboard, I tried to link the "getting started" file seen above to My Announcements" and was unsuccessful. I could link the file from my computer but could not find the path where I could link the file from the Start Here content area. I thought this was odd that this could not be done since there was a link to content collection (as seen in the screen shot). In summary, the features of adding a link to information in the news section, My Announcement in Blackboard:
- Strength: I was not successful in completing this task.
- Weaknesses: I could not find a way to link a content area to the announcement.
Tool #4 Customizing NavBar
In Blackboard, you can add content module or remove them. Each title has a drop-down arrow where you can rename link, hide link, or delete. In summary, you can custom the NavBar (the content area menus in Blackboard)
- Strength: Very user friendly process
- Weakness: I did not any weaknesses.
Tool #5 Posting An Audio Message in News Tool
In Blackboard, I could not create an audio file directly into My Announcement. I did find where a media file could be linked from your computer or from url to an announcement. So I made a Welcome file (wav file) in Camtasia and planned to attached this through the link in Blackboard. I could not get this to work through Chrome. In summary, the overall findings of the posting an audio message in My Announcement in Blackboard:
- Strength: I did not see any strengths here.
- Weakness: Have to create audio file externally and link them into Blackboard
LMS Weekly Recommendation
Based on the tools that were evaluated this week, I would say that most features were more straight forward in D2L. The navigation was more intuitive in D2L and the tools worked better in D2L. I also found that when searching for help outside of the two systems, I found more helpful tips and links about D2L. Therefore, this week's winner would be D2L.