ABSTRACT
Broadly established corporate and open-source LMSs such as Blackboard (https://www.blackboard.com), Desire2Learn (https://www.desire2learn. com), and Sakai (https://sakaiproject.org) rely on traditional forms of pedagogy. That is, an institutionally based LMS is highly content centered and acts as an online focal point for gathering information, discussion, and assessment. Students mostly engage faculty and peers in an asynchronous fashion; they rely heavily on a publishing model for acquiring knowledge, with input on mastery coming from traditional assessments such as quizzes and exams. Students remain highly dependent on instructor-and text-centered pedagogy, have fewer opportunities for feedback, and will experience a generalized, nonindividually oriented learning environment. LMSs are more like repositories for information and assessment, and even with built-in release conditions, they do not offer individualized learning experiences beyond content selection and cannot adapt to students’ needs. They are heavily read-write-based instructional tools; it would be a stretch of the imagination to describe them as interactive activities.
