Keywords:
Learning Management System, LMS, LMS Framework, Learning Management System Review
Abstract
Universities across Australasia regularly evaluate their Learning Management Systems (LMS) to meet the increasing digital teaching and learning demands. LMS reviews conducted approximately every five years or so are driven by factors such as pandemics, contract renewals, fiscal considerations, and the pursuit of optimal student online learning experiences. Recent trends show that Australian universities are conducting LMS reviews more frequently and transitioning to new LMSs at an accelerated pace (Phil, 2022; Sankey, 2023a). This is to ensure the LMS of choice meets the Next Generation Digital Learning Environment (NGDLE) functionality (Educause, 2018), is affordable, reliable and is still fit for purpose. While ongoing LMS reviews are common, there is a lack of published information on how higher education institutions undertake them. There was little available to unpack how best to engage in open, transparent, and aspirational conversation with staff and students about their experience with the LMS. As part of the review, even less was published about the dialogue on the future teaching and learning needs and the future of the LMS. To help address this gap in the literature, this practice-based paper reports on our approach and the steps taken to propose a unique two-phase / multi-stage model for reviewing an LMS and offers a useful checklist for those who may want some help getting started.
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Author Biographies
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Dr. Seb Dianati, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Dr. Seb Dianati, a Senior Academic Lead at Charles Darwin University, heads the Digital Learning Futures team within Education Strategy at CDU. With a background at the University of Queensland since 2018, he's served as a Senior Teaching Fellow and Director of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Lab (CaLD Lab). His leadership has driven the widespread implementation of digital technologies through student partnerships, demonstrated by numerous institutional rollouts. Dr. Seb is lauded for his impact on digital and e-learning pedagogies, leveraging student partnerships to enhance course and curriculum design. He gained distinction for leading an expansive student partnership initiative involving over 60 student partners and 29 projects, culminating in a prestigious 2022 commendation. Dr. Dianati's collaborative approach, shaped by previous roles at Flinders University, emphasises blended, flexible, and active learning methods. His extensive publications, including research on contextualisation, critical-digital partnership, and diverse manifestations of partnership, underline his ability to conduct a variety of methodological approaches for structural equation modelling to critical participatory action research.
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Professor Michael Sankey, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Professor Michael Sankey is from Charles Darwin University in Australia, where he is the Director Learning Futures and Lead Education Architect. In addition to this role, Michael is President of the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE). He specialises in emerging technologies, technology enhanced learning, curriculum renewal, eLearning quality, multimodal design, digital, visual and multiliteracies. Michael has worked in Higher Education for 30+ years, at 5 Universities and is particularly interested in how constructively aligned and aesthetically enhanced learning environments can better transmit concepts to students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds and those who study at a distance.
Section
Educational Technology
How to Cite
Navigating An LMS Review Process: Harnessing Next-Generation Digital Learning Through Evidence-Based Decision-Making. (2024).
Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice,
21(07).
https://doi.org/10.53761/ynndrw32
