Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become a symbol of the status quo that supports administrative functions more effectively than teaching and learning activities. Personal learning environments offer an alternative, but with their own limitations. An open learning network helps bridge the gap between the PLE and the LMS, combining the best elements of each approach.
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This article is really an excellent look into efforts being made to balance between the rigidity of Learning Management Systems and the potential for chaos that exists when everyone is left to their own devices for the use of information technology in their classes. The proposed Open Learning Network is something that I think Dawson is evolving towards. What is interesting is that in certain respects it resembles what savvy teachers were doing at the turn of the century as they built their own websites and then integrated useful applications into their students’ pedagogical environment through the use of hyperlinks.
Given Dawson’s use of Moodle and other learning platforms, the article proposes a path that the school might follow in its long term goals for pedagogical support for information technology in education.