Comparison of the three CMS’s Essays

Comparison of the three CMS’s Essays Comparison of the three CMS’s Essay Comparison of the three CMS’s Essay Since the usage of Moodle is free, majority of the respondents considered using it as course management system software than the other two which require fee upon subscription. However, a relatively large number, eight (8) out of 40 respondents choose not to utilize any of the CMS’s software. Comparison of the three CMS’s based on the survey criteria presented Moodle. Based on the criteria presented, majority of the respondents prefers Moodle because of its many features and efficiency of usage.Moodle offers basic communication tools for the ease of interaction between the students and the instructors, students and the students and the class as the whole. Using email under Moodle, messages can also be sent to offline users and can be read once they log in their respective accounts. Chatting is also possible, using instant messaging; online users may talk through the internet. Discussion Forums are also available in Moodle which are of three types, according to Product Comparison (2006).First, the instructors may choose to rate the post of their students on a particular topic; students, nevertheless, can also rate the response of their colleagues. Second, the posts in the forum will be mailed automatically to the class participants. Third, unread posting will always remain visible for viewing and also, any member of the class can create the forum. In terms of grading schemes, the instructors can create their own scale such as Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent, and use it in all graded activities.The instructors can also receive and get reports indicating the frequency of the visit of a certain student, including the time and date. A report that sums up each student’s performance on assignments can also be received. The instructors can also keep a secure place where private notes about each student can be kept and monitor who are currently logged in to the course (Product Comparison, 2006) In terms of giving assignments, Moodle provides three types of assignments that either the instructor or the student can choose from, depending on the needs- Offline Activity, Online Text and Upload a Single File Assignment.Also, in Moodle, a lesson workbook is also available wherein the lessons are delivered in a flexible and interesting manner. In Moodle, the course calendar is always updated, where upcoming events and activities –including quiz or assignment- will be shown in Activities Block. WebCT. WebCT also provides communication tool features. The instructors can send email message to all students or those in a subset of workgroup. Unlike Moodle, as assessed in the article, Product Comparison (2006), chatting or the instant messaging can only be utilized if the other user is online.Discussion forums are also invited though only one type of forum is allowed, where the students can reply to the discussions without making or creating his/her own topics. The special communication tool that makes WebCT different from the other two is the use of Whiteboard where students can share and show, in real time, their drawings and images. For the benefit of the instructors, the students’ activities online can also be tracked using WebCT.The instructors can get reports regarding the frequency of visit of the students, including the time and date. A report showing the time duration spent by a student on particular settings on the website, including the course content, course units and the discussion forums. Also, the tracking information received by the instructors can also be shared with the students. In giving assignments, WebCT only allows the use of one type of assignment where a student submits files in connection to this specific assignment.WebCT does not also provide programs for the lesson workbook of the instructors. In an article, A Brief Overview of the WebCT, WebCT has set of tools that can help instructors assess the students’ performance and also to evaluate the effectiveness of the course. This system has assessment engine that facilitates in the scoring of tests and other surveys. It also provides very flexible scoring methods in different types of questions whether multiple choice, essay, short answer, matching type and calculated results.All these question types are being graded automatically except the essay, which is left uncheck for the instructor’s own evaluations. In accomplishing this type of grading scheme, security coding through password keeping is applied so to ensure the dependability of the results. Student files, messages, reports and course access data are also part of WebCT systems. Thus, the performance of the students can be kept as long as the instructors want to (2001).