Classrooms

the traditional                                  the blended

Course Management Systems or Virtual Learning Environments

If you want an online classroom to supplement your in-class time (blended learning) or if you want to try a no-holds barred solely virtual classroom, these are some products you might want to try.

CMS

A course management system is a program that helps you manage a classroom. You can create assignments, forums, discussion boards, chatrooms, quizzes, and keep track of students' marks (to name a few options).  Also called a virtual learning environment or VLE.

discussion board

See forum. However, we tend to think of Discussion Boards as "forums" for the classroom: a place where students can ask and answer questions about a particular class or topic within the class.

forum

Often also called a Discussion Board, this is a place where people can ask questions and receive answers from others about a particular application, i.e., forums on how to use Moodle or Nuvvo.

sandbox

A sandbox is a place to play with a program where you won't do any damage. Don't worry about what you are doing on this page; anything you do is reversible! Of course, if you see a comment, such as "You are about to delete the entire site. Are you sure you want to do this?", please ask Debby or Jen (or someone else) if you should continue.

VLE

A virtual learning environment is the same thing as a CMS. This term is more commonly used in Europe.

Websites

You only need a host

Moodle

A great course management system that is FREE, but you will need to find a place to host the Moodle. Your university or school might be willing to do it or you can find a hosting service for as little as $7/month. Debby uses AN Hosting and has found them reliable. See AN Hosting or Site Flip.

English Language Concepts

We will use this site as a sandbox to practice on Moodle if we have time. However, the quickest way to incorporate the web into your classroom immediately is to create a blog or wiki.

free hosting

Nuvvo  (now LearnHub)

Another CMS, but this time you don't need your own hosting service and Nuvvo allows you to easily charge for your courses if you want to see if online training is for you. It isn't as flexible as Moodle, but they are working to get better.

free hosting

Nicenet

A CMS created and maintained by Internet professionals for anyone to create a classroom. As with Nuvvo, you do not need a hosting service for this CMS. We know many people who use Nicenet for blended learning. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of Moodle, but is still a good CMS. Plain, but functional and some teachers really like it.