For a long time, the college’s page for classes has been Moodle. An email was sent this summer with details of a new program, Brightspace/D2L, that would replace Moodle over the course of this school year. This new site has a messaging platform with an organized listing of classes. This new site is currently in use alongside Moodle.
Moodle and Brightspace are similar in presenting a list of classes and information pertaining to each class schedule, assignments, and where to submit assignments.
The execution of using either site has resulted in a multitude of advantages and disadvantages, so let’s start with Moodle-a site that has been my introduction to college life. Moodle has the disadvantage of lack of efficiency, with everything formatted in a loosely organized drop-down menu. This forces the user to scroll endlessly until they hopefully find the current date or topic within a few minutes. In addition to the assignment page, Moodle’s handling of grades is unhelpful. This is due to being unable to see all the posted grades for an individual course. Moodle allows students to view their current final grade and adjust their participation or effort accordingly before it’s too late in the semester. On the topic of grades, despite improvement from last year regarding email notifications for assignment feedback, there are still issues with consistency of feedback notifications.
On the other hand, Brightspace brings some improvements, such as organized sections of a specific unit or week for the current class. In addition, Brightspace lists out the assigned assignments for a specific date, helping students make good use of time. However, the necessity of a messaging platform is put in question due to the Outlook mail system already established. The purpose of a messaging platform is defeated when a message is forwarded to Outlook but must be replied to via Brightspace. Additionally, the activity completion message for every document read seems a bit unnecessary compared to a message when all assignments for a single unit have been submitted. Similar to Moodle, it’d be helpful to ensure all graded items are taken care of and provide Brightspace a similar grading format to Moodle.
Besides each disadvantage, the inclusion of AI support this year stood out on Brightspace’s homepage. Not only does it signal the increasing use of AI in educational circles, reliance on AI presents an obstacle in the way of students’ ability to creatively think and problem solve. Unlike humans, an AI can only do so much within its programming and a lack of original thinking. By increasingly relying on AI, it undermines the value of conversing with a human who doesn’t have the sole goal to please.
Ultimately, while Moodle and Brightspace have their advantages and disadvantages, a newly produced site would be the most beneficial with positive aspects drawn from Moodle and Brightspace. A newly produced site would contain classes organized by schedule as registered for students. Within each class, the portal would be similarly organized as Brightspace has; however, it would only send a confirmation message once each assignment within a unit is complete. This new site would allow students and staff to efficiently find what they need, including a helpful search bar. Similarly to Moodle, grades and feedback would be easily accessible with a cumulative progressive grade of entered assignments and quizzes/tests. In addition, a search bar could be included for each page visited to easily find each individual graded item, along with a link. The use of AI would still be optional but for smaller issues; however like Brightspace, human tech support can be provided as well for recurring or bigger issues.
Overall, while Moodle and Brightspace have their advantages and disadvantages, a new portal that combines elements of Moodle and Brightspace would be the best optimization of our time outside of class to be more time efficient and organized.