Course Description:  This course will prepare you to work within the CourseSites Learning Management System (LMS) to set up and manage an online course. As a student in the course, you will investigate and manipulate components of CourseSites from an instructor’s perspective.

 

Reflection:  This was another course that I had originally signed up for because I needed credits, but was really interested in what I could possibly learn.  I absolutely loved having a course that allowed me to interact with the technology as a student and as an instructor.  While the district I teach in is 1:1 with Google Chromebooks, and we are a very Google Classroom-based district, I was constantly finding myself thinking about how we could utilize CourseSites as well.

 

Overall, CourseSites, as an LMS for students, was a little difficult for me to judge.  I did use Blackboard during my time at Saint Mary's College of Notre Dame for my Bachelor's Degree, but not for online classes—more of a resource to check grades and find uploaded files for classes.  I thought being able to watch videos and other media posted on the same page as the other content was a strength.  Sometimes it is just easier that switching back and forth between multiple tabs.  It was extremely similar to working with Canvas, which I am very familiar with after completing 21/30 credit hours via Canvas.

 

For instructors, CourseSites offers many ways to incorporate different forms of media into your lessons which is super helpful when trying to teach an online course.  I really liked being able to use the adaptive release tool and set requirements for students as they were working through the course.  I also think being able to grade assessments using a rubric online is one of the system’s strengths as well as all of the course activity reports and assessment reports you have access to as the instructor.  There were so many things that Google Classroom simply cannot do, but you can through CourseSites.  And it's free!