Implementation plan for university learning management system using Desire2Learn

Desire 2 Learn

Insights Gained From an Assessment of Desire2Learn (D2L)

Desire2Learn (D2L) is a full-featured suite of applications that can be successfully used for increasing students' learning effectiveness and long-term retention of complex subjects. The suite is comprised of several modules including learning analytics, environment module, and several repository modules. What becomes immediately evident after evaluating this suite of applications is that a framework is necessary to ensure all components are coordinated, synchronized to a common learning objective before being installed. The reliance on a framework will significantly streamline planning, implementation and support of the Desire2Learn application suite as well. Studies have also shown that when visually-based platforms are used that combine multimedia-related content, students attain a higher level of long-term retention of complex concepts (Lee, Tan, Goh, 2004).

Analysis of the Initiating Phase of the Suite

What differentiates this suite of learning applications from many others is the ability to tailor its use to each individual student in a class. This is exceptionally valuable for instructors who have students that span a very broad base of skills, experiences and learning aptitudes and speed of comprehension. Aligning both printed and multimedia content to the specific needs of a student, ensuring a precise alignment of these materials to their specific learning needs, is a technique commonly referred to as scaffolding (Najjar, 2008). Based on an analysis of the Initiating Phase of the D2L suite, it is apparent the designers had scaffolding per student as a design objective of the software. The modules are very customizable to the specific needs of the student, which significantly increases their effectiveness in nurturing long-term learning. Studies of scaffolding effectiveness indicate that these techniques give students greater autonomy, mastery and purpose of their learning environments and foster greater long-term retention (Najjar, 2008).

Another aspect of the Initiating Phase of the D2L suite is the agility this application platform provides for enabling long-term change management within an academic institution. For any educational software program to succeed there must be enough agility and flexibility designed into its architecture and workflow to allow educators to implement change management programs applicable to their institutions (Orly, 2007). Module configuration, support for specialized customizable workflows and the use of scaffolding significantly improves the overall performance of a learning system (Lee, Tan, Goh, 2004). Creating software applications that can effectively align to the specific needs of students while staying consistent with the workflows of an educational institution have the greatest potential to get students to their long-term learning goals (Orly, 2007). Another aspect of D2L is the ability of both the instructor and student to monitor progress to learning goals, including seeing how effective scaffolding is in contributing to overall goal attainment.