I spent the last two weeks examining the reading and videos for this week’s learning module in my Web Design class. One main focus of our attention was on this presentation by Martha Burtis about the onset of the learning management system in higher education. She presents a long view perspective on the growth of the LMS in our lives and discusses points at which key decisions were made and how those have affected technological spaces in education. This presentation identifies the numerous deficits that current LMS’s have, namely in the hidden pedagogical structure and rigid boundaries they enact for in person, online, or blended learning. This resonated deeply with me and sparked my interest in what others are thinking might be the next iteration of the LMS.

My research led me to the New Media Consortium’s 2017 Horizon Report which directly addresses current concerns about the restrictions LMS’s are placing on our students and teachers. We are witnessing learning having to be edited, scrunched, and molded to fit into the tight constraints of the LMS design, rather than the LMS agilely responding to the needs of the users.

The path for next-generation LMS is being paved by the desire for enabling educators to unbundle all of the components of a learning experience and allow them to remix open content and educational apps in unique and compelling ways.

As an online Master’s degree student, I have had the good fortune to experience the model of online learning in the years 2015 to 2017. Yes, I’ve responded to many discussion boards from the comfort of my couch. I’ve taken my learning with me on family vacations. I’ve collaborated with colleagues from my phone all while reframing the discussion about what learning truly means. I have directed myself at every step of the way, creating projects that reflect my interests as an educator and connected myself to current, relevant, and insightful resources.

However, what our LMS (Canvas) has lacked is a seamless way to build this learning into a clear portfolio, either for me as a student or for my professors. I see how Canvas presents clearly defined means for monitoring student progress, much like replicating a traditional pen-and-paper gradebook, but is that where we expect learning to occur? Sure, there are videos to watch, articles to read, discussion prompts to respond to, and reflection papers to write. But is that all a traditional class is? How is Canvas incorporating the secondary benefits of a room full of engaged learners? I have seen small slivers of moments like this on our discussion board, when a colleague presents something especially resonant that I feel compelled to respond to. But overall, I feel like I’m in a long term relationship with a series of identical Canvas screens, which is hardly inspiring me to think in new and unique ways.

The New Media Consortium’s report addresses these deficits and sees hope beyond the current LMS structure.

The overarching goal of next-generation LMS is to shift the focus of these platforms from enabling administrative tasks to deepening the act of learning.

They discuss direct examples of universities that are thinking outside the traditional LMS model. The report also highlights key features that our next LMS’s must have, such as customizability, smart data integration, universal design, and collaborative learning. Another feature I’d add to this list is a general shift from looking at courses from the perspective of the teacher and instead the LMS structure from the eyes of the student. Why is it that I do not have a comprehensive encyclopedia of all of the writing I’ve done, the readings I’ve read, and the assignments I’ve turned in? It’s a true shame that I am put in charge of managing and documenting this information. We are doing a students a disservice by not aggregating their work into an academic portfolio that clearly demonstrates the learning they’ve achieved over the course of their degree, especially since everything they’ve completed is easily compilable.

When I am learning in a classroom environment, as I did last summer when I worked with colleagues on incorporating design thinking into curriculum planning, I am inspired at numerous times an hour, either by the presentation by my professor, the reflections of classmates, or the learning materials. I want to duplicate this feeling in my online learning environments, and I would hope that educators and administrators would want the same for their students as well.