Using Open-Sourced Platform to

Facilitate Students’ Learning:

An Implementation of Drupal as a

Learning Management System

I-Pang Fu

Naifen Su

Dr. Wesley Donahue

Sep 29, 2011 @ Columbus, GA

Today’s Agenda

• Background

• Problem(s)

• Pilot Study

• Demonstration

• Evaluation

• Discussion

Background

• Angel is the official LMS at Penn State

• The University started to search for new LMS or keep using Angel within 2 years

• Demand of hybrid/online courses increases at Penn State

• Faculty members’ expectation about LMS

• Students’ expectation about LMS

Problem(s)

• Where to find pilot group without trouble?

• Who should be included in pilot group?

• What should be moved into new platform?

• What is the time frame?

Will it work?

Pilot Study

• Engineering students with leadership minor

• Traditional course is provided in tri-semester

• 20 to 30 students per semester

• Most of them are junior, senior, or super senior students

• Discussion, team work, and presentation are the main tasks in this course

Pilot Study (Conti.)

• In the past, students used Angel to

access everything about the class.

• But it is not easy to manage everything

for students or for faculty members.

Pilot Study (Conti.)

• Since Summer 2011, we used Drupal to serve as a LMS for the students.

• Integrated with Social Media (Facebook & LinkEdin)

• Continuing improvement anytime and anywhere.

• Cross browsers and devices.

• Getting feedback from students every day.

Pilot Study (Conti.)

Demonstration

• What we will demonstrate?

Frontpage

Syllabus

People

Modules

Assignments

Forums

Calendar

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Frontpage

• Syllabus

Demonstration (Cont.)

• People

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Modules

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Assignments

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Forums

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Calendar

Demonstration (Cont.)

• Social Media

Demonstration (Cont.)

• The real demonstration coming up !

• Explore the site.

• Explore the social media.

• Discussion and feedback.

Demonstration (Cont.)

Evaluation

• The transition from Angel to Drupal

• Designer’s reflection

• Students’ reflection

• Pro / Con of using Drupal

Discussion

• Next step and future plan

• Question and feedback

Thank you for your participation.

Please feel free to contact with us

@izf5008@psu.edu