Scholar360 is more advanced than traditional course management systems in four main ways.
- Next Generation Learning
- Synergized Learning
- E-portfolio Integration
- Cost-Effective Pricing
1. Next Generation Learning & Technology:
Scholar360 uses cutting edge technology to advance next generation learning. The traditional course management system (CMS) exports the brick and mortar classroom style of learning to the Internet. A few of the main limitations of this approach include: minimal interaction between peers and the instructor, lack of personal engagement with the subject matter, and restricted ability for students to contribute by publishing material or uploading course content. These outdated forms of teaching encourage passive learning with an emphasis on memorizing content.
The dawn of the digital age has spawned communication tools that are largely ignored by the traditional CMS. These functions thrive outside of the online classroom, but are rarely an integrated part of the typical CMS. Creative and forward thinking professors realize their inherent power and use them by patching different functions together outside of their institution's CMS. For example, blogging, wikis, RSS, social networking, streaming video, podcasts, and chat have long flourished outside of the classroom. Scholar 360 is clearly the next generation LMS because it integrates these innovate technologies with traditional CMS functionality. Instructors now have all the benefits of the typical CMS along with key Internet advancements that are now a standard part of most students' lives.
2. Synergized Learning:
Scholar 360 also differs in that it encourages an interdependent and reciprocal education. Learning and relationships with peers and mentors last throughout the program. They do not begin with the start of a class and end with the final. Academic programs are designed so that knowledge learned in earlier courses is drawn upon in later courses. However, the traditional CMS isolates that knowledge by keeping it quarantined behind artificial course walls.
Scholar360 overcomes this limitation by making each student the center of their network. Each student and each instructor has their own fully customizable personal, e-portfolio, site within the LMS that includes: a picture, profile information, calendar, educational blog, media section (for course materials, photos, and other documents), RSS feed, and message center. This creates a continuous community context for learning and collaboration. There are also multi-dimensional course sites on the network as well. Instructors can choose to keep the course open or closed. However, students can also store the course content on their personal site to draw upon in future courses. Also, students and faculty can spontaneously create work groups inside and outside of courses. Group collaborations can continue for semesters and even years.
Scholar360 enables both top-down and bottom-up connections that enable people to create true communities of practice. At Scholar360, we look at learning as a lifelong process - not something that only occurs within the brackets of the start and stop dates of a class. That is why students and faculty have a connected and continuous presence that lasts throughout the program and even post graduation. We believe that interrupting relationships and knowledge at the end of every course is an outdated model that costs money, reduces learning, and inhibits professional growth.
3. E-portfolio Integration:
Seamless integration is a third component of our next-generation LMS. The traditional educational software company offers institutions the basic CMS and then charges extra for what they call "plug-ins". For example, many associations and accrediting bodies are moving towards requiring e-portfolios for students. All of the major CMS companies require schools to purchase the "e-portfolio plug-in" at an additional cost. Scholar360, on the other hand, seamlessly integrates e-portfolios for NO additional cost. Why? Because we see connected learning as an invaluable part of professional growth. Networked learning is woven into the fabric or our software. It is not a post-hoc afterthought that we charge for and then awkwardly plug-in to an outdated system.
4. Cost-Effective Pricing:
We serve smaller institutions. At Scholar360, we recognize that tight budgets are a part of education that will be with us for the foreseeable future. Cost market analyses done on all major CMS companies have shown that institutions with 1000-5,000 students, or less, can expect to pay between US $40,000 - US $80,000 a year, each year, for the software license and hosted services. At Scholar360, we provide solutions for a fraction of this cost because we believe in the valuable contributions that smaller academic institutions make to our global society.
Want to learn more? Check out, How Scholar360 Benefits Academic Institutions
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