Pushing the Envelope: Designing Authentic Learning Activities Using Course Management Systems

Abstract

This chapter describes how course management systems (CMS) can be utilized to support learner-centered practices and meaningful learning in distributed or online learning environments. Specifically, the chapter provides: (1) a pedagogically-oriented classification of the features and components of CMS enabling the online course developer to comprehensively understand the pedagogical potential of a CMS; and (2) a framework that explicitly demonstrates how to design authentic learning tasks using the features and components of CMS to create course designs and distributed learning interactions that engage students in meaningful learning.