Moving Outside the LMS: Matching Web 2.0 Tools to Instructional Purpose

What considerations support the decision to either augment or replace an institution’s existing learning management system (LMS) with a cloud-based, Web 2.0 technology tool to support students’ learning? The use of instructional technologies should be evaluated against a backdrop of pedagogical objectives, and students’ selection of tools to support their learning can result in a more collaborative, constructive, and authentic learning experience. Instructors must balance the benefit of introducing new technology tools into the curriculum with the additional load—for instructors (supporting the tool) and students (learning the tool). This paper describes the experiences of an online graduate program in instructional technology at Georgia Southern University (GSU) and the program faculty who have chosen to move beyond the LMS.