I’ve now spent over a decade railing against the use of LMS. I’ve put my money where my mouth is, too, developing my materials on this site, keeping them available without a paywall, and making interfaces as easy as possible. My ethical objections to the LMS hasn’t changed, and I still hate the way it looks.
BUT
We are not living in normal times. We are not teaching in normal ways. I can barely string a sentence together these days, and I’ve constantly got my kids and/or existential dread interrupting my thoughts. Anyway, in the midst of all this the University required us to use the LMS this year to simplify our students’ lives. And much as I still don’t like the LMS, I gotta admit this is the right way to go.
Anything that can make life easier these days is fair game, as far as I’m concerned. I’m letting my preteen spend pretty much every waking hour on her iPad. I’m bribing both kids with toys I would never buy in normal circumstances. And I’m eating ice cream every day. Preferably mochi (PSA: Wegmans has an “ice cream sundae” mochi that is INCREDIBLE).
So. I can’t do what’s easiest for me and mine and then make students do hard stuff that doesn’t really make sense right now. I mean really, why NOT eat mochi? Why NOT wear day pajamas instead of real clothes? Why NOT use the LMS?
After over a decade of working hard to develop alternate delivery methods, it hurts a little to make a 180 and have to re-organize, re-enter, and re-format everything. It hurts even more considering how ugly it all is. But I’m doing it. I’m just hoping that like day-pajamas and constant existential dread, it’s temporary.