Learning
Management Systems Comparison
Dan McDowell
ET650 Distance Education
Dr. Fred Saba, SDSU Educational Technology Department
Administration
The Discussion Board administration can be accessed through the control panel. This screen lists the active forums, number of messages in each forum, links to modify or remove active forums, and a link to add new forums. Individual messages can be deleted by navigating to the message and click on the “remove” link. No sub-forums can be created. Overall, there are few options, but it is extremely easy to maintain.
Posting
The main discussion board lists the forums. Messages within each forum are threaded, with replies appearing directly underneath the original message. Students can add a new thread or reply to current thread.
Administration
The forum module for PostNuke is called PNphpBB2. This forum is highly customizable and extremely complex. However, this specific module has a comprehensive user manual. Through nine topics and some thirty sub-links, the instructor can create and delete forums, ban users, control attachment sizes, send e-mail, create sub-forums, and a couple dozen other options. While this is much more than more than most teachers need, it does allow the advanced user the option to further customize the forum. The “look and feel” of the forum is much more professional.
Posting
The main forum menu lists the topics, number of topics, and total posts (which includes replies).
When posting a topic or a reply, students can adjust how they see the messages, change forums, and view their privileges in that specific topic (which can be set in the administration menu). Html code and a whole collection of smiley faces can also be incorporated into messages.
Advantage: Neither
While PostNuke allows a lot of customizing options, I bet most people do not take advantage of them and use the same options offered by BlackBoard. If you want greater control, PostNuke is your choice.