Giving Compass' Take:

· EdSurge discusses learning management systems and the benefits they provide for educators. LMS makes professional learning a more affordable and personalized experience and allows teachers to stay engaged. 

· How do LMS effect the kinds of learning offered to educators?

· Here's how learning management systems can help student-led learning.

The idea of using a learning management system (LMS) to deliver professional learning and development to K-12 educators is not new—but it’s not quite mainstream, either. Face-to-face is still the ascendant modality, but LMS-for-PD is gaining serious traction, thanks to the efforts of educational IT innovators like Ken Dirkin.

Dirkin is the Director of Online Professional Learning at Michigan Virtual, a nonprofit provider of digital learning solutions for the state’s K-12 schools. He’s been involved with cutting-edge educational technology, including virtual worlds, mobile applications, new media, and the web, for more than 15 years.

Michigan Virtual has been in the online education space for two decades. The organization has been providing LMS-based professional learning for the state’s educators since 2004. “We figured, what’s good for the students is good for the teachers,” says Dirkin.

Read the full article about learning management systems by John Waters at EdSurge.