As an independent study teacher, I have had the opportunity to see many of the elements discussed in this article in action. Although we do not use an LMS to organize the information, our program does develop an individualized plan for each student that addresses the student's career and academic goals. In addition, students are provided with a flexible schedule so that they have the opportunity to complete course requirements while also pursuing other interests that they may not be able to pursue with a traditional schedule. Based on my five years of working in the independent study environment and examples from the article, my LMS would contain the following elements:
1. An academic pre-assessment for students entering the program. Assessing the academic needs of students will allow for the appropriate curriculum to be applied to that individual student. Students showing that they have basic skills will save time and money by being able to skip over more remedial courses.
2. Career/Interest Inventory for students entering the program. Students may value the curriculum and show increased interested in programs that are catered to their long term career goals and interests. If the LMS has a way to determine these interests, curriculum can be customized for each student.
3. Both asynchrounous and synchronous modes of communication would be included so that students and instructors would have a choice in how they communicated. Students needing extra on-on-one support may choose to use synchronous forms of communication; while those that were more independent learners would find the asynchrounous option more appealing and convienent.
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