Echoing Pink Floyd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNLhxKpfCnA), is there anybody out there?  I'm getting a bit confused by all the options -- E.g., discussion forum in Canvas, BlogSpot, Today's Meet, YouTube.  I think I like one main list of links -- which is probably what our Module page is in Canvas.  I think of the LMS as pulling it all together in one place, although I've already found in a course I'm teaching that opening a PDF in Canvas isn't necessarily as good an experience as opening it in Acrobat (a bunch of pages were blank!). 
I like the colors and overall more attractive format of Today's Meet.  Sorry, but that does matter to me (and my motivation!).  LMS's tend to be very dull, IMHO.  Since I'm long winded (no, I tend to "nuance" my thoughts!), my very first attempt at Today's Meet was way too long!  Discussion forums and blogs probably work better for the kind of critical thinking I want my students to do, but I do see the point of encouraging (enforcing) pithiness.  I think our culture rewards it -- notice how the most pithy Tweets after a big news event get listed in the news articles as examples of how the world is reacting. 
I'm also particular about not wasting my time (well, I want to choose how to waste my time, not have a prof waste my time!).  So I like LMS features like the Module thing where everything's listed in one place for the week (or day in my former summer courses) with handy links out to the actual materials.  I totally agree with Smith (Chap. 2) that one needs to get clever in the course architecture to avoid a lot of editing in future iterations of the course.  When I started with online courses (in Moodle) I couldn't stand how there still needed to be a paper syllabus for students to print out.  Setting up the Moodle course was like starting entirely over and doing all the syllabus pieces in a different way.  It felt like telling someone to stack up a pile of wood in the garage and then saying, no stack it all under the picnic table!  Grr. 
But more positively, I think we're heading in the right direction.  We're seeing more and more options in the technologies so online/hybrid courses can pick and choose appropriate pedagogies for the specific course needs and learning objectives.  But until we get there, we'll still be limited by institutions with blanket policies (like every course has to have a synchronous class meeting each week), dull LMSs, and overworked instructors who are tempted to fall into ruts (like using just the discussion forum and nothing else in each module).  What would be cool is if there was a razzle dazzle instructional design team at each college, akin to some PR/marketing departments, that could come alongside instructors and suggest cool upgrades to the course design.  That's how the intersection of technology, pedagogy, and content could make each course come alive!