Learning Management Systems
Where is a good place to find information on the different types of Learning Management Systems that exist? What are some of the obstacles that present day institutions are experiencing with current Learning Management Systems?
Going to the website listed in the course that describes the strengths and weaknesses of LMS's will help. I don't have that right in front of me, but I'll look it up.
The major problems are:
1. Connecting to existing grade reporting software (instructors balking at moving grades from LMS gradebook onto institutional forms)
2. Not purchasing enough technical support so students/instructors complain (you can never get rid of 100% of complaints, but ease of use is a key component)
3. Underestimating the traffic on the server (especially at end of the week or end of term/semester)so the server goes down. This is less of a problem if you have outside "hosting." Your IT department will soon report server capacity as an issue, so long range planning is important. [That's why I recommend having different weekly deadlines for different departments--to take the load off Sunday night at midnight EST.]
We looked at the three main players in LMS systems (I will not mention names here) and found that they are all roughly the same. Over the course of my undergrad and graduate work I have been both a student and instructor on all of these. One of them is an open-source and free package, I liked it but my supervisor is concerned about support. I did not like the major player in the field because of financial issues (I felt they are very expensive) but I have to admit that the support has been great.
We have the grading issue that someone else mentioned but our admin system does have modules available to link the LMS system to our campus management system in the future. If you contact me off-line (I hope that is allowed) I will be happy to share any information and thoughts that I have had on various LMS systems.
-Chris
First, you should join the American Society for Training and Development, ASTD. You would have access to a wealth of information including LMS systems.
There are magazines, e-zines, technology papers and of course lists and checklists of how to compare LMS systems.
There is an annual Technology Training conference that covers all the latest trends and products.
I have attended one conference and the amount of information available is amazing. It was very helpful when I was in a possition to start an online program.
Second, as the course module describes, you will need to ask youself how much money do you have to spend and what resources do you have to support your system. One very important part of creating a LMS is to have your IT department behind you every step of the way.
I was fortunate to have an IT co-project manager. This person was able to sift through the technical issues and help clearify the direction we wanted to go.
Our company/school has a team that has decided on the LMS that is to be used. I remember when we first started offering online courses, the LMS was WEBCT; it was then changed to Angel for a few years, and now we use eCollege; I think it is the easier to use. I've also been trained in eCollege, to be able to help our online students, as was our On-Campus Liaison for online students.
I used an LMS called On-Track back in the early 2000s. As an instructor it was great because it allowed me to see my upcoming class. I was able to see the number of enrolled students, where they were from, their managers and it showed me thier pre-class work.
The LMS also showed me my classroom. This was a great way to prepare.
There were many other great functions such as grade tracking. My level as an instructor did not allow me to go into other areas.
Hi,Steven,
I have not heard of that LMS but it sounds very useful, especially ad it improved your teaching. When you consider an LMS as a tool instead of "the course," it is easier to make it work for you and your stdents.
Hi there,
One of the great resources I have found quite useful is Faculty Focus..not per se to talk about the LMS...but emerging trends which I find to be absoltuely critical.
Contact other schools that utilize online systems.
Some obstacles that present institutions are experiencing are; the lack of IT support, costs of hardware (servers), and faculty familiarization with online teaching.
When we where looking for a Learning Management System for our online course, we called the people who is in charge of our IT. They sent an IT engineered and an online system consultant who helped us figured out what we needed. One week later, they came back with four different options for us. That worked for us. We decided to go with Moodle since it was an open source system and most of our faculty members were familiar with it.
webb sites and reviewing other training centers would be helpful in educating ones self in how others have created online course.
Some of the obstacles may be time or lack of the correct staff to help with investigation.
How would be the best way one would go about training someone to do this job for a school?
Actually, this class gives a great list of LMS's software to compare. Some of the names listed throughout the tutorial sound familiar to me and are very familiar because I have worked with them as an online instructor.
I believe one obstacle some institutions are experiencing is the ability to support the number of students wanting to enroll in online classes and programs. Sometimes an institution will overlook or miscalculate the growth potential of an online program. Even though the class or program is online, there is still a policy to the total number of students (cap)that an online instructor can have enrolled in their class.
I agree that ASTD is a good place to find information. Experience from others schools also count, contact them to have their feedback, finally some web sites have very good information.
When sourcing a good LMS, I started with referrals from colleagues and then compared the platforms online, as well as, attending our annual accrediting conference where I was able to speak directly to the system representatives on which I wanted to focus. Armed with good questions from colleagues I feel our choice of eCollege was the right one. However, as a small college embarking on this venture, I chose to use a company that acted as a partner with us and eCollege, and who have proven to be invaluable, guiding us step by step through the hurtles.
I kinda wish you had named names. It's okay, you are among friends. I am wondering if your experiences parallel those of the other participants. If you are still out there subscribing to this forum, can you please give us an update on the details so we can compare notes?
this information is very helpful- thank you for taking the time to delineate this
This sounds like a nice LMS for beginners- will try to reserach more about this one.
Offcourse internet search engines and web browsing are the good place to find information on different types of learning management systems. Also educationist can guide in exploring different types of LMS, he can give his personnal experience redarding this if he has. Obstacles that institutions are experiencing now a days can be a short span of time they have. If a faculty is not trained to a certain level or standard then it can also be an obstacle.
Are there links you might suggest? I just need to know where to go to find some more information about learning management systems.
Thanks! This is good info.
