Why Moodle? Early in the project, we looked at a number of learning management systems. Among them were Canvas, Blackboard, DrupalELMS, JoomlaLMS, Dokeos, Sakai, Adobe eLearning and Moodle. We spent some time dwelling on the criteria for selecting the LMS, and eventually came up with the following points of comparison. Requirements and Capabilities One of the first things we looked at was whether or not the server that we are developing on is capable of running the software.
We're running a LAMP server, one of the most common webserver configurations. The other thing we looked at was the basic capabilities of the LMS. Cost and Licensing While our budget is not terribly constrained, software gets expensive quickly. Scalability One of the most important factors in any software development is scalability. How does the scale of the LMS affect the price point? Teacher and Student Experience How much experience do teachers and students have in the LMS? Operating System and Development Language Canvas Blackboard. 5 free learning management systems. Technology directors around the country are taking a hard look at the price they pay for school digital learning environment and wondering if they should make the jump to open-source. Let’s take a look at five free learning management systems. Canvas (Community Version) I am super excited about this product. I have been a big fan of the Canvas LMS for schools and was surprised when they launched an open-source version.
Canvas features an outstanding user interface with plenty of features and intuitive controls. And if that’s not enough, they have a not-so-subtle, yet hilarious, video targeted at a major competitor. Dokeos This LMS has loads of features and is easy to create feature-rich courses. A large number of page templates are included so teachers can rapidly create content. Docebo Another excellent open-source LMS is Docebo.
Claroline With a minimalist user interface, Claroline has a similar feel as Moodle. ATutor ATutor is a very powerful LMS loaded with countless features. LMS? SIS? SIF? LTI? Alphabet soup and blended learning. On Monday, I'm headed to New Orleans for the BBWorld DevCon. This is Blackboard's annual conference for partners and developers on their various information systems that proceeds the LMS giant's user conference, BBWorld. I was originally scheduled to give the keynote, but then Blackboard went and bought Moodlerooms and Sakai, shocking just about everyone involved in the e-learning space.
Not surprisingly, my keynote slot is now going to be a roundtable with executives from all of the companies. However, this got me thinking. The average school technologist, let alone the average teacher or administrator, has a lot to wade through in terms of selecting systems that support blended learning initiatives. Sure, most principals know that their school needs a platform where students and teachers can share information, assignments are readily accessible, and teachers can curate resources for students. A BIG market Third-party tools Which brings up the idea of third-party tools. 12 learning management system providers and what they bring to classrooms. Learning management systems (LMSs) have become an indispensable part of higher education, as well as many K-12 and business environments.
The $1.9 billion LMS market is diverse, too, encompassing in-house systems, open source options and out-of-the-box setups. Online programs from providers such as the University of Phoenix, Coursera and edX have stirred up change in higher ed in recent years, but even as they continue to shake things up, leading LMS providers such as Blackboard, Moodle and Desire2Learn have established broader groups of clientele and adapted. Here's a look at 12 of the biggest names among LMS providers, as well as how they have distinguished themselves and what they provide: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Would you like to see more education news like this in your inbox on a daily basis? » The open source LMS battle hots up David Murphy's Occasional Blog. A few years ago the debate at my university was between Sakai and Moodle – which was the better LMS (learning management system) and how/when should we transition to one of them?
Researchers favoured Sakai (good for collaborative projects), while teaching staff liked Moodle (in case you’re wondering, it stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). As it has turned out, Moodle won the day, but step forward to the current online environment and the battle is on again. It’s bigger, tougher, more complex and the stakes are higher than ever. Note, though, that Moodle is still doing exceptionally well. Wikipedia reports that as of “October 2012 it had a user base of 70,793 registered and verified sites, serving 63,204,814 users in 6.7+ million courses with 1.2+ million teachers.”
Sakai soldiers on, with a reported 300 institutions using it. But what else is out there? What else? Myth #1. Myth #2: Automated grading only requires 100 training examples.