Learning management system (LMS) is software application for delivering, administration, tracking and facilitation of courses or/and programs in online or blended delivery environment. I have been using LMS for more than a decade now. My first introduction to LMS was through the home grown system BAZAAR that has been developed as a research project in my institution. It had lots of limitations and later was replaced by Moodle. So I can say that my only experience with known to world LMSs is only with Moodle. This Unit of the MDDE610 course gave a nice overview of major commercial and open-source systems.

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Commercial LMS:

• Blackboard

• Desire to Learn

• SABA

 

Most of the commercial LMS are very expensive and provide limited customization that comes with the even higher price if needed. Open-source LMS can be downloaded for free and offer fully accessible source-code. Although it might seem as open-source LMS are free, their customization come with a price and depends on the size of the institution. Examples of the hidden costs of running ‘free’ LMS are servers, server administrator(s), database administrator(s), help desk, developers, QA/testers, and list can go on. That said, institutions should carefully weight their options while choosing LMS for their use to ensure that all their needs are met and they fit the budget.

 

Most common features of the Learning Management systems are:

• Forum

• Blog

• Assignment drop box

• Chats

• Wiki

• Quiz

• Questionnaire

• Grade Book

• Publishing Tools, etc

 

Instructional designers and content developers can make their courses more interactive and enhance students’ learning by using LMS tools.