LMS Comparison

ATutor

is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS/LMS) and social networking environment designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind. Administrators can install or update ATutor in minutes, develop custom themes to give ATutor a new look, and easily extend its functionality with feature modules. Educators can quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content, easily import prepackaged content, and conduct their courses online. Students learn in an adaptive, social learning environment.

• What types of communication methods are available on this platform? - Both asynchronous & synchronous communication is provided. A type of archive can be recorded and accessed by the learning later. It did not say anything about instant messaging, but it does have chat features for private and group discussions. Video seemed to only be available for use with the testing feature. Otherwise, an add-on module would be required for video and audio conferencing thereby severely diminishing the transactional distance of instruction.
• How can you organize the content on the platform? I liked the tabs at the top which were available to the learner. The organization of the content seemed intuitive and efficient. Also, the capabilities to change the way the content was displayed allowed for greater individuality and learner preference. From the instructor perspective, I took the instructor demo and the content navigation window is extremely helpful for organizing pages and resources.
• What type of interface design does it use? It has a very simple interface design. It is very intuitive because it uses simple tabs for organizing the content. The similarity both for user and instructor allows for easy manipulation on the backend.
• What capabilities does this platform have? You can assign courses and allow multi-users and guests and students to meet and forum chat in, outside, or across courses. It is a very simplistic communication platform. More for providing textual information and collaboration and not for utilizing and enhancing instruction with Web 2.0 or Web 3.0 tools.
• What did you like and dislike about this platform from an administrator’s perspective? As an admin, I like that it is an easy interface and intuitive for uploading into a hierarchy of navigation windows. I do not like that it does not have a calendar and many special features like social networking, audio/video conferencing, payment gateway integration, portal integration, certificates, wikis etc. have to be added on.
• What did you like and dislike about this platform from a learner’s perspective? I do not like that it does not have a calendar, but it seems easy to use, organize, and access content. It also has many customization settings to allow the learner to set things to fill their needs.
• How would you use this platform? Who else could you see using this platform: government, corporations, higher education, and K-12 education? I would probably use this only as a forum site. Because it does not have calendar functionality, that hinders keeping things on task and ensuring due dates. I see this in use with middle school students who can handle a more textual base interface and does not necessarily need the high media graphics to accomplish textual readings and posts. Younger students would need a more aesthetically pleasing platform.

.LRN

is the world’s most widely adopted enterprise-class open source software for supporting e-learning and digital communities. Originally developed at MIT, .LRN is used worldwide by over half a million users in higher education, government, non-profit, and K-12.

• What types of communication methods are available on this platform? Both asynchronous & synchronous. They say that the source of their innovation is the user and not the manufacture. .LRN has a multi application functionality that allows the instructor to create a unique and purposeful community for learning. I did not see the capability for instant messaging, but this Sound and video could be used with the slide presentation feature.
• How can you organize the content on the platform? Seems that the organization is very user friendly. There are visual icons for organization, but they are not too obtrusive which helps with the cognitive overload feature. They are intuitive and easy to navigate.
• What type of interface design does it use? This seems to have a complex interface in that it is highly scalable. Overall, though, it does not seem complex to use. There may be issues with understanding how to make some of the application work. They may require open source modules that some users, both administration, instructors and learners may find difficult to incorporate or understand.
• What capabilities does this platform have? It seems that the capabilities for the platform are limited to the user and instructional designers’ abilities to incorporate the sources. This is definitely more of an authoring tool to bring together applications and platforms for use to create a unique community based on the needs of the course and the learners.
• What did you like and dislike about this platform from an administrator’s perspective? This did not seem to have a searchable address options for users, but I imagine this source could be added if the instructor had the ability. It does have a multi-international platform for language manipulations of content. There is an announcements section and survey and slide presentation module. Also, and very importantly it had a support tab for questions and tutorials. It also provided testimonials from some highly reputable institutions.
• What did you like and dislike about this platform from a learner’s perspective? Students could set posts to arrive based on subject or subscribed to forums via RSS feeds. It did not seem to have an online journal section or note taking section like ATutor, but the file storage option can use personal word files for keeping notes. It has a course calendar with synchronization from student personal calendars. Students have access to a personal home page and profile.
• How would you use this platform? Who else could you see using this platform: government, corporations, higher education, and K-12 education? I could see anyone using this. The ability to take this platform farther depends on the diligence and determination of the designer and the needs of the course.