OLAT
Communication
This LMS has its strength in group communication and functionality. Aside from its Instant Messaging capabilities, the LMS is designed primarily as an asynchronous tool. Any given client or user will often be members of different groups. Within groups, there are all kinds of ways to communicate. Instant messaging occurs either through an internal AJAX service, or supported externally by Jabber. Mac users can use iChat to facilitate communication. This system is compatible with iChat and other OS-specific chat programs. Each group shares an information page, calendar, group emails, a group folder, discussion forums, and wiki. There are different types of groups: project groups, learning groups, and right groups. The latter is a group in which the administrator can give specific users access to the content.
Content
Content management is fairly straightforward in this LMS. OLAT is an open-source LMS that uses the IMS standards CP (content package) and QTI (question / test interoperability) to create content. The user can create a course very easily using a hierarchical outline structure. A user can easily navigate between elements using this system. In the course editor, the user can easily import existing content. In addition, there is a wide variety of learning resources to upload – supports most file types: video, test, survey, office/pdf files, wiki, glossary, animation, etc.
Tests and Assessments are made using the QTI standard, and are customizable in many ways. These are easily created as additional elements within a course, and are found within the assessment tool. Also, featured is an archive tool and CSS for custom page layout.
The OLAT content system is designed to import a ‘CP,’ (content package) using the IMS standard format. This way, the author can completely load an entire course that is pre-prepared at the touch of a button. In designing pages, course author can use the built-in WYSIWYG editor, or an external html editor such as Dreamweaver. Once a course is created, it becomes published and accessible to students.
Interface
There are two views: the author view, and the student view. In the author view, one can create and edit courses, manage groups and content folders, as described above in the “Content” section. However, the largest benefit of this LMS is in the student view. When the student logs in, they are taken to a home screen. The simple interface has about 6 portlets that are spread out across the screen with three tabs on the top: Home, Group, and Learning Resources. This simplified structure makes it easy to navigate. In some ways, it resembles moodle on the home screen.
The portlets house learner-specific information, such as their individual calendar, groups, helpful links, notifications, etc. Students can easily configure the look of the page by changing the placement of these portlets. The student can also change their IM settings, profile, language (OLAT translates 30 languages), and manage their folders. A students personal folder is divided into two parts: public, in which all can view, and private, in which they keep their own files. OLAT uses a program called WEBdav to allow users to drag-and-drop items from their desktop to the OLAT folder. WEBdav is compatible across multiple operating systems, including Mac, Windows, Linux.
Aside from the group tab, which acts as a dashboard for group activity, the learning resources tab is where students can benefit the most from the interface. OLAT features a catalog search function, in which students can not only search courses, but tests and other items. Once pulled up, the user can see what the author created. In the test function, the course author can allow the user a certain number of attempts to complete the test.
Capabilities
The uniqueness of this program is that it uses a simple group concept to apply to not only classes, but also smaller groups, including those created by students themselves. This format allows the author to quickly create courses by importing large chunks of content into an organized, hierarchical outline format. The fact that it is open-source makes it especially useful for large-scale applications.
Administrator’s Perspective (likes/dislikes)
First of all, the fact that this LMS is free is attractive to anyone considering the implementation of an LMS. This is a relatively transparent system, with lots of capability for both instructors and students. As an administrator, I’d like to learn more about the IMS and QTI standards, and how they relate to my particular instructional situation. I don’t like the fact that there isn’t a web-conferencing aspect to it.
Learner’s Perspective (likes/dislikes)
As a learner, this seems like a fun, easy way to learn. I like how the home screen is simple and customizable, yet effective. I like that I can search for tests or items in my courses. I also like that I have a place to store and organize my files (cloud computing). I get to be part of different groups, like project groups, and learning groups, as well as create my own group. Plus, I can take tests multiple times to ensure content mastery.
Desire2Learn
Communication
Definitely a strength of Desire2Learn is its multi-faceted Learning Environment, providing a number of useful communication features. It supports both synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication, offering customizable security and usage promotion. In terms of synchronous communication, it offers 2-way voice, multipoint video, interactive whiteboard, app/file sharing, and breakout rooms. It also has D2L Live Room, a simple conferencing solution with an integrated chat feature. Both its calendar and email features offer compatibility and ease of integration into existing IMAP / Outlook systems. In terms of instant messaging, it facilitates peer communication by allowing users to find each other and communicate instantly. Handily, instructors can turn on on / off this feature during assessments. Finally, it features a blog that offers the user commenting capability and the creation of favorites. It also features a highly interactive discussion board in which users can rate postings and highlight each other’s work, while instructors can offer participation incentives and grade posts easily with both numeric and rubric assessment.
Content
In terms of organizing the content on the platform, it features a course design wizard and course builder to accomplish these tasks. The course design wizard helps the client to ensure that the instruction they’re building follows best practices of instructional design. Specifically, it helps make sure that a variety of activities and resources are provided to meet a variety of student learning needs. It uses a competency-based promotion system that delivers content at the appropriate learning level. It walks the client through the creation of an effective course structure with fully aligned objectives, practice, and assessment.
The course builder is a drag-and-drop system that allows the client to intuitively create and manage their courses, lessons, and materials. It builds off of the course design done with the wizard, and links together activities, resources, and materials. This allows the client to create finished courses efficiently and easily.
Interface
Two key features of the Desire2Learn interface are the User Progress Tool and the Classlist. The user progress tool allows the instructor to quickly analyze a student’s progress, including attendance and grades, and easily compare student data across categories. The usage patterns enable both instructors and learners to assess progress both individually and comparatively. Classlist provides the instructor an easy-to-use tool for user management, enrollment, and even communication with learners.
Capabilities
As you can see, this is clearly a very capable LMS with lots of advanced features. One of the more useful capabilities is the “Intelligent Agents” tool. This tool notifies both clients and learners when a student does something outstanding. It also notifies if a student is underperforming, offering remedial steps to fix the situation.
Administrator’s Perspective (likes/dislikes)
This LMS has so much going for it, that it’s hard not to like it. The tools are powerful, useful, and support proper instructional design. It’s really easy to keep track of learner progress, and the communication is fantastic. It might take a while to get accustomed to all of the advanced features, but this is a minor dislike.
Learner’s Perspective (likes/dislikes)
With all the resources available, including a great website, Desire2Learn makes sense for an e-learner for several reasons. In particular, I like the supportive way it targets communication, competency-based learning, a variety of activities, and great communication tools. It allows the learner to acquire knowledge at the appropriate pace.
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