Day 4: Comparison of learning management platforms

Day 4 - Topics

• LMS Comparison
  • Part of this will be completed during class, but may need to be finished after class.
  • Select two of the following product websites
    • ATutor http://www.atutor.ca/
    • Blackboard http://blackboard.com/
    • Desire2Learn http://www.desire2learn.com/
    • Dokeos http://www.dokeos.com/
    • .LRN http://dotlrn.org/
    • Joomla http://www.joomlalms.com/
    • OLAT http://www.olat.org/website/en/html/index.html
    • Saba http://www.saba.com/index.htm
    • Sakai http://sakaiproject.org/
    • SumTotal http://www.sumtotal.com/
  • Review the features of each platform as presented in product description and specification pages in each website
  • Look at the various features of each platform as described in their respective websites and answer the following questions about each platform you chose:
    • What types of communication methods are available on this platform?
      • Only asynchronous
      • Both asynchronous & synchronous
      • Instant messaging
      • Sound capabilities
      • Video capabilities
    • How can you organize the content on the platform?
      • Versioning
    • What type of interface design does it use?
      • Simple or complex
      • Intuitive for both administrator & learner
      • Backend easy to use
    • What capabilities does this platform have?
      • Assigning courses
      • Simply a communication platform
      • Creating content on the platform (authoring tool)
    • What did you like and dislike about this platform from an administrator’s perspective?
    • What did you like and dislike about this platform from a learner’s perspective?
    • How would you use this platform? Who else could you see using this platform: government, corporations, higher education, K-12 education?
  • Post a brief yet thorough summary (around 200 words per platform) about each platform you chose on the LMS Comparison Project discussion forum.
  • Click here for a good example.

Day 4 - Assignments

• Work on Moodle Project.
• Complete LMS Comparison activity and post to discussion forum.
• Read Learning Management Systems of the Future: A Theoretical Framework and Design article and post to discussion forum about what you would include in your LMS of the future if you were to design one.