Learning Management Systems

Kevin Hansen's picture
I am interested in doing some research on the various Open Source/Free Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are available. While I have installed and managed several Moodle instances, I would like to find out more about the differences between the various other systems.  A comparison has been done by a few people, but with some specific needs in mind I would like to do some of my own analysis.
 
A few of the Open Source LMS's out there include:
  • ATutor - Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System
  • Claroline - Claroline is a free LMS
  • Dokeos - elearning and course management web application
  • eFront - Open Source Learning Management System
  • Fle3
  • ILIAS - Open Source Learning Management System
  • KEWL.nextgen
  • LON-CAPA - Open Source Learning Management System with Linked Domains
  • Moodle - Open Source Course Management System
  • OLAT - Open Source Learning Management System
  • Sakai Project - Collaboration and Learning Environment
  • LAMS
I may limit my research to only a select number of these.
 
Groups:
Submitted by Kevin Hansen on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 10:06pm
Yan Ma's picture

^_^

Submitted by Yan Ma on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 9:05am.
Hi Kevin, it's a pretty good topic. I happened to use Moodle in Doug's class last semester, honestly, I like it more than blackboard. Good luck! :-)
Kevin Hansen's picture

Agreed

Submitted by Kevin Hansen on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 9:50pm.
I agree on that.  I've managed several moodle servers in the past and they have
always seemed more self-explanatory and easy to use for the instructors. I'm interested, however, in comparing more that just Moodel and Blackboard.  There are quite a few LMS system out there.
 
 
--
Kevin Hansen
Going for an Emphasis in Distance Learning
David's picture

Open Source CMS

Submitted by David (not verified) on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 10:47am.
Kevin: I have installed and used Claroline on a couple of different occasions. It is much like Moodle in that once you have the AMP stack installed there is a scripted install that will take care of the process for you. If you have a current test box set up it's a snap to install Claroline and play with it. My experience with it has been that it wouldn't scale the same way Moodle does but for some smaller applications it could work well. I helped my father set up an instance for the high school he teaches at for the faculty to play with and give students who are at home for sick or other reasons the ability to do work online. They seemed to enjoy it and find it intuitive to use. One open source LMS that isn't on your list is a product called Open Learning Management system. http://www.psych.utah.edu/learn/olms/ It is a project housed out of the University of Utah that is built and maintained by folks in the Psychology Department I believe. I have never had the opportunity to install it but it seems to be written in Java with the idea of it scaling well. Hope this helps and good luck! David

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