7.1: Introduction

Learning Outcome

• Describe the functions of learning management systems (LMS) for formal education and corporate training.
• Conduct a needs analysis, select an appropriate LMS for your environment and manage the implementation and change process successfully at least 50 percent of the time. A higher success rate will depend upon the political environment and the diligence of the needs analysis and research that is done.

"I truly believe that the Internet and education are the two great equalizers in life, leveling the playing field for people, companies, and countries worldwide. By providing greater access to educational opportunities through the Internet, students are able to learn more. Workers have greater access to e-learning opportunities to enhance and increase their skills. And companies and schools can decrease costs by utilizing technology for greater productivity”. – John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems (Chambers, 2002)

What are Learning Management Systems?

Learning management systems (LMSs) are electronic platforms that can be used to launch and track e-learning courses and enhance face-to-face instruction with online components. Some also manage classroom instruction. Primarily they automate the administration of learning by facilitating and then recording learner activity. They may or may not include tools for creating and managing course content. As the systems grow, they also add new features such as e-commerce, communications tools, skills tracking, performance management and talent management.

LMSs have evolved quite differently for formal education and corporate training to meet different needs. The most common systems used in education are WebCT, Blackboard (these are now effectively one) and Moodle. They often use the term course management system to describe themselves. The term course management system, however, is easily confused with content management system, so we will use the term LMS to describe the solutions for both educational and corporate environments. We will distinguish between them by discussing corporate or business LMS versus education LMS. Education LMSs are also known as virtual learning environments (VLE).

This chapter will be a non-technical look at the features of these systems and the processes of selecting and implementing them. It will address the different functionalities of the systems and consider open-source systems as an option to commercial proprietary ones. It will discuss needs analysis to help you begin the process of selecting an appropriate system, and the change management process to address the implementation issues. Case studies will be provided for illustration. Open source systems will be discussed in Chapter 8, Exploring Open Source for Educators.

Occasionally certain vendors and products or services are mentioned by name. These are not intended to be endorsements in any way but simply to serve as familiar examples. We do not endorse any products or services. Vendors and products that are mentioned are usually the best known or the ones with the greatest market penetration. There is no single “best” solution. The ideal solution is the one that fits your needs and environment.