Commonwealth of Learning - COL LMS Open Source

Consultant's report

COL LMS Open Source

This document describes the findings of a survey-style evaluation of
Open Source Learning Management System Software
commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning from 3waynet Inc.

June 2003

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application of the material in this report which represents the opinions of the assessors, nor does it warrant the claims
of any of the products. The results and recommendations may or may not apply to the
specific circumstances of third parties. Third party use, therefore, is at the discretion of the user.

INTRODUCTION

This document describes the findings of a survey-style evaluation of Open Source Learning Management System Software commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning from 3waynet Inc.

Scope

The study focused exclusively on open source technologies with no limitations on distribution. Consequently commercial products were expressly excluded from the evaluation.

The final product would aim to include all major components that may be found in commercial LCMs but be available for free distribution for non-profit use. It would be feasible to copy the chosen application to CD/DVD and send to partners who could make it operational with reasonable, local IT skills.

This report represents a snapshot of a very active field as of June 2003. A year from this date there would certainly be improvement among the current crop of candidates and new ones will emerge.

The specific intention of the study is to recommend a system which can be implemented by COL. The system recommended may require additional customization; the specifications of which are outside the scope of the document.

Objectives

The objectives of this document are:

To identify criteria which will be useful in evaluating open source LMS

To assess candidate LMS using the criteria.

To recommend an LMS for installation and use by COL.

Terminology

LMS: Learning Management System. These typically contain features for administration, assessment, course management, possibly content management and authoring.

LCMS: Learning Content Management System. These emphasize content management/authoring and include many features of an LMS

Both categories of technology were considered for this evaluation, but few of the candidates qualified as a true LCMS.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report evaluates open source Learning Management Systems as of June 2003.

After developing evaluation criteria, we used COL Knowledge Finder and other online resources to identify a list of thirty-five candidate products.

This candidate list was screened using the evaluation criteria to create a short list of five candidates.

The short list was systematically evaluated using hands-on testing offered through demonstration user accounts to understand the product features. We also followed up by inspecting the online help, user and instructor documentation, and commentary of the user community in order to rate the short list candidates.

The top two candidates were:

ATutor

ILIAS