Quick Links for this page:

• Articles
• Comparisons
• Delivery Platforms (CMSs, VLEs, etc.) & Collaboration Tools

NOTE: If you're looking for the section "Live (Real-Time) Connection Tools: Conferencing,
Chat, Video, etc." that was previously on this page, it now has a page of its own [click here].

Articles:

Aperto eLearning Solutions: "...focuses on integrating innovative Open Source technologies with commercial learning management systems (LMS), such as WebCT and Blackboard. Aperto was created by WebCT co-founder Sasan Salari, who left WebCT in January 2006 after eleven years. Sasan saw a significant interest by higher- and further-education institutions to embrace the use of new community-building technologies in conjunction with their LMS." Aperto has now partnered with Elgg (see next item here). 07/30/06

ELGG Learning Landscape: This system was mentioned by Kevin Reeve as one way of including a blogging tool in a course; Elgg is one of the WebCT powerlinks. "Elgg is a hybrid of weblogging, e-portfolios and social networking. It is hoped this combination of features will provide an engaging environment for learners to create their own learning space and then connect to others, forming online communities of learning. ... There are two options to get an Elgg account. You can register for an individual account hosted by Elgg or you can take the system and install it on your own server. Elgg is an open source application. ... Elgg has been developed to serve as a stand alone personal learning landscape or as a complimentary addition to existing learning environments. Elgg has been developed to serve as a stand alone personal learning landscape or as a complimentary addition to existing learning environments. The emphasis with Elgg is very much on the learner." 04/14/06

ALSO: In a WebCT forum posting, Sasan Salari offers this: "Further to Kevin's message regarding Elgg and WebCT, you might also want to have a look at the Flash demo that I created, which shows the integration and some of the Elgg capabilities."

Podcast: Learning Management System Selection: This site links to a 51 minute recording that provides coverage of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Session entitled The Matrix Transformed: Achieving Better Focus and Insight in Learning Management System Selection. 04/09/06

15 free or low cost eLearning Technologies: Matthew Fox of Kineo (an intelligent team whose focus is "stirring up learning with fresh thinking") writes a review of "...15 key free or low cost technologies you can to develop e and blended learning for next to nothing. From authoring tools, and from Podcasting to chat rooms, I’ve technologies to get you started. I also show you when and appropriate to use them in your learning programmes." He then goes on to "...give you over 50 different ideas about technologies in your organisation to start making improve the effectiveness of your learning." (see next description) 02/08/06

50 ideas for Free eLearning: It's not a numbered list, but is full of good information about various free and low-cost learning environments. Starts with "5 Minute Insights" if you don't have time to read the whole document. I like the approach: outlining the types of content/communication/delivery and then commenting on each as to their role in eLearning, features, limitations, and how to do it for less. "...A key weapon in your armoury is low cost scalable technology. Don’t panic! Whilst your budget may not stretch to commissioning a bespoke e-learning programme or buying a learning management system there is a lot you can do to make learning have an impact in your organisation. I review 15 key free or low cost technologies you can start using today to develop e and blended learning for next to nothing. From free LMSs to authoring tools, and from Podcasting to chat rooms, I’ve selected the best technologies to get you started. I also show you when and where it’s most appropriate to use them in your learning programmes. I also give you over 50 different ideas about how you could apply these technologies in your organisation to start making savings immediately and improve the effectiveness of your learning." 01/22/06

Unbolting the Chairs ~ Making Learning Management Systems More Flexible: "We contend that the current technical design philosophy of today's Learning Management Systems is substantially retarding progress toward the kind of flexible virtual classrooms that teachers need to provide quality education. In order to have substantial development of specialized teaching tools at an acceptable rate, LMSs need to be designed from the ground up to make development and integration of new tools as easy as possible. In this article, we will make the case that specialized teaching tool development is, in fact, radically slower than it ought to be. We will propose reasons for this evolutionary logjam, suggest LMS design qualities that would break it, and provide guidelines that technical and non-technical stakeholders within an organization can use together to help select an LMS that is designed for a future in which the virtual chairs are unbolted and teachers have control over their teaching environments again." 02/07/06

Content Management Systems: Do's & Don'ts: "CMS doesn’t have to be synonymous with failure. There is no doubt that the right CMS, properly implemented, can offer real benefits to organizations of all sizes. The catch seems to be that it’s not always easy to find the right CMS, let alone a qualified team with the skills needed for a proper implementation. ...With this in mind I offer a few do’s and don’ts that could help you minimize your chances of joining the ranks of those who are unhappy with their CMS." 01/31/06

A Field Guide to Learning Management Systems: "How can organizations make smart purchasing decisions about learning management systems? Although every implementation is different, both at the back-end installation and at the logic and requirements level, there are some common factors to address when evaluating the right LMS for your organization." This is a survey-based report on things like product features; cost and pricing models; procurement & implementation best practices; and popular LMS providers. 09/26/05

"Monoliths," APIs and Extensability - A presentation on the past and future directions of CMS: Scott Leslie's article in EdTechPost contains a link to his slide presentation on this topic. 06/11/05

Changing Course Management Systems: Lessons Learned: An article in Educause. "Converting a Blackboard course to Desire2Learn taught us some of the hazards and benefits of changing course management systems." 05/23/05

Defining an E-Learning Strategy: The author's idea is that when you want to begin offering courses online, you don't start by selecting a LMS (Learning Management System). You start by defining your e-learning strategy. "Providing learning online involves more than simply authoring courses and attaching them to an LMS. The major processes you will have to design and deploy are..." 05/01/05

Learning Management Systems: The wrong place to start learning: "Learning Management Systems (LMS) are often viewed as being the starting point (or critical component) of any elearning or blended learning program. This perspective is valid from a management and control standpoint, but antithetical to the way in which most people learn today." 11/30/04

What to Assess When Selecting Foss [Free & Open-Source Software] Learning Content Management Systems: (a tutorial) "Upon completion of this tutorial you will know about the non-functional requirements for selecting a learning content management system that are unique to FOSS. This tutorial will benefit technical and non-technical individuals participating in the selection of a new FOSS LCMS." 07/18/04

Living in Parallel Worlds: Blogs and Course Management Systems: "Clearly Weblogs are growing rapidly outside the Course Management Systems found on so many campuses. ...The typical Weblog...is not a part of the CMS environment. ... it is striking how little integration there is between blogs and CMS environments. ...we may reach a time where we need to build the bridges between two important technologies. When these bridges are built, we should be mindful of the key factors that are driving the explosion of blogs, ease of use and promotion of self-expression." 11/15/03

Faculty Use of Course Management Systems: (pdf) This is a report of a research study that examined the use of CMSs by Faculty of the U. of Wisconsin System. The study addressed 4 major questions: (1) What is the extent of faculty use of course management systems? (2) What factors drive faculty to start using a CMS and determine whether they increase or decrease their use? (3) For what purposes are CMS used? (4) What pedagogical gains does using a CMS bring? 05/31/03

Next Generation Management Systems: "Course management systems could use some improvements -- and we have some ideas." If you're choosing a system right now, the authors' wishlist will give you a focus from the perspective of experience. 03/22/03

Metrics for knowledge management and content management: Metrics are a concrete way of defining what a knowledge management or content management project will achieve, and whether it met those goals. 02/11/03

Comparisons:

LMS Satisfaction Features & Barriers: Tony Karrer's summary post about a survey that measured, among other details, user satisfaction with a number of Learning Management Systems. He links us to the eLearningGuild's Learning Management System research report, and includes some of the charts that illustrate various satisfaction categories...answers to questions such as satisfaction level, satisfaction with particular features, are you planning to replace, primary barriers, importance of features, etc. 10/05/07

Course Management Systems: This Edu-Tools site has a fairly up-to-date list of systems, and contains product descriptions, reviews, and comparisons. 10/27/05

2005 Learning Management Systems ~ Survey results: "In September 2004, Learning Circuits ran its annual trends survey. When LC asked what e-learning support services their organizations provide in-house, either via electronic means or via personnel, course registration came out on top at 71 percent. However, when asked to identify the leading tools that most organizations use to build, deploy, and support e-learning, only 46 percent of respondents said that they use a learning management systems. Earlier this year, ASTD launched a survey to take the analysis a step further. Here's what readers had to say." 06/11/05

Blackboard vs. Moodle: The report is easy to read, with % comparison statistics on various items, as well as graphic comparisons. 04/10/05

opensourceCMS.com: "This site was created to give you the opportunity to "try out" some of the best open source and free php/mysql based software systems in the world. You can log in as the administrator to any site here, thus allowing you to decide which system best suits your needs. Each system is deleted and reinstalled every two hours. This allows you to be the administrator of any system here without fear of messing anything up." 05/03/04

Virtual Learning Environment Comparison: Compares three open source systems: Moodle, Claroline and ATutor. "This document will briefly outline the range of facilities that these products offer, comparing the various advantages of choosing any one system over another. I will then attempt to recommend the product most suitable for Progress through Training’s current and future needs." 04/26/04

Try It! "This is the place to sample training software, calculators, cool Web services, and other helpful workplace tools. All demos, trials, and tools are free, so check them out and come back often to see what's new. Some of the tools require registration." From ASTD (American Society for Training and Development). 01/10/04

Scott Leslie's list of 46 (at this time) open source course management systems. Scott Leslie produces EdTechPost. 10/24/03

opensourceCMS.com: "This site was create ...to give you the opportunity to "try out" some of the best php/mysql based free and open source software systems in the world." 06/22/03

Online Collaborative Tools ~ evaluation reports: "The site is designed to help distance educators and their students to select appropriate methods of course development and delivery." You'll find definitions of major techniques; listings of current products; reports of conclusions. 01/02/03

Products Certified Compliant to AGR-010 (Web-based CMI Guidelines) 11/14/02

Compare Course Course Management systems: "This site is designed to help educators evaluate and select online delivery software." More than 50 tools/systems are examined. The analysis can be viewed in a variety of ways, and provides an excellent breakdown of features, technical aspects, costing, etc. in a useful category-list format. This site is from WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications). It "... provides the most complete independently-reviewed analyses anywhere of selected course management software, including product comparisons, reviews, and automated decision-making tools." 09/07/02

Comparison of Web Based Course Environments: This is a very useful site from Edutech. You can select two management systems and see them compared in a side-by-side list of strong points and weak points. 12/12/01

NEWER SITE: Evaluation of Learning Management Systems: Edutech has updated its evaluation site from the one above. Compare products side by side, or view reports on each product (summary, short, or detailed reports). 03/28/03

Comparative Features Analysis of Leading Course Management Software: a selection of books you can purchase that can help compare and choose systems.

Marshall University's Extensive List of products and their features: Comparison of On-line Course Delivery Software Products

AliveTek: "...dedicated to building customized and affordable online environments for E-learning, government and business. Our clients are professionals who are driven to provide quality, interactive online content to their key clients ... Our team is skilled in a wide array of online course platforms and can provide consulting services to help you choose the course management system that's right for you." 04/12/02

Delivery platforms (CMSs; VLEs):

HUGE LIST: ONLINE / VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: includes tools like Blogs and Blogging, Chat, CMC: Computer-Mediated Communication, Community Building Online, E-mentoring, E-moderation, Teaching and Learning Online Wikis, and more. 11/12/04

Open Source Management Systems: An article worth reading. At the end, the author includes a link to his CMS Vendors Lists. 02/09/04

.....................................................................
Specific Tools/Platforms
(alpha order):

ATutor Content Management System: "ATutor is an Open Source Learning Content Management System built with accessibility and adaptability in mind." It is available for free non-commercial use under the GNU General Public License. Their site has a demo and a free course on using ATutor to manage, create, and participate in online courses. "Administrators can install or update ATutor in minutes, and develop custom templates to give ATutor a new look. Educators can quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content, easily retrieve and import prepackaged content, and conduct their courses online. Students learn in an adaptive learning environment." 12/17/02

Blackboard: See my Blackboard/WebCT resource page.

BSCW (Basic Support for Cooperative Work): FREE Collaboration software. Use online, or you can download a server version. "BSCW enables collaboration over the Web. BSCW is a 'shared workspace' system which supports document upload, event notification, group management and much more. To access a workspace you only need a standard Web browser." 11/07/04

Claroline: "Claroline is Open Source [course management] software based on PHP/MySQL. It's a collaborative learning environment allowing teachers or education institutions to create and administer courses through the web. The system provides group management, forums, document repositories, calendar, chat, assignment areas, links, user profile administration on a single and highly integrated package." 04/26/04

Classwise: "ClassWise ASP - The Simple Virtual Classroom for eLearning" 10/19/01

Colloquia: "A peer-to-peer learning management and groupware system. Supports group working and group learning. It allows any user to set up a working or learning group around a particular topic (a context), add people to it, add resources (web pages, documents etc) to it, set up group tasks, and then engage in group and personal "conversations" about the topic."

CourseForum and ProjectForum: CourseForum provides for "E-learning content creation, sharing and discussion"; ProjectForum enables "quick to setup, easy-to-use and flexible forums for discussions and student collaboration." 02/17/03

Course Player: "...enables you, elearning professionals, to deliver SCORM-compliant courses on CD or SCORM-compliant courses using a static web server. That's right, you don't need an expensive Course Management System to deliver SCORM courses anymore. All you need is Course Player! Course Player will also use content encryption to protect against unauthorised copying and re-distribution of courses." 07/23/04

Course Reader: "The Internet Course Reader is a computer program which creates an educational environment that allows people to participate in courses via computer communications - even if they have expensive Internet connections, undependable electrical supplies, high telephone costs or time limited access to the Internet. Because it is being developed as open source software, the Course Reader can be adapted by programmers and it is free of charge. 11/16/01

CourseWork: CourseWork is a open source course management system based at Stanford University. 07/04/03

Desire2Learn: "Whether you are delivering a single course online or managing multiple consortiums, D2L's learning platform can help you deliver results beyond expectations." Read a very positive review of Desire2Learn here. From the interview (link to that from the review page): "In the final analysis, we had a clear winner: Desire2Learn received the highest number of points based on functionality, technical merits, business plan and cost. The subjective feedback forms praised Desire2Learn as being highly functional and easy to use. Desire2Learn was the favorite of the faculty and instructional staff." 04/14/03

Dokeos: "a FREE software translated in 31 languages and helping more than 1.000 organisations worldwide to manage Learning and Collaboration activities. It allows the teacher/trainer to create pedagogical content, structure activities along a sequenced learning path, interact with students/trainees and follow their progress & evolution through a reporting system." 01/20/05

ELGG Learning Landscape: This system was mentioned by Kevin Reeve as one way of including a blogging tool in a course; Elgg is one of the WebCT powerlinks. "Elgg is a hybrid of weblogging, e-portfolios and social networking. It is hoped this combination of features will provide an engaging environment for learners to create their own learning space and then connect to others, forming online communities of learning. ... There are two options to get an Elgg account. You can register for an individual account hosted by Elgg or you can take the system and install it on your own server. Elgg is an open source application. ... Elgg has been developed to serve as a stand alone personal learning landscape or as a complimentary addition to existing learning environments. Elgg has been developed to serve as a stand alone personal learning landscape or as a complimentary addition to existing learning environments. The emphasis with Elgg is very much on the learner." 04/14/06

Sasan Salari: "Further to Kevin's message regarding Elgg and WebCT, you might also want to have a look at the Flash demo that I created, which shows the integration and some of the Elgg capabilities - have a look..."

WebCT - Elgg Integration: A page of info and links. 07/25/06

Jones e-education: Free source software. "Jones e-education is a mature, top-of-the-line course management solution. It is renowned as one of the most student-friendly systems available because of its intuitive, easy navigation and its clean interface. This version boasts all the necessary e-learning tools for communication, collaboration, community building, and creation and management of online learning courses. In addition, it provides virtually unmatched flexibility for instructional design and professional content, as well administrative oversight and control." 10/23/02

Learning Management System: A Low-Cost SCORM-Based LMS. 02/01/05

.LRN (dotLRN): (and where should this be alphabetized?  :)  Just released this month (April 2003), this is " A fully open source eLearning platform...A portal framework and integrated application suite to support course management and online communities...A scalable, secure, and enterprise-ready eLearning platform...A set of best practices in online learning shared in the form of source code." 04/18/03

Manila: "Weblog and Content Management Solution" - "Manila is an enterprise-class weblog publishing and content management system. Powerful and easy-to-use, Manila lets you quickly and easily build a communication portal that ties people and information together." - "Manila's feature set lets you publish content, create discussion groups, organize information, and much more. With Manila, it is easy to implement, maintain, and administer any number of weblogs, allowing you to leverage Manila's unmatched out-of-the-box scalability almost overnight." 01/10/04

Merlin: "Merlin is an asynchronous web-based learning environment which provides a simple to use, but flexible framework for e-learning, collaboration and resource sharing. ... allows group co-ordinators/programme tutors direct control over their material and resources without the need for HTML or programming skills." [quote is from U.of Hull, UK] One user reports: "MERLIN generates the Web pages and course contents pages for WebCT courses. I brag that I can create a course in 3 minutes, and I CAN!! More importantly the course has structure! It has outcomes! It has objectives! It has activities! It has tests!" [Charles Coe, NAIT, Edmonton, AB, Canada] 02/20/02

MOO Resources: MOO=Multiuser Object Oriented environment. Here's a list of useful items that both explore the purpose and uses of MOOs for educators and provides many links to MOOs and MOO resources. 11/09/00

Moodle: "Moodle...designed to help educators create quality online courses. ...One of the main advantages of Moodle over other systems is a strong grounding in social constructionist pedagogy....Moodle is Open Source software." 05/20/03

See my MOODLE resource page.

MoonEdit: "Tom Dobrowolski's multi-platform collaborative text editor. Completely FREE for non-commercial use. Cooperative multi-user text editing over the internet. Every co-author can edit the shared document at any time, from any place, and at the same time! "ME" uses local prediction code - the same technology used in modern video games! You can use a dedicated standalone server to share a whole directory of text files. Remote users can then edit these files using the "me" client - at the same time. Multiple text cursors visible on the screen. Remote text editing without latency. Users can view the history of changes from a multi-user edit session. Built-in calculator and music sequencer." 02/19/05

Nautikos: from Odyssey Learning Systems Inc. 01/24/02

Nuvvo Free Learning Management System: "Nuvvo is now a free service. Increased access to knowledge and instruction is a critical benefit of online education, and a critical priority for Savvica. We hope to advance this vision by providing educators with the tools to create and conduct online courses for free." 01/01/06

plone.org: "This is the development and community site for Plone, a user friendly and powerful Content Management System. Plone is an out-of-the-box ready content management system that is built on the powerful and free Zope Application server. It requires minimal effort to set up, is deeply flexible, and provides you with a system for managing web content that is ideal for project groups, communities and intranets." FREE as far as I can tell, and available for a variety of operating systems. 03/19/04

Sakai: Open source. Also, if you're interested, read this recent review/critique by Michael Feldstein. Sakai developers have participated in the resulting discussion, responding to Feldstein's criticism of the discussion tools. 07/03/05

Scribe Studio: "Web-Based e-Learning authoring, managing, communicating and publishing solution. ScribeStudio's mission is to provide easy-to-use e-Learning solutions that elevate the art and science of teaching and inspire students to reach their greatest potential. Low cost of entry with no upfront licensing fees; only pay for what you use, when you use it. Easy to Use: Point-and-click simplicity allows you to quickly add content, tests, and quizzes to your course and to create a customized Learning Site where your Learners access educational and training materials." 06/15/05

Sloodle: The 3D Learning Management System that combines Second Life and Moodle (see above for Moodle entries). Also see my page devoted to Second Life + Education. 10/28/06

Taskstream: "...collaborative web-based productivity tools for organizing and managing shared practices through professional development, teacher-to-teacher mentoring and instructional design provide learning communities with the tools and infrastructure to systemically advance their initiatives through to classroom implementation." 10/19/01

Tegrity: "The only platform that automatically turns classroom instruction into engaging and effective content and delivers it online over any Internet connection." 10/19/01

Umbraco: An open source CMS. Runs on Windows using Microsoft's "ASP.Net" and Internet Information Server. John Goldsmith (B.C. teacher) says, "While installation and set-up is not exactly click & run, the program is easier to install than most other open source programs. The installation instructions are clear, concise and well illustrated so that anyone with reasonable Windows skills should be able to install and run the program. Umbraco has a nice, light "Web 2.0" feel about it and, the "icing on the cake" for many teachers is the ability to add and modify web content using MS Word. HTML skills are not needed." 01/20/08

UPortal: Not a course/content delivery system, but a free user-centered information portal that brings together information resources within one institution and makes them accessible from one place on the Web. Used by higher education institutions and by business, it's a way to help the user create their own customized access to every available web resource from one location. The user selects and adds tabs that contain information channels which can be added, removed, minimized and arranged to the user's satisfaction. Check out the demo sites. 11/19/01

VISTA: WebCT's newest product, incorporates everyone's wishlist for improvements on their previous product. This isn't an upgrade, folks, it's a whole new enterprise class management system. Check it out on this pdf brochure. 03/18/02

Web 4M: "A comprehensive eLearning environment. Instructors can give distributed presentations with streaming audio/video. Assessment tools allow for immediate feedback from students to ensure learning. Synchronous and asynchronous learning approaches are blended together. Web-4M was designed by educators who understand the demands on teachers and have worked to ease the burden of instructors through the use of appropriate technology."07/18/04

WebCT/Blackboard: See my Blackboard/WebCT resource page.

WiZiQ: Online Teaching, E-Learning and Live E-tutoring for Education: "A FREE alternative to expensive conferencing tools selling as online teaching/learning software." WiZiQ is virtual classroom that's also a multimedia platform, "equipped with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing, and session recording capabilities." Includes a whiteboard, video and audio chat, document sharing including PDF, and Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel. Similar to commercial options like Adobe Connect, Webex, Elluminate, Marratech, etc. "WiZiQ brings students and teachers together regardless of the boundaries. With absolutely no cost to join or use its state-of-the-art virtual classroom, WiZiQ is becoming a vital tool in an online teacher’s or a student’s toolkit." Also check out their WiZiQ Live Class Module for Moodle 04/07/08

WordCircle: A brand new, FREE open source course management tool "...focused on the needs of teachers and students looking to collaborate online. ... While there are many course management tools like this, not many are as easy to use a educator or administrative standpoint. The user interface is intuitive and clear as is the maintenance of courses and the system itself." 09/16/04