Are You Ready for an Open Source
LMS?
Is It Ready for You?Steven Hancock
OpenSource LMS <> Moodle
Topics1. Open Source License2. The State of Open Source LMSes3. Criteria4. Short List5. LMSes from Steve’s Perspective
Open Source License1. Free Redistribution2. Source code must be included3. Derived Works4. Integrity of authors source code5. No discriminations of people or groups6. No discrimination against fields of
endeavor7. Distribution of license8. License must be specific to a product9. License must not restrict other software10.License must be technology neutral
http://opensource.org/docs/osd
Is OpenSource Free?
If I Choose OpenSource will I
have to go it Alone?
If I Choose OpenSource what am I Sacrificing?
What has changed in 5 years? Many more LMSes (3-4
times) SCORM Support Collaboration Features
The State of Open Source LMSes Positives
Many to choose from that are well funded. Support seems robust in most cases Third-party Services are readily available. Assessment engines
Negatives SCORM seems to be a secondary concern. Too many try to be a web portal Content Creation Tools
Epic
www.epic.co.uk Open Source Learning
Management Systems by Mark Aberdour
Epic’s Shortlisted Criteria: An approved Open Source license Active Development Community Released Stable Versions English SCORM Compliant Published Details about Previous
Adopters Stable Organizations Supporting
Development Published Third Party Reviews
The Shortlist ATutor http://www.atutor.ca/ Claroline http://www.claroline.net/ Docebo http://www.docebo.org/ Dokeos http://www.dokeos.com/ dotLRN http://dotlrn.openacs.org/ Ilias http://www.ilias.de/ Interact http://www.interactole.org/ KEWL.NextGen http://kngforge.uwc.ac.za/ Metacoon http://www.metacoon.de/ Moodle http://moodle.org/ OLAT http://www.olat.org/ OpenElms http://www.openelms.org/ Sakai http://www.sakaiproject.org/
The Even Shorter List ATutor dotLRN Ilias Moodle Sakai
How to Determine Which LMS to Choose? Make a List of Criteria -
Research Try Out the Demos Research the System
Requirements Research the Features Install and Make Sure you
can Support IT.
LMS Interface Example
Content Authoring Example
Assessments
Features of all LMSes
Services Support Add-ons Standard features: content
authoring, assessment, enrollment, collaboration, rebrandable
aTutor
Standards Heavy Supported by 16 organizations Vote on new features Documentation is average Not difficult to install
DotLRN
Originally developed at MIT Heavily used in education and
government Managed by a non-profit organization
and supported by 16 consortium members
Difficult to install: “Please note that the production version requires considerable expertise (Unix/Linux sys admin) to install.”
SCORM seems like an after thought.
Ilias
Developed in Germany Install doesn’t look too bad Documentation is very mediocre Only LMS I found that was ADL
Certified
Moodle
Numerous large installations Books written on Moodle Installation does not seem too
difficult
Sakai
Has the vested interest of large organizations: IBM, Sun, Unisys, University of Michigan, Indiana University, and MIT
Over 100 Sakai partners Community Source project (-) Single click installer
Other Stand Outs
Claroline Docebo Dokeos OpenElms
?