Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

7 – Learning Management Systems
Appendix A: LMS comparison
matrix
This LMS comparison matrix offers a quick, generalized
look at how the solutions for educational and corporate
uses compare to one another. The general descriptors
below do not reflect the situation for every solution in
either category. Open-source communities and LMS
vendors are constantly updating products, so be sure to
look at each product individually when you have narrowed
down your list of choices.
Feature Corporate LMS Education LMS
Classroom course Included
Not included
management
E-learning management
Blended learning
mgmt.
Course development
Course content management
Web conferencing/
virtual classroom
Grade book
Quizzes
Communication
tools—email, discussion
groups, etc.
Included
Included
Not included; available
as an extra
Not included; available
as an extra
Not included; available
as an extra
Assessment reporting
available in a report
format
May be included.
Sometimes available as
an extra
Included but at a lower
level of priority than
for education LMS
Included
Not included
Included
Included but functionality
may be limited.
Not included; available
as an extra
Included
Usually included
Included
Financial analytics Included Not included
Reporting
Performance support
Competency and
performance tracking
(see above)
Support for e-learning
standards
Multiple language
support
Some reporting features
are included but
may be limited.
An LCMS feature
available as an extra.
Often included
Included
Often included
Some reporting features
are included but
may be limited.
Not included
Not included
May or may not be
included
May be included
Feature Corporate LMS Education LMS
Interoperability with
third-party courseware
Personal web page
publishing for instructors
and students
Included but should be
tested
Not included
Not included but may
be possible through
standards conformance
Included
Self-evaluation Not included Included
Administration tools Extensive Ability to create accounts
and monitor
activity.
e-Commerce Often included Available as an extra.
e-Portfolio Not included Available as an extra
File and workflow
management
Streaming audio and
video
Access to electronic
libraries
May be included
May be included
May be included
May be included
May be included
May be included
For a comparison of specific education LMSs, visit the
edutools website (http://www.edutools.info) generated
by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications
(WCET). The site contains an engine that
allows you to run a comparison of different versions of
about 40 different LMSs, including many listed in this
chapter.
Appendix B: Standards bodies
and links
• Accessibility standards:
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World
Wide Web Consortium—
http://www.w3.org/WAI/.
The Web Standards Project
http://www.webstandards.org/.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
http://www.section508.gov/
• Aviation Industry Computer-based Training
Committee (AICC) http://www.aicc.org/index.html.
• Canadian Core Learning Resource Metadata Application
Resource (CanCore)
http://www.cancore.ca/elementset.html
• Centre for Educational Technology
Interoperability Standards http://www.cetis.ac.uk/
• Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
http://dublincore.org/
Education for a Digital World 89