WELCOME TO LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of educational courses or training programs. It helps the instructor to deliver material to the students, administer tests and other assignments, track student progress, and manage record-keeping. LMSs are focused on online learning delivery but support a range of uses, acting as a platform for fully online courses, as well as several hybrid forms, such as blended learning and flipped classrooms. LMSs can be complemented by other learning technologies such as a training management system to manage instructor-led training or a Learning Record Store to store and track learning data.

Hard work

Knowledge

Success

Characteristics

Purpose

An LMS delivers and manages instructional content, and typically handles student registration, online course administration, and tracking, and assessment of student work. Some LMSs help identify progress towards learning or training goals. Most LMSs are web-based, to facilitate access. LMSs are often used by regulated industries (e.g. financial services and biopharma) for compliance training. Some LMS providers include "performance management systems", which encompass employee appraisals, competency management, skills-gap analysis, succession planning, and multi-rater assessments (i.e., 360 degree reviews). Some systems support competency-based learning.

Though there are a wide variety of terms for digital aids or platforms for education, such as course management systems, virtual or managed learning platforms or systems, or computer-based learning environment, the term learning management system has become the ubiquitous term for products that help administer or deliver part or all of a course.

History

The history of the application of computers to education is filled with broadly descriptive terms such as computer-managed instruction (CMI), and integrated learning systems (ILS), computer-based instruction (CBI), computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and computer-assisted learning (CAL). These terms describe drill-and-practice programs, more sophisticated tutorials, and more individualized instruction, respectively. The term is currently used to describe a number of different educational computer applications.

The earliest networked learning system was the Plato Learning Management system (PLM) developed in the 1970s by Control Data Corporation. FirstClass by SoftArc, used by the United Kingdom's Open University in the 1990s and 2000s to deliver online learning across Europe, was one of the earliest internet-based LMSs.

The emergence and development of the distance learning idea

The concept of eLearning began developing in the early 20th century, marked by the appearance of audio-video communication systems used for remote teaching. In 1909, E.M. Forster published his story 'The Machine Stops' and explained the benefits of using audio communication to deliver lectures to remote audiences.