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[school-discuss] Re: [IIEP] Session 2 - OSS Solutions for E-learning
G'day all,
I think Tony provides a good broad overview of the current OSS landscape
I work in the training sector at state level and I have some experience implimenting Learning Management Systems (LMS). There is a lot to like about OSS LMSs but they are still a bit immature in some areas. The major problems I have stem from Observation 4.
The OSS LMSs at present appear to be designed for primarily simple single campus academic instituions rather than complex organisations where training delivery needs to meet often ideosyncratic organisational structures. My main concern is the administration functions tend to be very centralised placing the control of the system and workload in very few hands. I think the 3 main issues are:
1. In an organisation training thousands of people this is a significant workload that one area has to cover.
2. It also has the potential to create political problems by taking control away from Dept heads - this problem would be greater in organisations with a preexisting decentralised management structure or a distrust of/disbelief in the central management.
3. Access to the reporting functions provided also tends to be centralised limiting a managers access to information about his staff/ trainees. The number and types of reports also tend to a bit too limited to meet the needs a large, dispersed organisation.
The other major concern I have is they tend to be designed as stand alone systems. There does not appear to be much work put into developing applications to aid intergration with other management systems.
I think these are areas the developers of more mature OSS LMSs (eg Illias, Atutor, Moodle, Manhattan) should be considering.
cheers,
Cameron Nichol
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Bailetti
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:42:24 -0400
To: ELEARN-OPENSOURCE@LST.IIEP-UNESCO.ORG
Subject: [IIEP] Session 2 - OSS Solutions for E-learning
Dear colleagues, welcome to the Second Session. We have people from all over the world with diverse experiences and perspectives. This is great. Please do participate.
The objective of the Second Session is to examine open source solutions to e-learning and the issues around them. Please:
- identify the open source software for e-learning solutions with which you are familar
- identify the issues around the assessment, adoption and maintenance of open source software for e-learning solutions
- identify interesting observations about open source software for elearning solutions
- identify pros and cons of theuse of particular open source software for e-learning
I make six observations.
Observation 1
Examples of open source software for content management systems, e-mail and office include:
E-learning (conten
Observation 2
Open source software that delivers web conferencing (real time services) like those delivered by proprietary systems such as Centra Interwise and Macromedia Breeze do not exist. Real time services allow students to use VoIP, whiteboards, and shared desktops to create richly interactive sessions such as real-time Web meetings, online sessions, and workshops.
Observation 3
Open source software for e-learning performs at least one of the following functions:
1. Test services: allow students to write tests, assignments and exams.
2. Collaboration and exchange services: allow students to interact with others to exchange information, and jointly create knowledge.
3. Content delivery services: allow students to access content and services.
4. Assessment services: allow students to assess the performance of others and learn about how others assess their performance.
5. Utility services: allow users to send e-mail, access calendars and schedulers, search libraries, track news, and register.
Observation 4
Academic institutions are the dominant suppliers of open source for e-learning. LRN was initially developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; ATutor 1.2 by the University of Toronto; Bazaar 7 by the University of Athabasca; CHEF by the University of Michigan; Claroline 1.4 by the Université catholique de Louvain; Coursework by Stanford University; Eledge 1.2 by the University of Utah; and ILIAS by the University of Cologne. It is also noteworthy that these systems were initially designed by academic units to support classroom instruction.
Observation 5
Few (if any) private firms make software for e-learning available under open source licensing agreements.
Observation 6
A very small number of Application Service Providers host open source systems in order to support e-learnig.
Let us have your comments
Best regards
Tony
Email: cameronn@mail.com
Mobile: 0408 598 259
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