== Learning Management Systems ==
Learning Management Systems (LMS) are teaching systems used in e-Learning environments that help to organise and provide access to online resources. LMS provides a community for students where responsibilities are shared, discussions are facilitated and purposeful, and social and theoretical learning can occur. The systems are designed to be used by multiple publishers or providers and typically focus on “managing courses created from a variety of other sources.�? (Flate Paulsen 2003,30; Hall 2001, 13) Communication within Learning Management Systems is broadened not only between student and teacher, but also between students. This issue of effective interaction is often questioned in regards to online classrooms, but LMS facilitate the use of interaction between users.
Most Learning Management Systems have a number of the following features.
The systems include access control, provision of learning content, communication tools and administration of user groups, aiding teachers in establishing a learning environment that operates on similar objectives to traditional methods of education. (Flate Paulsen 2003, 31)
The most well-known commercial Learning Management Systems are WebCT and Blackboard, which are commonly used by universities.
E-Learning through Learning Management Systems characteristically occurs in two ways; asynchronous learning and synchronous learning. (Hall 2001, 7)
Asynchronous learning is when training does not occur simultaneously and is beneficial in that it is convenient, accessible and self-paced. Examples of this include self-paced courses and posting messages on discussion boards. (Hall 2001, 7)
Synchronous learning is when communication, between the individual and the information, occurs at the same time, which provides instant feedback to students and allows adjustments to be made immediately. Synchronous learning does however mean that learning is not self-paced and is not available all the time. (Hall 2001, 7)
Complete e-Learning technology has seven components. Learning Management Systems are one of these and tie together the other six components in a “framework that tracks, supports, manages and measures e-Learning activities.�? (Brockbank 2003, 151)
The major functions of LMS in e-Learning environments are;
The major advantages of LMS for e-Learning include an improvement in the speed of change and quality of performance; providing access to resources and guidance to deal with educational change; the ability to track very detailed information about individual learners, making the system highly beneficial to large online environments. (Hall 2001, 5)
Learning Management Systems obviously have disadvantages, as any other education system does. One of these is that support for students or users with difficulties is only available at specific times, clearly when educators themselves are interactive within the system. There are also bound to be many untrained instructors working within LMS who may provide users with irrelevant or insufficient information, thereby inhibiting their learning. Finally, users themselves may lack technical skills necessary to function within the LMS. This may result in users trailing behind others and losing motivation. (Reisman ed. 2003, 57)
=== References ===
Armanious, L. and D. Anderson. 2004. Learning Management Systems. (accessed September 17, 2005 from http://www.ed-dev.uts.edu.au/teachered/edtech/EC1papers04/LADA/assign3.doc).
Brockbank, B. 2003. Learning Management Systems for E-Learning. In The AMA Handbook of E-Learning, ed. G. Piskurich., 151-170. New York: AMACOM.
Flate Paulsen, M. 2003. Online Education: Learning Management Systems. Norway: NKI. ISBN 8256258942
Hall, B. 2001. Getting Up to Speed on Learning Management Systems. Sunnyvale: Brandon Hall.
=== Contributors ===
Stephanie Dodgson 09:30, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
