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LMS KnowledgeBase 2007: In-Depth Profiles of 60+ Learning Management Systems, with Custom Comparison Across 200+ Features

The LMS Knowledgebase is the repository of all Brandon Hall Research research about LMSs.You can search, compare, and search again to narrow down all of the details that are important to your organization. It's the culmination of years of research, and it's now available whenever you access the Internet. More>

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LMS and LCMS Demystified

One Letter Away from Each Other as Acronyms, but Miles Apart in Practice

Learning management systems (LMS) and learning content management systems (LCMS) really have two very different functions. It's unfortunate that both have such similar names and a shared acronym, which only serves to confuse e-learning buyers even more.

The primary objective of a learning management system is to manage learners, keeping track of their progress and performance across all types of training activities. By contrast, a learning content management system manages content or learning objects that are served up to the right learner at the right time.

Understanding the difference can be very confusing because most of the LCMS systems also have built-in LMS functionality. In fact, 74 percent of the systems in our LCMS Research include LMS functionality as part of their system. Many of these LCMSs have also performed interoperability tests with leading LMS products.

Besides the embedded learning management system functionality, there can also be significant overlap between LCMS and LMS capabilities and purpose. The following chart is based on what we've observed by analyzing both LMS and LCMS products. While some products have functionality that crosses the boundaries, we found most systems generally focused on their own domain as follows:

  LMS LCMS
Primary target users Training managers, instructors, administrators Content developers, instructional designers, project managers
Provides primary management of... Learners Learning content
Management of classroom, instructor-led training Yes (but not always) No
Performance reporting of training results Primary focus Secondary focus
Learner collaboration Yes Yes
Keeping learner profile data Yes No
Sharing learner data with an ERP system Yes No
Event scheduling Yes No
Competency mapping - skill gap analysis Yes Yes (in some cases)
Content creation capabilities No Yes
Organizing reusable content No Yes
Creation of test questions and test administration Yes Yes
Dynamic pre-testing and adaptive learning No Yes
Workflow tools to manage the content development process No Yes
Delivery of content by providing navigational controls and learner interface No Yes

More About LCMS Products

A learning content management system is a multi-developer environment where developers can create, store, reuse, manage, and deliver learning content from a central object repository. An LCMS will generally have a majority of the following characteristics. You can use this checklist to determine if a software application could be called a learning content management system. The primary differentiator to determine if a product is an LCMS is if it offers reusability of learning content and is generally constructed using a learning object model.

LCMS Common Characteristics Checklist

 

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LMS 2006 Snapshot Profiles
If you need a high-level view of the LMS landscape, with critiques of over 50 LMS systems by our analysts and key information – including pricing – then this downloadable report might be for you. More>

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Individual LMS Profiles

For LMS buyers who already have a short list of systems, we provide access to individual profiles of the 52 LMSs contained in our LMS KnowledgeBase.

  
Each profile is 30-50 pages in length and contains a review of the system by a Brandon Hall Research analyst, as well as detailed specifications regarding the system's features and characteristics. More>

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How to Develop Your RFP

This report provides a detailed template you can modify and use to issue a request for proposal (RFP) from LMS vendors. More>

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Caution: Feature Scope Creep

If your organization has limited funds for purchasing an LMS, don't despair. There are surprisingly good products out there for companies on a limited budget.

The trick is avoiding "feature scope creep" – the tendency to value whiz-bang features over real business requirements. Find out how to avoid feature scope creep in this article. More >

The Setting: an Organization Like Yours
A large financial institution wanted to license a learning management system. This organization required a simple e-learning portal that would provide online courses to its 10,000 learners. In addition, the company needed a system that could manage classroom-based training. Members of the selection committee had read that the average three-year cumulative price for a locally installed LMS managing 10,000 users is approximately $357,000, and they were hoping they could find a solution for less.

The organization assembled an LMS selection committee to identify a list of functionalities needed in the system. As is often the case, the committee ran amok, adding all kinds of business and technical requirements. By the end of the process, they had specified that all content must run on a Palm Pilot. They also required 360-degree evaluation, even though they already used a 360-degree evaluation program with their HR system. The committee decided they also required advanced learning object technology, although their primary plan was to create a small number of courses. Finally, they wanted telephone registration for courses automatically linked to the database, although no one was quite sure how they would ever use this.

Once the committee had identified the institution’s requirements, they drafted a request for proposal and sent it to the most popular names in the LMS industry, without first checking to see if the vendors could match their needs. A few weeks later, the vendors’ proposals arrived. The cost of the proposed systems ranged from $1.2 million to $2.3 million. The LMS selection committee couldn’t understand why the prices seemed so high.

The financial institution contacted us to help explain what went wrong. Our analysts identified the problem: feature scope creep nearly ate them alive. This happens in far too many projects.

Would You Buy a Car this Way?

For many years, automobile manufacturers marketed their cars’ basic characteristics such as the strength of the engines, smoothness of the suspension, elegance of the chassis and upholstery, and exemplary safety record. In the last decade, however, manufacturers realized that the number of cup holders in a model car seemed to influence the purchasing decision of some new car buyers more than just about anything else. For these customers, the more cup holders, the better. The vehicle may be noisy, the seats less than comfortable, and the construction unreliable, but as long as the driver and every passenger has a plethora of cup holders hidden away within easy reach – ready to provide constant hydration – the car stands a good chance of leaving the showroom floor.

The cup holder discovery helped spawn a new wave of features in the automobile industry. There are now automobiles with integrated tents that expand when the back hatch is opened. There are automobiles that automatically lower their windows just a crack when the door is closed so the inside pressure remains constant and passengers don’t experience the discomfort of having their ears pop. There are cars with built-in compasses, cars with a port to dock a laptop computer, cars that talk, cars with built-in flower vases. Cars with television monitors. The list goes on and on.

These aren’t useless features. For someone who loves camping, a car with a tent high above the wet ground might be a great feature. And yet, few of us pick a car by sitting down and writing a wish list that looks like this:

  • Cup holders
  • Keyless entry
  • Wind direction indicator
  • Flower vase

Most of us still select a car based on key requirements such as reliability, safety, size, fuel economy, and price. For the most part, feature scope creep doesn’t play a large part in car selection. It may make us select the deluxe model with tinted windows and a CD player over a standard version of the same model, but we generally focus on key functionalities when choosing among various car vendors.

This is often not the case when choosing a learning management system. Many organizations become convinced during the selection process that they require as many features as possible. Although their learners could register for a course using a browser, doing so using a telephone is just too appealing to ignore. Although the organization doesn’t have a mobile workforce, using personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Palm Pilots and Pocket PCs becomes a must-have requirement.

Just as the tent is a valid feature for drivers who often go camping, LMS features such as the ability to view e-learning content on a Palm Pilot are valid requirements for some organizations. In the medical field, for instance, a growing number of medical practitioners have begun using PDAs to access training and performance support information while visiting patients. These organizations are willing to pay a premium for such a feature because it is a key business requirement. For most organizations, though, good basic LMS features are all that are required.

We’re Part of the Problem

In some ways, brandon-hall.com has played a part in creating the problem of feature scope creep, although we didn’t do it intentionally. We study many LMS products, large and small, and catalog the laundry list of features available in these systems. In our LMS reports, we often include the full list of features available across many systems. This list includes many features unique to specific systems as well as features that are common to most, if not all.

The real intent of the feature list is to help companies identify their needs. In addition, we hope these lists of features help our readers get a sense of what is available off-the-shelf, as opposed to features that would require costly custom development to acquire. However, human nature causes us to want everything. The result is that when organizations create RFPs to license an LMS, they too often cut and paste the entire list into their RFP. Vendors then price the development of each feature their LMS doesn’t have into the cost of their proposal, thus inflating the price considerably.

Our 2005 LMS KnowledgeBase includes a Web-based, database-driven LMS Selection Tool. The tool can greatly reduce the time required to create a personalized short list of systems that fulfill your business and technical requirements. You simply enter requirements and specifications that are important to your organization, and the LMS Selection Tool returns a list of products that might fit your needs.

However, if you use our LMS Selection Tool and choose “Yes” for all features, the system will return a message saying that no LMS matches the search criteria. That’s because no single learning management system contains every feature. In fact, it’s possible to select “Yes” to even a small number of criteria and have the system respond that no LMS matches the search criteria. For instance, if your organization is looking for an LMS to run on your Linux server that supports the Mandarin Chinese language and tracks e-learning content on mobile devices, you’re out of luck. You’ll need to work with an LMS vendor to custom build at least some of the features you require.

Just as the LMS Selection Tool cannot find a learning management system with numerous or unusual combinations of features, neither can your RFP produce a list of affordable systems if you have asked for too many features, or have asked for combinations of uncommon features. Although systems have many common functions, they also have their own areas of strength and innovative technologies.

Why Companies Sometimes Build Their Own LMS

Because of the high, enterprise-level pricing of many LMS solutions, many companies choose to build their own LMS from scratch rather than purchase a system. In fact, the use of “proprietary systems” is still number one in market share when compared with even the most popular LMS solutions. Dismayed by the high cost of systems, your organization may be considering the same strategy.

On average, it will take between $200,000 to $500,000 and about 18 months to build an LMS with moderate functionality. For some very large organizations, that may be a cost savings over purchasing a commercial solution. However, what people seem to forget is that it also requires full-time staff who might be better assigned to items more aligned with company objectives. So, the cost may actually be higher than expected.

Some companies build their own LMS because they need only a fraction of the functionality of commercial systems. Whereas organizations looking to buy an LMS often succumb to feature scope creep, organizations that build their own LMSs tend to remain focused on key functionalities. The cost of features is much more apparent when developing an in-house solution and dealing directly with the system designer and a programming team. Before writing a single line of programming code, the organization has prioritized its most critical needs and focused on those.

There’s an important lesson to be learned from organizations that build their own LMS: If we, as potential LMS buyers, learn how to prioritize our needs, we’d be on the right track for choosing the most appropriate low-cost solution. We’d also probably end up with an LMS with more functionality than we’d ever use.

The Final Verdict

You should be able to find an appropriate LMS, even with a relatively small budget. The first key to getting there is to avoid feature scope creep. For most organizations, basic LMS features are all that are required. Think long and hard about what your true business requirements are. If you really need a feature, make sure you include that in your search criterion. But, steer yourself away from the cup holders.

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Quick Picks: Comparison of Two or Three LMSs New!
Have you narrowed your search for an LMS to two or three systems? If so, you may simply need to know how they are similar and different. This service provides you with profiles and comparative grids of any two or three LMSs. More>

Custom LMS Consulting, On-the-Fly

Have you narrowed your search for an LMS to two or three systems?

If so, you may simply need to know how they are similar and different. This service provides you with profiles and comparative grids of any two or three LMSs, in a report custom-made for you.

Taken from the LMS KnowledgeBase, the compendium of LMS research we've collected over the last decade, these profiles give you all of the details you need to know about learning management systems. If you already know which two or three LMS systems you want to compare, then this is a great way to see how they stack up. We'll provide you with detailed profiles of the systems you're curious about.

Weighing in at 15-30 pages, each profile contains detailed information about LMS products. Topic areas covered include:

  • Critique of the System
  • Product Information
  • Company Information
  • Technology Platform
  • Back-Office Interoperability
  • Interoperability with Other E-Learning Content and Technologies
  • The Learner Environment
  • Classroom Management
  • Performance Management
  • Competency Management
  • Certification Management
  • Content Development and Management
  • Testing and Assessment
  • Reporting
  • Analytics
  • LMS Support for Multiple Departments (or Lines of Business) and Extensibility of Business Rules
  • Support for Standards and Specifications
  • Collaborative Learning Tools
  • Virtual Classroom
  • Localization and Multilingual Support
  • Hosted Solution Options
  • Customization
  • E-Commerce Capabilities
  • Implementation Time and Process
  • System Requirements
  • Pricing
  • Customer Support and Services
  • Miscellaneous

Plus, you'll receive a comparison grid document, which collects data in a handy chart, so you can see how these LMSs stack up, feature-by-feature.

 

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LMS Proposal Evaluation & Recommendation
Having an objective, independent, third-party review the proposals received for an enterprise e-learning initiative is a great idea, especially when the reviewer has previous experience reviewing hundreds of similar proposals. Brandon Hall Research staff have significant experience reviewing RFPs from a wide array of e-learning solution providers, to the point of being able to often predict specific vendor responses and knowing when they are trying to mask missing functionality in the system. More>

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Use Case/Evaluation Tool
Assessing and evaluating LMS features and functionalities is an important part of the selection process. However, a myopic focus on features alone doesn't ensure you will pick a system that will mesh with your internal processes or be user-friendly. Preparing use cases (describing unique scenarios, workflow, or “a day in the life" of a user of the technology) can help you provide a perfect match when selecting an LMS. More>

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LMS Request for Proposal Writing Service
Brandon Hall Research analysts have written RFPs for organizations seeking partners to create enterprise e-learning implementations for projects ranging from $12,000 to $5.5 million in size. We can help set the proper scope for the project and know what questions to ask based on best practices. We have a database with dozens of RFPs from similar projects that we can use as guidelines and templates for creating your RFP. More>

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On-Site LMS Reviews and Evaluation

During the evaluation process of an LMS, there is nothing like seeing the actual system in action. A vendor demonstration is a necessary part of the process. What you want is an apples-to-apples comparison of the candidate technology.

We do this by creating an assignment of specific tasks to complete during the demonstrations. A polished demonstration (especially one showing lots of bells and whistles) can sometimes mask the bigger picture of how the system will address your specific needs and fit in your process and infrastructure. More>

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Open Source E-Learning New!

Open source software has become mainstream. Open source is also making important inroads into the world of online learning.

"Open Source E-Learning: Alternatives to Proprietary Tools, Systems, and Courseware" provides the information you need to help decide whether open source e-learning is right for you. More>

Is Open Source E-Learning Software Right for You?

Open source software has become mainstream. Applications such as the Firefox Web browser, Apache Web server, Linux operating system, MySQL database platform, and PHP programming language continue to gain popularity. Most importantly, these applications often equal or even surpass the quality of well-known commercial, proprietary software.

Open source software is also making important inroads into the world of online learning. Open source e-learning now includes:

Open source e-learning software can provide important benefits:

Written by Brian J. Dooley, an author, analyst, and journalist with more than 20 years of experience analyzing and writing about trends in telecommunications and IT, "Open Source E-Learning: Alternatives to Proprietary Tools, Systems, and Courseware" provides the information you need to help decide whether open source e-learning is right for you.

This report:

By opening more doors in e-learning technology, open source software has become a strong contender in online training and e-learning sectors. With technology constantly advancing, you can expect more open source offerings to emerge in the e-learning arena – changing the landscape of online instruction and training for the academic world and industry alike.

With such swift technological advancements on the horizon, chances are you can find tools to meet your training needs in either the open source or commercial sector. But open source provides unique advantages – filling the low-cost high-control niche – that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve through commercial, proprietary avenues.

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Emerging E-Learning Services New!

Online learning is undergoing dramatic changes as powerful new content types, technologies, and services are being adopted for training. Dr. Gary Woodill’s third report in the popular Emerging E-Learning Series is the only analysis in the industry of the 24 emerging services available and required for the professional production of online learning. This 140-page report discusses how the e-learning industry, as it matures, is moving from an emphasis on technologies and content, to a service based economy. More>

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Emerging E-Learning Technologies New!

Dr. Gary Woodill’s second report in the popular Emerging E-Learning Series, "Emerging E-Learning Technologies: Tools for Developing Innovative Online Training," covers 52 categories of new and innovative e-learning tools and Web resources that can be used to expand the possibilities for producing highly engaging online learning content. More>
REVIEW: Read Will Thalheimer's review of this report.

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Emerging E-Learning Content

This 236-page report examines 50 of the most promising ideas, innovations, and content formats in the field of e-learning and provides examples of how organizations are applying new technologies. More>

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Emerging E-Learning Links: 101 Websites to Illustrate New Forms of Online Learning Free!

Gary Woodill, Ed.D.
Director, Research and Analysis

February 2007

The following 101 web addresses have been selected from over 5000 links to emerging e-learning websites and publications that are documented in three recent research reports I have written – Emerging E-learning Content: new approaches to delivering engaging online training (2005), Emerging E-learning Technologies: tools for developing innovative online training (2006), and Emerging E-learning Services: cutting edge practices for supporting innovative online training (2007). Sampling this list of links will give you a good idea of the immense changes that are happening in the world of e-learning. All three reports are available at: http://www.brandonhall.com.


Accessibility Design
CAST is a non-profit organization that advocates for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and carries out a lot of research and development in this area. This is the organization that originally developed the Bobby software tool for reviewing the accessibility of Web sites. http://www.cast.org


Advising and Counselling
Therapy Online, in conjunction with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, offers certificate programs in cybercounselling and resources for professional helpers. For details go to:
http://www.therapyonline.ca/cybercounselling/default.htm


Affective Computing
Rosalind Picard, author of the 1997 groundbreaking book, Affective Computing, heads the MIT lab on affective computing. The lab’s Web site has many resources to check out at:
http://affect.media.mit.edu


Agents
Professor Michael Wooldridge of the University of Liverpool has written over 200 articles and 13 books on the behaviors of software agents and on multi-agent systems. See his publications at:
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~mjw

Animations
BrainPOP is an educational website for K-12 students, and their teachers and parents. It is just bustling with animations. There is a 14 day free trial at: http://www.brainpop.com


Analytics
Companies like Spotfire are driving innovation in the data visualization area by enabling business users to rapidly model data in an easy-to-use interface ― cutting IT or power users out of the analysis process and accelerating business decision making. http://www.spotfire.com


Archiving
The Internet Archive WayBackMachine is a Web site that has archived millions of Web pages from earlier years. It is especially useful in finding the content for an old Web site that no longer exists or where content has been radically changed. To use this resource, simply type the Web address into the search box and click the “Take Me Back” button. http://www.archive.org/web/web.php


Artificial intelligence
Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is a technique used in the automatic marking of essays, and are purported to be more consistent than human scorers. For a portal on the latent semantic analysis, see:
http://lsa.colorado.edu


Assessments
Assessment skills for the 21st Century are listed and described on this web site:
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/assess21


Audio and Podcasting
One web site that tries to capture some of the soundscape of the world is National Geographic’s Pulse of the Planet web site. Listen in at:
http://pulseplanet.nationalgeographic.com


Authoring tools
Brandon Hall Research has an Authoring Tool Knowledge Base that compares 100 of the best e-learning content development applications. See:
http://www.brandon-hall.com/publications/atkb/atkb_firms.shtml

Avatars
CodeBaby is software that creates online talking avatars that can be used in educational settings. See a case study and a presentation on how to create an online avatar at:
http://www.codebaby.com/solutions/elearning


Blended Learning
The Department of Education and Training in New South Wales, Australia maintains a web page on blended learning, with many “exemplars” on how it works. Try them at: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/yrk12focusareas/learntech/blended/index.php


Blogging
James Farmer is a frequent and critical contributor to the online debates on the future of technology and education. His blog is at:
http://blogsavvy.net/category/blogging-for-education


Brain-based Learning
BrainMap - a set of software tools which interface with a database management system to increase the user’s understanding of the function and anatomy of the human brain.
http://ric.uthscsa.edu/projects/brainmap.html


Browsers
The Mozilla Project set out to develop open source standards for Web browsers and mail clients. Their efforts have resulted in the FireFox Web browser and the Thunderbirds mail client.
http://www.mozilla.com


Business-based Learning
Chief Learning Officer is an online magazine for business executives containing many articles on business-based e-learning. Subscribe for free at:
http://www.submag.com/sub/ch

Change Management
eLearning Reviews has a list of over 20 articles on change management in general and 10 articles on change management in higher education. Access these lists at: http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/culture/change-management


Classroom Response Systems
eInstruction’s Classroom Performance System is used in K-12, higher education, corporate, and military settings.
http://www.einstruction.com


Collaborative and Cooperative Learning
David Woolley maintains a website dedicated to all aspects of collaborative work environments, as well as web conferencing. http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/index.htm


Communication Tools
AcademicTalk is a tool used for synchronous collaborative argumentation. It is being developed into a transportable, re-usable, and adaptable tool that can be used in a range of educational contexts to realize structured, and yet tailored and flexible, pedagogical approaches to dialogical learning.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/deletacademictalk.html


Community and Network Development
Tomoye’s Ecco software for developing “communities of practice” has received great reviews. Tomoye Ecco rapidly creates an environment that supports context creation around new knowledge, stimulates idea generation, connects peers, and promotes a culture of sharing across functional units. http://www.tomoye.com


Competency-based Learning
CanDo is an open source student competency tracking system. CanDo is built on the SchoolTool platform. SchoolTool is a project to develop a common global school administration infrastructure freely available under an Open Source license.
https://launchpad.net/products/cando


Consulting
A number of Web sites have tips for hiring a consultant. For example, see the list of points to consider on the EDP Consulting site:
http://www.edpci.com

Content Management Systems
Drupal is an open source content management system. According to its official Web site, “Drupal can support a variety of Web sites ranging from personal Weblogs to large community-driven Web sites.”
http://drupal.org


Creativity and Innovation
An amazing map of world-wide creativity projects is maintained by the Next Generation Foundation at:
http://www.ngf.org.uk/flash.htm


Credentials Verification
The Web site GetEducated.com offers a free service to check the accreditation of universities and colleges offering diplomas. The Diploma Mill Police can be visited at: http://www.geteducated.com/services/diplomamillpolice.asp


Custom Content Development
Brandon Hall Research has a knowledge base of over 110 custom content developers. http://www.brandon-hall.com/publications/cckb/cckb.shtml


Data Mining
Reel Two and GeneEd have launched a powerful new text-mining tool for life sciences research. GO KDS has classified the full set of more than 12 million MEDLINE documents against the list of Gene Ontology terms. http://www.reeltwo.com/index.php?page=news&article=2002100101


Decision-support Software
BNH Expert Software is a Canadian company that produces decision support software for e-learning.
http://www.bnhexpertsoft.com


Digital Rights Management
The Creative Commons site provides free tools for authors, artists, and educators to mark their creative work the freedoms they wanted to carry. Instead of “all rights reserved,” the Creative Commons allows for “some rights reserved.” http://creativecommons.org

Discussions
The Teaching, Learning and Technology group at the State University of New York (SUNY) also has a set of 14 guidelines for “enhancing online discussions” at:
http://tlt.suny.edu/discussion.htm


Display Technologies
IO2 Technology features its “heliodisplay” that shows images hovering in mid-air.
http://www.io2technology.com/technology/overview


e-Books
The oldest collection of eBooks is the Gutenberg Project, started by Michael Hart in 1971. Over 16,000 out-of-copyright titles have already been scanned and posted to the Internet:
http://www.gutenberg.org


e-Drama and Role-playing
The University of Birmingham in the UK is researching how to develop realistic eDrama systems for the Internet. The aim is “to use electronic computer systems or the Internet to simulate drama, such as improvisation or role-play, between several human users.” Details at: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/edrama


e-Portfolios
The Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is a community of individuals and organizations collaborating on the development of a non-proprietary, open source electronic portfolio.
http://www.osportfolio.org


e-Science and Online Laboratories
The e-Skeleton Project allows medical students to practice the finer points of anatomy from home. Found at:
http://www.eskeletons.org


Experiential Learning
The Apple Learning Interchange is an excellent site for exploring a wide variety of online experiences:
http://ali.apple.com

Free Choice Learning
An excellent example of an online exhibit is the Ancient Egypt site from the British Museum. Go to:
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk


Games and Puzzles
Savannah is a strategy-based adventure game where children play at being lions in a savannah. They used hand-held GPS devices to navigate and try to emulate strategies used by lions to roam around the simulated environment. http://www.nestafuturelab.org/showcase/savannah/savannah.htm


Gesture and Facial Recognition
Charles Cohen maintains a Web site on gesture recognition research, including identifying commercial products in this area.
http://www.cybernet.com/~ccohen/gesture.html


Graphics Tools
By now there are hundreds of 2-D and 3-D software tools on the market. One of the best sites to locate reviews and ratings of 3-D software is 3DLinks.com.
http://www.3dlinks.com/index.cfm


Haptics
Body-based devices include gloves, suits, and exoskeletal devices can be obtained from Immersion Corporation.
http://www.immersion.com


Immersive Environments
Second Life is a 3D digital world that is imagined, designed and created by its “residents”. You can chat, play games, and build houses and other structures as a resident of this world. There are also learning opportunities within the Second Life Environment.
http://secondlife.com


Information and Graphic Design
The Design for Learning and Learning Design project is funded by the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and is developing a prototype for learning design that can be used by the general e-learning community. http://www.noe-kaleidoscope.org/pub/lastnews/last-0-read760-display

Inquiry-based Learning
The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment (VGEE) allows undergraduate students to work with discovering relationships in geophysical data sets using an inquiry-based approach:
http://www.dpc.ucar.edu/vgee


Instructional Design
Instructional design is based on learning theories. Greg Kearsley has developed an exhaustive list of learning theories and learning concepts. http://tip.psychology.org


Interactive Learning Activities
The “Cut-the-Knot” website lists almost 600 interactive mathematics activities. See them at:
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/front.shtml


Interface Devices
MT Media Lab’s I/O Brush "is a new drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and movements found in everyday materials by 'picking up' and drawing with them."
http://web.media.mit.edu/~kimiko/iobrush/


Language Learning
Since 1996, Japanese-Online.com has been providing free learning services for people who want to study Japanese. Try them at:
http://www.japanese-online.com


Learning Management Systems
Brandon Hall Research has a web resource called “LMS Central,” with extensive documentation on learning management systems. Brandon Hall Research provides access to individual profiles of more than 50 learning management systems. Each profile is 30 to 50 pages long and contains a review of the system and detailed specifications regarding the system's features and characteristics.
http://www.brandon-hall.com/solutions/lms_central.shtml


Learning Objects and Repositories
MERLOT is the largest repository of learning objects, with almost 15,000 items.
http://www.merlot.org/Home.po

Learning Space Design
The Teaching with Technology Web site at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a section on “learning spaces” describing the various clusters of resources on campus. http://web.mit.edu/teachtech/learning.html


Libraries
The New York Public Library has a digital gallery full of cultural artifacts. http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm


Live Presentations and Webinars
The Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey has a “Cardiac Classroom”, a unique two-way audio and video interactive surgical experience. Guests can watch the operation in progress and speak with medical staff as it takes place.
http://www.lsc.org/livefrom/cardiac/cardiac_home.html


Location-Based Technologies
Google Earth is an amazing view of the earth, with abilities to show the location of almost any service or feature that is searchable from a database.
http://earth.google.com


Mapping
Want to have students do a history project using old maps? David Rumsey has over 11,000 historical maps online at:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/index.html


Mashups and Web Services
For an article that I wrote on “Mashups, SOAP and Services” go to the Publications area of Operitel Corporation.
http://www.operitel.com


Metacognitive Learning
Meta-Learning Lab is a group of consultants who help foster performance improvements through metacognitive strategies.
http://www.meta-learninglab.com

Metadata, Ontologies and Taxonomies
The IMS Global Learning Consortium has developed guidelines for using metadata with learning objects.
http://www.imsglobal.org/metadata/mdv1p3pd/imsmd_bestv1p3pd.html


Metaphorical Learning
Learn about wines by taking them out to dinner. Play the Wine Dating Game at:
http://speedzone.sympatico.msn.ca/Platform/WineDating


Mobile Devices
The Tate Modern Art Museum has launched a pilot multimedia tour of its galleries using handheld computers. Visitors are given a Pocket PC that uses a wireless network to track where they are in the gallery and that provides an instant visual guide to the exhibits.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2225255.stm


Narrative Learning
The radio is an excellent medium for story-telling. For a great example, see the Radio Diaries website at:
http://www.radiodiaries.org


Natural Language Processing
Eduforge lists 36 natural language processing projects in education in English and another 16 in other languages.
http://eduforge.org/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=274


Open and Free Content
UNESCO maintains a list of free and open source software for e-learning. http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forums2.php?queryforums_id=9&querychapter=1


Peer-To-Peer Technologies
SETI@home links and uses donated computer processing capacity to analyze data collected from a radio telescope located in Puerto Rico. It is an example of grid computing and the power of peer-to-peer technologies.
http://www.seti.org/science/setiathome.html

Personal Learning Environments
ELGG is an open source personal learning environment that is already working.
http://elgg.net


Personalization
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York allows Web site visitors to build a My Met page where they can gather information together on their favorite works of art.
https://www.metmuseum.org/mymetmuseum/index.asp?HomePageLink=mymetmuseum_l


Polls, Questionnaires and Surveys
You can make your own polls and surveys and post them on the web for free at:
http://freeonlinesurveys.com


Portals
Elearning Europa is a portal on all aspects of e-learning in Europe. As of early 2006, the portal offered information on more than 20,000 projects on e-learning and thousands of articles. There are also directories of publications and authors
http://www.elearningeuropa.info


Presentations
Macromedia has a set of e-learning recorded seminars that provide a flavor of what live presentations are like on the Internet. Experience them at:
http://www.macromedia.com/resources/elearning/presentations


Problem-based Learning
The University of Illinois has several examples of problem-based learning in university courses. Find out more at:
http://www.cites.uiuc.edu/edtech/teaching_methods/pedagogy/inquiry/index.html


Project-based Learning
The students of Mountlake Terrace High School math class were asked to design a school for the year 2050. The process they went through and their results are at:
http://www.edutopia.org/other/reeder/open.php

Project Management
Beverly Pasian and I edited a book of readings on “e-learning project management”, entitled Plan to Learn. Download a free copy from the Canadian e-Learning Enterprise Alliance (CeLEA).
http://www.celea-aceel.ca


Quality Assurance
The European Quality Observatory is a network and community of European experts and leaders in the field of quality in e-learning. Join at: http://www.eqo.info


Rapid E-Learning Tools
The world of microlearning is covered by the microlearning.org Web site, which contains information on resources, conferences, and other good stuff.
http://www.microlearning.org/


Remote Sensing
Landscape characteristics, geospatial data, and interactive mapping using satellite images of Chesapeake Bay and the Mid-Atlantic are available to teachers and students at:
http://chesapeake.towson.edu


Robotics
The LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System allows children to produce their own working robots and learn how to program them.
http://mindstorms.lego.com


Scenario-based Learning
The US Navy uses Scenario-based learning in their training. See the Navy’s Human Performance Center website for a description of their work in “Case-based learning, Scenario-based learning, and Situated Cognition.” Access it at:
https://www.spider.hpc.navy.mil/index.cfm?RID=TTE_OT_1000065


Search Engines
Copernic is a meta-search engine that uses 90 search engines grouped into 10 categories. It eliminates duplicate entries and broken links.
http://www.copernic.com

Security
The Security in e-Learning Web site provides tutorials on this topic, as well as other resources. http://www.e-learning-security.org/moodle


Semantic Web
Edutella is an open source project that applies Semantic Web concepts.
http://edutella.jxta.org/


Simulations
Celestia is a free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Try it at:
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/index.html


Situated Learning
The EFIOS website lists web resources on “communities of practice, communities of interest”. See:
http://www.efios.com/cop-garden.htm


Smart Labels and Tags
The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center (RLHEC) has students studying nutrition by picking up food models and placing them on a cafeteria tray. The RFID computer interface was developed by Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana University.
http://uitspress.iu.edu/102605_meal.html


Social Bookmarking
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking Web site that allows users to keep their favorite Web sites, music, and/or books and find them again. They can then share these bookmarks with others and browse related topics.
http://del.icio.us


Social Networking
The Brandon Hall Network is an online gathering of learning professionals. Join for free at:
http://www.brandonhall.com

Support
ActionPlanMapper is based on the idea that learning that takes place in a formal setting such as a classroom, conference, or seminar needs to be supported after the training session is over and the learner has gone back to work. http://www.zfco.com/apm.asp


Telepresence
Conceived by Dreamworks as a response to travel concerns after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Halo allows meeting participants to make eye contact, share files and documents, and shout over each other to try to be heard, just like during a real meeting.
http://www.hp.com/halo/index.html


Tours
Technology columnist Jon Udell has a tour of his home town, Keene, New Hampshire. What is unusual is the use of Google Maps to show the route of the tour and the use of sound, video and photographs as you follow the mapped route. Take the tour at:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/gmap2_flash.html


Translation and Localization
LearnFlex, the learning management system from Operitel Corporation, is unique in allowing multiple language libraries to be installed and then switched on the fly according to user profiles.
http://www.operitel.com


Tutoring and Mentoring
AnySubject.com has tutors available for hire in many high school and university level subjects. You can hire them at:
http://www.anysubject.com/online-tuition-us.asp


Video-enhanced Learning
Would you like to experience a videoblog? There are several posted at the Videoblogging Universe. View them at:
http://videoblogging-universe.com


Virtual Reality
The Ancient Spaces Web site from the University of British Columbia allows users to reconstruct and play with historical properties. It aims to bring experiential and game-based learning to a traditional curriculum in a student-driven, modularized fashion.
http://ancient.arts.ubc.ca/index.html

Visualizations
Visualcomplexity.com is a site that links to several hundred visualizations of complex data sets. Over 30 are “knowledge networks”. Look at them at:
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/index.cfm


Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP)
Skype is probably the best known VoIP service, with unlimited free computer to computer calling and low charges for computer to phone connections.
http://www.skype.com


Wearable Computing
The Wearable Computing Laboratory at the University of Oregon has several active projects on wearable computing that can be applied to learning.
http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/research/wearables/index.html


Web Feeds
Stephen Downes, senior research officer for the National Research Council of Canada, has been an early advocate and promoter of the use of Web feeds in e-learning. Read his article written specifically for educators.
http://www.downes.ca/files/RSS_Educ.htm


WebQuests
A set of example WebQuests is provided at DiscoverySchool.com. Go to:
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/webquest/webquest.html


Wikis
The best known wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that has been built with tens of thousands of volunteer contributors. There are now over 1,600,000 articles in English in Wikipedia.
http://www.wikipedia.org


Workflow Learning
DST Systems has developed software called Automatic Work Distributor to manage workflow and task assignments. Read more about it at:
http://www.awdbpm.com/downloads/awd_brochures/mission_critical_work_management_solutions.pdf

Gary Woodill, Ed.D.

Director of Research and Analysis
Brandon Hall Research
Gary Woodill started his career as a classroom teacher in 1971, and has been involved with the use of computers in education since 1974, when he was introduced to the PLATO system for computer assisted instruction as part of his Masters studies in educational psychology. He helped develop educational materials for a Canadian videotext system in the late 1970s, and in 1985 started a course for teachers on computer in education at Ryerson University in Toronto.
In 1984 Gary received a doctorate in applied psychology from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. In 1993 he co-founded an educational multimedia company that developed a number of educational CD-ROMs for children. In 1998 he designed an adaptable learning management system and has developed over 60 online courses for various corporate clients. He lives with his wife in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at gary@brandon-hall.com.


Publications by Gary Woodill, available at: www.brandon-hall.com

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