University Business - August 2007 - (Page 58)

Addition by Despite recent mergers and acquisitions, there are more choices than ever for learning management systems. Here’s how to navigate the choice list. By Joseph C. Panettieri Subtraction organization that spans multiple colleges and universities. Much like a shared set of Lego toys, Sakai members write LMS code on their own and then share these building blocks with one another. The goal is to mix and match pieces so that universities can snap together their own LMS systems relatively easily. Of course, not all college and universities have the time or resources to develop LMS systems on their own—nor should they. While MIT has extensive in-house expertise, most colleges and universities would be better served to license prebuilt, standards-based solutions, industry pundits assert. “This isn’t a decision you want to rush into and take lightly,” says Eric Elgar, founder of e2TechLabs.com, a web development and software-testing ﬁrm in East Northport, N.Y. “If your LMS system goes dark, your university goes blind.” But choose wisely. Roughly 24 percent of schools with LMS deployments universitybusiness.com OMETIMES LESS IS MORE. That’s the case with learning management systems. At ﬁrst glance, mergers and acquisitions have led to fewer competitors in the LMS market. But a closer look reveals that established systems are now accompanied by a range of emerging LMS solutions. Today’s options include hosted applications, open source solutions, social networking platforms with LMS components, and even homegrown applications that continue to thrive in academic environments. In fact, many colleges and universities use a mix of LMS and course management systems. Consider the situation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition working with the Sakai open source environment, “MIT actually home grows most of its academic software,” notes Ash Dyer, an MIT researcher. Each spring and fall semester, MIT rolls out a new version of its LMS plat58 | August 2007 S form, which includes the Stellar course management system. Overall, the system enhancements are organized into six categories: content management (such as class materials), website structure (such as customized navigation), homework (assignments and submissions), access control, interaction with students (e-mail and RSS feeds), and ease-of-use enhancements. MIT has developed an easy-to-understand grid system to help users understand how Stellar has evolved since 2005 (see http:// stellar.mit.edu/about). The Stellar system is “cross-referenced with databases throughout MIT’s administration, so it automates a lot of tasks teachers would otherwise have to worry about, like course registrations/drops and copyright management—that’s a big one,” quips Dyer. Still, MIT doesn’t develop LMS systems in a vacuum. The institution also works closely with the Sakai community (http://sakaiproject.org), an open source http://stellar.mit.edu/about http://stellar.mit.edu/about http://sakaiproject.org http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - August 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Admissions
On the Hill
Future Shock
Independent Outlook
Facility Focus
Wanted: Foreign Students
Service With a Star
Beneficial Benefits
Addition By Subtraction
Report from EduComm 2007
Report Card
Internet Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - August 2007