Learning Management Systems.

I chose to define and explore the term Learning Management Systems because it directly relates to my goal in taking this course. I hope to transition from classroom teacher to Instructional designer, and the term Learning Management Systems, or LMS, continues to pop up under the “requirements” section of most jobs that I’ve looked into.

After a little research, I found a scholarly article written in 2007, from Ball State University, titled “An argument for Clarity: What are Learning Management Systems, What are They not, and What Should The Become.” By William R. Watson & Sunnie Lee Watson. Although it was written 13 years ago, it seemed like a good place to start. (https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/194513)

Although the term LMS was originally used to describe the management system component of the PLATO learning system described previously in this course, it is more currently described as “…the framework that handles all aspects of the learning process. An LMS is the infrastructure that delivers and manages instructional content, identifies and assesses individual and organizational learning or training goals, tracks the progress towards meeting those goals, and collects and presents data for supervising the learning process of an organization as a whole (Szabo & Flesher, 2002)”(Watson &Watson 2007)

To further clarify, an LMS is not a Course Management System (CMS), such as Blackboard, Oncourse, or Moogle. An LMS is also not a Learning Content Management system (LCMS), since an LMS is focused on the learner and organizing activities for the learner. Where an LCMS is mostly focused on creating, managing, and delivering content.

As an educator, these definitions led to me think of some of the apps my students used in the classroom to support learning. A reading app we used, allowed each student to have their own profile, incorporating their individual reading level (set initially by the teacher). The app would give students books at their reading level to listen to, read on their own, and answer comprehension questions about. Depending on their progress and accuracy, they could advance through the reading levels. As the teacher, on my end, I could see data collected about what types of comprehension questions they were getting correct and which kind they were having trouble with. If a group of students all struggled answering a cause and effect type of question, then I would be able to pull them into a small group and reteach that concept.

As it will relate to my future job, an LMS would be the infrastructure where I would plan and organize the learning that stakeholders have identified as a need in the company. The LMS would collect data and assess individuals as they work through the learning modules. It would help me to see how successful each individual was in completing their learning goals, and if future teaching would be required.