generated new opportunities for educators and learners to
interact at any time anywhere without physical boundaries. It
can provide all the essential material and tools to manage
virtual teaching and learning environments. The users of the
LMS may be categorized into learners/students, instructors,
and administrators (Avgeriou et al., 2003). The administrators are responsible for monitoring the operation of the LMS,
to resolve the technical issues, and for administering the user
accounts of the LMS. The instructors are responsible for
creating their courses, presenting contents, evaluating their
performance, interacting with the students, and providing
feedback to the students. The learners are the key users of
the system, the receivers of the content materials. The students can interact with each other and with instructors
through asynchronous and synchronous communication
tools (Avgeriou et al., 2003).
Antonenko, Derakhshan, and Mendez (2013) placed the
existing industry practices of mobile learning into five
levels:
Level 0: LMSs of this category are not prepared for
mobile learning. Level 1: LMSs of this category (such as
Moodle, Sakai) are graphically prepared for mobile devices.
Level 2: This category (e.g. MLE-Moodle, MOMO, Blackboard MobileTM) includes mobile extensions. Level 3:
LMSs of this category (e.g. BlackBerry PushcastTM) are
stand-alone, self-sufficient mobile LMSs. Level 4: These are
innovative mobile LMSs (e.g. cloud computing or
touch-screen capabilities) and use new affordances of mobile
devices.
3.3 A Historical Perspective on Learning
Management Systems
Using LMS in teaching and learning is not a new concept; its
history is connected back to 1960 and it was called an offline
LMS because it was not supported by the web-based systems. Examples of LMSs include Blackboard, WebCT,
eCollege, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Angel, and OPAL
(Sharma et al., 2011). The description of some examples of
LMSs is as follows:
• PLATO
TM : Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching
Operations (PLATO) was the first computer-assisted
learning system invented in 1960 by the staff of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Plato website, 2014). Initially, the learners accessed PLATO
through stand-alone computers, but later, PLATO made
the courses online and available from anywhere.
• Learning Manager
TM : In 1980, a new LMS was introduced known as TLM
TM (The Learning Manager
TM
).
TLM
TM presented tools for developing, reporting,
managing, and materials for learning. It became a popular
tool for e-learning management and could be accessed
remotely by dial-up as a student or an instructor using a
terminal emulator.
• Andrew Project: The Andrew Project was developed by
Carnegie Mellon University in 1982. It offered a unified
computing environment for online collaboration. The
purpose of this system was to develop a platform for
computer-aided teaching.
• EKKO
TM
: The first version of the EKKO
TM was a
computer-based conferencing system, invented and
implemented at NKI
TM
. NKI Distance Education in
Norway started online distance education courses in
1987. These courses were delivered through EKKO,
NKI’s self-developed LMS.
• ATHENA: This project was initially developed in 1983
and later evolved in 1990 at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology University. ATHENA was a campus-wide
networked system that was meant for writing, sharing,
and communicating papers with other users. This
instructional system included a tutor, a blackboard, a
textbook, a simulator of complex systems, a virtual laboratory, a communication medium, and a special-purpose
learning environment (Balkovich, Lerman, & Parmelee,
1985).
• HyperCourseware
TM : HyperCourseware
TM was a prototype electronic educational environment invented at the
University of Maryland by Kent Norman in 1990 to be
used as an electronic classroom called the ‘Teaching
Theater’. The purpose of HyperCourseware
TM was to
give access electronically to teaching and learning
resources such as lectures, textbooks, discussions, question and answer documents (Norman, 1994).
• WebCT
TM : It was presented in 1996 at the University of
British Columbia by Murray Goldberg. The key features
of WebCT
TM were mail system, live chat, discussion
boards, and downloadable materials and web pages
(WebCT, 2011). WebCT
TM was the first and most famous
CMS used in higher education. In 2006 WebCT
TM was
acquired by Blackboard
TM (WebCT, 2011).
• Blackboard
TM : Blackboard
TM was originated in 1997
and offers software applications for learning and teaching.
Blackboard
TM is one of the most popular commercial
LMS. It was founded in 1997. It has a head office in
Washington, D.C. and other offices in North America,
Europe, Asia, and Australia. It offered different platforms:
Blackboard Learn
TM (an LMS), Blackboard Connect
TM
(for time-sensitive information, e.g. text, email, voice,
and social media), Blackboard Collaborate
TM (for a virtual classroom for synchronous instruction), Blackboard
Analytics
TM (for leaders of institutions for self-service
and easy access to important information), Blackboard
Mobile
TM (mobile version of the LMS), and Blackboard
Transact
TM
: it is meant for a secure off-campus and
14
3 Learning Management Systems
interact at any time anywhere without physical boundaries. It
can provide all the essential material and tools to manage
virtual teaching and learning environments. The users of the
LMS may be categorized into learners/students, instructors,
and administrators (Avgeriou et al., 2003). The administrators are responsible for monitoring the operation of the LMS,
to resolve the technical issues, and for administering the user
accounts of the LMS. The instructors are responsible for
creating their courses, presenting contents, evaluating their
performance, interacting with the students, and providing
feedback to the students. The learners are the key users of
the system, the receivers of the content materials. The students can interact with each other and with instructors
through asynchronous and synchronous communication
tools (Avgeriou et al., 2003).
Antonenko, Derakhshan, and Mendez (2013) placed the
existing industry practices of mobile learning into five
levels:
Level 0: LMSs of this category are not prepared for
mobile learning. Level 1: LMSs of this category (such as
Moodle, Sakai) are graphically prepared for mobile devices.
Level 2: This category (e.g. MLE-Moodle, MOMO, Blackboard MobileTM) includes mobile extensions. Level 3:
LMSs of this category (e.g. BlackBerry PushcastTM) are
stand-alone, self-sufficient mobile LMSs. Level 4: These are
innovative mobile LMSs (e.g. cloud computing or
touch-screen capabilities) and use new affordances of mobile
devices.
3.3 A Historical Perspective on Learning
Management Systems
Using LMS in teaching and learning is not a new concept; its
history is connected back to 1960 and it was called an offline
LMS because it was not supported by the web-based systems. Examples of LMSs include Blackboard, WebCT,
eCollege, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Angel, and OPAL
(Sharma et al., 2011). The description of some examples of
LMSs is as follows:
• PLATO
TM : Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching
Operations (PLATO) was the first computer-assisted
learning system invented in 1960 by the staff of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Plato website, 2014). Initially, the learners accessed PLATO
through stand-alone computers, but later, PLATO made
the courses online and available from anywhere.
• Learning Manager
TM : In 1980, a new LMS was introduced known as TLM
TM (The Learning Manager
TM
).
TLM
TM presented tools for developing, reporting,
managing, and materials for learning. It became a popular
tool for e-learning management and could be accessed
remotely by dial-up as a student or an instructor using a
terminal emulator.
• Andrew Project: The Andrew Project was developed by
Carnegie Mellon University in 1982. It offered a unified
computing environment for online collaboration. The
purpose of this system was to develop a platform for
computer-aided teaching.
• EKKO
TM
: The first version of the EKKO
TM was a
computer-based conferencing system, invented and
implemented at NKI
TM
. NKI Distance Education in
Norway started online distance education courses in
1987. These courses were delivered through EKKO,
NKI’s self-developed LMS.
• ATHENA: This project was initially developed in 1983
and later evolved in 1990 at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology University. ATHENA was a campus-wide
networked system that was meant for writing, sharing,
and communicating papers with other users. This
instructional system included a tutor, a blackboard, a
textbook, a simulator of complex systems, a virtual laboratory, a communication medium, and a special-purpose
learning environment (Balkovich, Lerman, & Parmelee,
1985).
• HyperCourseware
TM : HyperCourseware
TM was a prototype electronic educational environment invented at the
University of Maryland by Kent Norman in 1990 to be
used as an electronic classroom called the ‘Teaching
Theater’. The purpose of HyperCourseware
TM was to
give access electronically to teaching and learning
resources such as lectures, textbooks, discussions, question and answer documents (Norman, 1994).
• WebCT
TM : It was presented in 1996 at the University of
British Columbia by Murray Goldberg. The key features
of WebCT
TM were mail system, live chat, discussion
boards, and downloadable materials and web pages
(WebCT, 2011). WebCT
TM was the first and most famous
CMS used in higher education. In 2006 WebCT
TM was
acquired by Blackboard
TM (WebCT, 2011).
• Blackboard
TM : Blackboard
TM was originated in 1997
and offers software applications for learning and teaching.
Blackboard
TM is one of the most popular commercial
LMS. It was founded in 1997. It has a head office in
Washington, D.C. and other offices in North America,
Europe, Asia, and Australia. It offered different platforms:
Blackboard Learn
TM (an LMS), Blackboard Connect
TM
(for time-sensitive information, e.g. text, email, voice,
and social media), Blackboard Collaborate
TM (for a virtual classroom for synchronous instruction), Blackboard
Analytics
TM (for leaders of institutions for self-service
and easy access to important information), Blackboard
Mobile
TM (mobile version of the LMS), and Blackboard
Transact
TM
: it is meant for a secure off-campus and
14
3 Learning Management Systems