What is a learning management system (LMS)? Well, you have been participating in one throughout this course. Using an LMS is currently more prevalent in higher education institutions than in schools but the trend is changing. However, schools do not generally operate on the same principles as higher education institutions, so schools may have different requirements and use different products. Moodle is popular in higher education institutions with large enrollments. Edmodo is more popular in schools. 

Within LMS sites, teachers may elect to use any of the following tools: 

• Announcements: Non-threaded, asynchronous messages for all site participants to read. Email notifications may be sent as well. 
• Assignments: Allows students to upload and submit assignments and projects and instructors to grade and comment on students' submissions. 
• Chat: Synchronous conversation tool. All messages are automatically saved and are viewable for all site participants. 
• Content Sharing: File storage space. Any file type may be stored; URLs to other websites may be created, and shared citation lists may be created. Email notifications of new content may be sent as well. 
• Discussion: Threaded, asynchronous messages for all site participants to read.
• Drop Box: Private file storage space for sharing between individual students and the instructor.  
• Email Archive: All email sent via a site-specific email address is delivered to all participants and also saved online for archival and searching. 
• Forums: A threaded, asynchronous messaging tool, similar to the Discussion tool but with more finely-grained options and permission settings. 
• Gradebook: An online grading tool that allows the instructor to grade any assignment or exam and share that information with students, who view only their own scores.
• Messages: A non-threaded, asynchronous messaging tool that can either send messages to groups of students or individuals.
• News: Allows site participants to view RSS feeds from external sources. 
• Schedule: A shared calendar used to post deadlines, due dates, etc. 
• Syllabus: Instructors may use this tool to post their syllabus as HTML or an attachment. 
• Web Content: Allows site participants to view external websites. 
• Wiki: A collaborative document-writing tool. Any site participant may add or modify additional pages and a history of changes is automatically recorded. 

Source: https://ctools.umich.edu/access/content/group/research/papers/Survey_FinalPaper_AERA09.pdf

Watch these introductions to a few free LMSs which are used in schools:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D6ijOYUdj0]
Video: Get to Know Canvas K12 (1:42)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-KBwriCO-Q&index=4&list=PLQnexh-7vC1dyTnSQHDh8380dk5FOiqbj]
Video: Edmodo at a Glance (1:29)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq09srUsAJw]
Video: Schoology (watch the first 1:30)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUiLc0If0CI]
Video: Previewing new Classroom by Google (1:43)

Consider these questions and make some preliminary notes about them:

1. How would you describe a LMS in your own words?
2. What have been the aspects of this LMS that you have liked and what have you not liked?
3. Would you value a system such as this to manage the learning process in your classroom?
4. Is an LMS really an important feature of classroom learning? Would it help you to manage technology-rich learning spaces?

Once you have thought about these questions, click on Mark Complete (first time) or Next Topic on future visits to this page.