The Future of the LMS
We started the month talking about the features and functions of learning management systems. It’s only fitting we end talking about the changes the future holds for those features. Soon, it won’t be enough that the LMS tracks formal learning like instructor-led training courses or e-learning modules; the future is here, and learning management systems are changing rapidly to keep up.
Leanne talked about Moodle’s ability to categorize those on the system by their expertise in her last post. In a sense, she saw the LMS as more like a social network and less like a database. In this online community, learners can create their own “real” with profiles and list their experience; by searching the profiles, learners can use the LMS to contact others for help and support in a specific subject area.
According to a July trend report published by T&D,
“Within the next two years, 45 percent of respondents say they will upgrade their existing learning portal and 14 percent plan to launch a new learning portal. Most respondents use all of the 12 major learning tools and technologies listed on the survey in their portals. These include blogs, online coaching, polls, self-study programs, communities of practice, and more.”
Instead of discussion forums, these new learning management systems provide blogs and wikis to foster collaboration. And in the place of multiple-choice and true/false tests, more complex polling features keep learners engaged. With the addition of informal learning opportunities, hopefully, learners will stop thinking of the LMS as “the place to go to get to the training” and start viewing it as “where I can find what I need to know.” The LMS becomes a true repository for learning, housing job aids, coaching guides, and courses, along side videos created and uploaded by learners and informal wikis run by study groups.
In researching LMSs and Moodle, I found an article that discussed combining an LMS with a virtual learning environment, Second Life. When I dug a little further, I found Sloodle. It uses Moodle to generate a 3D version of the LMS in Second Life. Want to decide what course to take? Look at the sessions displayed on a calendar in Second Life and “teleport” yourself to the classroom immediately. Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel.
I’m not sure I can even imagine the future of learning management systems; I just know they will very soon be much more than a database that assigns coursework.
Tags: informal learning, LMS, Web 2.0
September 1st, 2009 at 6:44 am
[...] Um artigo interessante que fala do futuro das plataformas de e-learning e da sua aproximação
September 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
There are now and probably will be for the foreseeable future, some significant differences between what was called “the place I can go to find what I need to know” and university accredited training such as one might find is a growing variety of MBAs. Nonetheless, the “sloodle” concept of immersive learning in a virtual world that accurately reflects a global marketplace may already be here. As one example. a large private school in Indiana is offering graduate courses in just such a context even as we write and dream about what may be in the future (http://business-degree.iwuonline.com/virtual-mba)
I have seen a similar thing done to address the need for a more engaging experience for state mandated financial education for High School students (www.4tnoxrox.com) So, the last comment, the future is here, could not be more true. We have a lot of imagining and a lot of work to do.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I agree with John. Well said sir.
April 9th, 2010 at 4:17 am
great post, raises intrigueing points