Information Technology Investigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Technology Investigation - Essay Example It usually doesn't include its own authoring capabilities; instead, it focuses on managing courses created by a variety of other sources." (An E-Learning Glossary, 2008) E-learning has evolved along with the spread of the Internet, and today e-learning is one of the new innovations that are helping educators and administrators reach out to students across boundaries and time zones. E-learning has also ushered a new breed of entrepreneurs who are leveraging web based learning management systems to offer innovative, low cost and customized learning tools to students across the world. I was a part of an educational start up that offered a range of preparation tools for select international tests. I was a part of a small sub-team that analyzed the web based LMS landscaped and identified the most suitable LMS for the firm. Through this software investigation, I aim to identify the present trends in web-based LMS and e-learning. I also aim to identify the future evolution of e-learning. A web based learning management system offers a holistic and all encompassing training and assessment set up that allows tutors and administrators to design, create, manage, deliver, adaptive, interactive and innovative online learning tools. A web based learning management system creates a low cost yet highly effective learning and assessment environment that c... In addition to this, a web based learning management system also offers both the user and the tutor the flexibility to create or access content at their discretion. Most e-learning software applications come with a administrator/admin module that lets the tutor easily create and upload content with a authoring tool and a web browser. A typical web based LMS system also has features that allow the tutor as well as the learner assess and monitor the learning, thereby making the learning process highly interactive and customized. LMSs have evolved to be modular and they can often be integrated with other software applications like student information systems, online libraries and web analytics. This modularity and the ability to be integrated with other applications allows the administrator/decision maker utilize the data captured to design highly focused learning and assessment tools. Despite the fact that e-learning and LMS is a relatively old phenomena, it is yet to mature and stabilize. The LMS landscape does not have a clear leader, and is still rapidly evolving. The future potential of LMSs is highly promising, and the LMS of future should be an open ended learning platform. While the present LMSs use in-house generated content and is primarily a tool to manage and track content usage, the LMS of future should be a flexible, adaptive environment that will be integrated with the greatest content depository- the internet. The truly futuristic LMS should be able to intelligently source content from the web and complement that content with content generated in-house and offer much better learning tools. Business