Learning management system facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

A Learning Management System (LMS) is like an online classroom or a digital school. It's a special computer program that helps teachers and students manage learning. Think of it as a central hub for all your schoolwork. You can find courses, homework, and learning materials there.

LMSs became popular in the late 1990s. Almost all colleges and universities use them today. Their use grew a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic when many students learned from home. LMSs help teachers see how students are doing. They also make it easy to share lessons and activities online.

What an LMS Does

Helping You Learn

An LMS helps teachers give you all kinds of learning stuff. This includes videos, lessons, and documents. For school, an LMS often has features like:

Ways to grade your work (called rubrics).
Tools for teachers to guide your learning.
Discussion boards where you can talk with classmates.
A syllabus, which is like a map for your course.

A Look Back in Time

Learning from a distance isn't new. It has changed a lot over the years.

Learning by Mail

The idea of learning from far away started a long time ago. In 1723, a teacher named Caleb Phillips advertised lessons by mail. He taught shorthand. In 1840, Isaac Pitman in England sent Bible passages to students. They would send them back after writing them in shorthand. This was a two-way conversation by mail!

Early Online Learning

In the early 1900s, people started thinking about using audio and video for teaching. In 1909, E.M. Forster wrote a story about lectures delivered through audio. In 1924, Sidney L. Pressey made the first "teaching machine." It gave students practice exercises and questions. Later, printed lessons were joined by phones, radio, TV, and video tapes.

One of the first computer learning systems was called Plato. It was made in the 1970s.

Computers and Education

In the 1980s, computers became common in schools. They helped students learn. The University of Houston even started broadcasting classes on TV in 1953. This was an early way to teach many students at once.

The Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations (PLATO) system let users share content no matter where they were. By the 1970s and 1980s, many schools wanted to put their courses on computers.

The First LMS on the Internet

Over time, different names were used for computer-based learning. These included computer-managed instruction (CMI) and computer-assisted instruction (CAI). These terms described programs that helped with practice, tutorials, and personalized lessons.

One of the first internet-based LMSs was FirstClass. The Open University in the UK used it in the 1990s. The very first full LMS was called EKKO. It was made in Norway in 1991.

How an LMS Works

An LMS can be set up in two main ways:

Cloud-based: This is like renting space on the internet. A company hosts the LMS for you. You access it through a website on your computer or phone. This is usually easier to use.
Locally hosted: This means the school or company keeps all the LMS data on its own computers. This often uses free (open-source) software. It needs a special team to manage it. Smaller groups often choose cloud-based systems because they are simpler.

LMSs use special ways to connect with different learning materials. These include AICC, xAPI, SCORM, and LTI. These are like different languages that allow learning content to work with the LMS.

With an LMS, teachers can:

Create and add course materials.
Set learning goals.
Track your progress.
Make custom tests.

An LMS also helps students get learning materials easily. It can even help students with special needs. You can see your progress in real time. Teachers can also see how well the learning is working. LMSs also help students and teachers talk to each other easily.

Cool Features of an LMS

Organizing Courses and Users

LMSs help teachers build well-organized online courses. Teachers can add text, pictures, videos, and links. They can also make quizzes and slideshows. Teachers can set up different types of users, like:

Teachers
Students
Parents
Visitors

This helps control who sees what content. It also helps track your progress.

Online Quizzes and Homework

An LMS lets teachers create online quizzes and assignments. You can take these tests and submit your homework online. Most LMSs offer many types of questions, such as:

Multiple choice
True or false
Fill-in-the-blanks
Essays

Getting Feedback

You can give feedback to your teachers and classmates on an LMS. Teachers can create discussion groups. This lets students share ideas and ask questions. Your feedback helps teachers make courses better. It also makes sure you feel comfortable and included.

Learning at Your Own Pace or Live

You can learn in different ways using an LMS:

Asynchronous learning: This means you learn at your own pace. You can watch pre-recorded videos or read PDFs whenever you want.
Synchronous learning: This means you learn live with your teacher and classmates. This might be through video calls or live chats.

Tracking Your Progress

LMSs often have dashboards. These show how students are doing. They can report things like:

How much of a course you've finished.
How often you log in.
How likely you are to succeed.

This helps teachers understand what students know and where they might need more help.

The LMS Market

The LMS market is still quite new. There are many companies that offer LMSs for schools and businesses. There are also many free (open-source) options.

In the U.S. for colleges, the most popular LMSs are Canvas, Blackboard, and Moodle. Around the world, Moodle is very popular, especially in Europe, Latin America, and Oceania.

Many people use special tools to create learning content. This content is then put onto an LMS. Some LMSs have simple tools for making content. More modern systems often have advanced tools built right in.

Good Things and Not-So-Good Things

LMSs are important for developing skills you'll need in the future. But there are good and bad points to using them.

Advantages

Here are some main benefits of using an LMS:

Works with other systems: Different LMSs can share information easily.
Easy to use for everyone: LMSs often have a clear layout. This helps students with disabilities access online content better.
Can be reused: Learning materials can be used again and again. This helps save money on creating new lessons.
Growing fast: More and more schools and businesses are using LMSs.
Easy to update: Developers can keep making the software better. They can add new features.
Adapts quickly: LMSs are always improving and changing with new technology.

Disadvantages

Teachers need to be ready to change their lessons from in-person to online.
Sometimes, teachers just put old materials online. This can make learning boring if it's not made interactive.

COVID-19 and LMSs

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, schools closed. This changed how teachers and students learned. Many students had to learn from home. UNESCO estimated that over 990 million students were affected by school closures in May 2020.

Online learning using LMSs became very important. For example, at one university, student activity on their LMS almost doubled during the pandemic. Students were happier with LMSs when the information was good. Teachers in Finland liked using LMSs. But they said training and keeping students engaged were important for long-term success. In some countries, switching to LMSs was hard. This was due to fewer schools using them before and limited internet access.