The Evolution of the Modern Learning Management System
Digital Education is a staple feature of the majority of educational institutes and corporations in the world today. Driven and maintained by a Learning Management System (LMS) of the organization’s choice, Digital Education has evolved from a supplementary to a primary mode of learning and training for students and employees as the technology behind it has evolved. Essentially, LMSs are web-based platforms that allow instructors to create lessons, evaluate student performance, perform administrative tasks, report learning feedback and implement the overall learning process in a remote fashion. In their most rudimentary stages, LMSs came with limited functionality and bore a limited, supplementary role in the overall learning process. Today, LMSs are highly advanced and often leverage AI and analytics to replace in-person instruction with an enhanced, more personalized learning plan for individual students. As LMSs rapidly evolve into uncharted territory in the EdTech industry, let’s take a look at their foundations and trace the evolution of the modern Learning Management System.
What is a Learning Management System?
To qualify as an LMS, the platform has to meet at least three key criteria in some capacity:
1. It must host learning material
2. It must provide tools to exercise some degree of management of these learning materials and the learning process
3. It has to automate certain tasks so that it is a system with inputs, processes, and outputs
As such, an LMS can be understood to be a platform that hosts a learning repository along with technological tools that streamline tasks such as but not limited to registrations, attendance, assignments, participation, examination, feedback and rewards. In its most rudimentary form, an LMS should replicate an in-person learning/training session in a remote and digital setting, complete with all the tools necessary to do so. In its advanced form, an LMS can add value to the learning process through personalized learning, feedback analytics, and more.
Today, lots of e-learning platforms are highly specialized in certain areas, but lack a holistic approach to learning management and are therefore insufficient as standalone platforms for the entire learning process. As distance learning picks up speed, especially after Covid-19, the gaps in these e-learning platforms can unnecessarily complicate usability both at the instructor’s and the student’s end. Waffle is a LMS that leverages cutting edge technology from different e-learning systems, pairs them with original digital products that enhance the learning process, and serves institutions with a single platform that can not only completely replace in-person learning if the need arises, but also contribute to better learning outcomes. Waffle, like many other EdTech solutions, leverages technological automation to solve pressing issues in Education and make it more accessible across geographical divides. But where did this all begin?
Precursors and Milestones
While the exact advent of the LMS is debatable, one of the first and most significant precursors to the modern LMS was Sidney L. Pressey’s 1920s Teaching Machine, which followed the logic of Multiple Choice Question examinations that modern Learning Management Systems also adopt. Learners could only progress to the next question if they selected the correct answer on the learning machine — this process was therefore one of the first instances of relegating a portion of learning to a direct interaction between the learner and technology, thereby automating examination and feedback to some degree. A similar machine, Milton Ezra LeZerte’s Problem Cylinder, also provided learners with instructions and gave them feedback on their MCQ responses, eliminating the need for an instructor in the examination process.
In 1953, the University of Houston televised its first for-credit college course to cater to people who could not attend in-person classes due to other commitments. Limited solely to knowledge dissemination at this stage, the stream was nevertheless an important milestone in the build-up to knowledge repositories of recorded and live lectures that make up a large component of the modern LMS. In 1960, Dr. Donald Bitzer invented a computer-based training program that allowed for self-paced learning, a major precursor to one of the most common features of the modern LMS. PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operation) not only allowed learners to track their progress, but also allowed for collaborative learning through messaging features.
The first Learning Management Systems
As commercial Internet usage grew in the 1990s, the first Learning Management Systems also hit the market. No longer referred to as computer-based learning systems, these new Distributed Learning Systems (DLS) and Course Management Systems (CMS) differed from their precursors in that they could be used remotely. Course delivery could be done asynchronously or synchronously, or in a combination of both methods. At their outset, their main purpose was to share the main content of the courses with students, but they have rapidly evolved to add value in the learning chain.
In the early 2000s, the first open-source LMS, Moodle, was launched. Moodle provided personalized and on-demand learning to anyone who downloaded the application on their computer. Educational institutions and corporations could customize the application to launch their own learning materials and track students’ and employees’ progress. Instructors could manage more than one course, and Moodle could be used for blended learning, distance learning, and other e-learning projects. Alongside the launch of Moodle, some of the first technological advancements in specifying standards for communication, such as SCORM, were also developed, and have now become a staple in all LMSs.
The Modern LMS
The LMS industry has since diversified, with key industry leaders being Blackboard Learn, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Sakai and Canvas. Each follows a different model that allows for varying levels of customization and control by institutions and organizations adopting them for their learning material. While their functionality also differs, most LMS today provide tools for personalized learning, chat rooms and messaging forums, on-demand learning material, gamification, and individual learning analytics. The user interface has evolved considerably to be more user friendly, and most LMS are now accessible through mobile phone applications, and not just computers.
However, there are still many gaps in the modern LMS. The Covid-19 outbreak administered an industry-wide shock as schools and universities transitioned to fully online learning and blind spots in the services provided by industry leaders began to show. Highlighting the need for an efficient and holistic learning management system on these oft-used platforms, the pandemic has ushered in rapid developments in the EdTech industry to urgently fill the gaps in the modern LMS. We have come a long way from the Teaching Machine of the 1920s, but the next few years will see unprecedented development of the modern LMS as new and existing technology is leveraged to enhance the learning process in a completely remote and independent environment.
Cognizant of the industry’s shortcomings in meeting the demand for an immediate and total transition to online learning last year, the developers behind Waffle are building a one-stop solution for the new era of education. With tools to proctor online examinations and homework, diverse communication channels, innovative solutions to encourage student engagement, and a host of other products in its pipeline, Waffle is actively working towards a solution for seamless transition between online and offline work for instructors and students alike.
