During the last decade, along with the rise of the Internet, one of the fields that have seen a massive upswing is eLearning. eLearning helps educational institutions and corporates mitigate issues of distance and time that students and employees face. eLearning has enabled organizations to provide greater accessibility, flexibility, and customization to the learning and development of students and employees.
As the eLearning concept was getting widespread acceptance, the need for a solution to successfully implement eLearning was felt. Technology world noticed this problem, and we had what we call Learning Management Systems (LMS).
Learning Management System assists organizations in implementing processes for knowledge sharing, training, learning, and development. LMS helps to host learning materials, conduct online assessments, and track learners’ performance while saving time and cost.
Given its usefulness and popularity, the market is full of Learning Management Systems. The options include the open-source as well as proprietary and free as well as paid LMS. This makes it difficult for organizations to understand which one is best for them. To help you carry out decision making and pick the most relevant LMS, we have enlisted top seven free and open-source LMS for you:
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1. Moodle
Moodle is a free open source LMS that helps you create customized courses and other learning activities. It provides options to conduct online self-paced and instructor-led classes to satisfy your customized learning pedagogies.
This open source learning management system enables you to assess the effectiveness of training programs with analytics features. The system is a robust and secure one. It is also capable of conducting bulk operations for securely facilitating requirements like mass enrollment.
You can also use Moodle to set up competencies and personal learning plans. Are you away from your computer? No problem, use Moodle Mobile, which is available for both iOS and Android. Do you need features that are not available in Moodle? Check out the comprehensive plugin directory by Moodle. All in all, Moodle is a feature-rich LMS with a variety of functions to satisfy your needs.
2. Forma
Are you looking for a free, web-based, open-source, feature-rich LMS? Forma is the answer. Forma LMS caters very well to the training needs of corporates, like task automation and integrability.
This open source learning management system is designed to make it simpler for you to conduct online training well.
Forma can be extended with features by integration with intranet software and a variety of available plugins. This LMS also carries modules to help you generate comprehensive and elaborate reports, to assist you in decision making. With functionalities like shopping cart, PayPal integration, and API integration support, Forma qualifies as an excellent alternative for LMS.
3. ILIAS
ILIAS is another free open source LMS, with strong capabilities for developing web-based training.
This LMS was developed to bring down the cost of using new media in training and education.
It is useful for all types of organizations, including large and small enterprises, non-profits, public service bodies, and freelancers. ILIAS will make it possible for you to generate study programs from full curriculums with a single device.
Are you worried about managing access control over resources? ILIAS enables you to set permissions for every resource with sophisticated modules. It also provides students and employees with a personal workspace that facilitates creating blogs, workings, and portfolios, expediting the learning process.
4. Opigno
Want to ensure that the performance of your employees are always in-sync with the world?
Enable and manage their online training with the use of Opigno, which is designed to help organizations looking for scalable and reliable training systems.
This LMS provides built-in course authoring, instructor-led as well as self-paced training facilities, and mobile-based learning. You can create your own Opigno LMS with modular design, flexible blocks, and API integration features, customized as per your needs.
What’s more, Opigno comes with in-built features of eCommerce to enable selling course or subscriptions, to help organizations grow financially and sustainably.
5. OpenOLAT
OpenOLAT gets its name from the term OLAT, which stands for Online Learning and Training.
OpenOLAT is a web-based learning management system that sports features like extensibility, modular tools, and straightforward operations.
It is a complete solution to assist organizations in facilitating teaching and learning. This free open-source LMS enables tutors to implement courses with functionalities like a preview, archive, and decentralization of user management.
OpenOLAT comes in free and paid options to suit your requirements regarding a number of features, courses, users, and so on.
6. SAKAI
SAKAI is an open-source LMS, which is renowned for its flexibility and adoption of a fundamentally unique approach to learning. This LMS is considered one of the best in the market as it makes it easier for contributors hailing from different organizations to work on a common cause.
It is a feature-rich LMS with functionalities like multimedia course hosting, Wiki tools for web authoring, and integration with Google Docs. SAKAI has no licensing fees associated with it and can accommodate any number of learners.
7. Dokeos
Dokeos is a free open source learning management system that is designed for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. It can also be used by any high consequence industry like aviation,defense, energy, manufacturing, etc. for training and learning needs.
This LMS provides compliance training like OSHA and HIPAA to help companies follow the norms. In a single offering, Dokeos brings together EMA and FDA compliance requirements. You can also create quizzes with 2D-3D graphics, and convert MS Word and MS PowerPoint documents into Dokeo slides using its unique feature called Oogie Rapid Learning.
Wrapping up
The importance of learning management systems in today’s age of eLearning cannot be overstated.
With free and open source LMS, organizations can ensure that their employees and students remain in sync with the trends and become more and more productive. The organizations can also save on employee costs spent on conducting and analyzing training programs along with software licensing costs, and achieve maximum learning for them. We hope you find the right fit for your LMS requirement.
Happy Learning!
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