The Top 8 Free/Open Source LMSs. Update 1. 0/2. 6/1. Back by popular demand! We saw your comments and decided to incorporate the free LMSes you told us about. We’ve also upgraded our honorable mentions into full entries in order to give you better information about each one. I have a friend who once wrapped his entire body, head to toe, in tin foil. He also wrote “steak + guacamole” on himself in permanent marker, and then sauntered (in public, on public sidewalks with normal people all around) to his local burrito joint. He endured the stares, embarrassment, and giggles all for one, glorious thing: a free burrito. People will do a lot just to get something for free. Luckily, if you’re looking for a free or open source Learning Management System, you don’t have to go crazy and break out the tin foil. I’ve collected a list of the very best freemium, totally free, and/or open source LMSs out there, and it’s all below, no enduring of awkward stares on the sidewalk required. This is the gorilla in the room of open source LMSs. Couldn't liive without them!! Since buying the complete collection, I’ve found my workflow from Lightroom 5, through PS CS6 always takes me into my Topaz Filters. Moodle is primarily aimed at the education market, but is also used by plenty of corporations for e. Learning and training purposes, including big guys like Cisco and Subaru. Being open source Moodle is totally free, but certain optional peripherals and support from third parties can cost money, and it should be stressed that open source solutions can cost as much or more than proprietary software because of the internal tech resources you need to devote to implement and maintain them. Moodle’s welcome screen. Differentiating features. Moodle has most of what you would expect in an LMS, like student dashboards, progress tracking and support for multimedia classes, and additionally includes mobile friendly themes, support for third party plugins and add- ons and the ability to sell courses using Pay. Pal. Pros/cons. Because Moodle is the big open source player in the LMS space, it is supported by a massive and active community with tons of plugins and options to customize it to your exact specifications.
For most people, visiting San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art isn’t exactly a casual trip. I’ve lived in San Francisco 6 years and have only made it once.It also benefits from a lot of online documentation for help with support issues or questions as well as loads of pre- constructed courses that may just save you from having to create your own content. All this comes at a price, however, and Moodle has been criticized as overly complex and difficult for a layperson to learn and set up. Other potential downsides include incomplete reporting and no easy way to manage groups of learners. Review it here! Blackboard is a very well- known name in the e. Learning community, and they’ve released a free version of their Blackboard Learn software called Course. Sites. Course. Sites is aimed at individual instructors and, like Blackboard’s other offerings, caters to the academic rather than the corporate market. The software is web- based and free, and allows the creation of up to five active “course sites” (each representing one discrete class). An example of creating a lesson plan in Course. Sites. Differentiating features. Course. Sites has the ability to login using popular web services like Facebook and Gmail, and supports an unlimited number of students and easy integration with Blackboard’s other offerings. Pros/cons. Course. Sites is not open source software, so it avoids some of the issues which plague those (lack of support, a requirement that you be tech savvy to implement etc.) and it’s a very user- friendly system as it was created with the individual teacher in mind. It is, however, missing some of the functionality of Blackboard’s paid offerings, which may make it less useful for institutions and organizations. These include white- labeling and branding features, custom scripts, single sign- on, integration with a wider enrollment system and the ability to batch and archive things like grades. Review it here! Another open source solution, Sakai differs from Moodle in a few key elements. It is built on Java, as opposed to LAMP (Linux, Apache, My. SQL and PHP) and while it is open source, only certain key stakeholders and commercial affiliates are allowed to contribute to the source code. It is aimed at academic institutions as opposed to corporate training. Tests and quizzes within Sakai. Differentiating Features. Sakai integrates with Google Docs, and includes tools like a wiki, online testing, presentation slides and the ability to use Dropbox as well. Pros/cons. Sakai enjoys the support of a well- endowed educational foundation which oversees the strategic development of the software. This means that significant resources ($6 million compared to Moodle’s $1. That said, because Sakai is Java- based as opposed to LAMP, some have argued this increases the total cost of ownership for users. Java servers and developers are typically more expensive than PHP ones. Additionally, Sakai serves a narrower clientele and so there is not as broad a community of support, plugins and add- ons as there is with Moodle, for instance. Review it here! Latitude Learning is a “freemium” LMS that is free to use for up to 1. It’s a largely web- based system and targets corporate training and B2. B environments. Clients include Chrysler, GM and the American Board of Emergency Medicine. The homepage of the Latitude. Learning LMSDifferentiating features. Latitude Learning includes certification, integration with Webex and Go. To. Meeting, as well as collaborative whiteboards, and support for nine different languages. It also has extensions (like e. Commerce) that can be purchased. Pros/cons. With over three million users, Latitude Learning is definitely scalable and a focus on corporate training sets it apart from all the other, more academically focused, solutions on this list. For businesses and training professionals this focus is definitely a pro. However, Latitude Learning does not yet have mobile support, or a 3rd part content library, and its add- ons can be costly if you need to extend any of its functionality. Review it here! Dokeos is another open source solution, this time built on PHP as opposed to Java like Sakai. It originates from France, and has seen wide adoption there and in Belgium (as well as 6. It relies on an on premises model as opposed to Saa. S. Tracking student progress in Dokeos. Differentiating features. Dokeos boasts a built- in course authoring tool, as well as pre- made quiz templates, private groups, and a chat tool. Pros/cons. With Dokeos’ “Oogie Rapid Learning” feature it’s easy to convert both Powerpoint and Open. Office Impress to SCORM, and Dokeos has a lower learning curve than Moodle (and looks better out of the box if aesthetics are a priority). Dokeos does suffer from difficulty in customizing user levels, and users have reported that response times for questions/issues on the forum are long so that support may be an issue. Review it here! e. Front is an open source LMS, with a paid, hosted version available as well. The company that runs it is based in Greece, and the paid versions start at $8. While the open- source version is no longer supported officially by e. Front, you can find older releases on Source. Forge. Student progress in e. Front. Differentiating featurese. Front includes an intuitive icon- based interface, a course creation tool, as well as internal chat and built- in forums. Pros/cons. Because this is open source backed by a for- profit company, the support forums tend to be active and technical issues get resolved. That said, the free open source version of e. Front lacks e. Commerce functionality, certification, and social media integration. Review it here! Schoology is a freemium LMS aimed primarily at educators (similar to Blackboard’s Course. Sites). It’s web- based and the Basic Package is free for instructors, with the option to upgrade to an Enterprise Package if you want specialized support or integration with your school’s SIS platform. Schoology does not share the prices for the Enterprise Package on its website. A course in Schoology. Differentiating features. Several of the stand- out features for Schoology include mobile access, Google Drive integration, content creation tools, and access to a library of public courses and other content. Pros/cons. Schoology’s mobile functionality and workflow are top- notch, and the modern interface and integration with the newest cutting edge cloud apps helps to bring it out of the pack, though it may not be as full- featured as something more complex like Moodle, and doesn’t include private messaging between students. Review it here! ILIAS is an open source, web- based LMS developed at the University of Cologne in Germany, where it enjoys a wide user base of installs. Its user base (5,0. Europe. Managing courses in ILIASDifferentiating features. ILIAS is security certified by NATO and used in NATO’s high- security intranet as well as by several national defense departments and armed forces. Additionally, the system makes it easy to set different user roles and control access to separate parts of the software. Pros/cons. ILIAS has a long pedigree (1. LMS for you. Additionally, an active community that even sponsors its own annual conference ensures support issues you may have will be dealt with. However, it suffers from a clunky interface design, and several features of other LMSs (like mobile integration) require the installation of plugins or other add- ons. Review it here! This open source, Canadian LMS includes contributions from as diverse a group as the University of Toronto, government of Ontario, and the American Academy of Opthamology. A sample ATutor dashboard. Differentiating features. ATutor is paired with another free/open- source system called AContent, which is an LCMS that allows for course and test authoring using the same functionality as the ATutor LMS. It will close fully in 2. Open. Class’s social sharing view. Differentiating features. This web- based tool puts a premium on social learning, and this is apparent with its integration of profiles, shares, feeds, and statuses, as well as option to video chat within the software. Architecture in the Age of Gehry. In February 1. 99. Philip Johnson, the godfather of modern architecture, who 4. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe on the iconic Seagram Building, in Manhattan, traveled to Spain to see the just- completed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He stood in the atrium of the massive, titanium- clad structure with its architect, Frank Gehry, as TV cameras from Charlie Rose captured him gesturing up to the torqued and sensually curving pillars that support the glass- and- steel ceiling and saying, “Architecture is not about words. It’s about tears.” Breaking into heavy sobs, he added, “I get the same feeling in Chartres Cathedral.” Bilbao had just opened its doors, but Johnson, the principal apostle of the two dominant forms of architecture in the 2. Modernism and Postmodernism—and the design establishment’s ultimate arbiter, was prepared to call it on the spot. He anointed Gehry “the greatest architect we have today” and later declared the structure “the greatest building of our time.”See the complete results, including a portfolio of Architecture’s 2. Modern Marvels and a slide show of Frank Gehry’s major buildings. Five years after Johnson’s death, in 2. Vanity Fair has asked 9. The survey’s results back up Johnson decisively: of the 5. Pritzker Prize winners and the deans of eight major architecture schools—2. Guggenheim Bilbao. That was nearly three times as many votes as the second- place building received. Therefore it seems fair to conclude that the 8. Canadian- born Gehry is the most important architect of our age. The last architectural event to have had such an impact may have been the publication of Le Corbusier’s landmark manifesto, Towards a New Architecture, in 1. Villa Savoye, outside Paris. It was one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something.”“Bilbao was one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united,” says Paul Goldberger. Achieving the Bilbao Effect. I don’t think there is a building that comes anywhere near it in this period of art history.” Thomas Krens, the former director of the Guggenheim, who commissioned the museum in Spain, said, “Bilbao has been the watershed thing for Frank. He was an interesting architect until Bilbao opened. After that, he became a transcendent architect.”Bilbao—today one of the top tourist destinations in Europe—was such a backwater in the 1. Gehry, the 2. 65,0. Nervi. That only contributed to the drop- dead impact it created with its unveiling. It’s been harder since I’ve gotten notorious,” says Gehry. The first photos of the near- complete structure, which resembles a gargantuan bouquet of writhing silver fish, rendered a seismic shift in the global art culture. At first, Gehry was himself unsure whether he approved of it. In hindsight I am sorry I didn’t.”) He developed his architectural language far from the ivory towers of the eastern design schools, in Los Angeles, where he moved in the 1. I was different from the architects, who called me an artist, which was their way of marginalizing me. And then the artists got competitive and said, No, you’re still an architect, because you’re putting toilets in your buildings, in your art. Richard Serra dismissed me as a plumber.”Gehry got his degree at the University of Southern California School of Architecture. After serving two years in the U. S. Army, he spent a year studying city planning at Harvard. From the pictures I was shown, it was, you know, interesting, but it didn’t bring you to your knees. Then I started studying the Romanesque churches. That was the turning point for me, and the other piece of the puzzle was the art world. I got into Robert Rauschenberg and his combines, which were put together very roughly and looked wonderful. Some of the buildings I was given to do at that time had very low budgets, and I could not get the craftsmanship I was trained to have. I saw the hammer marks on the wood. And here’s Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns doing combines that look like that, too. And that turned my head—flipped me over into something else.” That something else resulted in the 1. Santa Monica, featuring corrugated metal, plywood, and chain- link fencing. Gehry’s language—evolving from that early primitivism to the current state of High Gehryism—can be seen influencing a new generation of designers. People speak of “the Bilbao effect,” wherein a declining Basque city was revived economically by the construction of a rock- ’em- sock- ’em, world- class building. There is, however, a second Bilbao effect to consider: the rise of spectacle and showmanship in architecture in the wake of Gehry’s masterstroke. The larger- scale spectacle seems to be a big part of that,” says Goldberger. See tables on pages 1. With Bilbao, Gehry presented a long- awaited solution to one of the most vexing problems in architecture at the end of the 2. Modernism, especially when deployed in urban settings on a grand scale, was largely loathed by the general public and eventually dropped by the design establishment. The cold, alienating, concrete- glass- and- steel environments imposed on many major cities were finally judged to have destroyed more user- friendly urban plans in the name of “slum clearing” or futuristic redevelopment. Postmodernism, a movement emphasizing a return to decoration, historical references, and fewer desolate urban plazas, which reached its height in the 1. I was desperate not to go there,” Gehry explains, in his refreshingly plainspoken style. I got angry with it—all the historical stuff, the pastiche. I said to myself, If you have to go backward, why not go back 3. And that’s when I started with this fish shtick, as I think of it, and started drawing the damn things, and I realized that they were architectural, conveying motion even when they were not moving. I don’t like to portray it to other people as a complicated intellectual endeavor. Most architects avoid double curves, as I did, because we didn’t have a language for translation into a building that was viable and economical. I think the study of fish allowed me to create a kind of personal language.” Gehry’s first fish was a 3. Italy in 1. 98. 5. And so the next move was to cut off the tail, get rid of all the kitsch things, and see how much you could take away, go to a more minimal look.”“I was an outsider from the beginning, so for better or worse I thrived on it,” says Frank Gehry. Things progressed slowly from there, as the architect continued to work more audacious swooping and compound curves into his designs. Eventually he found himself hitting the outer limits of what was buildable. This frustration led Gehry on a search for a way to fulfill his most far- reaching creative desires. Gehry’s partner, Jim Glymph—“the office hippie,” in Gehry’s words—led the way, adapting for architecture a program used to design fighter planes. As Gehry began to harness technology, his work started to take on riotous, almost gravity- defying boldness. He dared to take the liberties with form he had always dreamed of, fashioning models out of sensuously pleated cardboard and crushed paper- towel tubes. He always works with models, using scraps of “whatever is lying around”—on one occasion a Perrier bottle. Yet in 2. 00. 2, Gehry launched a business called Gehry Technologies, located next door to his Los Angeles design studio, where architects go to be trained in the use of the sophisticated software that Gehry Partners has developed. Thus Gehry may actually leave a dual legacy, having not only created a stylistic revolution but also fostered a technological one. It’s about energy; it’s about joy. It’s frozen movement.” With those words, the professorial and hugely successful Piano, 7. Paris and Genoa, might have been drawing an implied comparison between himself and Gehry. His exquisitely wrought Menil building, a small- scale museum, which was his first commission in the U. S., is a study in restraint. The architecture is so refined that it seems almost to disappear. If Gehry sculpts wildly, freely, in tumultuous massings, Piano often seems to be trafficking in transparency—layering glass and steel so smartly and elegantly that the architecture recedes. He sculpts with light. Piano sounds like a mystic when he describes his work: “The poetry of construction, the art of making space, trying to find magic in the immateriality of building—this is what Menil is. It’s a kind of rationalistic building, because it’s about function, and function is about math, but at the same time about trying to build magic back into the world, because it’s about light, transparency, vibration—not things that you draw, but things you’ve built.”A low- slung, elongated pavilion, the museum features a much- admired natural- lighting system based on concrete panels—“the leaves,” Piano calls them—suspended overhead in the galleries. This is also for me part of the reason why Menil is loved, because it gives you that sense of complexity, or overlapping planes.”“Technology is important, but computers cannot do anything without the assistance of the human brain,” says Jacques Herzog. Whereas Bilbao seems to be about intuition and pushing the outer limits of expression, the Menil is taut, minimal, gem- cut perfection, way at the other end of the design spectrum. One thing the museums had in common was very strong, opinionated clients, whose briefs for the designers helped lead them to greatness. Gehry has long credited Krens with pushing him to go as far out as he could go. Piano had the art collector Dominique de Menil, an heir to the Schlumberger oil- field- services fortune (she had first hired Louis Kahn, but he died before he could begin), who dictated details for the building down to the color to stain the dark wood floors. Different as Gehry and Piano are, together they could be said to represent the state of established global architecture today.
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