What is a Learning Management System (LMS)?

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) education courses or training programs.

LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software for distributing online or blended/hybrid college courses over the Internet with features for online collaboration. Colleges, universities, school districts, and schools use LMSs to deliver online courses and augment on-campus courses. LMSs also act to augment the lessons the teacher is giving in a brick and mortar environment not just replace them. Corporate training departments use LMSs to deliver online training, as well as to automate record-keeping and employee registration.

ඉගෙනුම් කළමනාකරණ පද්ධති දුරස්ථ මට්ටමින් සිදුකල හැකි එක්තරා අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයකි. මේ සදහා වඩාත් ප්‍රචලිත මෘදුකාංග 10 පහත දැක්වේ. එහි අංක 1 ස්ථානය හිමි කර ගෙන ඇත්තේ Moodle මෘදුකාංගයයි. 

1. Moodle
2. Edmodo
3. Blackboard
4. SkillSoft
5. Schoology
6. Cornerstone
7. Collaborize Classroom
8. SuccessFactors
9. Instructure 
10. D2L 

මෙම මෘදුකාංග භාවිතයෙන් සිදුකල හැකි කාර්යයන් කීපයක් ඇත. එනම් මෙම මෘදුකාංගය යොදාගනිමින් පාඨමාලා සැලසුම් කල හැකි අතර එමගින් එකම අවස්ථාවකදී සිසුන් විශාල පිරිසකට එම පාඨමාලා අධ්‍යයනය කල හැකිය. ඊට අමතරව එම පාඨමාලා අවසානයේදී ඇගයීම් සදහා ඇගයිම් ලබා දිය හැකි අතර එවිට පාඨමාලා හදාරන්නන් සදහා ඒ සදහා ඉදිරිපත් විට හැකිය. 

තවද  සිසුන්ට එම පාඩම් අවසානයේ ක්‍රියාකාරකම් මගින් තමන් සිටින ස්ථානය තහවුරු කරගත හැකිසේම එම අවස්ථාවේදී ලබාගත් ලකුණු දත්ත ගබඩාවකට යැවෙන අතර ඊළග අවස්ථාවේදී පරීක්ෂණයට සහභාගි වන විට අවසන් අවස්ථාවේ සිට එම ක්‍රියාකාරකම් සිදුකල හැකිය. මීට අමතරව ඊ-ඉගෙනුම් කළමනාකරණ මෘදුකාංගය භාවිතයේදී පරිශීලකයන් විශාල පිරිසකට ගිණුම් සැකසිය හැකි අතර එම ගිණුම් ඔස්සේ අදාල පාඩම් වෙත ළගා විය හැකිය.

අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශය සෘජුව මෙහෙයවනු ලබන ඊ-තක්සලාව ඉගෙනුම් කළමනාකරණ මෘදුකාංග සකස් කර ඇත්තේ මෙම Moodle මෘදුකාංගය පදනම් කර ගනිමිනි. 

LMS Functionality

• Course Content Delivery
• Student Registration and Administration
• Training Event Management (i.e., scheduling, tracking)
• Curriculum and Certification Management
• Skills and Competencies Management
• Skill Gap Analysis
• Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• Assessing and resulting
• Reporting
• Training Record Management
• Courseware Authoring
• Resource Management
• Virtual Organizations
• Performance Management System Integration

                                        Advantages                                      

1. Centralized Learning

The first benefit to using a learning management system is it offers a centralized source of learning. This means that the training, performance, and development content are offered at all times from the same source. Multiple users can access the information at any given time. These systems ensure consistency in the evaluation and delivery of the material, meaning every user sees the same content through the same manner. These systems let the user design customized training modules that can be used to introduce new equipment, update equipment, or modify operating procedures.

2. Tracking and Reporting Features

The second benefit to using a learning management system is that you can enhance performance through tracking and reporting tools. Progress of new users can be tracked, records can be reviewed, and users can register for more than one course. Employers are able to offer the courses through web-based training, webinars, and other forms of instructor-led training. Management can then access the records of those who participated to analyze which areas need improvement. The learner can now put in additional efforts in the areas that are difficult for them, because learning management systems give users the ability to manipulate their learning pace.

3. Evaluation Capabilities

The third benefit to using a learning management system is that it allows users to be evaluated before they take the course, while they are in the course, and when they finish the course. This means that employers can evaluate their retention levels through periodically scheduling assignments. They can then review the records to determine the levels of success. In educational settings, students can review their personal performance based on quizzes and tests that are administered by the professors.

4. Easy Upgrades

The fourth benefit to using a learning management system is that the content and information in the course can be easily upgraded. Because the learning management system offers a centralized location for information, it is simple to make a change to the forms, requirements, product descriptions, or specifications. Users will get the same upgraded information at the same time.

5. Simplified Learning Process

The fifth and final benefit to using a learning management system is that it simplifies the learning process. The systems are easy to use and new users can figure everything out easily. The systems accommodate multiple features including recording and tracking, documentation and administration, as well as classroom learning. These systems are affordable alternatives that offer scalable and personalized platforms for learning. They deliver integrated and enriched learning experiences for the users that expound upon virtual learning and collaboration modules.

                                        Disadvantages                                  

Only in a small group a person can develop properly. At school, students learn how to make friends, be patient, get rid of disappointment, and especially to compete. Competition between colleagues can be very stimulating and students will only benefit from it. Online learning cannot offer human interaction.

Another disadvantage refers to the fact that online courses cannot cope with thousands of students that try to join discussions. Also, online learning can be difficult, if it is meant for disciplines that involve practice.

In conclusion, online learning should be seen as a complement and extension of classical forms of learning. Not even the best online course can fully replace the personal contact with a teacher, or the human relationships that develop in a group. So, traditional classes shouldn’t be replaced with online learning.

Resources :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_management_system
http://elearningbrothers.com/top-5-benefits-of-using-a-learning-management-system/
http://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning
http://blog.capterra.com/big-changes-most-popular-lms-rankings/

Video Conference

A video conference is a live connection between people in separate locations for the purpose of communication, usually involving audio and often text as well as video. At its simplest, videoconferencing provides transmission of static images and text between two locations. At its most sophisticated, it provides transmission of full-motion video images and high-quality audio between multiple locations.

Advantages

1. Significant Travel Savings - සැලකිය යුතු සංචාරක මුදල් ඉතිරි කිරීමේ

The constant climb of air travel prices barely seems like news anymore, and smart organizations are finding alternatives.  Not only is video conferencing a direct replacement for many in-person business trips, but because there is virtually no cost to add additional key employees to a virtual meeting, you can easily bring the right team together.

2. Improved Communication

Video conferencing restores many visual cues necessary in long distance communication. Social psychologist Ray Birdwhistell demonstrated years ago that non-verbal communication constitutes about two-thirds of the communication between people. For example, eye contact enables us to ‘get’ a message from a speaker that voice communication alone may not successfully convey, creating essential social bonds and shared understandings. Audio conferencing and e-mail lose these non-verbal cues.

3. Increased Productivity

Everyone has experienced the classic never ending “conference call from hell,” and video conferencing all but eliminates those problems, even from large group calls.  Important meetings are shorter and more effective.  Video conferencing users report saving a minimum of two hours a week with the technology. The interactivity of group collaboration and document sharing greatly increases productivity.

Conferencing Quality

All of the pros and cons of video conferencing hinge on quality. Early versions of video conferencing quality had uneven clarity of the audio and video broadcast. Today, these problem still remain for low-end and consumer systems.  However, state-of-the-art technology now delivers excellent, reliable audio and video quality, making this one-time disadvantage one of perception, not reality.

 

 

Disadvantages

 1. Physical Presence

Are virtual meetings a perfect replacement for physical, face-to-face meetings? People communicate non-verbally through gestures such as handshakes, high fives, and fist bumps.  Today, HD video conferencing ensures these cues transmit in high fidelity.  Salespeople can truly read a potential customer’s response, customers can assess a salesperson’s credibility, leaders can gauge their audience to see whether they caught the organization’s vision, and managers determine whether to hire an applicant.  Organizations concerned about physical presence can begin by using video conferencing in the most appropriate applications, such as training and internal meetings, where the gains from video conferencing are dramatically superior to a traditional audio conference call.

2. Quality Systems are Not Free

Some perceive conferencing systems to be expensive, but this is no longer true.  In the early days, organizations installed fully-outfitted central meeting rooms with cameras, lighting and hardware.  Today, high quality video conferencing is possible via cloud-based systems, and the need for expensive end-point hardware has dropped significantly.  Many organizations now install a centralized gateway that connects participants via a broadband network. While this installation does entail some up-front costs, it’s much lower than before, saves on bandwidth, and makes video conferencing much more widely available within an organization.

3. User Familiarity

While some people seamlessly adapt to change, including new technology, others find change disruptive.  Today’s video conferencing systems are significantly easier to use, and some systems (like those available from LifeSize) eliminate intimidating remote controls and multiple devices that were common in the past.  In fact, LifeSize now supports workers’ existing mobile devices (the “bring your own device” or BYOD phenomenon) such as mobile phones and tablets, making the experience far more familiar and accessible than in the past.
See for yourself how cost savings and productivity advantages have made video conferencing a must-have business technology

References:

http://www.videoconferencingadvice.com/video-conferencing-advantages-disadvantages.html

3 Assumptions of Cognitive Theory of Multimedia

1) Dual Channel Assumption 
 
 Humans posses one channel for auditory input and a separate channel for visual input.

 Presentation Mode:

Dual Channel Assumption

Information that is verbally presented is constructed in the working memory.

Information that is visually constructed is constructed in the working memory.







Sensory-Modality:
Information that is auditorily presented (narration, background sounds) is processed by the auditory system

Information that is visually presented (pictures, animation, video, on-screen text) is processed by the visual system
(Clker, 2013)

Relationship Between Channels

When cognitive load is low, learners can also process information using the other channel. As an example, when cognitive load is low, a learner may process auditory input but the learner may also be able to visualize the oral presentation and process that oral information using the visual channel.

Imaging that the information presented in these slides is presented orally, as a radio program. If the cognitive load is low then you may also be able to visualize the audio information and process that information through the visual sensory channel. An example would be hearing a radio program but being able to visualize the descriptions. Likewise, if you see the slide and have a low cognitive load then you may be able to hear the information and process the visual information through the audio sensory input.
( Mayer, 2005)

2) Limited Capacity Assumption 

 Humans have an innate limitation on the amount of information that can be processed,by each channel, at any one time. Limited Capacity Assumption relates to cognitive load.

3) Active Processing Assumption 

Humans actively, cognitively process information so that they may construct a coherent mental representation of an experience.