subject: Cost Effective Learning Management System for Organizations [print this page] Training and Academic learning is increasingly relying on technology for aid in delivering knowledge and skills. As the trainees and students become more and more savvy with the Internet and electronic tools, educators and trainers are more inclined to use new ways to approach learning. In today's economic climate, however, companies and schools are cutting back on expenses and operational costs to preserve their capital and investment. Creative and cost effective solutions that aim to facilitate teaching is needed. Affordable learning management system is the key to success.
Learning management system or LMS, for short where developed by educators and IT experts to address the lack of administrative tool to organize, monitor, and evaluate elearning activities of students and trainees. The software application proved to be invaluable to lecturers, instructors, school administrators, and students because the system unified information such as grades, assignments, exams, attendance, activities, etc. all in one database where it can be accessed by authorized personnel. Each LMS is different from competing companies. The features vary although they have the same core objective. Some LMS provide access to students so they can monitor their own performance and get instant feedback from teachers. Students may also get their homework, assignments, projects and quizzes from the same LMS.
Not all LMS are made equal. Some experts are critical of expensive learning management system that contains features that are far beyond what is needed by the institution or the organization. On the other hand, there are even free, open source LMS that contains basic features that are relatively good enough for small organizations with few learners. While free stuff is always welcome, it always has its drawbacks because you can generally expect that there is no customer support if the system crashes. So this article will focus on the paid but affordable LMS systems that small and large organizations can benefit from.
Rapid Intake ClickCourse
This SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) certified LMS is both a cloud supported (Software as a Service System or SaaS) and a traditional software you need to install. You can actually choose if you want to own the software or just subscribe to the cloud service. The company offers the full software for $2,995 but if you opt for the cloud version, you can expect to pay a lot less depending on how long you need to use the system.
Joomla! LMS
Joomla!'s award winning software garnered the "Best CMS Award" in 2007. It features multilingual support, and other expected features in an LMS application. It is SCORM certified as well and is available in 3 versions: the trial version which is free, Standard version that costs $299, and the Professional version for $799. As with the newest elearning applications, the company offers an option to host the application but the price for hosting is not included in the list price of the product.
eLeaP LMS/LCMS
One of the most affordable online learning system at only $125 a month in subscription fee. Their clients feature universities, schools and business organizations that were satisfied with the cloud-based learning application.
Cost Effective Learning Management System for Organizations
