Title : Report on Learning Management System (LMS) and Course

Management System (CMS)

Members :
1- Nor Hanisah Binti Abdullah (A150339)
2- Norafazira binti Royal (A149295)
3- Fionna Anak Jeffery ( A151239 )
4-Tuan Nur Afzan Binti Tuan Nazam ( A150980 )

Group

: T1

Lecturer : Dr. Fariza Binti Khalid

Introduction

We were given a task by Dr. Fariza for our second assignment in week 3. The
purpose of writing this report is to describe the definition of Learning Management System
(LMS) and Course Management System (CMS). This report also includes the comparison
between LMS and CMS so we had to differentiate between Learning Management System and
Course Management System. The report was done by examining all the online information
collected from Google search engine network that each of us shared in Google Docs. As the task
is a group work so in order to complete the task, we required everyones commitment to do it as
a team to complete the task within the time given .

Discussion

1.

Learning Management System (LMS)

Definition :
LMS is a systematic software application for the administration, documentation,
tracking, reporting and delivery of e-learning education courses or training programs. The LMS
has become a powerful tool to control learning process of an entire organization and often being
confuse with related but conceptually different terms called Course Management Systems
(CMS).

Function:
LMS various software and products grant many organizations the opportunity to create and
develop intelligent electronic coursework; and we can expect unmatched reach and flexibility to
be deliver with it. It also provides the users the ability to manage its continued use over time. An
LMS offers an incredible balance in between the functionality and ease-of-use to users. It
provides an easy, simple yet modern user interface.
Advantages:
LMS is a very great creation in this technology era and of course it has it owns benefit to make it
stand tall with the others such as it has many choices to create curriculum for evaluation.

Easily adapting and reusing materials over time.

More choices for creators of curriculum, such as method of delivery,

design of materials, and techniques for evaluation.

Creating economies of scale that make it less costly for organizations to

develop and maintain content, as they rely on third parties.

Improvements in professional development and evaluation, allowing

companies to get more value from human resources while empowering individuals
with additional tools for self-improvement..

Features:

the ability to create class rosters and waiting lists and control over

registration processes

enable to create and publish course calendar.

Deliver course content that allowing remote participation by the instructor

or pupil for most of the time.

enable to create various methods of assessment and testing such as

creating instant pop quizzes

enable to upload and manage documents containing curricular content.

enable students to interact among each other through email, discussion

forum and instant messaging

Example :
Free software resource : Grovo, Paradiso LMS, Accord LMS, FirmWater LMS,
Exxtend LMS, LatitudeLearning.com, CourseWebs.com, Training JumpStart Portal, Travitor
LMS, SMPWeb

2.

Course Management System (CMS)

Definition :
Tools that allow instructor to post information on the web without the instructor
having to know or understand HTML or other computer languages.

Function:
Advantages:
It is an important role in academic enterprise of teaching and learning, contains
aspects of administration such as class rosters, recording of grades yet also deals directly with
core aspects of teaching that may contain learning objects, class exercises, quizzes and tests.

Features:
An area for faculty posting of class materials such as course syllabus and handouts
An area for student posting of papers and other assignments
A gradebook where faculty can record grades and each student can view his or her grades
An integrated email tool allowing participants to send announcement email messages to the
entire class or to a subset of the entire class
A chat tool allowing synchronous communication among class participants
A threaded discussion board allowing asynchronous communication among participants.

Free software resource :

WebCT(www.webct.com) Blackboard (http://www.desire2learn.com/ )
desire2learn (http://www.edutools.info/course/productinfo/index.jsp.

The Differences between LMS & CMS

Learning Management System

Course Management System

( LMS )

( CMS )

A learning management system plans,

A CMS or a Content Management

delivers and manages all the learning

System is basically designed to support

needs of an organization.

educative or academic courses.

An LMS is designed keeping an eye on

It allows the instructor to create a

the corporate learning market.

course website, where documents can

be uploaded in popular formats such as

It makes courses available, makes

word, powerpoint, etc. without having

enrollments

to convert them to a web format such

and

develops

its

confirmation, checks learner eligibility,

as

develops reminders of class schedules,

specialized skills, thus making a CMS

records course completion, develops

the ubiquitous choice of instructors.

HTML.

This

requires

few

tests, communicates the completion of

the course to the learners employer and

It also efficiently supports distance

generates follow-up correspondence to

learning

the learner.

discussion

because

of

board

its

robust

application.

Instructors post the essence of the

It provides a platform to manage blended

course that leads students through

learning

varied learning activities, after which

that

includes

conventional

classroom learning and online learning.

the

An LMS can also be used to record and

discussions through the discussion

assess training satisfaction.

board.

It can generate reports such as the

number

of

students

enrolling

in

particular courses, or aggregated records

of student performance in particular
courses.

instructors

supervise

course

Price

Price

In a bid to make the CMS appeal to the

An LMS is the most expensive learning

corporate segment, publishers have

investment of organizations, with some

resorted to adding complex features to

systems

it, resulting in a sharp surge in its

ranging

between

several

million dollars.

pricing. While some universities have

remained loyal to them still, others
have dropped them completely.

Rapid leap frogs in technology

Less flexibility

An LMS soon becomes redundant

The design of the course is less flexible

because of the upcoming technology

in a CMS. The names of the standard

that is included in its newer versions.

sections can seldom be changed or

Making the LMS more flexible to

altered.

adapt to changing technology is the

only way out. Some LMSs survive a bit
longer by adding the features of
learning content management systems
to their present structures.
Customization problems.
Diverse learning needs of varied
organizations give rise to the problems
arising out of customization. A little

Inefficiency in providing interactive

e-learning
Interactive

e-learning

through

authoring tools such as Dreamweaver

alteration in the system to suit to your

or Flash cannot be delivered through a

needs

but

CMS. For this purpose, instructors

extensive customization has often done

need to link to separately created

more harm than good.

materials, which are stored somewhere

can

always

be

done,

else.
Inefficiency in testing and tracking
A CMS cannot verify the identity of the
students taking tests, nor can it save the
test before a student transmits it to the
instructor. Also, some CMSs are not
capable of transferring grades from the
gradebook to other progress tracking
systems.

Function
Registration of learners

Online posting of course material

* Tracking participation in courses

Material such as reading copies and

* Testing

powerpoint
available

slides
online,

can
apart

be
from

made
the

* Conducting follow-up discussions

schedule of the course and its syllabus.

* Transferring information to other

Learner assessment

systems inclu* Scheduling courses

* Managing skills

Learners can be assessed through

online quizzes, tests and gradebooks.

* Managing blended learning

Discussion forum
Discussions can be conducted through
a discussion board Allotment of lock
boxes
Learners can store class assignments,
class

notes

or

presentations

in

individual lock boxes.

Review of statistics
The course statistics can be reviewed at
will, which details information about
who used the site and when.

Summary and conclusion

At the end of the report, we were able to differentiate between Learning Management
Strategies and Course Management Strategies besides we can give their respective definitions
and functions. Upon completing this report, we managed to familiarize ourselves with the terms
used and will be able to explain in details about the matters. We also get to know each other

better while using the chance to explore more about Learning Management Strategies along with
Course Management Strategies in depth.

References
Brand,

E.

t.th.

The differences between CMS, LMS and LCMS.

http://www.educatorly.com/Best-Practice/the-differences-between-cms-lms-andlcms.html [12 October 2014]

Coates,

H., James, R. & Baldwin, G.

2005. A Critical Examination Of The

Effects Of Learning Management Systems On University Teaching And Learning.

Tertiary

Education

and

Management

11(1):

19-36.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11233-004-3567-9 [12 October 2014]

Ferriman,

J.

2012. Course management system VS learning management system.

http://www.learndash.com/course-management-system-vs-learning-management-system/
[12 October 2014]
Harrington,

C.F., Gordon, S.A. & Schibik, T.J. 2004. Course Management System

Utilization and Implications for Practice: A National Survey of Department Chairpersons.

Online

Journal

of

Distance

Learning

Administration,

12(4).

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter74/harrington74.htm [12 October 2014]

Perkins,

M. & Pfaffman, J.

classroom communication.

2006. Using a course management system to improve

The Science Teacher: 33-37.

http://20100829131520_6025161.webstarts.com/uploads/moodle_in_20_the_classroom_
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Rouse,

M.

2005. Learning management system (LMS).

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/learning-management-system [12 October

2014]
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C. & Nair, C.S.

2008. Academic and student use of a learning

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