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• A Bit of Dreamweaver
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Technology

If You Build It, Will They Come?

LMS versus Homegrown System

When planning for building your own Web courses, one of the core discussions must be deciding whether to:

• Use an existing learning management system (LMS)?
• Partner with a technologically-advanced entity to create a homegrown system?
• Develop content only, then send that content to someone else (e.g., eCollege) who will do all the development and maintenance for you?

It is worth noting here that while this is a consideration for any groups wanting to create Web courses in the early part of the 21st century, this wasn't an option for the CLASS™ Project circa 1995. With the Internet just beginning to enter the public conscience and Web technology still in its infancy, learning management systems (LMSs) either didn't exist or were so rudimentary that they amounted to little more than hypertext markup language (HTML) on blank pages, with no multimedia elements and certainly no advanced record-keeping or student support. It was this environment that spurred the decisions in CLASS's™ early days. By necessity, CLASS™ started with a homegrown system that went through various incarnations, but always remained homegrown.

The cost of the LMS system, whether bought or built, is obviously one of the most important aspects of this core decision. Learning Management System is often used as a catch-all term. It refers to a suite of functionalities designed to deliver, track, report on, and administer learning content, student progress, and student interactions. These are very simple course management systems, or highly complex enterprise-wide distributed environments.

LMSs charge for use of their system in a variety of ways. Some charge a small "start-up fee" for the basic software and technical support, but then charge the LMS user a fee for every server that houses the software. Others use a similar system, but charge per student. Still others allow unlimited use of the LMS, but charge a very high initial fee. None of these pricing schemes include the cost of maintaining records, registration, etc. on the LMS company's servers. (Server costs are addressed elsewhere.) This is one of the few areas where a homebuilt LMS might be superior to an externally created system. If you control the LMS, you've slashed one of the largest costs of running an online learning system. However, beware: running your own system isn't as cheap as you think. Servers need constant attention and a level of expertise that is expensive.

A major advantage to buying an LMS is that when using an LMS, updating technology becomes someone else's headache. Thus, when Netscape™ decides to release a brand new version of their software, it falls on your LMS to provide the upgrade. It is strongly recommended to purchase an LMS considering the system advancements of today.

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