I agree that it really is a matter of looking at the return on investment. That hard part is that in education with money being so tight having such a large upfront cost is often difficult to sell school boards and the public on.
In Arizona budgets have been cut so much that many teachers are being laid off. Having the funds to start a new program when so many programs are being cut is an issue many of the districts in my area are dealing with.

“According to Carliner (2005) with rising costs CMS, LMS, Open source or customizing a system (FSO) the decision must be scrutinized further. How will they tackle technical support: on-site staff versus, outsource technical support and the higher cost associated with maintenance and down time of these systems.”

I think the failure of the public education in implementing such systems is the lack of projecting future cost. I have seen my district buy into different kinds of e-learning only to abandon them in a few years. A lot of technology in education is funded by grants but what happens when the grant runs out? Do they consider if they can maintain the infrastructure and manpower to keep these systems running? In my position as a Technology Specialist I am involved in the purchasing aspect of technology at my school. These are certainly things I consider when purchasing a new product. What are the cost over the long term and will you have the funds to keep them going. Is there a way to achieve the same goal at a lower cost?

Terrance, I agree with you that education is going through a large paradigm shift in regards to how we deliver content and how students will be held accountable for their learning. The choice to deliver this content in an LMS, CMS, LCMS, or Face to Face form will depend on the availability of technology, funding and most importantly time. The amount of time it would take to create an LCMS probably stands as a daunting task to most districts and educators.

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Terrance,
I think you did a nice overview of the cost of CMS and LMS. I do agree that they are very expensive and that there are a lot of variables to consider and the upfront cost is sizable. However, as I was reading the article on the cost of LCMS I noticed at the bottom that the difference between face to face instruction including creating the course and all was almost double the long term cost of creating and delivering the LCMS course. It is for sure a long term commitment and the need for the course would have to be weighed heavily. I think that it would be very easy to create a course and have it tank and be a total waste of time and money. A good investment always starts with a proper assessment of the potential costs versus the potential benefits. I would never put in the time to create something unless I felt the benefits would

Exactly! The bottom line is ROI and customer satisfaction, As an e learner consumer, knowing there is such a vast collection of e-Learning resources created purposefully for the production of online lessons and courses, I would expect for my LMS platform to have rich interactive content with great management features. Maintenance and tech support are costs to consider, as they are needed to keep the platforms running smoothly. ~Joan L

The official Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) website provides a very detailed overview of the organization’s history and purpose. Under the direct care of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD P&R), the ADL Initiative was created in 1997 and given the task of standardizing and modernizing the delivery of training and education. On January 12, 1999, Excutive Order 13111 signed by President Clinton tasked the DoD to develop and lead a partnership with business and university groups for the purpose of creating standardized training software and related services. (http://www.adlnet.gov).

Terrance said:

Activity: ADL/Standards/SCROM
It’s apparent that you have done considerable research and have a great grasp and personal knowledge with the military. I think that standardization is paramount when engaging large groups in the learning process it simplifies and brings efficiency to the whole. In a military settings readiness, preparedness, repetitions of tasks are of major importance to survival. Compatibility issues are key to streamlining the process and cost containment. I had personal experience with this, as a facilities project manager for Southern Pacific Transportation Company. One of my tasks was working together with the purchasing department in selecting the right task, manager, executive, and 24hr chairs (analogous to SCROM) systems wide. We had to create a matrix with different variables to determine the outcome: body type, height, weight, job description, casters (what type of floor? soft or hard surfaces), bio- synchronization, chair pan tilt, life cycle factors, delivery times etc. After extensive research, testing and feedback. The railroad very much like the military had to make decisions that were cost effective and at the same time meet the needs of the end users. Our outcome was standardized seating with multiple vendors, gave us the ability for readiness, preparedness, and streamlined the process of quick ship, delivery, maintenance, and ordering of chairs seamless. That is what ADL/ Standards/ SCROM brings to education/training. You may not meet everyone’s needs but you try to meet the majority. Moreover, there should be additional variable modifications built in to the system for the special conditions ADA act is one we identified.

It really comes down to a matter of suitability, when defining the need of the organizations small or large CMS, LMS systems. Implement these systems have high front-end costs. Doing a cost benefit analysis is key in evaluating each client’s requirements and specifications. The question becomes What is your return on your investment ? Leaving the decision makers with tools to make a choice whether to implement a CMS, LMS, Open source, or Traditional (Human) management system. Kruse’s (2002-2004) research revealed these factors as being: student and instructor, design and development, delivery, and administration and maintenance costs. Against these variables in the amount of people involved, life cycle and functionality of the system and the availability of funding.

According to Carliner (2005) with rising costs CMS, LMS, Open source or customizing a system (FSO) the decision must be scrutinized further. How will they tackle technical support: on-site staff versus, outsource technical support and the higher cost associated with maintenance and down time of these systems. It is apparent that the educational system is going through a paradigm shift and with perseverance,patience and persistence well will ultimately have  LMS CMS systems that will evolve  into something analogous to the Cloud system that requires no physical software, but only a  internet connection  and a monitor. .

References
Carliner, S. (2005). Course Management Systems versus Learning Management Systems. Retrieved June 09, 2010 from http://web.archive.org/web/20070308145724/http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/nov2005/carliner.htm

Kruse, K. (2002-2004). Measuring the total cost of e Learning. Retrieved June 09, 2010 from http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art5_2.htm

1. Davis, Terrance

2. Prior Project Selected: Color Relationships

3. Color Relationships project is rap song designed for memorization about terminology of colors and their relationships to each other. The focus is to learn about the Primary colors and how to mix the colors of equal parts in order to create Secondary colors, repeating the process with mixing Secondary colors to create Tertiary colors. What are complementary and Analogous colors? What are their locations on the color wheel chart?  What happens to color when you add white?  What happens to color when you add black?  What is warm color?  What is cool color? What is a color spectrum?  What part does light play into color? What rap song/music will you create out of the information you learned about colors?

4. EMDT created in Musical Theories Applications class-Dec, 2009. Created with iMovie and Garageband

5. My initial Assessment is to use best practices with several assessments quizzes, and a range of visual examples to connect words rhythm and sound/beat for stimulus and exploration. Creating an engaging journey into the world of color theory. The target group range from 2 grades to sophomore level in college.

Url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLWMayQICFE

Original Concept : The purpose of this rap song is designed to reinforce students learning how to memorize color terminology, definitions, description of colors and there relationships on the color wheel chart and the practicum of mixing colors and painting. The students will create lyrics, and music to perform by singing and dancing to their song, they will also design a tee shirt to be used as costume by painting with fabric paint for Rap Video/storytelling of their experiences making their lyrics, music mixing colors, and designing their tee-shirts for there Video called  “Color Relationships”.  Each student will participant in the creative process of creating this Rap video/storytelling experience.

The Tech side of Learning Platforms

Learning platform is described, as the basic hardware architecture similar to an infrastructure and software is the framework that allows the software to function.

There are several familiar operating systems Mac OS, Micro Soft OS and the new Google Chrome OS. Platforms are comprised of operating systems, program language and architecture. All of these components create a launching place for the functionality of the software. Since most LMS CMS are web based systems they are built using a variety of developed robust platforms. Not all platforms are the same Java EE, OLAT, Microsoft all are comprised of different features, size, memory, footprint and startup times. All of these are defined by specifications. Java EE includes several application programming interfaces such as email, RMI and web services to name a few.

Are there really cost constraints designing LMS CMS Learning Platforms?

The LMS CMS industries problems are the cost of the licenses. However, there is a resolve to this, personalized open source platforms VLE’s like Moodle. It enables teachers to take the best aspects of their classroom practice and use the Moodle system as VLE to transfer that into a home teaching and learning environment. Moodle not only comes with an impressive array of features but is also highly configurable and extensible. There are several VLE e learning platforms on the market Claroline, OLAT, Docebo, Open LMS, Learning Light –Open Source CMS, Sakai Project.

Recently CloudCourse was introduced to the market offering alternatives features and benefits to the other learning management systems.” However, as Katie Christo, an instructional technologist at the American International School in Chennai, India Says “Moodle is still very basic, Blackboard is worse. It’s nice to have something that is free, cleanly designed, and integrated with other solid programs, and the source code is open, and more and more schools explore and embrace Google’s Apps for Education, CloudCourse may become another part of the ed-tech arsenal”.

References

Google Releases CloudCourse, an Open Source learning Platform Retreived June 4, 2010 from, http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google _releases_cloudcourse_an_open_source_learnin.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29

Wikipedia. (2009). Learning Platforms. Retrieved June 4, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of _learning_platforms