A learning-platform is an integrated set of interactive online services that provide teachers, learners, parents and others involved in education with information, tools and resources to support and enhance educational delivery and management. The term learning platform refers to a range of tools and services often described using terms such as VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), LMS (Learing Management System) and LCMS (Learining Content Management System) providing learning and content management.
Learning-platforms are usually the central-space and basis for virtual learning activities. Like a virtual version of a school- or university-building, they are the central point of contact for learners and teacher from which, they are then guided to the different learning activities, which can use tools from within the learning-platform, but also other virtual-learning-tools from without, for example linking to a online-tool for video-sharing, collaborative-writing or or mind-mapping.
The specific functionality associated with any implementation of a learning-platform will vary depending upon the needs of the users and can be achieved by bringing together a range of virtual-learning-tools either commercially available, open source, self built or available as free to use web services. These tools are delivered together via a cohesive user environment with a single entry point, through integration achieved by technical standards.
Learning platforms commonly allow:
- Content management – creation, storage, access to and use of learning resources (resource-sharing)
- Curriculum mapping and planning – lesson planning, assessment and personalization of the learning experience
- Learner engagement and administration – managed access to learner information and resources and tracking of progress and achievement
- Communication and collaboration - emails, notices, Chat, wikis, blog, Forum
Must have features:
- restricted access: accounts for all learners, secure internal learning area
- rights-system: for learner administration (forming of groups) and content management (organize access to resources, tools etc.)
- personal login: each participant should have his personal account (including the possibility to present themselves in a personal card)
- resource-sharing: possibility to upload and share resources (files, videos, texts, etc.)
- discussion Forum: possibility for exchange among learners and teachers
- possibility to embed code: some virtual-learning-tools offer the possibility to embed content or functions into other webpages or learning-platforms, which makes linking to external tools and pages obsolete.
Nice to have features:
- individualizing/ skinning: giving the teaching-institution the chance to individually design the user interface e.g. according to their corporate identity
- calendar: possibility to have a shared calendar for learners and teacher, e.g. to publish events or teaching sessions
- multi-media-albums: common pool of fotos, videos etc.
- Chat: possibility for synchronous communication
- rss-feed
- group-mailing/ -messaging: possibility to contact all members of predefined groups (see rights-system)
- system to hand in and give feedback to assignments
Learning-platforms are often open source, but you will normally need some provider to host and do the back-end administration of the platform, which will then charge for this services. An interesting alternative can be complex social-networking- or social-media-systems, which can be used as learning-platforms. They have the advantage that the back-end administration is done by the provider and the front-end administration and user interface are normally very intuitive. One good example is Grouply which offers all features needed and even some nice-to-have features and is for free.
Examples for learning-platforms are:
Of course there are several other public and commercial learning-platforms. If you wish, use the "Comment"-Function to add them.
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