Sakai Learning Management System

AN INTRODUCTION:

In the past, most higher education centers around the globe have maintained their own set of learning management protocols and goals.

Information is critical to learning. And although still an integral piece of the university system, the library system many students and faculty once knew, is changing rapidly.

Libraries and library collections remain mightily useful. But now, with the technology available to amass larger collections and information digitally, an open-source of information system has been put into use with great success.

The past few years have seen learning management systems (LMSs) move from a secondary role to a primary one.

No longer are learning management systems on the sidelines.

In fact, they are calling the plays.

COLLABORATIVE VS. SINGLE-SOURCE LEARNING:

Collaborative learning has been one of the more popular learning models of the past few years.

With the continual evolution of the internet and subsequent mobile technologies, collaborative (often referred to as open-source) learning systems are gaining traction in many of the higher education centers around the world.

One of the most prevalent open-source learning management systems existing today is the Sakai learning management system.

The collaborative learning effort known as the Sakai learning management system holds its roots at the Universities of Michigan and Indiana where it gained its foothold in January, 2004.

Since then, the Sakai project has garnered important grants from the Mellon Foundation and has migrated into many other influential higher-learning centers such as MIT and Stanford University.

Collaborative learning holds its strength in its ability to gather information from a variety of sources and channel it into a single, single-user interface for implementation.

Compared to a closed-source LMS, which collects highly-targeted corporate or organizational data for use by their respective entities, an open-source LMS gathers information from a variety of sources on a variety of topics.

Similar to the world wide web in scope, the Sakai learning management system is more focused on specific topics and the parameters where each topic is centered.

Contrarily, unlike the world wide, the Sakai LMS organizes information within certain parameters making it easier to search through and find.

In short, an open-source LMS, such as the Sakai learning management system, offers more information from more sources more easily researched.

IN CONCLUSION:

There is still a lot of work to be done, however, to improve both the organization and sourcing of open-source data.

But the promise of open-source learning management systems remains immense.

The Sakai learning management system project, although still in its infancy, is a system of learning being constantly improved upon and monitored.

Through the initial years of its existence, the Sakai learning management system has proved to be extremely useful wherever it's been implemented.

The system's potential for exponential growth is seemingly endless.