LEARNING MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM(LMS) AND COURSE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM(CMS)

By: Nur Fatihah binti Abdul Rahman,
Faculty of Education,
B. Ed TESL (2014/2018),
National University of Malaysia,
Bangi, Malaysia.










Learning Management System(LMS) and Course Management System(CMS)
By Nur Fatihah binti Abdul Rahman


I have made little research with my group members regarding the topic above over the
internet and there are many information and facts that we have encountered and found out. Based
on few articles and also other resources from my class mates, I am going to write a report on
Learning Management System(LMS) and Course Management System(CMS) and the
differences between LMS and CMS.

Learning Management System(LMS) is an information system that facilitates e-learning.
It is a software application that enables educators to excess their learning process, store and
disseminate educational material and support administration and communication associated with
teaching and learning. Based on my research, some of the functions of LMS are to manage the
system, allow students registration online, provide options for course materials and system for
recording assessment. LMS are usually implemented on a large scale across an entire university
and faculties. Thus, it functions as tools where instructors can upload course materials, quizzes
and having grade straight away after students answer them. This will simply makes instructors
tasks more easier and less time consuming rather than doing it manually. Besides, instructors
may have a blended learning between them and the students; where it is an approach to learning
and teaching which combines and aligns learning undertaken in face-to-face sessions with
learning opportunities created online. Next, educators also can make announcements without
having to text or email to students about something important. For examples, The National
University of Malaysia student web system, i-Folio, MEDSI test; where candidates only have to
sit for examination online. LMS also benefits to students where they can have group discussion
among themselves.

Moving on to Course Management System(CMS), is a set of software tools providing an
online environment for course interactions. Putting it into a much more understandable form, it is
an area for faculty to post class materials, an area for student to post assignments and a threaded
discussion board that enables instructor or educators to create online course content and post it
on the Web without having to handle HTML or other programming languages. The closest
example of CMS is, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM) online student web, i-Folio; where
almost everything includes course notes, assignments, tasks, quizzes are uploaded on i-Folio.
CMS has become an integral part of the higher education system. The advantages include; it
makes teaching and management easier since it provides a framework and set of tools for
instructors. Besides, it also include tools for real-time chat or bulletin board type
communications. CMS tool focuses on all aspects of teaching, learning and teaching-student
interaction. For example, once the tasks are uploaded on the web, we will have to submit it by
online too. This is indirectly builds interaction between instructor and students. Based on the
articles that I came across on internet, some of the major players in the CMS field are WebCT,
Blackboard, CHEF, CourseWorks and Stellar. CMS also have become part of the higher
education landscape and are likely to occupy an ever increasing and prominent role in the
teaching and learning process.
Next, we are going to discuss the differences of LMS and CMS. LMS are designed to
support corporate training meanwhile CMS are online systems that were originally designed to
support classroom learning in academic settings. LMS provide enrollment which means it
requires registration and CMS does not. Besides, CMS provide grade book where instructors can
post their student grades, and instructors are able to track student progress through assessment
features, give quizzes and tests online. LMS in the other hand, do not provide grade book like
CMS. Apart from that, LMS also give seamless link to e-learning and CMS do not. The table
below simply shows the differences between LMS and CMS.
Table 1 Summary of Differences among LMS and CMS

CMS LMS
Support for ongoing classroom
courses
-
Enrollment -
Automatically generated
confirmation notes
-
Course catalog -
Skills management list -
Checks for prerequisites before
allowing enrollment
-
Automatically generated follow-up
correspondence
-
Administers tests and quizzes (limited)
Automatically transfers completion
information to the permanent record
-
Discussion board for between-class
conversation
(sometimes)


As a conclusion, information technology has been used in various forms in higher
education for over half a century, virtually from the moment the first mainframes were invented.
As the underlying technology has matured, it is important for us new generations to keep up with
the technology and to be able to use it professionally.

The End.
Thank you.

REFERENCES
1. http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/course-management-systems/
2. https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/DEC0302.pdf
3. http://www.techopedia.com/definition/6651/course-management-system-cms
4. http://www.contentmanagementnews.com/cms-and-lms-a-comparison-2007-02
5. http://flexiblelearning.net.au/plan-and-deliver/design-e-learning/gallery/learning-
management-systems-lms/
6. http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/learning-management-system
7. http://trainingforce.com/kb/what-is-a-lms/
8. http://www.learndash.com/course-management-system-vs-learning-management-system/