We have been asked to compare the LMS systems Blackboard Learn, Moodle, Sakai and D2L on their provision and delivery of the following functions:
- student record management
- communication tools
- assessment tools
- cost for your institution or organization
- minimum system requirements at the hosting (server) level and for end users (students and instructors)
I have created a matix that provides an overview of each of these categories by LMS. All LMS options offer similar tools and functions -the difference between the four is greatest in the delivery and support of their product. For the open source LMS options, Sakai and Moodle, Moodle seems to have a larger community with literally hundreds of plugin options and solutions that you can manage or hire a Moodle Partner to manage or provide support for their installation and use. Sakai also offers commercial affiliates and support but seems to have a smaller user group and fewer (no) plugin options. Blackboard and D2L are very similar and both offer a wide range of options and tools and cater to the custom needs of their clients. Both are quite likely expensive though no costs or prices are available on the site. I found a post by Jeff Cobb (2010) who did a study on pricing averages for Year 1 cost averages for various user levels. He states that the prices are for solutions hosted by the LMS company (i.e., software as a service) and that they include e-commerce capabilities (transaction fees are not covered).
- Up to 500: $22,083 (Low: $1,740, High: 43,500)
- Up to 2500: $43,395 (Low: $3,540, High $123,000)
- Up to 5000: $62,203 (Low: $4,440, High $183,000)
- Up to 10,000: $93,103 (Low: $8,940, High: $300,000)
- Up to 25,000: $125,220 (Low: $14,400, High $430,750)
- Unlimited: $163,650 (Low: $14,400, High: $300,000)
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Blackboard Learn
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Sakai
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Moodle
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D2L
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| Student record management | Allows for the management of registration and grades of students; allows integration with larger database | Provides a gradebook module that allows students to recieve and access grades and feedback. Unclear if it will integrate with larger database | Allows for the management of registration and grades of students; allows integration with larger database | Allows for the management of registration and grades of students; allows integration with larger database |
| Communication tools | Email, Notices, Discussion Forums, Messages, Calendar, Social Learning, File Share, Dynamic visual content, internal and external collaboration tools | Email, Notices, Discussion Forums, Calendar, Chat, wikis, | Comment boxes, private messaging, wikis, forums, communication plugins for engagement stats, livechat, live classroom, collaboration on documents and in forums, | Email, Notices, Discussion Forums, Online room plugin with live access to admin screen and student/ participant computer screen; excellent for virtual training and online assistance. |
| Assessment tools | Grading tools, feeback, interactive rubrics, student activity reporting, course embedded assessment, outcomes assessment, quiz and question libraries, reports | Dropbox, quizzes and tests, gradebook, assignments | Quiz, dropbox,tests, gradebook and import of grades; Plugins allow for similar features as blackboard and D2L | Grading tools, feeback, interactive rubrics, student activity reporting, course embedded assessment, outcomes assessment, quiz and question libraries, reports |
| Cost | Expensive | Open Source; Commercial affiliates offer support and hosting | Open Source; Can hire Moodle Partner consulting firms for assistance, training and hosting | Expensive |
| Minimum system requirements | Managed hosting and several options for systems depending on size and needs of institution | Hosted on Commercial affiliate or downloaded and hosted on own server: for user goal is to meet all of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and AA Success Criteria. Some issues exist with Javascript. Web based. | Hosted on Commercial affiliate or downloaded and hosted on own server: LAMP platform; 160MB for installation; approx 5GB for content; 5GB for backup; 1GB for memory; can accomodate 10 to 20 concurrent users for every 1GB of RAM | Managed hosting and several options for systems depending on size and needs of institution |
References
Cobb, Jeff. (June 2010) Learning Management System Pricing. Retrieved from http://www.tagoras.com/2010/06/22/learning-management-system-pricing/