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Tātai Aho Rau : Pushing the boundaries of educational possibility
Learning management systems for the workplace
Online and blended delivery of training and professional development is an important feature of the contemporary workplace. The Tertiary Accord of New Zealand (TANZ), the Public Sector Training organisation (PSTO) and Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) developed a number of blended programmes for workers, including management programmes for public sector employees and meat inspector supervisors. The suitability of proprietary learning management systems (Blackboard) and open source learning management systems (Moodle and Interact) were investigated to determine how effectively they were able to support online and blended learning in New Zealand workplaces.
The research demonstrated that there is no ideal solution for organisations wanting to utilise the most appropriate learning management system. For those organisations that want the security of a proprietary solution, are able to work with the constraints of a course based learning management system and can afford the cost of licensing, then Blackboard offers a suitable system. However, the results of this research indicate that Moodle is the most engaging learning management system, has better socialisation features, is more flexible and has no cost. Interact is a locally developed learning management system, which also has socialisation features, however, the small size of its user base brings into question the long-term sustainability of Interact as a learning management system.
education
