EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF THE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

In the past decade, learning management systems (LMSs) have become the standard on college campuses. However, some professors are growing increasingly frustrated with the LMS and its limitations, especially within online classrooms. The 2017 New Media Consortium Horizon Report for higher education identifies next-generation LMSs as a key trend in the next two to three years. This article explores issues with current LMSs along with several possible visions for the next-generation LMS. KEY WORDS: learning management system (LMS), personalized learning environment (PLE), next-generation learning management system (NGLMS), next generation digital learning environment (NGDLE), open learning network (OLN) 1. EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF THE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The use of a learning management system (LMS) at the university level has been growing steadily since the launch of Blackboard in 1998 (De Smet, 2012). An LMS allows professors to share content, grade assignments, facilitate discussions, and more, both in online and face-to-face courses. As of 2015, Brown and coworkers reported that 99% of college campuses have a learning management system (Brown et al., 2015), where 85% of faculty use an LMS with 56% of those reporting that they use it every day and 74% saying that they find it useful. However, despite widespread use, some professors are growing frustrated with the traditional LMS and the ways that its functionality limits pedagogy (Lane, 2009; Mott and Wiley, 2009; Mott, 2010; Thackaberry, 2017). They envision a future where the LMS takes on a new, more student-centered form. Institutions are already beginning to explore what a post-LMS world might look like. Western Governors University, a competency-based online program, launched without an LMS at all. Instead, they host an internal website for each course that fully replaces the functions of an LMS (Thackaberry