Course Management System

A course management system, also called a learning management system, is software, usually Internet based, that allows instructors to teach an online course(or enhance traditional classroom teaching with web-based elements.) A (CMS) organizes and manages course materials(like assignments, lecture notes, quizzes, grades, etc.) and supplies tools for instructor-student and student-student interaction, such as discussion groups, live chat sessions, and whiteboards.
The most widely used course management system is the one the NLC uses, Blackboard, who announced a merger with its largest competitor, WebCT. According to Eduventures, an educational market research firm, Blackboard owns about 45%-50% of the market, while WebCT holds about 35% to 40%. Together, more than 3,700 higher education, K-12, corporate, government, and commercial academic institutions use solutions offered by the two organizations. WebCT was the system I used at my local community college.
Features of course management systems may include announcements, homework assignments, course documents, discussion boards, inter-class communications, chat rooms, grading, quizzes, surveys, files storage, and links to external sites.
Edu-Tools has an online comparison tool which may help you choose the system that meets your needs. You can compare up to ten systems.
The tools we have learned about in this class enable us to communicate effectively with a large audience using Internet technology. They have also required much user interaction. We have used wikis, blogs, posted photos and videos using some simple, easy to use technology. The same could be said for course management systems. The CMS makes it possible for educators and students to connect with each other beyond the bounds of a classroom and restrictions of schedules. These connections create learning environments that promote engagement and active construction of knowledge. The resources and technology available on the Internet can be overwhelming, to say the least. The CMS eases this because teachers are able to create links to selected content, cutting down on time spent by students in identifying whether a site's information is useful and increasing the time spent engaged with high quality texts. We had a good example of this with each of our assignments and the three or four links to explore with each topic. I have had good experiences with both Blackboard and WebCT course management systems. Believe me, if I can navigate through them, anyone can!!!!!!