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Open Source CMS and LCMS

This page provides links to open source Course Management Systems (CMS) and Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) aimed at the Higher Education market.

Articles in alphabetical order.

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ATutor

"ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind. Administrators can install or update ATutor in minutes, develop custom templates to give ATutor a new look, and easily extend its functionality with feature modules.

Updated: 14 July 2006
Reviewer's Note:
"Educators can quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content, easily retrieve and import prepackaged content, and conduct their courses online. Students learn in an adaptive learning environment."

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Brihaspati

"Learning management system written in java and built over turbine framework. development for regional Indian languages in progress. Currently used by many Indian universities and college."

Added: 16 March 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Currently this project is funded by Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Govt. of India (since November 2003) and IIT Kanpur (since August 2002)

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Claroline

"Claroline is an Open Source software based on PHP/MySQL. It's a collaborative learning environment allowing teachers or education institutions to create and administer courses through the web"

Added: 27 April 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Download it and test it!

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COSE

"COSE (Creation of Online Study Environments) is a system which facilitates active and collaborative learning for a wide variety of learners (traditional, distributed and distance), with a particular focus on approaches such a problem-based learning and cognitive apprenticeship. COSE 2 builds on the successes of COSE, developed in part with funding from the JISC, with a redesigned user interface, improved performance and improvements to the accessibility and interoperability of the software. The most significant improvement of all, of course, is in the price! As a FREE binary download. COSE 2 is now available to FE & HE establishments and government and commercial organisations worldwide.

Updated: 23 June 2002
Reviewer's Note:
Cambridge Software Publishing and Staffordshire University have agreed to release COSE 2 as a FREE binary download, with a later version of COSE 2 to be made available under an Open Source Licence.

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CourseWork

"Using CourseWork, instructors and TAs can set up a course Web site that displays announcements, on-line readings, a dynamic syllabus and schedule, on-line assignments and quizzes, a discussion forum for students, and a grade book. CourseWork is designed both for faculty with little Web experience, who can use CourseWork to develop their Web site quickly, and for expert Web-users, who can use it to organize complex, Web-based materials and link them to Web communication tools. The CourseWork source code is free and open, and can be downloaded from this site for any organization to use and modify to their own needs. You will need your own staff to install and manage the system, but the code is free and open."

Added: 7 July 2003
Reviewer's Note:
an open source course management system based at Stanford University and developed by Academic Computing in the Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources

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Didactor

"Didactor is a low-threshold and open source E-learning platform. The platform is developed from a didactic perspective and it's based on the methodology of learning objects. Educators can define and create pieces of knowledge and group them into separate objects. This structure allows educators to share objects and combine them to create lessons or courses."

Added: 18 March 2006
Reviewer's Note:
Didactor consists of 23 didactic components, like e-portfolio, assessment, competence management, group discussion, chat etc.

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Docebo LMS

"doceboLMS.org is the new name for the Spaghettilearning project, the Open Source e-learning platform."

Updated: 25 January 2005
Reviewer's Note:
An open source e-learning platform from Italy

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Drupal

"Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal can support a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites."

Updated: 16 October 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Drupal is software that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a great variety of content on a website

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eFront elearning system

eFront is an easy to use, visually attractive, SCORM compatible, complete and extensible, eLearning and Human Capital Management platform.

Added: 13 November 2007
Reviewer's Note:

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Fedora

"Fedora is a general purpose repository service developed jointly by The University of Virginia Library and Cornell University. The Fedora project is devoted to the goal of providing open-source repository software that can serve as the foundation for many types of information management systems. The software demonstrates how distributed digital information management can be deployed using web-based technologies, including XML and web services."

Added: 29 April 2005
Reviewer's Note:
You can download Fedora Version 2.0

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Fle3 Learning Environment

"Fle3 is a web-based software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL). It is designed to support learner and group centered work that concentrates on creating and developing expressions of knowledge."

Updated: 7 April 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Version 1.5 includes one new feature: teacher's announcement blog.  The new version also includes several bug fixes and small improvements to the user interface.

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Global Student Network

"Global Student Network is a provider of Virtual Curriculum that's ideal for public, private and charter schools; homeschool students and their families, adult education providers, and colleges wanting to serve elementary through high school students. Delivered entirely over the internet, this curriculum for grades 2-12 was developed by a U.S. public school district to National Content Standards. "

Added: 27 March 2007
Reviewer's Note:
Free demo available

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ILIAS

"The web-based learning management system ILIAS is available as open source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Universities, educational institutions and every interested person may use the system free of charge and contribute to its further development.  ILIAS has a very big worldwide user and developer community. Recently, the ILIAS open source @ china has been launched. The software development worldwide is coordinated by our team at the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne."

Added: 13 June 2004
Reviewer's Note:
"ILIAS allows users to create, edit and publish learning and teaching material in an integrated system with their normal web browsers. Tools for cooperative working and communication are included as well."

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I-Study

"Based on a PHPBB Forum we have configured an programmed a new platform based on actual didactical aspects. The platform supports English and German speaking people. Tutorial and website is only in German. (15.10.2004) Version v1.6."

Updated: 17 October 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Open source platform for cooperative learning

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LAMS

"The LAMS software will be released as "open source software" (using the GPL) in late February 2005. From this time onwards, anyone who wishes to take the publicly available software source code, and then compile it, install it, configure it and maintain it can use LAMS without incurring any fees."

Updated: 25 October 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Sakai and LAMS integration announced

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.LRN 

".LRN is an open source enterprise-class suite of web applications and a portal framework for supporting course management, online communities and collaboration. Originally developed at MIT, .LRN can be used to support a range of applications, including course management, e-learning, and research communities. .LRN is in use worldwide at MIT (U.S.), University of Heidelberg (Germany), University of Cambridge (U.K.), University of Bergen (Norway), University of Sydney (Australia), Universidad Galileo (Guatemala), and University of Copenhagen (Denmark)."

Added: 30 October 2003
Reviewer's Note:
The software is available for free and will continue to be available for free in perpetuity under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

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Mambo

"Mambo is a full-featured content management system that can be used for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications."

Updated: 29 November 2005
Reviewer's Note:
Download or use a  hosting service

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Manhattan Virtual Classroom 

"The Manhattan Virtual Classroom is a password protected, web-based virtual classroom system that includes a variety of discussion groups, live chat, areas for the teacher to post the syllabus and other handouts and notices, a module for organizing online assignments, a grades module, and a unique, web-based email system open only to students in the class. Developed at Western New England College, Manhattan is free, and is released under the GNU General Public License."

Added: 11 July 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Another free course management system 

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Moodle

"Moodle is an Open-Source e-learning system, currently in use at 987 sites in 74 countries, and has been translated into 34 languages."

Updated: 24 March 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Version 1.2 is now available

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MySource Matrix

"MySource Matrix is an open source, enterprise-class Content Management System (CMS). MySource Matrix helps you control the content that drives your business - it runs some of the world's largest intranet, web, e-commerce and publishing platforms. Including Oxford University and the University of Greenwich."

Added: 14 July 2006
Reviewer's Note:
MySource Matrix states "it is an extremely feature rich CMS and in many cases exceeds the functionality of traditionally licensed high-end CMS such as Interwoven, Vignette, Microsoft CMS or RedDot".

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OLAT - Online Learning and Training

"OLAT is a web-based Open Source Learning Management System (LMS) /  Learning Content Management System (LCMS) used in the public sector  of Switzerland. The initial development started at the University of  Zuerich (Switzerland) where it is used by 25000 students. OLAT is open source, available in 17 languages and completely free of charge."

Updated: 18 April 2007
Reviewer's Note:
Latest Release is OLAT 5.1.2 (or you can write OLAT 5.1)

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opensourceCMS

"This site was created with one goal in mind. To give you the opportunity to "try out" some of the best php/mysql based free and open source software systems in the world. You are welcome to be the administrator of any site here, allowing you to decide which system best suits your needs."

Added: 20 August 2004
Reviewer's Note:
"The administrator username and password is given for every system and each system is deleted and re-installed every two hours. This allows you to to add and delete content, change the way things look, basically be the admin of any system here without fear of breaking anything."

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Open Source Portfolio (OSP) Initiative

"Its functions are to assist universities in administering Web servers, teachers in preparing online course components, and both teachers and students in designing and using portfolios, which are academically oriented personal Web pages."

Added: 8 February 2006
Reviewer's Note:
Participants in the project include more than 100 universities and other educational institutions

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Plone

"Plone is powerful and flexible. It is ideal as an intranet and extranet server, as a document publishing system, a portal server and as a groupware tool for collaboration between separately located entities."

Updated: 16 October 2005
Reviewer's Note:
You can install Plone with a click-and-run installer, and have a content management system running on your computer in just a few minutes.

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Sakai

"The University of Michigan, Indiana University, MIT, Stanford, the uPortal Consortium, and the Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) are joining forces to integrate and synchronize their considerable educational software into a modular, pre-integrated collection of open source tools."

Added: 8 April 2004
Reviewer's Note:
The Sakai Project has just released specifications for higher education open-source software using JavaServer Faces. These specifications, called the Sakai Technology Portability Profile, will ensure software being developed will operate across the systems of participating university partners.

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Seminar

"We have created in a 5 month workout a cost free e-learning platform on a PHPBB basis. This platform is supported with 2 languages (German/English) and universities may use them for free."

Added: 27 March 2003
Reviewer's Note:
Open source product.  Note: Website is in German

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Shibboleth Project

"Shibboleth, a project of Internet2/MACE, is developing architectures, policy structures, practical technologies, and an open source implementation to support inter-institutional sharing of web resources subject to access controls. In addition, Shibboleth will develop a policy framework that will allow inter-operation within the higher education community."

Added: 3 February 2005
Reviewer's Note:
"This release has been tested on Windows 2000/XP/2003, Solaris 2.8, Mac OS X 10.3 and on Red Hat Linux versions 9, Fedora, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 3 (Taroon Update 1. The origin implementation is entirely in Java, so there is one package for all platforms. JDK 1.4.2 is recommended."

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Wordcircle CMS

"A collaborative learning tool / course management product (PHP) for teachers, students and those looking to create and conduct online web courses. Wordcircle is open-source, commercial free and available at no cost."

Added: 15 September 2004
Reviewer's Note:
Students and teachers: Once you are registered you can begin creating or enrolling in online courses.

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