UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES UTRECHT

Open source ELO comparison

Essence project

Kenneth van Rijsbergen

10-12-2014

Versie 1.0

TABLE OF CONTENT

Intro.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Moodle: ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

SAKAI:............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

Eliademy:....................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

What should an ELO do? ............................................................................................................................................................ 7

Ad 1: Communication and collaboration between students and teachers .................................................................. 9

Ad 2: Managing, reporting and monitoring progress during the course period .......................................................10

Ad 3: To develop, maintain and provide access to content (learning resources) .....................................................12

INTRO

In this document, the following has been done:

Sorted all opensource ELO’s which are used by the partner universities.

o Resulted in Moodle, SAKAI and Eliademy

Compared the ELO’s with the architecture table made by Daniel.

Looked at the pros and cons of the each ELO.

Compared each ELO using the criteria made by Serge (which is based on this document:

http://www.informaticavo.nl/archive/1777-Nieuwsbericht+12-12-2003/bestand-downloaden)

MOODLE:

Moodle is currently the most widely used open source ELO at the moment. It is free to use and has the most

features and documentation compared to the rest.

Pros:

- #1 used open source ELO1

- Very large community. Because of this there are a lot of documentation and external plug-ins available.

Cons:

- Is focused on blended learning and not on 100% online courses2

- GUI is complicated compared to the others

1 https://prezi.com/apg3co6zzxye/learning-management-systems-moodle-vs-sakai/

2 https://prezi.com/apg3co6zzxye/learning-management-systems-moodle-vs-sakai/

SAKAI:

Sakai has pretty much everything Moodle has only in a lesser fashion. I can’t say more about it to be honest.

Pros:

- Open source alternative for Moodle

- Simple interface3

Cons:

- No real advantage compared to Moodle. Looking at functionally, Moodle is better.

- Only specific groups and company’s may contribute to the Sakai code. Thus, there are fewer plug-ins.

- Smaller community, so there is less documentation.

3 http://sakai.kaltura.com:8080/portal (Sakai online demo)

ELIADEMY:

Eliademy is more of a MOOC platform. The biggest plus of Eliademy is that it runs completely on the Cloud (for

free) and therefore nothing needs to be installed or configured. Eliademy is very simple and I think it’s especially

useful for teachers who are looking for their own quick learning environment (which is independent of the school

system).

Pros:

- Eliademy is completely cloud-based. So no hosting costs.

- Compatible with Moodle courses.

- Minimalistic 4

Cons:

- Minimalistic

- Doesn’t have many features compared to Sakai and Moodle.

- Not suitable for Blended learning, is more of a MOOC platform.

- Lack of integration capabilities (l inking a database for example is not possible)

4 https://eliademy.com/

Business architecture Platform

Users have access at any time, any place and from any device

Moodle: Yes, via Moodle app, Eliademy App and Mobile website. SAKAI: Yes, via Sakai Mobile app and Mobile webs ite. Eliademy: Yes, via Eliademy App and Mobile website.

Integrated information

services

Moodle: You can link all kinds of services l ike authentication5, portfolio

6, web conferencing

7,

digital content repository8, student record systems

9, etc.

For all plugins see: https://moodle.org/plugins/

SAKAI: LDAP

10 and BigBlueButton

11 are possible. For other integration tools see:

https://sakaiproject.org/features-tools-functionality (scroll down)

Eliademy: The only integration option is importing Moodle courses. No other integration tools are available for Eliademy.

Information services are cross organisational

boundaries

Moodle: Looking at authentication for now, it is possible to have a multiple user databases l inked to Moodle.

12 However, l inking 5 or more databases directly to Moodle is probably not

a good idea. You need to add a layer in between that can combine those databases (see Architecture drawing of Daniel).

SAKAI: It is unclear if l inking multiple services to SAKAI is possible. Eliademy: Not possible. Eliademy is stand-alone.

Information architecture

Personalised information

services

Yes, in all three applications the user has a profile with personal information related to

progress, enrollment, etc.

Open standards Moodle: SCORM SAKAI: Has plugin for SCORM. Eliademy: The only integration option is importing Moodle courses. No other integration

tools are available for Eliademy except for embedding.

Every bit of information has one truth, one source and one owner

Moodle: Yes, but multiple owners are possible. SAKAI: Yes, but multiple owners are possible. Eliademy: It’s not always clear who wrote what.

5 https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/LDAP_authentication

6 Mahara; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

7 BigBlueButton: http://bigbluebutton.org/

8 Equilla; Manchester Metropolitan University

9 QLS; Manchester Metropolitan University

10 https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/~steve.swinsburg/LDAP+in+Sakai+2.5

11 https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/BBB/Home

12 https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/LDAP_authentication#Configuring_Moodle_authentication

Data is secured on basis of risk analysis/classification

?

Application architecture

Reuse before buy, before make

?

Applications are easy to integrate

Moodle: Yes, quite easy, lots of documentation

SAKAI: Yes, doable to integrate applications but there is not as much documentation as Moodle. Eliademy: The only integration option is importing Moodle courses. No other integration

tools are available for Eliademy except for embedding.

Applications are loosely coupled

Moodle: Yes, mostly plugins which you can turn on or off. SAKAI: Yes, mostly plugins which you can turn on or off. Eliademy: Yes, mostly plugins which you can turn on or off.

Specific services are based on standard building blocks

Moodle: The plugins yes. Moodle runs on PHP. SAKAI: The plugins. Runs on Java. Eliademy: Based on Moodle

Jointly when possible,

specific when necessary

?

-

WHAT SHOULD AN ELO DO?

1. Communication and collaboration between students and teachers; 2. Managing, reporting and monitoring progress during the course period; 3. To develop, maintain and provide access to content (learning resources)

Moodle Sakai Eliademy

Ad 1: Communication and collaboration between students and teachers;

Internal messaging

Yes, via profile

Yes,

https://www.indiana.edu/~

sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=a

vao

No, mailto l inks only

Discussion groups Yes, via internal forum Yes, via forum Yes, via forum

Bulletin boards Yes Yes No

Internal “News service” Yes Yes No

Project area’s Yes, via groups

Yes,

https://www.indiana.edu/~

sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=a

tcs

No

Chat Yes, chat module

Yes,

https://www.indiana.edu/~

sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=a

rcz

No

Overview of logged in users. Yes

Yes,

https://jira.sakaiproject.org

/browse/SAK-10492

No

Shared calendar Yes, via calendar Yes, via calendar Yes, via calendar

Ad 2: Managing, reporting and monitoring progress during the course period

Standardized Reporting Yes, except SCORM 2004 Yes, but you need a

separate plugin.

Half, you can only import

Moodle courses

Complete overview of all activities per

student by subject. Yes, via reports

Yes,

http://sakaitutorials.unc.ed

u/module_build.php?tag=st

atistics&page=Site%20Stats

Yes, via Profile > Analytics

Registration overview of "submitted assignments"

Yes Yes Yes

Exams that are given by

teachers/educators.

Yes Yes, via Tests & Quizzes Yes

Reports that show the quiz results. What each person has answered correctly and

incorrectly.

Yes Yes Yes, via Task > Quiz

Possibil ity for internal and external evaluations and surveys

Yes Yes Yes, via Task > Quiz

Module for making surveys. Yes Yes, via Task > Quiz

A number of standard reports that the teacher can use when required

Yes

Yes,

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=kvnt6Nk77-o

Yes, via Profile > Analytics

Absence module

Yes, via

https://docs.moodle.org

/23/en/Attendance_mo

dule

Not clear,

https://jira.sakaiproject.org

/browse/SAK-16965

No

Ad 3: To develop, maintain and provide access to content (learning resources)

Module for creating discussion groups - simple and categorized.

Yes, via internal forum Yes, via forum Yes, via forum

Module for publishing images with the different course subjects.

Yes Yes, via My Media Yes

Process-oriented writing module - ? - - -

Folders module for structuring learning materials by creating folders / subfolders in a course / subject.

Yes Yes, via Drop Box No

Module to create exams and quizzes. Yes, via Quiz module Yes, via Tests & Quizzes Yes, via Task > Quiz

Module for developing multimedia teaching material.

Yes, course editor Yes, course editor Yes, course editor

A module that provides the ability to l ink

to external content.

Yes, see Standardized

Reporting

Yes, see Standardized

Reporting

and

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=XvQtiQlxXUA

Yes, see Standardized

Reporting

Module for uploading fi les. Yes Yes Only via course editor

A separate place on the server for

uploading fi les and bulky productions. Yes

Yes,

https://www.udel.edu/sakai

/training/printable/resource

s/file_storage_options.pdf

Everything goes into the

cloud of Eliademy,

although embedding is

possible

AD 1: COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Components for communication and cooperation among others that are available:

Internal messaging A messaging system that can send messages to users that are in different components

within the system. Unlike e-mail, this does not need to go through the mailbox, but you can respond

directly to other users and even to an entire group/class.

o Moodle: Yes, via profile

o SAKAI: Yes, https://www.indiana.edu/~sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=avao

o Eliademy: No, mailto l inks only

Discussion groups for exchanging knowledge

o Moodle: Yes, via internal forum

o SAKAI: Yes, via forum

o Eliademy: Yes, via forum

Bulletin boards/ News services at group level

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes

o Eliademy: No

Internal “News service” offers the possibility to send important news to all the teachers and students, or

to one of these groups.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes

o Eliademy: No

Project areas. All users can create separate areas where others can be invited. This gives the possibility of

communication and cooperation with certain fellow students.

o Moodle: Yes, via groups

o SAKAI: Yes, https://www.indiana.edu/~sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=atcs

o Eliademy: No

Chat. Among other things, the ability to create open and closed spaces, password protected areas and

the possibility for the teacher to deny participants access etc.

o Moodle: Yes, chat module

o SAKAI: Yes, https://www.indiana.edu/~sakaikb/display.cgi?docid=arcz

o Eliademy: No

Overview of logged in users. Shows currently logged in users. This gives a sense of community, the user

does not feel alone. There is also the possibility to send a direct message. This emphasizes the idea of a

social meeting place.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes, https://jira.sakaiproject.org/browse/SAK-10492

o Eliademy: No

Shared calendar / Individual timetable with information provided by the teacher. The agenda will also be

linked to the tasks, progress monitoring and examination. This gives the possibility to set deadlines with a

reminder, follow-up, etc.

o Moodle: Yes, via calendar

o SAKAI: Yes, via calendar

o Eliademy: Yes, via calendar

AD 2: MANAGING, REPORTING AND MONITORING PROGRESS DURING THE COURSE

PERIOD

ELO is a platform that allows the teacher to manage the activities of his course and create reports regarding the

progress of the students, submitted assignments and other forms of feedback. The idea behind the platform is that

a teacher should be flexible in choosing his / her own teaching methods.

The ELO meets this desire and because of the usability, it is also easy to manage the course. The teacher is

therefore not dependent on an administrator with in-depth technical knowledge to manage his/her courses,

teaching materials and to make them available. The teacher can create joint reports from groups, have the

opportunity to take a closer look at the work of each student and has insight into current assignments and other

activities. The platform provides a number of useful functions, namely:

Standardized Reporting

Standardized course materials supplied by internal or external providers normally has a built-in

communication / reporting functionality that is supported by the platform. The ELO supports the

following international specifications:

o AICC tracking of standardized courses from external suppliers

o (HACP) <- ??

o SCORM API tracking (SCORM 1.2)

o SCORM C&P <- What is C&P?

Moodle: Yes, except SCORM 2004

SAKAI: Yes, but you need a separate plugin.

https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/SCORMPLAYER/SCORM+in+Sakai

Eliademy: Half, you can only import Moodle courses

Extensive reporting

Complete overview of all activities per student by subject.

o Moodle: Yes, via reports

o SAKAI: Yes, http://sakaitutorials.unc.edu/module_build.php?tag=statistics&page=Site%20Stats

o Eliademy: Yes, via Profile > Analytics

Registration overview of "submitted assignments"

o Who has submitted the assignment and who did not. Ability to provide comments on the

submissions and grade them. It is just as easy to generate statistics of grades per

course/assignment/student.

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes

Eliademy: Yes

Exams that are given by teachers/educators.

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes, via Tests & Quizzes

Eliademy: Yes

Reports that show the quiz results. What each person has answered correctly and incorrectly.

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes

Eliademy: Yes, via Task > Quiz

Possibil ity for internal and external evaluations and surveys

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes

Eliademy: Yes, via Task > Quiz

Module for making surveys. This module is a simple but powerful tool for creating surveys and evaluations

which can be anonymous or by name. Distribution can be provided within the ELO by internal emai l or

presented on a website.

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes

Eliademy: Yes, via Task > Quiz

A number of standard reports that the teacher can use when required:

o Most active teachers / educators

o Most used learning tools

o Read / unread messages

o Who had logged in for the last week

o Progress of the student

Moodle: Yes

SAKAI: Yes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvnt6Nk77-o

Eliademy: Yes, via Profile > Analytics

Absence module

Moodle: Yes, via https://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Attendance_module

SAKAI: Not clear, https://jira.sakaiproject.org/browse/SAK-16965

Eliademy: No

AD 3: TO DEVELOP, MAINTAIN AN D PROVIDE ACCESS TO CONTENT (LEARNING

RESOURCES)

An ELO is a powerful platform for the development, management, customization and reuse of courses and

teaching materials. Modules within the ELO and modules from other vendors can be used in the development of

teaching material. The ELO can handle all types of teaching materials, both local material and material provided by

third parties.

Own development within the ELO

A built-in component allows to independently develop teaching mater ials for both teachers and students. One can

develop their own learning objects and then add this to a course/subject.

These are, among other things:

Module for creating discussion groups - simple and categorized.

o Moodle: Yes, via internal forum

o SAKAI: Yes, via forum

o Eliademy: Yes, via forum

Module for publishing images with the different course subjects.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes, via My Media

o Eliademy: Yes

Process-oriented writing module - ?

Folders module for structuring learning materials by creating folders / subfolders in a course / subject.

Access to the folders can be arranged by authorization (read / write) given to different groups of users

with different roles.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes, via Drop Box

o Eliademy: No

Module to create exams and quizzes. These tests are suitable for automatic correction: yes / no answers,

multiple choice questions and statements. This includes the ability to include images, formatted text and references to external equipment.

o Moodle: Yes, via Quiz module

o SAKAI: Yes, via Tests & Quizzes

o Eliademy: Yes, via Task > Quiz

Module for developing multimedia teaching material. The module has graphic and methodical templates -

this offers teachers and students the advantage of easy development leading to professional standardized

output.

o Moodle: Yes, course editor

o SAKAI: Yes, course editor

o Eliademy: Yes, course editor

Teaching materials developed in other programs

In addition to developing private teaching materials within the ELO, it is also possible to create course material

with other programs such as Word, PowerPoint and Flash. This may be material that is self -developed, or acquired

material in the form of digital learning objects.

A module that provides the ability to l ink to external content.

o Moodle: Yes, see Standardized Reporting

o SAKAI: Yes, see Standardized Reporting and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvQtiQlxXUA

o Eliademy: Yes, see Standardized Reporting

Module for uploading fi les.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes

o Eliademy: Only via course editor

A separate place on the server for uploading fi les and bulky productions. Like video material and

PowerPoint presentations.

o Moodle: Yes

o SAKAI: Yes, https://www.udel.edu/sakai/training/printable/resources/file_storage_options.pdf

o Eliademy: Everything goes into the cloud of Eliademy, although embedding is possible.