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Academic Technology: Learning Management Systems: Home

Overview

Learning Management Systems
LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (LMS) serve as the backbone of education delivery, providing a centralized platform for managing course content, assessments, and student data. Third-party systems expand the functionality of LMSs via Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) applications, allowing educators to incorporate a wide range of external content and tools without adding friction to the user experience. Course Cartridges and Learning Object Repositories (LOR) (e.g., Canvas Commons) allow educators to import structured digital learning objects, making it easier to share and reuse course materials across systems. Student Information System (SIS) loads connect the LMS and sometimes even third-party systems (e.g., Leganto) with an institution’s broader data ecosystem, synchronizing enrollment, course information, and user roles. Having integrated systems at the institution level requires the data they are running on sync and match.

Learning Management System (LMS) Functionality

Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) is a standard developed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium (now 1EdTech) that allows seamless integration of third party applications into LMS platforms like Canvas and D2L. 

  • Courseware and tools like Leganto, H5P, New Literacies Alliance information literacy modules, Redshelf, Lumen Learning OHM, among many others, use LTI integrations to bring their content and interfaces into the LMS.
  • As students are already logged into their LMS when they come across LTI content, they don't need to login again as pass-through authentication is handled by the LTI standard.
  • Assignment grades and engagement data can be passed from the 3rd party software tool to the LMS gradebook. 
  • LTI integrations must be added to your LMS and configured by your LMS administrator. This is normally preceded by a demo and proposal to the LMS team, who have the final say on what is included in their system.
  • LTI integrations don't import content onto the LMS's server; they create a view of the third party content and functionality which is served by the third party's servers

More on LTIs

Common Cartridge is a set of standards for moving course content between systems. A common cartridge is like an export of a structured set of digital learning objects which can be shared directly or uploaded into a learning object repository (LOR) inside an LMS. The LOR is like a marketplace or catalog where you can import various pieces of course content, of which commons cartridges are only one type. A commonplace example of a common cartridge would be the export of an entire course to use in a different system. Another example would happen earlier in the course design process for a core course where the same resources are used for different sections taught by different instructors. Here you might set up a weekly set of LMS modules (e.g., Week 1, Week 2, etc.), each with a chapter link from an ebook from the library which is being used as a text, from which the rest of the courses could be customized around and diverge from. The Common Cartridge is also an important method for collaboration between institutions with different LMS systems. Additionally, the course cartridge standard is a potential method for distributing OER.

Video Explanation

Student Information System (SIS) loads connect and synchronize an institution's data across various enterprise software applications. Supporting course materials with reading list management software necessitates painstaking development and management of SIS loads with your university's IT department. Data from SIS loads is pulled from the university's Enterprise Resource Planner (ERP, e.g., Banner, PeopleSoft, Workday), which is the database of record, and used in target systems to load course information, student enrollment information, and directory/role information about users in your system. 

More Details

  • In most cases, SIS loads can be automated to run frequently (i.e., daily or weekly is most common) but you will likely need help from your IT department and your system vendor's support team
  • Your IT data specialist will need to export data from the institution's main system and convert values (e.g., add and remove characters) and file types (e.g., convert XML to JSON), and work with you to set up automated file drops via FTP
  • Applications throughout the university (the library system, the LMS, the campus bookstore system) each have their own loads
  • Beware that once SIS loads are completed in the target system, staff controlling those systems may make changes to data (e.g., course codes, ID numbers, expiration dates) and if your system is trying to integrate with their system, these changes will throw your systems out of sync
  • Systems that are out of sync can fail because things like LTI integrations require matching data to function correctly 
  • Loading information about student enrollments into your library's ILS bring up privacy concerns from within your library or with your school's Information Security department. Check with your information security department about any compliance documentation before setting up an SIS load into your library system.