In adopting online education programs, VET providers balance innovation with integration. Primary and secondary schools prefer platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo, and Quizlet. These platforms are less feature-rich than the LMSs that dominate higher education. Instead, these services are better tailored to end users-teachers, students, parents -in terms of both cost and ease of use.

Choosing Your Platform(s)

Instructure Canvas represents one of the most capable platforms available, thanks to native cloud hosting, extensive integrations with other tools and platforms, and a fresh new interface. Instructure Cavas also offers a corporate (Bridge) and an open-source version of the platform that rivals Moodle, a feature-rich developer-driven platform well-suited to colleges and universities on a budget. Schoology provides a compelling third option for educators looking for something between an academic social network and a learning management system. Schoology bundles advanced features through which administrators can integrate it with existing tools and platforms. The best platform is the one that best addresses the needs of your institution. Edmodo and Quizlet are easy to add to existing in-person courses. A lot of educators also like the educational productivity suite (G Suite for Education).

You do not have to choose just one platform. One of the most promising developments in the educational LMS space is a shift toward greater interoperability via public APIs and support for Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), through which administrators can connect a platform to an existing LMS or Student Information Systems (SIS). For university administrators in particular, LTI is a key standard. Another important consideration is native web hosting, which spares administrators from configuring servers and self-hosting their LMS. This is another feature that is growing more common. Moodle, D2L, and Blackboard offer optional hosting via MoodleCloud, Brightspace Cloud, and Blackboard Ultra, respectively. Factors such as instructor-led training, gamification features, and mobile support (responsive design) have become fairly ubiquitous among all the LMSs.