LMS Timeline

Edward Thorndike's Prediction

In his 1912 book, Education: A First Book, Edward Thorndike basically predicts teaching machines:

"If, by a miracle of mechanical ingenuity, a book could be so arranged that only to him who had done what was directed on page one would page two become visible, and so on, much that now requires personal instruction could be managed by print."

Sidney Pressey's Teaching Machine

In 1924, Pressey invents the first "teaching machine." The machine resembles a typewriter carriage with a window revealing a multiple choice question with up to four responses to choose from. Attached is a box with four keys - one for each possible answer to the question. When the student presses a key, the machine records that selection. If the student's selection is correct, the machine increases the student's score by one displays the next question. If the selection is incorrect, the student must choose again. The machine will not display the next question until the student presses the correct key.

M.E. LaZerte's Problem Cylinder (1929)

An advance from Pressey's machine, LaZerte's "problem cylinder" presents a problem to the student, requiring the student to perform a number of steps in correct order. The machine can score whether the solution steps taken by the student are correct.

Note: The Great Depression is blamed for the limited success of LaZerte's teaching machine.

B.F. Skinner's Teaching Machine

Instructional "disks" are placed inside the machine along with a strip or roll of paper. When the machine is closed, the student reads a question through a window and writes their response on the strip of paper. The student then compares their answer with the answer on the disk and presses the lever one way if their answer is correct or the other way if incorrect (the machine keeps score and advances).

Skinner proposed the machine improves learning by "taking into account the rate of learning for each individual learner." With this, Skinner formalizes "self-paced instruction" as part of programmed instruction.

Self-Adaptive Keyboard Instructor (SAKI)

In 1956, Gordon Pask and Robin McKinnon-Wood release SAKI, the first "adaptive" teaching system to go into commercial production. SAKI allows users to learn and practice keyboard skills on a 12-button keyboard.

SAKI is an adaptive teaching machine – as the student's performance level increases, the machine self-calibrates to decrease the instructional support. Pask and McKinnon-Wood propose this adaptive nature mimics the relationship between a human teacher and student, as the instructor adapts their instruction to the student's performance level.

Teaching Machines, Inc. (TMI-Grolier)

Grolier is an educational publishing company started in the early 1900s. Most of their sales were made through their door-to-door sales force, who sold encyclopedias and other educational books. In 1960, TMI-Grolier added the first mass-produced teaching machine to their door-to-door offerings.

The "green machine" was partnered with a wide variety of self-tutoring books ranging in topic from mathematics and electricity to foreign languages. The student loads a stack of self-study sheets into the box and scrolls through the sheets one block at a time, writing their answers to questions as they go.

Note: The machine isn't much different from Skinner's machine in functionality, but it is easier to mass produce and far more portable. (By the way, several of the books and sheets can be found on eBay, although the machines themselves are a little harder to come by these days.)

Apple II and the Personal Computer

The Apple II and the PC are combined on this timeline because together they mark a revolution in the teaching machine industry. Over the next several years software companies will sell billions of dollars worth of educational software into the home and school personal computer markets, limiting dedicated "teaching machines" to the children's toy market.

Note: In middle and upper class homes, you'll find the growing trend of pre-school age children being given the "old" technology to play and learn with as their parents acquire newer technology. Starting with Windows-based PCs and Macs, and later the same trend will follow with smart phones and tablets.

Transition

The personal computer (along with derivative technology like smart phones and tablets) will continue to serve as self-tutoring learning machines. However, from this point on the timeline on, the personal computer also becomes the primary delivery platform of the LMS.

So in it's stand alone mode running its own software, you can consider the computer a teaching machine. But once you connect the computer to a network (including the Internet) in order to create, manage, access, and/or complete courseware, you can think of it as part of the LMS, and we'll cover further advancements in the Learning Management Systems branch of this timeline.

Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC)

By 1988, there are hundreds of companies creating computer-based training courseware. Some of the courseware runs on Mac platforms, some runs on DOS machines, and some runs on the new Windows platform. Because of the open architecture of the PC and Windows machines, a course may run fine on one machine, but won't play on a similar machine that has a different sound card. This hurts large purchasers of CBT courseware because they must either pay to have each course modified to play on their primary platforms or purchase additional platforms.

In 1988, Boeing, Airbus, and McDonnell Douglas form the AICC in order to address the lack of standards at a critical point of growth in the CBT market. In 1989, the AICC publishes their computer platform recommendations (selecting the PC as their primary delivery platform). In 1992, they publish their digital audio specifications, allowing major players in the sound card industry to use AICC certified drivers.

It is in 1993 that the Committee publishes CMI001-AICC/CMI Guidelines for Interoperability. This specification is considered to be the first true interoperability standard for Learning Management Systems, and compliance with AICC specifications (regularly updated, of course) is still considered a requirement for most LMS selection committees twenty years later.

Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)

Just as AICC was driven by concerns of the airline industry, SCORM was driven by a mandate from the White House (Executive Order 13111 signed in 1999 by President Bill Clinton) to create a set of standards for Federal Training Technology. The Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL) was formed under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, working with the White House Office of Technology and the Department of Labor, as well as key advising partners in the CBT and education industries.

In 2000, SCORM version 1.0 is published. Based directly on AICC's specifications, SCORM worked to "fill in the gaps" in areas related to reusable content, client to host communication, and runtime packaging. By 2004, SCORM would become more robust and more popular than its counterpart AICC, and becomes the leading LMS standard (although critics of SCORM point out that the AICC standard is more stable and AICC courseware requires less "tweaking" than SCORM to run on an LMS). In 2006, the Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) requires all DoD courseware to comply with the SCORM standard.

PLATO - The First LMS

In 1960, PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations) goes live as the first computer assisted instruction system. PLATO is the first networked computer used to host and access online courses, recording and storing student scores and completion status. So, PLATO is the first Learning Management System (LMS).

Note: Several boxes of PLATO student reports are still stored in cardboard boxes in a Minnesota library.

Flanagan's Project PLAN

Project PLAN (Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs) starts with a survey of more than 400,000 high schools (Project Talent) to define students' learning needs, and transforms into a project to meet those needs through curricula and testing.

Project PLAN finds its way onto this timeline because the solution includes a set of computer-based tests using an IBM 360 MODEL 50 computer that allows individual students to demonstrate their mastery of the curricula's objectives. In the conclusion of his 1968 paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Dr. Flanagan writes, "The most gratifying aspect of the program in the last few months has been that in each month since September, distinct and noticeable progress has been made in the direction of full operation of the program as conceived. If the teachers and staff are able to make as much progress in the next year of the project, Project PLAN should be well on the way to demonstrating the possibilities of an individualized system of instruction using the computer as an aid and resource to the teacher."

Havering Computer Managed Learning System

An applied research project is conducted in the London Borough of Havering to devise and implement an approach for using computer managed learning. The experiment compares the performance of students working under the direction of teachers to that of students whose instruction is individually assigned by a computer based on each student's performance on previous work.

The experiment finds that although teachers initially fear computer managed learning will deprive them of their personal contact with their students, in actuality by freeing them from being the primary source of information in their classroom, they find a new more professionally rewarding role in tutoring individuals with common needs in smaller groups, thus creating closer contact with the children in their classroom.

Note: The word "system" in this case refers to an approach or method, not to computer software or hardware system.

MIT's Project Athena

In 1983, MIT announces “Project Athena,” a five-year initiative to explore innovative uses of computers for teaching. IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation become partners in the initiative, contributing money and equipment to support this research.

Project Athena ends after five years, and MIT adopts the Athena system ("the fruits of the project's labor") as their academic computing infrastructure.

Asymetrix

In 1984, Paul Allen (one of the co-founders of Microsoft, founds Asymetrix - the creators of ToolBook, which will become one of the most popular CBT authoring languages of the 1980s. Asymetrix will later change their name to click2learn.com, inc., keeping their CBT authoring tools and adding LMS capabilities, supporting access to their courseware via the Web.

click2learn.com eventually purchases Docent, a leading LMS vendor, and becomes SumTotal Systems, Inc. SumTotal is considered one of the global leaders in strategic human capital management (HCM), tying the tracking and reporting functionality of an LMS with the performance management capabilities of an HR system.

TenCORE

In 1984, Computer Teaching Corporation (CTC) launches TenCORE, which becomes the leading CBT authoring language of the late 1980s. CTC also produce a network-based Computer Managed Instruction System which provides users different levels of access (author, administrator, or student), in other words, an LMS.

QuestionMark (DOS)

In 1988, QuestionMark introduces a DOS-based "Assessment Management System." Authors use the tool to develop online assessments comprised of a range of supported scored interaction types. Students can access and complete the assessments, and their scores are recorded into a database.

Note: The tool functions very much like an LMS, however only manages assessments.

TrainingPartner

In 1990, GeoMetrix Data Systems is founded. They produce the learning management system called Training Partner. TrainingPartner soon becomes GeoMetrix's flagship product - an enterprise learning management system used by utilities, media, governments, universities, law enforcement agencies, commercial trainers, hospitals, and Fortune 1000 companies around the world.

Interactive Learning Network

In 1997, CourseInfo creates a set of tools supporting computer based instruction, including a course site generator, announcement generator, quiz generator, survey generator, etc. Later the same year, they release the Interactive Learning Network (ILN), which is installed at Cornell, Yale Medical School, University of Pittsburgh, and other academic institutions. The ILN was the first LMS of its kind to leverage MySqL, the relational database.

Note: CourseInfo is one of the two companies that would later form Blackboard.

Blackboard

In 1998, Blackboard, LLC merges with CourseInfo to create Blackboard Inc. Leveraging CourseInfo's relationship with several colleges and universities, the new Blackboard quickly becomes one of the most prolific LMS companies in the higher education market.

By the time Blackboard goes public in 2004, their software is installed in over 3,700 education institutions in more then 60 countries.

Moodle

Moodle is a free open source LMS. Moodle's business model encourages the global education community to contribute improvements. Moodle can run on FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Windows, and many other platforms. It is also compatible with a huge range of databases, and can integrate content in a wide range of different formats, including SCORM, Flash, MP3s, and RSS feeds. If Moodle is not compatible with a particular environment, a developer can be hired to "code up" the integration (a benefit of the open source nature of Moodle).

Because of its functionality and low implementation costs (even though the software is free, there are always costs involved in an implementation of an LMS), Moodle has quickly become a major player in the LMS arena.

VirtualOnDemand

In 2005, NACON Consulting releases VirtualOnDemand, an LMS based on Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections to "virtual machines" (dedicated space on a server behind the firewall that acts as a computer). The advantage to this approach is that no special hardware is required on the student side of the interaction; the student can access and complete fairly robust eLearning modules using a browser.

The US Army soon starts using VirtualOnDemand to train IT support personnel in the field.

Personal Learning Environment (PLE)

The Personal Learning Environment came about in 2007 and has evolved along with technology. It is defined as a collection of systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to set their own learning goals, manage their learning (both content and process), and communicate with others while learning.

Eucalyptus

In 2008, Eucalyptus is released as the first open source, Advanced Wireless Services (AWS), Application Programming Interface (API) platform for deploying private clouds.

This sparks an explosion in cloud computing that eventually enables Learning Management Systems to exist entirely online without being installed on an internal network.

Note: Cloud based LMS is a hot trend for mLearning (eLearning delivered to mobile devices over WiFi).

Assessment

Assessment refers to demonstrating mastery of a course's or curriculum's instructional objectives through a series of scored interactions. Early teaching machines could present multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank or short answer interactions. More sophisticated machines supported sequencing and matching. With the addition of personal computers, there's little limit to what can be presented as assessment, including high-fidelity simulation of the end task.

Assessment as a function of the LMS must also include capturing and storing learner performance data. We can break this down into three hierarchical levels:

Basic:	Tracking and reporting of the student's performance (pass/fail, score/grade, not started/started/completed)
Intermediate:	Time per item, comparison of performance to class or population norms
Advanced:	Item analysis, predictive validity, adaptability, prescriptive learning
Note: If your tool can only deliver assessments and track the results, it is an Assessment Management System (AMS), not an LMS.

CMS (Course Management System)

CMS is one of the most misinterpreted acronyms in the history of eLearning. This is because the acronym has been used to discuss multiple inter-related concepts:

Course Management Software (Authoring):	A licensed software tool or suite of tools that enables an instructional designer to create ("author") online courseware, or modify commercially available lessons. (By 1997, this use of the term CMS is largely replaced by "authoring software.")
Course Management System (Administration):	A tool that supports a subset of Computer Aided Learning (CAL) functionality, namely utilities that allow instructors to store, maintain, and access student records; administer (i.e., allow or restrict access) courses, supportive materials, assessments, and surveys; and reserve facilities for face-to-face instruction (e.g., reserve rooms and equipment, assign personnel). Note: In this classic use of the CMS acronym, CMS is synonymous with a basic LMS.
Course Management System (Authoring and Administration):	In some cases, a Course Management System may include functionality of authoring courseware as well as administering it (PLATO is an example of such a tool). Note: When you review LCMS, note the difference between being able to author a course and being able to manage the production elements of a collection of courses and reusable learning objects.

LMS (Learning Management System)

By the late 1980s, usage of the term Course Management System (Administration) shifts to Learning Management System (although there are still some pockets where the term Course Management System is still used). While an LMS can have an almost endless list of features, at its core it must include the following:

Administer Online Courses:	Enable course administrators (e.g., instructors) to add, remove, and archive courses; allow or restrict access to a course or set of courses (e.g., a curriculum or learning plan) to specific learners or a set of learners based on some criteria (e.g., job title, self-registration); post supportive materials (e.g., articles, assignments, activities); communicate to students (e.g., announcements, automated emails, discussion groups); and enter and/or collect student performance data
Administer Classroom Courses:	In addition to the listed functionality above: Reserve facilities for live events (e.g., reserve rooms and equipment, assign personnel, set up webinar virtual rooms, schedule teleconferences)
Report Student Performance:	Allow instructors to store, maintain, and access student records (e.g., course or learning plan progress, scores)
Note: These are only the core functionalities required to classify a tool as an LMS. The robust LMSs of today have a much longer list of functions to meet the demands of the ever more savvy customer base.

LCMS (Learning Content Management System)

An LCMS is more than a mere authoring tool (i.e., CMS (Authoring) is not synonymous with LCMS). An LCMS truly "manages" the content of a course, including graphic, video, and audio elements; page templates; interactions; etc. Once a courseware developer creates a course in an LCMS, any aspect of that course is available to other developers for re-use.

For example CISCO creates a generic online course on how a router works. The course includes an explore-it interaction; as students roll their cursor over components of a network diagram, pop-up text appears explaining the function of that active component. The course also includes a narrated animation describing the flow of data across a network. A developer in a different division is putting together a course on network basics; they can actually use the LCMS to pull the router course into their course in its entirety (they can even make modifications to it with or without changing the original version), then build additional instruction as needed. Yet another developer is creating a refresher course for network administrators; they don't really need such a basic course on routers, but decides to leverage the narrated animation in their course.

Note: In the corporate LMS vendor arena, many LMSs include a native LCMS. If they don't have a native LCMS, most will offer a package deal, including an LCMS product sold by a business partner, with the guarantee the LCMS product seamlessly integrates with their LMS.

Talent Management

In recent years, many LMS vendors have supported full integration with a company's talent management suite or HR management software. LMSs have long been able to communicate with HR systems to automate maintenance of a corporation's available student list (imagine manually adding, deleting, and changing status of each student within a corporation of 40,000 plus employees!). However, the expansion into talent management includes the following functionalities of an LMS:

Make your LMS available to an external audience to develop your external talent pool (e.g., contractors, temporary workers, consultants, and interns).
Make your LMS available to an external audience to grow your candidate pools (e.g., current or targeted candidates and prospects).
Tie employee competencies (education, certifications, test scores, etc.) to job postings to identify potential matches. (This functionality can be extended into your succession planning strategies.)
Associate employee goals with learning plans and available off-the-shelf courses.
Associate employee performance data (i.e., performance evalations) with learning plans.