Learning management systems (LMS) function as online classrooms where instructors can post course materials like readings, videos, and assignments. They allow for both synchronous and asynchronous communication between instructors and students. LMS can be hosted on local servers or remotely through cloud-based providers. Common features of LMS include forums, file sharing, grading, calendars, announcements, and quizzes. While LMS provide repositories for learning materials, they do not teach the course content or support content creation themselves - the instructor designs and delivers the educational experience through the LMS.

4.  Option 1: Learning Management Systems
 The most common option/format for
teaching online is a Learning Management
System (LMS). Learning Management Systems
function as an online classroom where
instructors can hold discussions,
upload readings, show videos and play audio,
carry out learning activities, make
announcements and assess and grade student
work. LMSs store and deliver materials
developed in a variety of different formats —
everything from MS Office documents to

5.  videos and third-party applications. They support
synchronous (at the same time) and
asynchronous (not at the same time) interactions
between faculty and students and students and
students. Online learning management systems
can be hosted locally (i.e., kept on a server
physically located at an educational institution)
or remotely, “in the cloud” wherein the LMS
company (Moodle Rooms or a Moodle partner,
Desire to Learn, or Blackboard) manages all
server-related issues. Wherever they reside,
LMSs demand high-speed connectivity and strong
bandwidth.
 Essentially all LMSs have “standard” or typical
and uniform features, including:

6.  Analytics (with varying degrees of quality)
 Apps
 Assignment submission
 Discussion forum
 File upload/ download capacity
 Grading
 Instant messages
 Online calendar
 Online news and announcement (institution and
course level)
 Online quiz
 Wiki
 Widgets that allow connections to social media

7. LMSs serve many functions, but it is best to think of them
as a repository or vehicle for learning, not the learning
itself. LMSs lack functionality in the most critical areas of
teaching—content and instruction. An LMS does not teach
an online course—the instructor does that through the
LMS. And LMSs do not support content creation. For the
most part, their functionality is limited, which is why
platforms like Moodle often run on Drupal.[1] Rather, the
professor with an instructional designer, or an
instructional designer, designs content, using separate,
dedicated content authoring software, and places content
in the LMS and runs classes, discussions, quizzes through
the LMS.