LAMS, the Learning Activity Management System, is an open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 Learning Design system for designing, managing and delivering online collaborative learning activities. It provides teachers with an intuitive visual authoring environment for creating sequences of learning activities. These activities can include a range of individual tasks, small group work and whole class activities based on both content and collaboration. LAMS is "inspired" by the concept and principles of IMS Learning Design

IMS Learning Design

IMS Learning Design is a specification for a metalanguage which enables the modelling of learning processes. The specification is maintained by IMS Global Learning Consortium.-Background:...

.

LAMS is developed in collaboration with LAMS Foundation Ltd, LAMS International Pty Ltd, and the Macquarie E-learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE), all based in Sydney, Australia, in affiliation with Macquarie University

Macquarie University

Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...

. LAMS has been developed since 2003.

Community

The LAMS community website is a global community website for teachers and developers who use the LAMS software. As of April 2011, the LAMS Community had over 6779 members across 80 countries sharing 827 sequences (downloaded/previewed 26689 times) and 6857 discussion forum postings.

LAMS creates "digital lesson plans" that can be run online with students, as well as shared among teachers. The LAMS Community allows teachers to share and adapt digital lesson plans, and discuss their experiences of using LAMS. Teachers, trainers and professors can find digital lessons plans that are freely available to use and adapt, and they can share their own and adaptations.

There is a Greek LAMS community http://greeklamscommunity.ning.com/

You can follow LAMS on Twitter #LAMS.

LAMS Central

The LAMS Community has a central repository of learning designs (LAMS Central Repository). These are LAMS sequences shared by teachers and practitioners that use LAMS in their teaching. The subjects of these designs vary widely, from Higher Ed Science subjects to basic k-12.

Recognitions

LAMS in conjunction with the associated LAMS Community won a Gold Award and Best Learning System at the IMS Global

IMS Global

IMS Global Learning Consortium is a global, nonprofit, member organization that strives to enable the growth and impact of learning technology in the education and corporate learning sectors worldwide...

 Learning Consortium's Learning Impact Awards (LIAs) in May 2009.

Available Versions

As of December 2010, the current stable version of LAMS is 2.3.5. Version 2.3.5 is a minor release of the 2.3 development branch. The 2.3 branch introduces 6 new activity tools and considerable speed and performance improvements.

LAMS Integrations

LAMS can integrate with other LMS

Learning management system

A learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...

 or Virtual Learning Environment

Virtual learning environment

Defined largely by usage, the term virtual learning environment has most, if not all, of the following salient properties:* It is Web-based* It uses Web 2.0 tools for rich 2-way interaction* It includes a content management system...

s such as:

• Moodle
  Moodle
  Moodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
  
   version 1.x and 2.x
• Sakai
  Sakai Project
  This page is about the software project, for other meanings, see Sakai.Sakai is a community of academic institutions, commercial organizations and individuals who work together to develop a common Collaboration and Learning Environment...
  
  
• Blackboard
  Blackboard Inc.
  Blackboard Inc. is an enterprise software company with its corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C. and is primarily known as a developer of education software, in particular learning management systems. Blackboard was founded by CEO Michael Chasen and chairman Matthew Pittinsky in 1997 and...
  
  
• .LRN
  OpenACS
  The Open Architecture Community System is an open-source web application framework licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL.The Open Architecture Community System provides:...
  
  
• WebCT
  WebCT
  WebCT or Blackboard Learning System, now owned by Blackboard, is an online proprietary virtual learning environment system that is sold to colleges and other institutions and used in many campuses for e-learning...
  
  
• SharePoint
• OLAT
  OLAT
  OLAT is an acronym for Online Learning And Training. It is a web application – a so called Learning Management System that supports any kind of online learning, teaching, and tutoring with few educational restrictions. OLAT is free software and is open source. Its development started in 1999 at the...
  
  

Integration modules for ATutor

ATutor

ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System .ATutor is used in various contexts, including online course management, continuing professional development for teachers, career development, and academic research...

 and Dokeos

Dokeos

Dokeos is a company dedicated to open source Learning Management Systems. Its main product is a SCORM-compliant open source learning suite used by multinational companies, federal administrations and universities....

 are under development.

LAMS Tool Contract

The LAMS Tool Contract is an architecture to allow Tool Interoperability across Learning Management Systems

Learning management system

A learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...

 (LMS). It allows tools (web applications) to become "pluggable" in any LMS

Learning management system

A learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...

 . The LAMS Tool Contract is the underlying architecture of LAMS and currently tools from other platforms like Moodle and dotLRN can be used within LAMS.

Conferences

These international conferences are academic conferences where papers submitted are peer-reviewed by members of the conference committee. The main topics of this conferences are LAMS and Learning Design and are mainly in English (although there has been one in Spanish). The first LAMS Conference was in Sydney Australia in December, 2006. Usually there are two conferences a year, one in Australia and one in Europe.

• The First International LAMS Conference. Australia, December 2006
• Designing the Future of Learning. UK, July 2007
• The Practical Benefits of Learning Design. Australia, November 2007
• Conferencia Iberoamericana LAMS 2008 / 2008 European LAMS Conference. Spain, June 2008
• Perspectives on Learning Design. Australia, December 2008
• Opening Up Learning Design. UK, July 2009
• The 4th International LAMS & Learning Design Conference, Sydney, December 2009
• 2010 European LAMS & Learning Design Conference, Oxford University, UK, July 2010
• The 5th International LAMS & Learning Design Conference, Sydney, December 2010
• The 2011 Asia Pacific LAMS & Learning Design will be held in Singapore on June 7th, 2010.

External links

• LAMS Foundation Ltd
• LAMS International Pty Ltd
• Macquarie E-learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE), Macquarie University
• LAMS community