Presentation developed while combing the landscape of where IMSs or LMSs (instructional management systems, aka learning management systems) are heading.

1. The Future IMS for Higher Ed (Instructional Management System)Lesley BlickerNovember 2008

3. Continued exploration in immersive virtual worlds as learning environments

4. Growth in number of products which have 3D “engines” built in (e.g., Second Life, Lively, 3B, EON Reality)

5. More 3D modeling, robotics, holographic software used in education

6. Increase in use of Webtops (PageFlakes, NetVibes, iGoogle)

7. Repurposing of the IMS* as we know it

8. Emergence of startups with radically different IMS concept, but focused on single course, not enterprise or integration with SIS, LDAP

9. ~10-15% of faculty experimenting with tools outside of IMS to accomplish more student centered learning and digital content creation

10. Attempt to layer interactive tools on top of IMS

11. Move towards building and sharing 3D learning objects

12. No let up in plea for open APIs and interoperability

13. 7-8 years – primary Web interface begins morphing to 3D; 2D lives alongside 3D or in it for a while

14. Increased use of Open Source products for enterprise applications* Instructional Management System © Lesley Blicker

16. Open Source (e.g., Sakai, Moodle)Small innovative IMSs, designed for individual course level, not likely to go enterprise, but are integrating with lots of social technologies, act and feel more like social technology

17. Current IMS (CMS) – What’s the Beef? Unilateral publication formats Labeled as false start; replicated existing classrooms Assumes more passive consumer of information Monolithic and they don’t play well with others (API’s not truly open) – lack of interoperability Scott Leslie’s Video: The Future CMS slide 34 – 35 http://www.edtechpost.ca/gems/TheFutureCMS3.htm

18. Current State of the Enterprise IMSs In the 3rd Phase of Add-Ons and Bundling Adding more tools in general as well as limited Web 2.0-like tools or proprietary mashups Going some measure towards integration with other software or increasing interoperability via open APIs But may still lack sufficient agility for early adopters who think the current IMS format is too limiting Tend to be reliable, scalable, and integrate with core administrative systems (SIS, LDAP, email)

19. Current State of the Current IMS Products Agility, act more like social systems, allowing student created content Reliability, integrations Small innovative applications developed primarily for the course level, more open API. Do not expect to grow to enterprise systems or be able to integrate with administrative systems anytime soon or in the foreseeable 3-5 years Reliable, scalable, enterprise systems, integrate or interface with key administrative applications, no programming allowed (D2L, BB, eCollege, Angel) Open Source systems, more open APIs, can develop custom applicational integrations but will need cadre of programmers to do so (Sakai, Moodle)

21. Boundaries going well beyond the course space

22. Integration with dozens if not hundreds of applications through pre-loaded and customizable widgets (open APIs)

23. Social networking is matter-of-fact

25. The iGoogle, Netvibes Phenomenon to Create a Personal Learning Environment A Portal to Media Literacy, M. Wesch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s – min 28 NetVibes http://www.netvibes.com/#General iGooglehttp://www.google.com/ig

26. Current Examples of Widget Integration Look to Wikis or Facebook as examples for adding widgets http://omblicker.wetpaint.com/ http://www.facebook.com/apps/

27. Requirements of Future IMSsThe Short List Interoperability and extensibility (open architecture) to allow for ease of integration with host of existing applications such as Web 2.0 apps, student-created content apps, live video conferencing, audio streams, etc. Better means of tracking learning outcomes to close the loop with accreditation reports Blending or integrating with 3D virtual worlds Good interface/viewability for portable content, via cell phones, PDAs Easy content migration in and out of system Integration with electronic reserves

28. Who Am I Watching? LearnHub http://learnhub.com/ (watch video) UDUTU.com http://www.udutu.com/