10 Differentiators Between Open LMS and Self-Hosted Moodle™

Moodle™ is one of the most popular learning management systems (LMSs) in the world, with a presence in over 234 countries and more than 54 million implemented courses to date.

Open LMS curates the best attributes of Moodle™ to offer a unique platform in the LMS market. Open LMS accomplishes this by adding the flexibility, tools, content, and integrations required to create exceptional learning experiences. This is possible thanks to open-source innovation and the benefits of a SaaS (Software as a Service) offering.

That said, we’re often asked: How are Open LMS and self-hosted Moodle™ different if they share the same base technology?

This article lists 10 differentiators between the two solutions.

1) User Experience

Learners, instructors, and admins alike increasingly demand intuitive, innovative user experiences. Open LMS uses Snap, a graphical theme designed to increase user interaction with content.

Although Snap is open to the Moodle™ community, Open LMS provides support to maintain the graphic theme. Software experts at Open LMS continually update Snap to improve the theme’s accessibility, ensuring that all types of end users can use it effectively. Open LMS also supports other themes, such as Boost or Classic, which, though less focused on usability, may offer customers flexibility and customization in their user experience.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SNAP | ‘Open LMS Unveils Enhanced Snap Theme for Open-Source Learning Platform Users’

2) Automation

By using automations, Open LMS seeks to optimize the time it takes for administrators and teachers to manage the platform. The goal of the tools is to complete tasks that administrators would otherwise have to perform manually. Two of the most notable are the Personalized Learning Designer (PLD) and Conduit.

Personalized Learning Designer (PLD)

Instructors can use PLD to automate course elements and personalize learning for users. They no longer need to do tasks by hand, including:

• Following up with students
• Enrolling learners in upcoming courses
• Recommending additional training courses or learning materials

PLD enables diagnostic testing to customize course content for students based on their test results. With PLD, the Open LMS platform will automatically complete these tasks, saving instructors valuable time and resources.

Conduit

Conduit is a tool that enables other systems to integrate with Open LMS at no additional cost. For example, you can use CSV files or RESTful web services to automate student registration in the LMS after your learners enter the system. Likewise, you can use Conduit to automate the migration of grades from your LMS to your student information systems (SIS).

SEE HOW ORGANIZATIONS THRIVE WITH CONDUIT | ‘How Middlesex University Leverages Open LMS to Manage Its Learning Data’

3) Integrations

Open LMS extends the features available in self-hosted Moodle™ implementations through extensions and integrations from a network of technology partners. These integrations include:

• Analytics solutions to enhance learning and reporting
• Interactive video creation tools
• A comprehensive catalog of eLearning resources
• Platform accessibility tools
• Videoconferencing solutions to enhance classroom interaction and collaboration
• Plagiarism detection tools
• Academic integrity and online monitoring technology
• Open LMS migration tools created by K16 Solutions

Combining integrations with an LMS such as Open LMS brings sought-after and customized solutions for users. Open LMS can deliver a limitless learning experience through these types of integrations.

4) Centralization

Open LMS aims to improve the learner experience while also helping those who manage and leverage the platform. This includes administrators, teachers, instructors, and others. To this end, we implement systems that make it easier to create and update content within the platform.

These specialized modules include the Centralized Content Manager (CCM). Thanks to the CCM, instructors can update the master version of a piece of course content and automatically update that content wherever it has been replicated.

5) Flexibility and Scalability

The needs of your institution or organization may change completely in the future. You need a flexible, scalable platform that adapts as you grow.

A scalable LMS is one where the system architecture enables peak usage auto-scaling with more than enough room for your needs today and tomorrow. Open LMS’s SaaS architecture hosts sites for millions of users and scales dynamically for changing loads. This infrastructure handles billions of page loads and is ready to adapt to your growth as it happens.

Flexibility means the LMS adapts to your needs. Open LMS offers the necessary flexibility so you can modify the product according to your needs. Its approved plugins list includes hundreds of vendor and community-provided plugins as well as Open LMS-developed plugins. These can be added to any SaaS deployment with a few clicks of the control panel and a web fleet restart. Most change requests can be accommodated in 24 hours or less.

Upgrades are seamless and smooth; Open LMS upgrades thousands of sites in a few hours’ time using a well-architected SaaS deployment and automation features. Days of downtime during upgrades are a thing of the past!

READ MORE | ‘Why Vendor Lock-In Creates Security Blind Spots’

6) Mobile Application

The Open LMS mobile app is based on the open-source Moodle™ mobile app, but is fully unlocked and free to use. It offers both free access to all the core features of the open-source Moodle™ mobile app and exclusive new features that Open LMS has added. Some of these features are listed below.

Free Open LMS features:

• Push notifications
• QR code authentication
• Offline working mode (Users can download complete courses)

Open LMS-exclusive features:

• Drag and drop functionality
• Calendar synchronization with users’ calendars

Open LMS also offers an optional mobile app brand-matching service; we can customize the application to match the client’s brand and naming. When end users go to download it from their device’s app store, they can find it by searching for the institution or company’s name, thereby improving brand awareness.

7) Multibranding

In addition to its branding service (which provides clients with advice from UX experts to design the ideal learning experience), Open LMS enables multibranding. This feature lets you customize the design and content according to previously established categorizations, even if administratively they remain under a single instance.

The multibranding feature is useful for institutions or organizations that want custom designs for different departments or faculties. For instance, a university may want the LMS design for its medical school to be different from that of its law school. Likewise, corporate organizations could want the sales department’s eLearning to look distinct from the engineering department’s course content.

8) Plugins

Plugins add to or improve features in your LMS. They’re often very valuable in online education, as they help address specific use cases that an LMS may not handle on its own. Open LMS integrates over 1,000 plugins, all reviewed and approved by a team of experts.

With so many plugins available from different developers, it’s of utmost importance that they’re reviewed and endorsed by professionals. If the programmer of a plugin is unknown and its code is not reviewed, it can represent a security risk to your information and platform.

9) Security

Instead of leaving the security burden to your institution or company, Open LMS has established a defined process while operating via certified data centers. A team of experts ensures that standard security measures are in place. For example, each user can have only one open session. Self-hosted implementations of Moodle™, on the other hand, allow a user to maintain multiple simultaneous connections with the same credentials.

Additionally, Open LMS is ISO 27001-certified, guaranteeing that your data is secure at all levels.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SECURITY | ‘Open LMS Formalizes Information Security Credentials With ISO 27001 Certification’

10) SaaS

While standalone Moodle™ can be self-hosted, Open LMS is always delivered as a cloud-based SaaS application that manages all of your heavy lifting. With self-hosting, your institution or company manages the LMS servers and infrastructure. Conversely, Open LMS handles the entire technological and security management, taking the burden off your shoulders. This includes platform maintenance, integrations, and code updates and upgrades.

Many companies or institutions using self-hosted implementations of Moodle™ are considering switching to a SaaS service, as it does a better job at providing support and resources that greatly impact digital learning and teaching.

Open LMS vs Self-Hosted Moodle™

In addition to being a cloud-based learning platform, Open LMS extends Moodle™’s features by leveraging the best of open-source innovation alongside the guarantees and advantages of a SaaS service. Open LMS provides industry-leading customer service, including:

• 24-hour support
• A substantial library of online resources
• A multinational team of LMS experts

Open LMS is a stand-out option in the LMS market. We have all the tools, content, and integrations needed to create personalized, meaningful learning experiences for users.