Implementing a proprietary learning management system and developing eLearning content can prove to be a costly affair, especially for small organizations and education institutions. While open source alternatives such as moodle and Forma LMS exist, it possible to set up a much easier and low-cost version of an eLearning environment.
Here are a few free tools to help you get started:
WordPress – A free content management system that can be hosted either locally or online. Apart from creating websites and blogging, you can turn it into a simple eLearning platform. A number of plugins serving this purpose already exist. If you want a more ‘custom-like’ type of setup, integrating a course authoring tool (H5P) and a learning record store (Learning Locker) will be a good start.
H5P is an open source HTML5 course authoring tool. To start using H5P, install the H5P WordPress plugin in WordPress site. This plugin will enable you to create interactive HTML5 content from your browser. It works both on online and offline environment. It supports a wide range of content types that you can use to create your content. Apart from just creating, H5P will also enable you to share and reuse your interactive HTML5 content. Some of the features supported by H5P for making a course more interactive include interactive videos, presentations, games, assessments, and audio. H5P has a shallow learning curve and no technical knowledge is required in order to start creating the courses. Developers can also create custom H5P packages. H5P is also supported in Drupal and Moodle.
In order to collect data and keep track of how learners are interacting with your courses, integrating the WordPress with a Learning Record Store is essential. One of the best open source learning record stores is Learning Locker. Once integrated with your WordPress learning site, it will keep track and record all the Experience API (xAPI) compliant learning activity statements from H5P. Learning Locker works with any xAPI conformant activity provider and keeps track of both offline and online activities.
Tunapanda Institute is developing a more advanced, but easy to use, version of an eLearning platform built on WordPress. The eLearning platform is meant to make knowledge sharing more effective, efficient and cost friendly. It allows learners to earn badges upon completion of a course. It contains a remote sync capability that enables one to sync content between two or more instances of the platform in different geographical area. The platform can come in handy especially if your learners don’t have access to the internet since it can be deployed offline and still keep track of all the learners’ activities.