A brief history of Open edX

Open edX is an open-source LMS initiated by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the world’s leading learning portal, edx.org. Open edX is a very flexible LMS. Its creation aims to meet the needs of instructional design for various course topics by using a variety of learning scenarios to engage learners. Open edX provides facilities with features that make learning about mathematics, physics, informatics, business, economics, and even acoustics fun and interactive. This LMS also allows integration of several third-party systems such as SCORM, iFrame, and LTI so that learning will be even more interesting.

With the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) concept, at the beginning of its establishment in 2012, the courses on the edX portal had 155,000 registered students from 162 countries. This number reached 1 million in 2013 and continues to grow to 5 million in 2015 and more than 55 million students until 2022. Open edX has indeed achieved success since its initial release.

Comparison of Open edX with other LMS

Open edX isn’t the only open-source LMS in the world. There are several other LMSs with a similar vision. For instance Moodle and Canvas. However, each product has its characteristics. We should compare Open edX with other open-source LMSs to determine which best fits your needs. Here’s the comparison.

Tabel Penilaian LMS open-source paling populer

Judging from several assessment criteria, namely administration, learning analytics, authoring tools, customization, and integration, Open edX has an above-average score when compared to two other popular open-source LMS. For a more detailed comparison, see here.

Why is Open edX widely used?

LMS Open edX has been used by many large international-scale companies for employee training and customer onboarding (introducing all of the company’s products or services to customers). Some of them are Microsoft LaaS, Google, Johnson & Johnson, and McKinsey. Open edX is also used by government agencies and educational institutions to hold online lectures with interactive learning and to attract more students. Examples include Harvard University, MIT, Arizona State University, Singapore University of Social Science, the University of California San Diego, etc. Even small organizations can use Open edX to increase profits by creating high-quality content.

Open edX has been widely used due to growing awareness of the benefits of LMS for companies, educational institutions, and other organizations. In addition, Open edX users are also increasing because this LMS product is known to be stable and has extra readiness for the challenges of online learning in the future. Other factors are described in the following explanation.

The Open edX feature addresses the challenges of online learning devices

The online learning device technology is developing rapidly to create a more effective learning process. LMS should be able to balance and facilitate these developments so that learning is more attractive and increases learners’ interest.

Examples of such technologies are data analytics, mobile delivery, social or collaborative tools, virtual classrooms, and single-integrated solutions that combine learning functionality with talent management. Open edX is compatible and able to facilitate all of these technologies so that it becomes the LMS that the institutions choose.

In addition, Open edX is also equipped with an analytical feature that functions to monitor all student progress from registration to assessment to facilitate evaluation, is compatible with game-based learning and gamification to increase learning motivation, and supports adaptive learning that allows interaction with students or training. in real-time to provide individual support in learning. All Open edX features can be customized according to your needs.

User-friendly User Interface

The user interface (UI) is a visual display that connects the user with the operating system. The user-friendly UI of the LMS will give the initial impression that the product is easy to use. It is necessary for building motivation and increasing the user’s perspective on the overall quality of the LMS.

Open edX has a very user-friendly UI design. The visual appearance is simple but effective according to the needs of students and trainees. No design seems excessive that will interfere with the learning process. Open edX also has comprehensive themes that allow customization of themes that truly suit business needs.

Structured course navigation

Open edX is known for having structured navigation. It will facilitate the selection or switching from one menu to another menus and submenus. As the examples, switching from one topic to another, from a topic to module, or from module to each unit of discussion in the module submenu. Users can also still find out the existence or what modules have been and are being studied and have not been completed. Likewise, the assessment must be completed.

Integrated progress dashboard

The progress dashboard that functions to monitor learning progress of each learner has been integrated into Open edX. It will certainly be a consideration in choosing an LMS because monitoring learning progress is an integral part of the educational process. The progress dashboard in Open edX is clear and informative to inform about courses or topics that have been completed and the results of the assessment in a structured format.

Supports many content types

The use of various types of learning content is very important to increase learning motivation. Therefore an LMS that functions as an online learning management center must be able to support various formats of learning content. This is also one of the advantages of Open edX, namely that it supports many types or formats of learning content such as text, images, videos, interactive videos, SCORM, LTI, and iFrame, as well as more than 20 types of assessment models.

Complete facilities for course owners

Open edX provides complete equipment facilities for course owners and teachers or trainers to create, organize, and run lessons. For example building courses, managing enrollment rules such as access settings, prerequisites, enrollment options, and course start dates), setting grading policies, adding and organizing learning content, managing visual features, managing and issuing certificates, tracking learning metrics, and creating reports, and managing monetization.

Facilitate social learning features

One trend that is currently booming in online learning is social learning. Open edX facilitates this learning model with various types of social learning features such as polls and surveys, online discussions, and group assignments. This feature allows students to collaborate on assignments and projects, discuss any learning issues/ideas/feedback with other students, and participate in polls and surveys individually or in groups.

Mobile application

The Open edX mobile application allows students or training to access learning wherever they are. The robustness of the system provides a simple and comfortable learning environment through mobile devices.

Tips when choosing Open edX

The sophistication of Open edX as an open-source LMS is supported by a sophisticated system with high complexity as discussed in this article. When you decide to choose this LMS, of course, you have to be prepared with qualified IT skills. If you can’t handle it yourself, of course hiring an IT expert is one of the solutions. However, this would be too costly.

Therefore, the tip we recommend is to use Katalis.App. Katalis.App. is an Open edX-based LMS company that will be a company solution to use Open edX without the hassles of various complexities. Companies can still use their brand and customize the platform according to their needs. Contact Katalis.App on here.