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eFront (eLearning software)

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eFront
Developer(s)EPIGNOSIS LTD
Stable release
3.6.6 / August 23, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-08-23)
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeCourse Management System
LicenseCPAL
Websiteefrontlearning.net

eFront is an open source eLearning platform (also known as a Course Management System (CMS), or Learning Management Systems (LMS), or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)).

eFront is designed to assist with the creation of online learning communities while offering various opportunities for collaboration and interaction through an icon-based user interface. The platform offers tools for content creation, tests building, assignments management, reporting, internal messaging, forum, chat, surveys, calendar and others. It is a SCORM 1.2 certified [1] and SCORM 2004 / 4th edition compliant [2] system translated in 40 languages [3].

eFront is commonly included in lists of well known open-source learning systems [4] [5] [6] [7] or is referred to as a Moodle alternative [8] [9] [10]. Independent comparison matrices between learning management systems often favor eFront, especially under usability characteristics [11] [12]. Several research papers and technology portals describe the system under functionality [13] [14] [15], usability [16] and standards perspectives [17].

History

Initial development of the platform began in 2001 as a research prototype funded by the Greek government. SCORM development together with a shift on AJAX technologies lead to the publishing of a stable 2.5 version during 2005. eFront was then rewritten from scratch, making essential changes to the core structure of the system and released under an open-source license in September 2007 [18]. Enterprise extensions were integrated with the platform on version 3.5. Social extensions were the most significant addition to version 3.6 [19].

Editions

Apart from the community edition that is distributed as open source software, there are three commercial editions with a modified features set, targeted at learning professionals, educational institutions and enterprises [20]. All versions are provided with their source code but only the community edition uses an Open Source Initiative (OSI) accepted license. The commercial versions of eFront are distributed via a partners network [21].

Awards

In April 2010 eFront won a coveted bronze award for technology excellence in the Learning Management Technology for Small- and Medium-sized Businesses category from Brandon-Hall Research [22].

Features

eFront has a number of features typically found in eLearning platforms:

  • User management
  • Lessons, Courses, Curriculum and Categories management
  • Files management
  • Exam builders
  • Assignments builders
  • Communication tools (Forum, Chat, Calendar, Glossary)
  • Progress tracking
  • Authentication methods
  • Enrollment methods
  • Certifications
  • Reports generators
  • Extensibility via Modules
  • Payments integration (through Paypal)
  • Social tools (Lesson & system history, user wall, user status, Facebook interconnection)
  • Customizable notification system through email
  • Skinning via themes

It also has several features needed in an enterprise environment:

  • Organization structure management
  • Skills management
  • Job positions management
  • Automatic assignment of courses to specific job descriptions
  • Skills gap tests management
  • User card with training history
  • LDAP support

Specifications

eFront runs without modification on Linux, Windows and any other operating system that supports PHP 5.1+ and MySQL 5+. The platform is being built using the object oriented programming paradigm and its architecture is based on the 3-tier design approach separating the system's presentation from its logic and data [23]. The platform is maintained through a community driven process. This leads to small development cycles that produce incremental improvements to the system, followed by bigger development cycles that integrate features requiring architectural changes. The development and testing procedures utilize several aspects of extreme programming[24].

See also

References

  1. ^ "SCORM 1.2 Certification". Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  2. ^ "SCORM 2004/4th edition Adoption". Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  3. ^ "Language packs". Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  4. ^ "Techworld: 10 open source elearning projects to watch". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  5. ^ "WebResourceDepot.com: 7-widely used and open source elearning applications". Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  6. ^ "ITmanagement: 50 open source tools that replace popular education applications". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  7. ^ Ozarslan, Y. (2008). Uzaktan Eğitim Uygulamaları için Açık Kaynak Kodlu Öğrenme Yönetim Sistemleri, Akademik Bilisin, 2008 (In Turkish)
  8. ^ "Open-source LMS: Beyond Moodle". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  9. ^ "Barry Sampson: Alternatives to Moodle". Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  10. ^ "AplicacionesEmpresariales.com : eFront article (in Spanish)". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  11. ^ "Edutools.info comparison matrix for LMSs". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  12. ^ "Innovate.de comparison matrix for LMSs". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  13. ^ Ozarslan, Y., Ozan, O. (2010). eFront Öğrenme Yönetim Sistemi, Akademik Bilisin, 2010 (In Turkish)
  14. ^ Kor, B. & Tanrikulu, Z. (2008). Evaluation of Learning Management Systems with Test Tools. In J. Luca & E. Weippl (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, 2008 (pp. 5261-5266), Chesapeake, VA: AACE
  15. ^ "Genbeta.com: eFront article (in Spanish)". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  16. ^ Zaharias, P (2007) Heuristic evaluation in e-learning context: Selecting the appropriate tasks and reporting usability problems. International Conference on eLearning (ICEL), 2007
  17. ^ Tesseris, G. (2010). Towards standards based e-Learning tools and technologies. MSC dissertation, University of Crete, 2010
  18. ^ "eFront interview on lms-selection.com". Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  19. ^ "eFront 3.6: What's new?". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  20. ^ "eFront editions". 2010-06-15.
  21. ^ "eFront partners map". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  22. ^ "Brandon-Hall eLearning Technology Awards for 2009". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  23. ^ "eFront architecture". Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  24. ^ "eFront development practices". Retrieved 2010-06-26.
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