Inexpensive LMS that works well with Articulate

I have a question relating to this:

How would one sync a local LMS with an online LMS? Say I have some classes (kids) that access a local moodle install and then I want to sync their information to an online version for their parents to check their results? I don't want to manually post the results because it seems like double work....stupid question?

P.S Moodle 2.x will be slower to adopt than previous iterations because many ISP's don't yet fully support PHP 5.3 (i think that's the version) Which is what the latest version of moodle wants. The main problem with free LMS is that they look, well, to put it bluntly, boring as hell!

Sorry forgot to add that I read this on wikipedia about Blackboard

"A survey conducted by CUNY's undergraduate studies program, involving 1,500 students across New York City, reveals that Blackboard online application is unfavorable. Students only use it because it is the only option, and claim the web application is bloated, not intuitive, and behind on the times in terms of website design. One undergraduate says, "Sure, it gets the job done. I get access documents and notifications from professors. But, there are features in Blackboard that we never use. Mainly because they are hidden within the website, taking as much as 4-5 clicks to reach. Secondly, they seem half-baked, and all-in-all unusable"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc. 

Hi ,

Just joined the group - so a bit of a newbie!!

One of my clients has just purchased Knowledge Presenter's  LMS. It is an Australian product.

It is great and cheap for what you get ! My client spent about a year looking for an LMS and kept coming back to this one !

They even give you a 30 day free trial:

http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/assets/lmsmain.htm

It actually works great with Articulate and Captivate courses -  no problem with SCORM -.

They  even host, provide support and training and a helpdesk!

The guys in the  UK are even experts in elearning - a perfect one-stop shop !

www.e-learningstudios.com

forgot to mention they have  a great online University with lots of while papers :

http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/kpuniversity/x/kplme/KPLMEXThirdPartyLessons.pdf

Thanks Vispi and Garry for your suggestion. Our resources are more familiar with Java than PHP, therefore if the leading PHP-based LMS is not much better than the leading Java-based one, we prefer to choose the Java LMS. With a little research, we know some open source LMSs like OLAT, SAKAI are in JAVA. Does anyone have experience with customizing those systems with SCORM 1.2  content generated by Articulate?

I think for me the only reason I don't use a Java based system is because of the Java updates. Well let me re-phrase, because some software will work on one version of Java and another will want the newest version. Also some banks tend to use Java. (Yes I know they shouldn't be using an outdated Java version but in reality not everyone has an up to date PC)

So if I've created a course and my LMS uses the latest version of Java does that mean the viewer would need the latest version? Basically the less the clients need to do from their side the better, it's easier for me to deal directly with my ISP and their PHP settings than dealing with a client and their outdated Java (especially if they have other software on their pc's dependent on Java)

Maybe someone can clear that up for me - Does using a LMS with Java mean clients / people using my LMS site will need a correct Java version (I assume yes)? 

Hi Cori,

Have you checked Moodle?

Its freeware, but needs some customisation. But can be customised to look great. It has lots of functionalities and a great community.

Hi Kulari,

Could you give us some links of good looking moodle installs?

Hi Brian.

You can check out some of the LMS case studies on our site.

http://www.kineo.com/moodle/totara-moodle-lms.html

We use Modole and Totara (a Moodle distribution geared towards the corporate world).

More examples visible in this youtube movie: http://youtu.be/HcmH50uR_s4

Amir

Thanks Amir

You guys look pretty big - I'll definitely keep Kineo in mind. I've bookmarked this site.