I have what I'm afraid may be a silly question.
Some background:
My company decided that we need to be providing some e-learning opportunities to our staff and collaborative partners. Beyond that, I don't have a whole lot of guidance. I think that our first projects will be oriented to specific issues or tasks that we need to train about.

Until we've got a better handle on what exactly we want/need, we won't be purchasing an LMS or doing any larger scale projects.

My question:
Can I use CourseLab without an LMS to post the courses to? Would I be able to design small modules and either save them to CDs (for our sites that don't have reliable internet connections) or post the module to a website maintained by our company?

Thanks for your input! I'm a feeling a little lost on this.  

Hi Margaret, you can use the modules either from CD or put them onto a server. I'm forced into using sharepoint at work so just have a series of folders with the CD contents in and link to them using one html page. You can do the same on a CD by changing the html code of the start page to point to more than one module.
You do loose all of the tracking capibilities though which is the big up side of hosting with a CMS/LMS.
If your using Sharepoint then you can get a learning extension from MS where you can host SCORM modules, this will track too. User feedback says it's pretty configurable and stable. Your IT support should be able to configure it on a segregated area or a small scale test server.
Else to get some experience have a PC based LAMPS server built (any IT person ought to be able to do this!!) and install one of the LMS platforms such as Moodle (UK's Open University and USA's UCLA use it), KEWL or one of the many others. Most are Open Source so there's no cost real unless you buy in support.

Courselab is very good, the standard feature set is high and, with a bit of imagination and work you can make it do all sorts of things. The feature set has improved with each release and become more polished. Cost wise it is extremely difficult to beat.
Any queries post them here so it all becomes shared knowledge and helps everyone.  

Hi, The question is almost identical to my own needs. I also have a sharepoint and am now happy with the information given that I can operate from this.
When I do develop my work further and need to purchase an LMS how do I go about it and what is the best one to use with Course Lab.
I would appreciate any assistance you can give me in developing this. As I have no experience in this area at all so I am willing to learn all I can.
Thanks Monica  

Hi Monica

Which LMS will depend on what your budget and needs are.

Moodle is a very good system and works with Courselab. It is alos free. However you will need some expertese to get it up and running if you decide to do it in house. You can however buy hosted Moodle solution that can work out at less than £100 per month.

If you go for a purchased system you will get a degree of backup and support, but it will cost.

CourseLab has a list of compatible LMS systems and it includes Sharepoint.

Hope this helps

Bob  

Thanks Bob

I am hoping this will all pan out. Went and had a look at Moodle and I liked it.Thank you. My coy is wanting on line delivery but not at the same cost of a fulltime position or it is my position that is lost for the solution to take over.

I investigated a licensed package through microsoft partners for 7000 staff which is a one off licence for $80K AU with optional annual tech support and update of $16K AU. This seemed extremely high and more than I could ever manage.

I shall investigate the hosted Moodle and keep my fingers crossed that it will fit into my small budget.
Also in reading some of the other thread I noted SLK as being an option so I have contacted a rep in Australia for assistance.

Fingers crossed and alot of learning ahead.

I appreciate your assistance

Monica

PS. I love using CourseLab and I found it very easy to navigate...it is early days and I still am only learning so hopefully I cant do too much damage