Learning Management Systems: Are They Knowledge Management Tools?

Abstract

The new adventure of online world has helped to improve many domains and sectors. Knowledge management era which originally related to business sector is now required in industry, health, or any institute that needs to manage its knowledge. Education is no exception! The advancement in computers speed and memory, and the growth of Internet usage are behind the inspiration of e-learning approach. In which the computer is used as a medium to deliver and share educational materials and knowledge instead of face-to-face tutoring. This makes education available to any one, any place, and any time as learner need. This paper presents the relationship between knowledge management and learning management system (LMS) that is used in e-learning paradigms. A detailed description of the LMS used at Arab Open University (AOU) is included in this paper. We claim that the LMS used at AOU can be considered as a knowledge management tool.