Learning Management System For All

Covid 19 pandemic has enforced massive digital transformation and have acutely affected the education industry. Physical classes are suspended in Bangladesh since March 2020. Private universities and some public universities, schools and colleges have started lectures online. It is believed even after the pandemic is over there will be more focus on blended education (mix of online and offline classes) in the future. Modern teaching requires a lot more than just delivering lectures and requires learning management systems which many of the institution lacks and cannot afford. The project will design, develop and market a Cloud Based Online Learning Management System. Such systems are required for virtual and face-to-face learning environments that are categorized based on pedagogical tools such as content creation, communication, administration and assessment. If successful, the system can be scaled and deployed in countries with similar socio-economic background to Bangladesh and impact vast amount of population globally.

The present education system of Bangladesh may be broadly divided into three major stages- primary, secondary and higher education. There are in total 53 public and 107 private universities in Bangladesh. As per government statistics there are around 3000 colleges and 64000 schools in Bangladesh 4. One interesting aspects of the education sector in Bangladesh is that there a growing industry of informal education service providers consisting of coaching centers and private tutors.  It is estimated there is around 100000 coaching centers in Bangladesh and a huge number of private tutors who teaches in group 5. There is a chronic lack of capacity, facilities and resources particularly in the schools across Bangladesh6, 7.

Institutions are conducting online classes using platforms such as Zoom, MS Team, Google Classroom etc during the pandemic period. However, modern teaching requires a lot more than just delivering lectures. Modern educational materials include- Audio Visuals, Power point Slides and other materials in Word and PDF format. Therefore, Learning Management System is a need of the hour irrespective whether education is imparted online, blended or face-to-face. However, considering shortage of resources in many of the educational institutions in the country such services cannot be afforded by most. 

The goal of the project is to develop and market a Cloud Based Online Learning Management System.  The objectives are as follows: 1) Conduct comprehensive user need analysis; 2) Design and develop a customized system based on local needs; 3) Market the system; and 4) Engage educational service providers for validation.

The system broadly will consist of the following roles 1) Teacher; 2) Student; and 3) Administrator. Teachers: In this role the instructor/teacher administrator can open virtual class and enroll students to the class. Teachers can further add study/class materials such as power point presentations, books, notes to virtual class, conduct online assessment and publish grades. Students: Can access course materials such as power point presentations, books, notes that have been uploaded by class/course teacher. Administrator: can assign classes to teachers and also add students to classes in bulk.

The major benefit of the Online Learning Management System is to provide world class course management solution to universities, colleges, schools, coaching centers and tutors without the need any major IT investment such as hardware setup, in house IT professionals etc. The system will be available to service providers in different subscription packages depending on the need.

The project, if implemented has the potential of having significant impact in the education sector in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh has prioritized education sector as part of Vision 2041 and the country is set to become a higher middle income by that time12. However, such achievement is dependent on skilled future workforce. Therefore, the education service providers in Bangladesh has a big role to play. In the circumstances, technical capacity and access to technology for education service needs to increase.  Online Learning Management System can help achieve these goals and needs to be considered for investment. In addition, Online Course Management System can play an effective role in achieving SDG Goal 4, i.e., Quality Education. The project team estimates that the market for course management system in Bangladesh is Tk.500 crore and a 5% penetration of the proposed OSCM in the future could result in a target market of Tk. 25 crore.  In summary, the Online Learning Management system will directly impact all stakeholders in the education sector including 1) Students 2) Teachers 3) Administrators and 4) Policy Makers

Bangladesh is a fast-growing, economically dynamic South Asian country. The core issue for education policy makers in Bangladesh has been to increase access to education and boost educational attainment rates. Tremendous progress has been made in these areas over the past decades. The net enrollment ratio in elementary education, for instance, now stands at more than 90 percent compared with 60 percent in the mid-1980s1, 2.

All major international educational institutions globally have dedicated learning management system or course management systems. Such systems are necessary and are proven to be effective even for physical classes, where course and students are managed and materials are distributed using the system. However, in Bangladesh there is a chronic lack of capacity, facilities and resources particularly in the schools across Bangladesh6, 7. Learning Management System will allow instructors and institutions to manage a variety of courses with a large number of students and multiple instructional materials all over the country. Such system will provide teachers, students and institutions access to a virtual learning environments with pedagogical tools such as content creation, communication, administration and assessment. Content creation tools will enable instructors to upload course materials and assignments for students, whereas communication tools allow course announcements, emails, discussion boards and groups to be created. Administrative tools are to be used by instructors and include the functionality to remove or add users to a course, manage pages and files and make content visible to users. Assessment tools help instructors track student activity, create exams and surveys and manage grades 8, 9. 

The problem addressed and solution proposed are aligned with criteria for the call. The Covid 19 pandemic has deepened the chronic problems in the education sector in Bangladesh. The education sectors in the country consists of formal and informal actors such as 160 universities (public and private), 3000 colleges and 64000 schools, over 100000 coaching centers and private tutors. There is a chronic lack of capacity, facilities and resources particularly in institutions outside the capital city of Dhaka.  Covid 19 pandemic has enforced massive digital transformation and have acutely affected the education industry. Physical classes are suspended in Bangladesh since March 2020 and most institutions have migrated to some forms of online education. However, most of the educational institutions lack learning management system which is required for effective education management in remote, hybrid, and physical environments that will facilitate peer interaction, guided independent work and overall management. Such system will also support teachers to adapt their pedagogy, facilitate personalized instruction, and communicate with students and their families in remote and hybrid settings.

The concept is to be designed, developed and validated in 5 schools and coaching centers across Bangladesh