The Role of Learning Management Systems in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

In this chapter, issues concerning the role of Learning Management Systems in early childhood education are discussed. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such issues have not been thoroughly discussed till now in literature. Learning Management Systems in early childhood concern four types of users: pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, early childhood students and their parents. To a certain degree, each type of user affects the types of services and functionalities that have to be provided by a Learning Management System. Relevant case studies depicting Learning Management Systems role in different settings are presented. Requirements that Learning Management Systems should satisfy are also discussed. Practical issues and guidelines concerning the use of the open source Learning Management System Moodle are also presented. Lastly, future research directions are outlined.