Open Source Learning Management System |
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| Developer(s) | University of Zurich in association with the community |
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| Stable release | 7.0 / September 28, 2010 |
| Operating system | Cross-platform (based on Java) |
| Type | LMS (Learning Management System) |
| License | Apache License 2.0 |
| Website | www.olat.org |
OLAT is an acronym for Online Learning And Training. It is a web application – a so called Learning Management System that supports any kind of online learning, teaching, and tutoring with few educational restrictions. OLAT is free software and is open source. Its development started in 1999 at the University of Zürich and OLAT won the MeDiDa-Prix prize in 2000. With version 3.0, the system was completely rebuilt and is now available as a component-oriented application developed in the Java programming language. OLAT has support for various E-learning standards such as IMS (IMS Content Packaging, IMS QTI), and SCORM. With version 4.0, many add-ons have been introduced to the system, which makes it very easy to extend the LMS functionality. With version 5.0, new features like Wiki, Calendar, AJAX Beta Mode, and Fulltext Search have been implemented. Version 6.0 comprised a new and improved layout based on a usability evaluation. A subsequent version provides full scalability, meaning OLAT can be run on a cluster of servers. OLAT 7.0 adds lots of new features, a course wizard plus the implementation of important standards like REST API, IMS Basic LTI and IMS QTI 2.1.
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OLAT has many features typical for e-learning platforms:
As the strategic LMS of the University of Zürich, OLAT is continuously being developed. In the meantime, OLAT gains increasingly more attention, especially within the European higher education market. OLAT and the Sakai Project have very similar goals, but compared to the American initiative, OLAT has a much longer development phase and has been successfully in production for several years. OLAT has been developed from the beginning to support campus-wide E-learning and can be compared to commercial tools like WebCT Vista.
OLAT is a mature LMS, used to support universities with thousands of users, e.g. University of Zurich with approx. 50,000, Bildungsportal Sachsen (under the name of OPAL) with approx. 40,000, University of Hamburg with approx. 30,000 [1] and, as of the summer semester 2011, Goethe University Frankfurt with approx. 50,000 users.
OLAT runs without modification on Unix, Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Windows, and Mac OS X.
The requirements for OLAT are basically:
The project was initiated in 1999 but later rebuilt using Java and released as open source in 2004.
Some sites that allow access to their OLAT sites can be found on this link: