In the ICT era, the application of technological gadget including learning management system (LMS) in regular teaching and learning process has become an imperative. The embracing rate of LMS in the present academia and other training centres is drastically increasing. Learning management system encompasses different tools and applications, which enable the educational system to deliver the quality content to the stakeholders quite efficiently and effectively. Besides, it would supplement conventional way of classroom based face-to-face teaching and learning process. Consequently, this would create an ambience in educational institutions to store, manage, interact and share knowledge resources and academic activities among the peer group as well as the faculty members.

The use of LMS and e-learning applications is spreading swiftly in today's teaching and learning process and it is drastically changing the arena of current educational system. India is also not lagging behind in the application of e-learning tools and technologies in teaching and learning process. E-learning heralded the development and implementation of new and innovative teaching strategies in higher education institutions. The academia, who advocate e-learning technology integration in the modern educational system strongly believe that it would enhance the quality of students and also improve the overall quality of educational system in our country. This would in turn help the students to participate effectively in nation building. Many institutions of higher education and corporate training institutes are resorting to e-learning as a means of solving authentic learning and performance problems, while other institutions are hopping onto the bandwagon simply because they do not want to be left behind (Govindasamy, 2001).

LMS is not a novel concept and efforts have been initiated and many ventures undertaken towards the design and implementation of learning management systems as a substitute to the conventional teaching and learning process. Still many institutions are reluctant to implement LMS in their teaching and learning process because of the various reasons like budget constraint, dearth of expertise, and others. Despite this disinclination, majority of the institutions and academia have fully agreed upon the relevance of e-learning method over any other alternative mechanism like away-day training, training through TV programme, night-classes, evening-classes and so on. Consequently, the learning management system is drastically surrogating any of the conventional methods of teaching and learning process.

The learning necessity and preferences of each institution and stakeholder would be different. It would be certainly depending upon their background, convenience, skill, and so on. The institution and organisation must implement a more suitable tool or system to fit in to their stakeholders. This will be varying from institution to institution. Some institutions are advocating blended learning while some are recommending synchronous e-learning system. One has to be very particular while opting either of the two systems. They have to consider many factors like the learners’ background, institutions’ capacity, learning outcome, and others.

During the last decade several LMS models have been proposed in various researches with different degree of features. A study named an Adaptive Learning Management System has been proposed as part of the research work. The prime objective of this model was to foster the use of adaptive techniques to supporting instructors in their effort of setting-up an instructional event with the use of web-based technologies. The study strongly advocated that despite adaptive techniques can be successfully introduced in many aspects of LMS, for instance for supporting collaborative learning or managing the communication flow in forums and so on., it is decided to narrow down the focus on specific adaptive techniques that can be used for structuring the content (Armani, 2004).

The usability issue of LMS has been discussed in many studies. Another study (Nielsen, 2002) proposed a definition that focuses on technical usability. This measures the extent to which a software system is convenient, practicable, and usable for users. More specifically, Nielsen's criteria of Web usability (Nielsen, 2005) include content, page, and site design. Page design is related to cross platform, speed of page access, page appearance and structure. Content design depends on writing for scannability and media use. Site design is about linking and navigation. Technical usability is a self-evident requirement, but the impact of Nielsen's definition is limited when it comes to design Web-Based Learning Resources (WBLRs) that are pedagogically usable.

It is strongly argued and emphasised in yet another research (McLoughlin, 2002) that learner centred approach could help to develop learners’ team skills. The research also emphasised (Kravetz, 2005) the importance of understanding users in order to build better products. User-centred design is the central issue of web usability, which is based upon the user information. The user information should include: (1) finding the user's real needs; (2) revealing factors affecting the user's accessibility; (3) understanding which information the user wants to get from the web; (4) discovering the user's preference for the web design; (5) recognising the user's preference for the system tools; and (6) comparing the relevant websites to understand things the user dislikes (Pearrow, 2007).

E-learning has unprecedentedly become used as a relevant method in teaching and learning process for the past few decades. Consequently, it has improved the accessibility to information for all categories of stakeholders, in spite of their geographical location, background, or any other criteria. These phenomena, have increased use of e-learning tools for different teaching and learning process, and have made a paradigm shift in conventional face-to-face educational system.

Certainly, these phenomena would help to make the educational arena quite democratic and user centered. It indeed made a lot of changes in teacher-student and student-student interaction. Nonetheless, in India the application of e-learning at the grass-root level is still in an embryonic phase.

E-learning is becoming a crucial resource for educational institutions and other organisations. First, it can make education independent of time and location. Second, it opens up new possibilities for implementing pedagogical innovations where learners are expected to function as active, independent, self-reflected, and collaborative participants. Finally, it can help teachers to manage their online courses so that they can create, add, modify, customise, and reuse digital course content and learning objects (Hadjerrouit, 2007).

Many definitions of e-learning have been articulated. There is no such unequivocal and universally agreed definition for the term ‘e-learning’. Various studies and experts defined it differently. The real denotation of e-learning is to apply possible information and communication technologies including internet and the web in teaching and learning process to enhance the quality and extend education to a wider population. E-learning is often seen as learning where the Internet and the Web play an important role. It is very difficult to differentiate the term “e-Learning” from terms such as “virtual learning”, “network learning”, “online learning”, “multimedia-based learning”, “Web-based learning”, and “Internet-enabled learning”. An e-learning platform could be referred as a tool or set of tools such as learning management system, re-usable learning object, live chat, video streaming, webinars, and so on.

As it is rightly pointed out by Hadjerrouit,(2007) that in addition to the electronic delivery of technology, including all forms of information and communication technologies, e-Learning integrates two major dimensions:

• Learning theories, instructional strategies, and pedagogical approaches.

• The subject matter and associated content to be learned.

LMS is viewed differently among different stakeholders depending on how many attributes and tools are opted to be incorporated (Al-Busaidi and Al-Shihi, 2010). LMS is relatively a new concept which is often confused with other concepts like e-learning, digital learning, virtual learning and distance learning (Kritikou et.al., 2008). LMS is defined as an online system that allows users to share information and collaborate online (Lonn and Teasley, 2009). Predominantly, it could be exploited by academic institutions and also business organisations with a prime intention on the management of the overall educational process rather than simply delivering course and training materials electronically. LMS is also synonymous to e-learning in terms of using the web inside classrooms to enhance the teaching and learning process (Rainer, 2007). LMS would offer indispensable advantages to academia and also this would foster more interactive learning exercise inside as well as outside the classroom.

According to Mahdizadeh (2008) LMS tends to motivate students and teachers which in turn will increase students’ participation and interactions inside the classroom. The most cited benefits of LMS are enhanced efficiency and cost-saving. Another worth mentioning advantage of LMS is that it could expedite the regular teaching and learning process and also enhance the efficacy of interaction and communication among the instructors and learners. The typical worth of LMS application in the educational ambience is that this would enable academia to manage learners, mentors, curriculum and programmes.

There are a number of open source learning management systems available with different features and advantages like Moodle, Atutor, ILIAS, Claroline, Dokeos, Manhattan, Brihaspati, and so on. There are many more LMSs available openly and freely, which are designed and developed as part of various projects and other ventures. Therefore, the features and functionalities of the free and open source LMSs would be varying one to another.

Learning management systems are reporting systems created for tracking registration, attendance, class lists, grades, test results, class scheduling, other administrative requirements of schools and instructor-led classes. There are different types of theoretical frameworks suggested by various researches to design and develop learning management system. Each one is having different characteristics and features. Majority of these systems are developed tutor-oriented and not user-oriented or not facilitating personalised learning support for individual learners. Mentors as well as the learners are frustrated with the current LMS and they are looking forward to a new, innovative, user-centred alternative to encourage and empower students to take control of their education, and teachers to explore new styles of teaching, depending on their students’ needs (Ghoniemy, 2010).

Dunne and Butler (2004) recommended couple of theories namely,1) Managing and facilitating learning- A metadata model and, 2) LMS in context: A practice-based theoretical framework, which had been developed on the basis of their study. They emanate from an analysis of literature introduced in their paper and simply place LMS in context and in relation to the key theories and categories of Information System (IS) that underpin learning in organisations. The relevant theoretical influences are shown on the periphery of the model and the major categories of IS which support learning in organisations are all indicated at the core of the model. The model also considers the propensity of each of the theories and categories of IS in relation to either a user-focus or a resource-focus. Organisational learning theory is primarily people oriented while knowledge management theory is primarily resource oriented. However, intellectual capital theory and competency theory are both people and resource focused. With regard to the positioning of IS categories, it is proposed that learning and training environments and LMS tend to be people oriented.

Practice-Based Theoretical Framework elaborates on the dimensions presented in the model mentioned above. This model presents a framework which highlights the principal attributes or variables in each major element of the model and the relationships between them. The framework is based on an initial theoretical model drawn from an extensive analysis of literature and empirical validation in a single case study of the implementation of LMS by a major multinational enterprise. The framework illustrates that the theories have helped influence and shape the way that IS are used to support learning. Links drawn between the theories indicate that they influence each other. The categories of IS have been segregated into two groups, namely, those that support formal managed learning within the organisation, and those that support informal or unmanaged learning. The major roles are outlined for each category together with IS examples where appropriate. LMS together with LCMS and learning/training environments all contribute to the process of formal learning in an organisation. The IS category of LMS is highlighted within the framework to emphasise that this new type of system is central to the strategic ‘people oriented’ approach to manage learning that is now emerging in many organisations.

It has now become very important to execute LMS and other e-learning tools and technologies in the teaching and learning process at all categories of institutions to enhance the quality and reach of higher education. The application of LMS and other e-learning technologies in the Indian higher educational system is still in its nascent or initial phase. Therefore, the learner should provide due consideration while designing the learning management system because of the multi-faceted nature of the learners. In this study, a learner-centred learning management system model, compliance with SCORM specifications is proposed. This can be used in web-based teaching and learning environment. The model needs to be further developed through constant cycles of design, implementations, and evaluations in different contexts. In addition, to the theoretical specificities, a number of practical issues while executing the system need to be addressed in order to improve the overall functionality of the model.

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