Advantages of our elearning OLAT

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Apr 25, 2019 by André Zimermmane (Unlicensed)
3 min read

Ilias > Olat

  •  ILIAS is in Physics in the Goethe University established. Also, other faculties across the university use the platform.
  •  unlike the other elearning platforms used at the university Ilias provides a much better experience for all users especially the ones managing the course by structuring the necessary options for the courses and providing out of the box working solutions for exactly that.
  • since we need to upgrade the whole elearning system due to the widespread usage, we are a little short of staff
  • It is easy to include external applications into ILIAS

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MElearninGA > Olat

  • Easier to modify a self built system than an external one.
  • Upgradeability is limited due to local changes in the Source Code which may or may not work with future Versions of Olat.
  • (We may want to include some negative points to make this here more legitimate.)
  • MEGA is a work in progress. Nothing has been decided definitely so we can't say what it has that OLAT doesn't. What we are trying to achieve with it, is to create a platform that satisfies students' and teachers' digital needs. Currently Mathe elearning is doing a survey to different representative groups in order to define what are the most important features that a digital elearning platform should fulfill. The main point, is that MEGA shouldn't be an alternative to OLAT, but an enhancement. It should provide the same services, while doing it better and more efficiently.
  • Until now we have already settled on some ideas, but it's a project with full extensibility, which is something OLAT does not have.
  • OLAT makes it very difficult to find specific courses.
  • If you want to upload a homework, download the latest lectures or email the organizer, multiple clicks are needed. OLAT has a very user unfriendly navigation for students.
  • Promotion of student projects which offer a great practical learning effect and which are also supported by e-Learning Förderfonds (one example)


Text bellow:


Advantages of the students self-built e-learning app over the central platform of Goethe-Universität


The electronic learning platform of the Department of Physics, PhysikOnline, is built together with the ILIAS web-application framework, in contrast to the central e-learning platform of Goethe University built under OLAT. ILIAS is known to have several advantages over OLAT. For this reason, ILIAS is well-established now not only in the Physics Department under PhysikOnline, but also in other faculties, with their own local apps. Having a better user-friendly navigation, ILIAS provides a better experience for students. It also offers more flexibility to the course administrators who can better structure the necessary options for their courses. Additionally, ILIAS makes it easier for adding external applications to it. A limitation that we currently face is that its widespread usage in the university demands for an upgrade of the e-learning system, but we currently have a small shortage of staff for that.

For this reason the MEGA app project was born. MEGA would be a self built framework developed in cooperation between PhysikOnline and Adornis, startup of students from the Department of Mathematics, which would also incorporate ILIAS to it. It is meant to become the main e-learning platform for the students of the Physics, Mathematics and Computer Sciences Departments, but would be willing to incorporate other departments in the future. The main goal is to create a platform that improves both students and lecturers needs by offering the same services that OLAT does in at better and more efficient way. It is a work in progress and a survey to different representative groups is being carried out now by Adornis, in order to define what are the most important features that a digital e-learning platform should fulfill.

One can identify several limitations in the current central platform OLAT that should be corrected with MEGA. Difficulties in finding a specific course and unfriendly user navigation interface are some of them. Upgradeability of OLAT is also limited because it is not clear whether local changes in the source code may work with future versions of OLAT. On the other hand, the new system MEGA would have full extensibility and, for being a self-built system, would be easier to modify. Moreover the promotion of MEGA, as a student project, offer a great practical learning effect, going together with the ideas supported by e-Learning Förderfonds.