ABSTRACT
Technology has shaped education for hundreds of years. Designing an online wisdom community requires deft handling of the technologies that define participants' experiences. Without a technological backbone, there is no community. Technology mediates every aspect of a community's experience. Understanding how technologies shape online wisdom communities begins with considering the many ways learners will connect to their experiences. Educators deliver online wisdom communities through platforms that belong to one of three categories: learning management systems (LMSs), massive open online courses, or custom solutions. LMS platforms appeared in the late 1990s, around the time that colleges and universities began investing heavily in online courses and degrees. Blackboard maintains a suite of products and services for K-12, higher education, government, and corporate clients. One of the newest LMSs, Canvas has nonetheless cut into a significant slice of Blackboard's market share since its debut in 2012. Moodle is the best-known and most widely used open source LMS.
