Comparative Analysis of E-Learning Platforms on The Market

The E-Learning concept came gradually in the public eye, having an ascendant exponential evolution, directly dependent on the technologies and methodologies involved. Its history is not a long one, stretched over two decades, the term being introduced in 1999 by Jay Cross. At the end of the 1990s, the term LMS, Learning Management System, was introduced, and e-Learning applications are widely used, both in education and in the private environment, as a support for continuous personal development. The emergence and extensive use of applications or program packages (eg Microsoft Office), dedicated dynamic content websites (eg Youtube) as well as access to electronic resources (eg Email, chat) led to the construction of communities within the context of online learning, facilitating communication, access and transfer of resources. After 2010, the E-Learning implications in the education system are recognized and heavily exploited. Access to huge treasures and resources, unlimited by geographical boundaries, a diverse range of ways to customize teaching and assessment techniques, an independent competitive market, ongoing development, and quality deliverables tailored to needs or purposes are just a few of the features of the current E-Learning domain. Educational programs attach great importance to both content, appearance and organization, and to the interaction between the teacher and the learner. The learner is provided with a variety of media resources, from slides, books and bibliographic materials grouped in one place to the real-time, to video-demonstrative teaching content in real time complete the learning experience and give it a practical note. This paper aims to present the characteristics that define an E-Learning platform and how they are assimilated by the educational systems, as well as to perform a comparative analysis of the existing E-learning platforms on the market, referring to the statistics on the E-learning industry in the world. The conclusions of the paper will attempt to outline some perspectives in this field.