The functions and features most commonly offered by learning management systems (Canvas, Blackboard Learn, D2L Brightspace and Moodle), and the HERM business capability each one supports. The LMS covers where teaching and learning happen online: course sites and rosters, content and connected tools, communication and collaboration, assignments, quizzes and the working gradebook, course analytics, accommodations, mobile and accessibility. The SIS stays the system of record for sections, rosters and the official grade; degree audit, registration and the student account are out of scope. Proctoring, originality checking and publisher content appear only where the LMS connects to them. See also the advising and reporting wheels that use LMS data.
Shows which parts of the institution the LMS supports, where it overlaps other systems, and where it stops.
A function's main HERM home vs others it touches. Features narrow to one capability.
17 HERM capabilities touched, centred on learning assessment, learning & teaching delivery, learning & teaching resource preparation and learning & teaching resource management.
Wheel to explore, tree to scan every mapping, CSV or JSON to reuse it.
How this was compiled: three AI assistants (Claude, Perplexity and Grok) were each asked to identify the core functions and features of the major higher education learning management systems. Their lists were reconciled into this single set, using the Claude draft’s structure; source letters on each feature show which drafts named it. Treat it as a starting point, not a vendor-verified specification.
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The full hierarchy: areas, functional areas, functions and features, each with its HERM mapping and definition. Select any HERM capability or feature to see its full definition.
Teaching and learning online is rarely one system. Here the same functions and features are mapped to the applications a fictional Example State University actually runs: a vendor core, add-on modules, third-party products, homegrown tools and spreadsheets. Each link records how well the application covers the feature and its role. HERM coverage is then calculated from those links, not mapped by hand.
Also see this ecosystem as a capability × application matrix or a HERM-to-application flow.
Inner rings: area and functional area. Outer ring: one slice per feature, split into bands when more than one application provides it. Marks outside the ring flag gaps (red) and competing systems of record (violet).
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The executive view. Each bar is the capability’s features, coloured by the best coverage any application gives them. Select a capability for its HERM definition, or an application to see its footprint.
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