EarlierLMSsusedtobefairlysimple:theystoredcoursecontentintheformoftext,videos,orpresentations.However,learningplatformshaveevolvedsincethen,andnowthey’remorethancoursestorage.LMSsoftwareusesin-depthtoolsthatallowyoutoanalyzeskillgaps,betterunderstandstudentperformance,andmakeyourlearningexperiencefullytransparent.
Inthisarticle,we’lldiscusswhatanLMSis,whattypesoflearningmanagementsystemsexistonthemarket,andhowaplatformcanbenefityourbusiness.
AnLMS,orlearningmanagementsystem,issoftwarethathelpsyouorganize,implement,andmanageonlinelearningenvironments.Itservesasacentralizedlibrarywherestudentsaccessinteractivelearningmaterialsandassessments,whiletrainersmonitortheirprogressandoverallperformance.
AnLMShelpsbusinessesstreamlineonboardingprocesses,improvetrainingconsistency,andachievemeasurableROI.Therightlearningmanagementsoftwarecansignificantlyoptimizethelearningcycleandensureacohesiveapproachtoemployeedevelopmentandorganizationalgrowth.
Let’sbreakdowneachcomponentoftheacronymandtheveryconceptofanLMS:
Learningmanagementsystemsareversatiletoolsthatcanhelpyouorganizeandmanagevarioustypesoftrainingprograms.Herearethemostcommoneducationsoftwareusecases:
Let’stakealookathowpeoplecanbenefitfromanLMSintheirwork:
Let’smovetoamoretechnicalaspecttoseewhattypesoflearningplatformsexistandhowtheydiffer.
BothcorporateandacademicLMSsprovideaccesstocoursematerialsonlineandautomatedifferentaspectsoftrainingprocesses,buttheyhavesomedifferences:
iSpringLearnisanexampleofacorporateLMS,whileAnthology(formerlyBlackBoard)isanacademiclearningplatform.
Whenchoosingbetweenafreeandapaidplatform,youneedtoknowthatnotallfreeLMSsare,infact,free.
MostLMSplatformsofferafreemiumpricingmodel:yougetthebasicversionforfree,andyoucanbuyextrafeatures.ATutorisanexampleofanopen-sourceLMSthatusesthefreemiummodel.
Ifwe’retalkingaboutopen-sourceLMSs,there’snolicensefee.However,you’llneedtoinvestintechnicalexpertiseandresourcestosetup,customize,andmaintainthesystem.
TheidealsolutionforuserswithoutanITbackgroundiscommercialLMSsoftware.It’stypicallymucheasiertodeployanduse,offerstechsupportservices,anddoesn’tincuradditionalcosts.Again,iSpringLearnisanexampleofcommerciallearningmanagementsoftware.
AlocallyhostedLMSisalearningmanagementsystemthat’sinstalledandrunsonyourservers,ratherthanbeingaccessedonlinethroughacloudservice.Inotherwords,you’reresponsibleformaintainingthehardware,software,anddatasecurity.LocallyhostedLMSsoffermorecustomization,dataprivacy,andintegrationwithotherlocalsystems.However,youalsoneedmoreITresourcesandexpertisetomanagetheLMSplatformeffectively.
Chamiloisaself-hostedlearningmanagementsolution.
Somecompaniesavoidcloud-basedlearningmanagementsystemsbecauseofdatasecurityconcerns.Theyworrythattheirinformationstoredonaremoteservercouldbecompromised.However,therearedifferentwaystosafeguardyourdatawithcloud-basedLMSs,too.Forinstance,ensurethattheLMSvendorhaseffectiveencryptionprotocolsandwillbackupyourinformation.
Whenchoosingbetweenthetwo,youshouldbeawareofthesepotentialhiccups:
Insimpleterms,anLMSstandardisauniversallanguageforcommunicatingwithlearningsoftware.SelectingaunifiedstandardforbotheLearningauthoringtoolsandLMSsmeansthatinformationwillbesuccessfullysharedbetweenthem.
HerearethefivemajorLMSstandardsthatpredeterminethecompatibilitybetweenanLMSandanauthoringtool:
Now,let’sproceedtothenextlevelofunderstandinganLMSandexploreitintermsofcommonfeatures.
Whenlookingforalearningmanagementsystem,youcan’tavoidthefinancialaspect.Tochoosethebestoptionforyourbusiness,seewhatpricingmodelsexistandhowtheywork.
DifferentLMSvendorspreferdifferentpricingschemes:
iSpringLearnisacloud-basedservice,soallyouneedtoregisteranaccountisaninternetconnectionandanemailaddress.
Youfirstneedtoaddcoursematerialstothelearningplatform.SimplyclickontheUploadFilebuttonandselectthedesiredtrainingcontentfromyourcomputer.
iSpringLearnrecognizesordinaryPPTpresentations,audioandvideofiles,andtextdocuments,aswellasSCORMcourses.Youcanalsocombinethemintoalearningtracktoachieveaconsistentflowandsettherequiredevaluationcriteria.
Next,youshouldassignuserroles.InanyLMS,thereare3mainusertypes:
Thebestlearningmanagementsystemsautomatetedioustaskslikeaddingusers.Theseplatformsallowyoutoinvitelearnersviaemail,importalistfromanXLSXfile,organizelearnersintogroups,etc.
Now,it’stimetoshareyourtrainingmaterial.Youcanprovideaccesstoeveryoneorinviteindividualusersviaemail.WiththeiSpringLearnfreemobileapp,learnerscanstudywhenandwheretheywant.
Learningmanagementsolutionsallowcompaniestomeasuretrainingeffectiveness,tracklearnerprogressinrealtime,andseedetailedstatisticsontimespent,attemptsmade,etc.
Youneedtokeepupwiththelatesttrendstoremaincompetitive,adapttothechangingjobmarket,andimprovethelearningexperienceandtrainingeffectiveness.Let’stakeaglanceatthehottestLMStrends.
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Automatecorporatetrainingandimproveemployeeperformance.
Readthissectiontocoveranyremainingunansweredquestions.
No,anLMStypicallyrequiresaninternetconnectiontoaccessanduseitsfeatures.Ifyou’reanLMSadmin,youneedtobeonlinetomanageandusetheplatform.
Learners,however,canoftenaccesslearningcontentoffline.iSpringLearnallowsstudentstodownloadcoursestotheLMS’smobileappandcompletethemwithoutinternetaccess.Whentheuserisbackonline,theirprogressandlearningstatswillbeupdatedautomatically.
Thecostsofimplementingalearningmanagementsystemdependonanumberoffactors.Themostimportantpointsarethetypeofsoftwareanditspricingmodel.Takeaself-hostedlearningplatform,forexample.Theaverageimplementationcostwillbearound$25,000.Thisincludessoftwaresetup,abasiclevelofsupportandcustomization(e.g.,companybranding),andstafftraining.
Measureandanalyzethesemetricstounderstandifyourlearningmanagementsolutionworksforyou:
Alearningmanagementsystem(LMS)handlesdiverselearningprocessesefficiently,regardlessoftheirformatorcomplexity.Learningplatformsimproveknowledgeretention,cost-efficiency,andtheoutcomesofonlinecourses.
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