What they are, and what they mean for enhanced eLearning experiences.
A learning management system (LMS) is a software that enables educational and business entities to run interactive courses and training programs digitally.
With this, courses and their units of study can be scheduled out to users (eg, students, trainees, apprentices and the like), or users can take self-study online whenever and wherever is convenient.
An LMS can also be used for things like automating the onboarding processes for new starters at businesses – the hiring manager simply sends a link to the new starter, and the new starter follows the prompts to complete the course on their own.
Depending on whether the system is used ‘out of the box’ or is customised, an LMS can help with tracking student progress through a course, automation for progressing student journeys from stage to stage, business reporting, administration, document management, content management, and for implementing any other e-Learning or professional development functionality required.
The scope of use is really wide open, between educational, corporate, governance or any other space that requires more efficient ways to train and educate people.
The Appeal and Benefits of Learning Management Systems
The top 5 reasons to use an LMS.
- Centralised resources – instead of several separate hard drives and the like for local content storage, an LMS puts all content in one location, accessible online by several users.
- Easy updates – courses, modules, units that require updates are updated in real time, at any time.
- Remote learning and training – an online platform makes courses easier to access for those in remote communities or those who find home learning more convenient.
- Institutional reach (market expansion) – eLearning supported by a great LMS breaks down geographic barriers; institutions can enrol students from anywhere in the world.
- Custom courses – if you have a student base that is segmented for different educational focuses, you can tailor course for each group (eg, different electives or majors).
LMS Example – Open Source for Flexibility
An example of an LMS platform is Moodle. As an open-source platform, it is a software that is available for users to use and modify – a great tool for customised learning experiences. Moodle also allows customising via third-party community-sourced plugins. And there are many more of these platforms within the eLearning industry.
There are also LMS building services who can help with the creation of these types of platforms, such as the Australian-based eWorks. Find out more about the eWorks learning management system here.
In More Detail – Why Use a Learning Management System?
1. Training consistency –
a. Same level of training: educational information remains correct when shared ‘down the line’/beyond the initial shared recipient(s).
b. Complement face-to-face training: emphasises key learnings by providing a resource for repetition/revisiting.
2. Stay updated with changes –
a. Adapt content easily: courses can require changes to lessons etc based on changes in the associated industry.
Instead of waiting for a semester or year to finish to update the content, of updating the content and sharing the updates separately, the change can be made centrally, so that next time the student logs in/refreshes the content, changes are live for everyone.
b. Remove outdated content: further to ‘a.’, you can remove outdated content at any time.
3. Reporting and compliance –
a. Evaluate ROI: track success of content, as well as success of adapting/changing it (the work you do to improve your course(s)).
b. Audit documentation: make sure completions align with/support a qualification(?)
c. Track engagement: see how well users are progressing through different stages of your content.
4. Accessibility and flexibility –
a. Adapt learning to suit all types of leaners: content can be tweaked to suit people with different learning styles, reading difficulties, disabilities etc.
b. Enhance learning for all users: Text to speech, braille, change colours for colour-blindness etc, translation for people with English as second/third/fourth etc language.
c. Responsive to all devices: learning experience quality remains consistent across all devices/screen sizes etc.
5. Reduce the burden on staff members –
a. Keep staff doing what they do best:
- Set up onboarding training for self-training, instead of having a staff member dedicate and entire day (or days) to onboarding.
- Utilise LMS for just the theory component – user takes self-journey through content.
Ask Us Anything About Learning Management Systems
Would you like to know more? Feel free to contact eWorks to ask anything about what an LMS can do for your institution or business.
