Know Everything About LMS: Types, Benefits, And More

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application or web-based technology which is used to plan, implement and assess a specific learning process.

This system is a software application for the administration, reporting, tracking, automation, and delivery of educational courses, learning and development programs, and training courses. It helps companies to develop, and deliver training programs to their employees.

When companies use an LMS to deliver training online, learners from anywhere in the world can connect with instructors, whether in real-time or through recorded sessions. At the same time, trainees have access to online training material (courses, guides, quizzes, videos, etc.) any time they want.

An LMS is designed to make life easier for those in charge of training and development—e.g., identifying and assessing individual and organizational learning goals, tracking progress toward meeting those goals, and collecting and presenting data for supervising the learning process.

This type of management helps in providing better control and working process to the companies by helping them in an easy and smooth transition. In IT consulting firms , LMS holds great value, as it is responsible for managing all the learning aspects of an employee.

In all professional IT services learning management systems are designed to identify training and learning gaps, using analytical data and reporting. LMS focuses on online learning delivery but supports a range of users, acting as a platform for online content of learning.

How To Choose The Right LMS?

There are various website development company that provides different types of LMS, Given that there are so many of them in the market of eLearning and finding the best for your company is not as easy as it seems sometimes, selecting your LMS requires some tricks, such as:

1. Determining Your Learning And Development Objectives

What are your core L&D objectives and aims? Which skill sets or information are your learners expecting to take away from your eLearning course or online training event? Before you even begin to explore your LMS options, you have to have a clear sense of what it is you hope to achieve when utilizing that LMS.

2. Considering The Skills Of Your Team

Knowing the specific talents and skill sets of your L&D team will enable you to choose an LMS that has the functionality and creative control you want, and the usability you need. If you choose an LMS that is simple and easy to use but doesn’t allow your L&D team members to utilize their experience and know-how, then you’re missing out on the invaluable human perspective.

3. Assessing The Current Strategy Of Your L&D

Go through your current L&D strategy to see what needs to be improved upon and what is working effectively. Doing so will give you the chance to select an LMS that utilizes the successful learning materials you currently have while fine-tuning the ones that do not support and promote your training objectives.

4. Get Feedback From The Staff

Ask your instructors and facilitators about their honest opinion concerning your current training strategy. What features would they like to see in the new LMS? Are there any tools or materials that they find beneficial or necessary in order to make their job easier? These are the people who are going to be helping your learners to take full advantage of your new eLearning strategy.

5. Assess The Technical Considerations

When choosing an LMS, you will have to evaluate how the new learning system will be integrated with your current technologies or software. You will also want to consider how you want your learners to access the information. Will they be using their mobile devices? If so, then you will have to find an LMS that supports mobile platforms too.

6. Will The LMS Offer The Essential Features And Functions

With the wide variety of LMS features that are available today, it can be challenging to narrow down your list of must-haves for your new LMS. However, it’s important to have a clearly defined set of features and functions that your LMS absolutely needs to have in order to be a good return on investment.

7. Review The Experience And Background Of The Vendors

Ask the LMS vendors about their experience, skill sets, qualifications, and background during the selection process. Look online to see if there are any reviews for the LMS and company or ratings that will give you a better idea of how they dealt with customers in the past.

8. Identify The Support Services Offered With The LMS

Does the company offer round-the-clock support? Are they going to be able to troubleshoot problems that you may encounter with the LMS in the future? Ask the LMS vendors about the support services that come with your LMS package to ensure that you have access to the help you need to make the most of your new LMS.

9. Ask For A Live Demonstration Or A Trial Period

Don’t hesitate to ask your provider for a live demonstration or even a trial period that will allow you to see the LMS in action. Through a live demo, you will be able to determine if the features and functions are in-line with your L&D needs and wants, and whether or not usability and scalability are what you are looking for.

10. Consider It’s Data Tracking Capabilities

While the development and design capabilities of your LMS are important, you won’t be able to create the best possible eLearning experience without tracking features. Ideally, you’ll want an LMS that offers your learners data tracking, so that you can gauge learner performance and determine if any areas of your eLearning course need to be fine-tuned.

These are some important steps to consider while looking for your LMS system, as these points will help you in finding out the most effective and right kind of software.

Types Of Learning Management System

Organizational leaders have realized that in order to sustain a more knowledgeable and productive workforce, employee learning must be an ongoing focus.

Choosing the right learning management system (LMS) can help achieve this goal. There are many benefits and features that an LMS can offer that will make corporate learning more effective.

There are several types of learning management systems that organizations can choose from for their benefits and effective management in their organization, such as:

1. Installed LMS Vs Web-Based LMS

The biggest difference in LMS solutions is between the web-based LMS software and the installed LMS software. You had to install early LMS vendor-created software on your own server. It had to be maintained by your own IT. It came with big setup fees and maintenance agreements.

LMS vendors maintain the software and keep developing and improving their online LMS software. No big setup fees are needed and the monthly costs are much lower than installed software.

2. SaaS / Cloud Vs Hosted LMS

Hosted LMS and SaaS LMS have to host on the cloud as common. The difference between hosted LMS and SaaS LMS is the maintenance of the infrastructure. In the case of a hosted LMS solution, you as a corporate organization or a school or college will be responsible for hosting the LMS yourself.

That means you have the controls for the uptime and security of the server. Technical updates and upgrades have to be managed by your IT teams or your technology associates.

3. Commercial Vs Free

If you have technical talent in your team and you are on a tight budget, have a look at the free learning management systems which are available. There are some solutions which you can install and maintain yourself. If you don’t want to install and set up software yourself, you have to choose a commercial LMS.

4. Closed Source Vs Open Source

In both web-based and installed software, you have closed source and open source learning management systems. Online Saas / Cloud LMS software is never open source.

If you are a big fan of open source projects you don’t have to look into those. Open source gives you freedom, but also responsibilities. If you’re a more hassle-free girl or guy just go with an online SaaS LMS.

5. Integrated Vs Non-Integrated LMS

Learning management systems are capable of being integrated with various other applications in your organization. These can be some types of internal calendars, social networks like Facebook and Google Apps, and more.

LMS can also be integrated with talent management systems and other HR applications like performance management, recruitment, and payroll. This helps to provide an integrated and unified view of a user across the organization.

The goal behind having an LMS designed this way is to offer clients a one-stop-shop solution where they can access all their critical tools from one place.

6. LMS With Course Creation Vs Non-Course Creation

Many LMS’s have an inbuilt feature to create courses. Teachers can use the inbuilt tools to create course content which is a major relief as it helps in the flexibility to develop your unique course content.

On the other hand, some LMS’s require the purchase of additional courseware tools for creating content. Since these tools are not built-in or are offered as freemium features, these may cost extra.

What Benefits Does An Enterprise Get From LMS?

The world is increasingly driven by compliance, regulation, and record-keeping. It is no surprise that more and more companies are turning towards LMS and eLearning as a solution to ensure accurate records are kept and save money.

LMS affects any organization and provides a number of benefits that can be used for its growth, such as:

1. Recording Training – As compliance requires for areas such as health and safety increase, and organizations focus more on employee development, it is a Learning Management System that will record that your employee has taken the course and how well they performed. A Learning Management System can record both eLearning and traditional training.
2. Reminder For The Training – A reminder for the training is very essential as it is not every time that a human can remember everything. A Learning Management System will tell you when the training was undertaken and when it needs to be repeated, helping to keep your employee learning and compliance up to date.
3. Audit Proofing – A Learning Management System can record and report in detail and real-time who took the training courses and how well they learned. This makes an audit of your organization for ISO or other requirements a simpler, easier, and less stressful exercise.
4. On-Demand Training – A Learning Management System with eLearning courses is available for your organization’s learners 24/7. No longer do hungry learners have to wait for the classroom course to come around.
5. Availability Of Content – We all know we forget very quickly over 60% of what we were taught in a classroom by the time we get back to work (especially if we do not put it into immediate use). A Learning Management System with eLearning courses makes it easy for learners to go back over their courses to continually reinforce their learning.
6. Change In The Way Learning Is Delivered – Training is increasingly being delivered as eLearning via computers, tablets, and smartphones. A device-responsive Learning Management System makes this possible by delivering eLearning, apps, videos, and other forms of eLearning to any mobile device, anywhere, anytime.

A learning management system with eLearning materials can save money (or allow the training budget to go much further), improve organizational performance, and increase employee satisfaction. This will help the organization in creating a more open and flexible environment for their employees to work smoothly in the long run.

Wrapping It Up

An LMS is a learning management system that is a software application or web-based technology which is used to plan, implement and assess a specific learning process. There are numerous benefits of adopting an LMS in your organization.

The business and scope of LMS are not scarce, it can help an organization in developing new leads and smooth the workflow while managing it effectively. The trends of the same have taken over the world, and there are new trends every day, but that also brings new opportunities along with it.

To choose the right kind of LMS for your organization you must follow the steps mentioned above as they will ensure that the system you pick fits into the requirements of your company and help in achieving the goal.

There are various types of learning management systems, and all help your company to function successfully and effectively. The different systems are mentioned above for the details.

There must be a proper process that should be followed by the companies to pick and work with the team. Enterprises can avail various benefits from the learning management system.