Consistent training and development are key factors that can help your employees acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, and perform better in the workplace. So whether you’re thinking about introducing online learning and virtual training to your employees—or just looking to upgrade the learning technology within your organization—a learning management system can help you facilitate continuous learning in the workplace.
In this article, we’ll provide all the relevant answers to your question about what is a learning management system—from what they are, how they work, and the role they play in the learning processes of companies and educational institutions. Aside from the definition of learning management system, this guide will also give you a better understanding of the benefits of LMS solutions, some examples, and how much it would cost your company to implement one.
What is a learning management system?
What is a Learning Management System?
Learning management systems are cloud-based applications that are used to facilitate online learning and training processes. These tools allow instructors and L&D professionals to plan, implement and assess a specific learning process. Frequently used by businesses of all sizes, government agencies, and educational institutions, LMS solutions help organizations deliver online courses and training materials to learners more quickly and efficiently.
The best way to understand what is a learning management system is to think about how companies and educational institutions use and deploy them in various contexts. Some of the largest and most complex LMS solutions are accessed by thousands of students to access learning materials and online courses. Others are used mostly for employee training and development, enabling companies to facilitate online learning processes within the workplace.
So what does learning management system do? Typically, a learning management system allows an instructor to create and deliver online learning content. This type of software application is also used to monitor student participation and assess student performance. With an LMS solution in place, companies and educational institutions can easily create and manage lessons, online courses, quizzes, learner assessment, and other training materials.
Learning management systems play a central role in helping companies build a stronger workforce, especially at a time when companies are solely relying on virtual training and learning approaches. From the traditional ways of training employees, LMS solutions have provided better opportunities for organizations to adapt online training and skill-building.
To give you a better idea of how you can use an LMS platform in your corporate training strategies, the following sections discuss types of a learning management system, its core features, and the advantages you can gain from implementing one in your organization.
Coassemble is a learning management system that helps you create and deliver online learning resources.
Types of Learning Management System
As the workforce continues to evolve, it is now not uncommon for businesses to face the challenge of skills shortage in the workplace. In today’s fast-paced work environment, organizations need to keep up with the latest trends and methods that can maximize the potential of their employees.
LMS platforms play a crucial role in addressing the skills gap present in most enterprises. Now that employee training and development have become necessary for a world-class and highly skilled workforce, many organizations are turning to LMS platforms to provide workers with better opportunities to broaden their knowledge and enhance their skills.
Implementing an LMS platform is necessary for organizations to facilitate learning courses and provide training modules. Depending on the deployment, there are two types of LMS platforms: on-premise and cloud-based learning management systems.
Cloud-based
Most of the LMS platforms you’ll find today are cloud-based, which means they are widely accessible via the Internet. By simply logging in to a web portal, you will instantly have access to a range of learning management tools that can help you provide flexible, cost-efficient, and effective learning modules and training materials for your learners.
LMS solutions that are cloud-based do not require any installation of specific hardware or software. This makes them the most cost-effective option for organizations with limited financial resources. To access and use an LMS platform, all users only need an Internet connection to gain constant access to their online training content.
On-premise
Compared to a cloud-hosted LMS platform, on-premise solutions generally take more time and effort to install. In most cases, these platforms are complex systems that even require the support of IT experts. Although they are more time-consuming and complicated to use, an on-premise LMS platform gives you more control and freedom to customize the interface of your learning sites.
Furthermore, on-premise learning management systems typically cost more than cloud-hosted solutions. These systems often require an upfront fee for licensing. Although some platforms may require you to renew your license yearly, most on-premise solutions offer perpetual licenses, which means you can own the system for as long as you need it and only have to pay for occasional updates and maintenance costs.
Features of Learning Management System
As a team leader, it is your responsibility to provide learning materials to your team and ensure that every member in your organization can access training and development modules. Through an LMS platform, you can effectively address these needs and create a team of highly skilled workers.
Before choosing an LMS platform for your organization, it is important to know how does learning management system work. Also, you have to consider the features and functionalities that a software product offers. Below, we compiled a list of the must-have features that you should look out for in an LMS solution.
Course Management
One of the main purpose of learning management system is course management. This allows you to create and deliver course content to your learners in the most simple and straightforward manner. An LMS solution often has drag-and-drop customizing tools that make it easier for you to create courses. It also lets you add a variety of learning content in multiple formats, such as PDFs, videos, presentation slides, audio, and live training sessions.
Assessment Tools
Assessment tools, such as exams, quizzes, and surveys, are important in setting the required standard for your courses and seeing if learners are on track for a certificate of completion for each learning module. An LMS platform often comes with tools to help you test your learners’ knowledge through tests, lab exercises, exams, and quizzes.
Most systems allow you to create and personalize assessment materials. Through an LMS platform, you can develop quizzes, exams, and exercises that target every skill level. You can incorporate a variety of question types, allowing you to come up with effective assessment material tailored to each learner’s progress. In this way, you can easily measure learners’ progress and automate the grading process.
Gamification
Gamification allows you to make your online training and learning courses more challenging, engaging, and memorable. Most LMS solutions have this feature to help you motivate your learners and transform every training and learning course into a rewarding experience. Some examples of gamification in an LMS platform include badges, rewards, leaderboards, and more.
User Management
Another factor to consider when choosing an LMS platform is its user management capabilities. For instance, admins onboard users into a course, assign them roles, and bulk import from a list of enrolled learners. Admins should also be able to configure access and permission settings for every type of learner.
Since not everyone can have access to the same kind of learning materials, you should be able to designate role-based access to users. This depends on whether they have a free or paid subscription to your learning modules or they are assigned for internal or external training courses. Accordingly, each learner can have a different learning experience based on the modules and interfaces that they have access to.
Skills and Certification Tracking
Skills/certification tracking is one of the most important features of nearly every kind of LMS platform. This can help you measure the performance and learning progress of your learners. The number of certificates for course completion that each learner has serves as a baseline that you can use to see where students or employees are in their entire learning journey.
Tracking the skills learned and certifications completed by your students or trainees gives you the power to report on learner progress. This also allows you to see the effectiveness of your online learning courses and pinpoint areas for improvement.
Reporting Tools
Reporting tools in an LMS platform can help you deliver a better learning experience. Through these tools, you can monitor each learner’s course progress and see which online courses are ongoing or already completed. On top of those, you can also measure each learner’s engagement levels, enabling you to maximize the learning and training efficiency of your current and future courses.
Some of the most important metrics that you can track using an LMS platform’s built-in reporting tools are certification course completion rates, activity completion times, online training ROI, and learner feedback. An LMS platform also helps you analyze assessment results, enabling you to tap into each learner’s knowledge base, skill development, and task mastery.
Instructor-Led Training
As a form of synchronous learning, an instructor-led training course requires trainers and learners to be present at the same time for the entire duration of the program. This is most commonly facilitated through LMS platforms that offer the essential tools for one-on-one video sessions, online seminars, learning workshops, and small group classes.
In some cases, you’ll find an LMS solution with integrations with webinars and video teleconferencing software programs, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and GoToWebinars. This ensures seamless communication between trainers and learners and helps you improve the learning experience of your team.
Blended Learning
Blended learning is another learning style further empowered by learning management systems. Through this approach, you can deliver online training courses to learners with a unique learning style. Combining real-time and self-paced learning approaches also allow you to provide a seamless learning experience to different kinds of learners.
An LMS platform usually provides a plethora of tools that can help you deliver blended learning methodologies. It lets you create a variety of learning materials for self-paced learning, such as worksheets, course modules, training videos, and PDFs. A blended learning approach helps you strike a balance between your learners’ personal lives, work routine, and non-training workload.
Security
Data safety is one of the top concerns of organizations when it comes to learning management systems. To make sure that your data is safe, your chosen LMS platform should have a range of security features that can protect sensitive information, user data, and all your learning content. Some of the most important tools that can keep viruses, spam, and hackers at bay include an IP blocker, password authentication, SSL, and single sign-on.
Talent LMS is an ideal platform for organizations that needs to improve and track employee training performance.
Benefits of a Learning Management System
Learning management systems are an integral part of any organization’s learning and development processes. For years, the use of LMS in the workplace has steadily risen, enabling businesses to provide consistent training and learning quality to all employees. In light of the pandemic, LMS platforms have gained even more momentum, showing a 23.8% increase in usage rates in 2020 (Fortune Business Insight, 2020).
There are plenty of ways by which a learning management system can benefit your organization. Whether you need to introduce eLearning to your employees or facilitate training courses for their professional growth, we’re here to talk you through some of the greatest advantages of learning management system.
Organized Learning Content
Another good reason why use learning management system is it organizes all training modules and learning materials in one place. Instead of having your eLearning content spread out in multiple platforms, you can bring them together in a single, centralized source and make them easily accessible to your learners. This also reduces the risk of losing important data and information due to siloed systems.
Unlimited Access to Learning Materials
When you upload your learning and training materials over a cloud-hosted LMS platform, your learners can then have unlimited access to all the information that they need. This is extremely beneficial to asynchronous learners, who do not have a fixed schedule to attend to their learning modules. Employees who need to balance their daily work responsibilities and training schedules can simply log in to the LMS portal of your organization and have access to the training courses that they need.
iSpring Learn LMS helps you share online learning content.
Tracking Learner Progress and Performance
LMS solutions help you keep track of learner progress and performance, enabling you to make sure that they are successfully meeting their learning performance milestones. This also allows you to categorize learners into top performers and those who are not meeting the required standard to pass a course. In this case, you can offer each learner the right supplemental resources that can help them improve their performance or learning behaviors.
Reduced Learning and Development Costs
By implementing an LMS solution, you can do away with the costs associated with online training site rentals, instructor travel costs, and printed learning materials. Learning management systems enable learners to carry out all their training online, which allows you to save a sizable sum of your learning and development budget.
Examples of Learning Management System
Finding the ideal LMS solution is not an easy task, especially with so many platforms available in the marketplace. To help you narrow down your choices, here are some of the top examples of learning management systems chosen for their capabilities to deliver an excellent learning experience.
Coassemble
Best known for its user-friendly and engaging features, Coassemble is a learning management system built for growing teams and businesses. The platform allows you to create and deliver high quality training experiences to your employees. Ideal for first-time users of LMS platforms, Coassemble helps you start your training processes anytime and anywhere.
Absorb LMS
AbsorbLMS is another popular learning management system widely known for its robust capabilities and captivating learner engagement tools. The solution makes it easier for you to interact with your learners and provide them with inspiring and effective learning modules. In creating course content, Absorb LMS lets you upload learning materials in a wide variety of multimedia formats, including documents, videos, and webinars.
Talent LMS
Talent LMS is specifically built for organizations that need a virtual training platform for their employees. The solution offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy to adopt by both employees and L&D professionals. It provides a plethora of tools to streamline learning processes, making it the ideal solution for onboarding training, compliance training, customer training, and more.
iSpring Learn LMS
iSpring Learn LMS is equipped with a host of features to help you ensure the effectiveness of your training and learning programs. It allows you to create and share eLearning content in multiple formats, from video tutorials, presentations, and flash clips to audio tracks and other supplementary documents in PDF, XLS, or Word document format.
SkyPrep
SkyPrep comes with the capability to modernize your online training programs. Some of its best features are automation of training processes and facilitating distance learning. It also serves as a powerful tool for employee onboarding, allowing you to speed up your training programs for new hires and ensure that your new employees can gain a deeper knowledge of their job responsibilities.
LMS platforms allow you to track the progress of individual learners and adjust as needed.
Cost of Learning Management System
The decision to implement a learning management system for your organization is an easy one. The hard part comes when trying to decide which software product to buy out of so many options. In this purchasing decision, one of the key factors you must consider is the cost of learning management system and whether it can give you your money’s worth in the long run.
Basically, learning management systems are priced depending on the number of users you have in your organization and the kind of tools you will need for the entirety of your learning programs. Here are some examples of the most common pricing tiers offered by LMS platforms.
Free Trial
Signing up for a free trial of an LMS platform is a great way to perform a test drive of the product and get to know what it offers. It also allows you to see whether it can meet the learning needs of your organization. Although this will not cost you any cent, a free trial subscription only lasts for a certain number of days. When your subscription ends, the vendor gives you the option to pay for the full cost of the software product and have access to all the features that the platform offers.
Monthly or Yearly Payment
These are the most common pricing schemes of cloud-hosted learning management systems. Depending on the number of users you have, as well as the scale of your business requirements, most software vendors will charge your subscription on a monthly or yearly basis. Usually, these pricing plans for LMS platforms include unlimited course content, which means you can develop and share as many learning materials to your learners as necessary.
Perpetual Licensing
A perpetual licensing fee is most common among on-premise learning management systems. This plan requires you to pay only a one-time fee for the software license, enabling you to own the product for as long as you need it. Depending on your chosen product, the vendor might also charge additional fees for installation costs, support, and maintenance.
Learning Management System Buying Factors
Now that you have decided to implement an LMS platform, the next thing to consider is choosing the best-suited solution for your organization. After all, not all of these applications are created equal, and each one comes with its own configuration of offerings. To make sure that you’re paying for the right features with your chosen software product, let’s take a look at some of the considerations that you should keep in mind when purchasing an LMS solution.
LMS Content Tools
One of the core features of learning management system is course content creation. Although most applications provide plenty of tools to help you create personalized learning content, you still have to assess the scale of your content needs and see if your chosen platform is up to the standard. If you need more polished content that will make a remarkable impact on your learners, there are a number of sophisticated LMS solutions available in the market that you can choose from.
Branding
White-labeling your course content can help you increase your company’s brand awareness. If one of your goals is to sell your courses, then branding and white-labeling can go a long way in differentiating your content from the competition. By establishing a strong branding for your eLearning materials, you can easily market and sell your courses at a higher price and keep your learners engaged and coming back for more.
Scalability
Another thing to consider when buying an LMS platform is its scalability. As a growing team, it only follows that your learning and virtual training needs will also increase in the future. This is why you need an LMS platform that can easily be scaled and upgraded depending on your business requirements.
SkyPrep is equipped with powerful tools to help you facilitate distance learning.
Learning Management System Trends
As eLearning remains central to the delivery of online learning content and virtual training modules, the adoption of LMS platforms has never been higher. According to a recent report by Global News Wire, the global eLearning market is expected to reach almost $375 billion by 2026. As such, learning management systems are constantly evolving, and here are some of the latest LMS trends that you should look out for.
Personalization
Personalization is becoming an important factor to consider when developing learning materials and strategies. As more studies support evidence of individuality among different groups of learners, L&D professionals are personalizing learning resources to best cater to the unique needs and preferences of every learner.
Consequently, LMS providers are offering more personalization tools and functions, such as the ability to organize multimedia content according to learner preferences. Most LMS solutions can also be customized, providing learners with an appealing interface to increase engagement levels.
Learner-Centered Course Design
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the global workforce has shifted to a remote work setting. This has highlighted the need for employees to improve their digital skills, as well as their adaptability and learning agility. As a result, training managers and L&D professionals are being challenged to find better approaches to deliver consistent training and development for employees.
According to a recent report by Deloitte, 82% of L&D professionals are focused on a learner-centered design in developing eLearning content. This is to effectively address the ever-changing learner expectations and behaviors, especially at a time when learners are relying on virtual tools and distance learning to gain knowledge and improve their skills.
Social Learning
Another one of the hottest LMS trends today is integrating social activities as part of learning programs. Discussions, chat forums, and collaborative learning experiences enable learners to harness their natural tendencies to connect with other people and improve their communication skills.
With COVID-19 forcing businesses to shift to a remote work setting, social learning has even become more integral to the learning and training processes of many organizations. Through social learning, employees can form meaningful bonds with their colleagues despite geographical constraints.
Content Curation
Content curation in LMS platforms is a powerful way to expand learners’ access to useful information that can broaden their knowledge of a specific field. By including external content in your programs, such as industry articles, TED talks, podcasts, and Coursera courses, you can provide learners with more diverse perspectives that they can use to improve their skills and learning performance.
Source: Deloitte (2021)
Potential Issues with Learning Management System
Learning management systems are powerful tools that help organizations develop, host, and deliver engaging and effective online training and certification programs for their employees. However, there are certain tech-related factors that you have to look out for when choosing an LMS platform. If you’re not careful, these challenges can hinder you from reaping the maximum benefits of implementing an LMS solution for your company.
Confusing User Interface
One of the top challenges faced by most organizations when implementing an LMS solution is dealing with a complex and confusing user interface. A poor UI design in an LMS platform can make it difficult for learners to access files and find the right training courses and materials that they need. What’s even worse is that this could affect your learners’ engagement levels and their completion of the required courses.
To prevent this scenario, it is important to choose an LMS platform with an intuitive and streamlined design. Today, there is a wide range of LMS solutions available that offer user-friendly interfaces and do not require any extensive training to master.
Limited Integrations
App integrations make it easier for learners to access training courses from external sources. If your chosen software product suffers from major compatibility issues, chances are, you will have limited capabilities in delivering content and may need to purchase a new system that plays well with others. In some cases, you might even come across some platforms that make it difficult for you to migrate data or learning materials since they don’t support some file formats.
This highlights the importance of choosing a software product that can seamlessly integrate with a wide range of third-party applications. Some of the most important integrations you might need are with video conferencing tools, which can help you streamline the communication between training managers and employees. Integrations with document management software products can also help you bring together all your learning materials in a single, unified platform.
Choosing the Best Learning Management System
Whether you are running a small, medium, or large organization, training and learning are both crucial processes that can help you build a team of highly skilled workforce. Now that you have a better understanding of learning management systems, the next step is choosing the right platform that will work best for you and your team.
To recap all these answers to what is a learning management system, one of the most important features that you should look for in an LMS solution is its capability to store all your training documents, learning modules, and assessment sheets in one location. The best LMS platform should also allow you to interact with your learners through engaging content, such as webinars and video conferences. One great example of learning management system is Coassemble, one of the top-ranking solutions in the LMS category. You can see how the platform can work for you if you sign up for its free trial.
For other product options, you can also check out our guide to the 20 best LMS platforms.
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