Learning Management System or LMS
A learning management system or LMS is a platform that manages learning. An LMS hosts and auto delivers content, tracks progress, reports on various criteria, and has roles for different levels of access, as well as many more features. The Learning system may integrate with other systems and it may have automatic enrolment and emailing and alert systems.
However, an LMS needs to be set up and maintained and needs a certain level of technology savvy people involved. Not all training needs this level of delivery.
Do you really need to use an LMS to deliver your training?
What to expect from a learning management system?
An LMS should contain an area to put course materials, including assessments. An area for communication, this could be one to one, discussions or in private groups. You should be able to set up course areas and privacy for different logins and roles.
A learning management system should have different methods for assessment and reporting on the assessment and activities for users. LMS’s can be set up differently to allow for specific needs.
Moodle is an open source LMS, which means that it is free to use and people can develop plugins and additions to support the platform. This allows for a great deal of features to be added. Even though Moodle is free there is a lot of work to do to set it up and host the platform. It requires updates and monitoring so you may need to pay for specialist support.
LearnDash is another paid learning management system. It is a plugin for a WordPress website and can be used for individual courses, whereas Moodle is better suited for institutions. Learndash has great features for the money and can be adapted to suit a companies branding and course delivery styles. You can see our learndash review here.
When setting up online training one of the most important things to consider is how it’s going to be delivered.
So, LMS or not?
Course needs will dictate delivery style. For example, if you have set criteria for reporting and tracking and detailed regulatory needs the online delivery may be quite specific and best catered for using an LMS. However, online training can also be flexible in it’s delivery as long as the outcomes are met, you may be able to deliver your learning outside of an LMS.
Having a flexible delivery style means that training can cater for individual needs and can often be more fun to learn from.
Flexible online delivery not using an LMS
First consider the needs of your training. No matter how you deliver your course/training, the learners need to take away what you are trying to teach them. If you have detailed needs, as described above, you may be best to go with an LMS. This is usually in the case of training organisations, or larger scale training. However, if you can be more flexible, consider the following:
Training via a Content Management System (CMS)
A CMS could be: Sharepoint, IBM Enterprise Content Management, Shopify, websites (WordPress, Drupal, etc), cloud software, etc.
You can use a CMS to hold your content and allow access to private areas of the system. Emails and correspondence can be set up via a mail server and basic tracking can be through completing forms, or submitting documents. For more thorough reporting and tracking Experience API (Tin Can API) can be set up.
This sort of delivery can be quite straightforward, e.g. a personal trainer with automated emails and triggers to allow people into private areas of a website. Through to a larger organisation using Experience API for tracking completions and access.
Interactive course software (rapid learning development tools)
eLearning development tools may allow you to deliver a course by simply hosting the course on your website. SCORM compliant courses may be able to be uploaded onto your site and display courses created by interactive software such as Articulate Storyline or Captivate.
Training via email and additional activities
Effective training can be set up with tracked emails and tasks to complete. Email servers can indicate when a person has opened and clicked on links within an email, and links can point to further tasks, e.g. filling out quizzes on forms and completing manual tasks.
Training via eBooks
An eBook can provide similar training to a printed book but with additional links and interactivity. eBooks can be easier to use than an LMS as the interface is straightforward, and ebooks can also be quicker to set up.
However, this delivery may lack the access and reporting requirements needed for larger organisations or for people who need to see the progress of the course enrols. You will need to have tracking outside of the ebook in order to see who, or to what extent, someone has completed tasks.
There are other ways to deliver online training without using a learning management system. First consider what your training needs to deliver, then work backwards to be a bit more creative with the online user experience.
Essential guide to creating an online course – Free Ebook
