We now live in a world where most people work remotely. There are more Zoom calls than water cooler chats, our commute time is walking from our bedroom to the home office, and trainings are done at home. The way the world works has changed, and the way we interact with fellow employees and customers has changed. Thus enters the golden age of LMS. There are many to choose from and can be used by everyone from yoga studios to accounting firms. What is an LMS, and why do we need to consider using them?
What is an LMS?
A learning management system (LMS) is a program used to track, report, and automate learning materials. Companies can use LMS to onboard and train employees and provide educational curriculum or personal development programs. An LMS is also known as training management systems, online learning platforms, learning activity management systems or learning experience platforms (LXP). However, learning content management systems (LMCS) are not the same as learning management systems (LMS) but do complement each other. Learning content management systems (LMCS) are designed to assist in authoring and managing learning content. An LMS is a single location to gather all learning materials in one place and make them available to your learners.
Why might I need an LMS?
As remote learning and employee onboarding increases, the amount of information that must be sent to students and employees vastly increases. You may have noticed yourself resending the same files over and over again. Oh, if only there was a solution to this problem! Consider using an LMS to handle these tasks. Instead of sending multiple emails to a student or employee containing assignments or documents and waiting for a reply email with (hopefully) the right document attached, consider a Learning Management System that can track in real time their activity, progress and completion of assigned tasks.
Why should I choose cloud-based vs open source LMS?
No installation required. That’s right, no time wasted trying to make space on your computer to download and use this LMS. Cloud-based has low startup costs and software updates are automatic. Keep your overhead costs low by outsourcing these tasks. Client support, data security, and maintenance would be provided by the LMS, leaving you with the most important task of curating the curricula. With more companies allowing employees to work remotely, their teams could be located around the world. Using a cloud-based LMS, employees can easily partake in trainings from their own homes.
Who offers the best cloud-based LMS programs?
Adobe Captivate Prime
Adobe Captivate Prime is widely recognized as the leader in cloud-based LMS and is used by countless large companies including Dominos, GE Healthcare and of course Adobe. This robust LMS is known for its ability to effectively engage users including employees, partners or customers. It offers discussion boards for learners to post content on and they can create poll questions for other users. There are many functions that encourage collaboration and user interaction. Adobe Captivate Prime offers registered user pricing for fixed learners and active user pricing for floating learners.
TalentLMS
TalentLMS is the most user-friendly LMS allowing first-time curriculum developers to build and deliver training programs in one day. It allows the creator to set curriculum paths for learners and store files in the repository for all learning modules. They also offer on-the-go training through mobile devices so your learner can take part in the trainings from anywhere. After the free trial, TalentLMS offers an affordable platform where you only pay for the features you need. This allows users to customize their package.
Docebo
Docebo is a powerhouse LMS that offers learners the unique feature of sharing their own learning material. Through the Docebo Discover, Coach, & Share social learning feature, users are encouraged to learn from each other by sharing meaningful content. This can be done via videos, documents, or presentations. It also uses gamification such as badges, contests, leaderboards, points and awards to increase learner engagement and retention. It can be integrated with other programs including Zoom, Slack, and Salesforce. Docebo requires you contact them directly for a price quote.
Take Your Content to the Cloud
With an LMS, content creators can sell courses online, educational institutions can provide virtual learning to students, and companies can onboard and train employees efficiently. Thus, it helps you stay organized and engaged with your user base. A good LMS should offer its customers the ability to customize their platform structure and pricing based on the current needs of the company. It should also have the capacity to add on features and function as the business needs. Need to whip up a progress report for an upcoming meeting? LMS can do that. Strong reporting and analytics dashboards are a must for LMS users in order to track and monitor learners’ usage and progress. A few other popular LMS to consider are LearnDash, SkyPrep, Blackboard, and Moodle.