Given the competitive nature of the business landscape and the technological advancements and innovations, learning is even more crucial today. While the conventional methods of training have challenges of accessibility, flexibility and incur additional overhead costs in terms of time and resources, businesses are exploring the e-learning solutions avenue. Though e-learning is relatively a new concept, it is rapidly emerging as the ultimate choice for knowledge management purposes for businesses. While corporates and educational institutions comprise the major user base for the online learning management platforms in India, small and medium businesses are keen to leverage a learning management system (LMS) to stay competitive.
Are you planning to venture into the online learning arena? Here are the things you should know before making your decision to adopt a learning management system.
Table of Contents
What is a learning management system (LMS)?
A learning management system (LMS) is the prerequisite that drives the entire concept of online learning or e-learning. An LMS comprises of two major components: a server and a user interface. While the server is majorly responsible for creating courses, uploading resources online, managing and delivering courses and other user management functions such as automated registration, periodic notifications, etc., the user interface is mainly aimed for administration purpose and for the learners and the instructors.
Who uses an LMS?
Corporates and educational institutions form the major user base for the LMS software market. Unlike conventional methods of training, an LMS enables businesses irrespective of their size, industry vertical as well as workforce dynamics in employee orientation, onboarding training and knowledge management and retention.
Previously, businesses used to rely on offline modes of employee orientation, classroom training sessions to appraise the new employees about the vision, mission and organizational objectives and work culture. Though the significance of such in-person training can’t be ignored, it becomes repetitive, time-consuming and not to forget incurs overhead costs as well. In such a scenario, an LMS is a perfect solution as it eliminates the need for scheduled classroom sessions by making the course content available online that can be accessed 24*7, anytime, anywhere. The employees have the flexibility to assimilate the knowledge at their convenience and own pace.
Similarly, an LMS system is effective in assisting the employees to consistently upgrade their skills and knowledge repository to meet the advancing business requirements. It allows them to have a competitive edge against their industry counterparts. With the traditional methods of training, the knowledge was mostly lost when the concerned employee exits the company. However, the learning management system solves this challenge by recording the knowledge organization-wide in turn helps in the knowledge retention process.
Apart from corporates, academic institutions are increasingly embracing the online learning culture, making the LMS an absolute choice for the tech-savvy students who would rather consume their courses online than attending an exhaustive classroom session.
Factors to consider while choosing an LMS:
User Interface: The user interface of the LMS software is a deciding factor for its adoption, usage and success. Irrespective of the array of features the LMS might have, without a user-friendly, intuitive user interface, the LMS would fail to benefit the end-user. Before adopting an LMS, make sure that the user interface is responsive across devices and has cross-platform compatibility. Otherwise, you might be losing a fair share of the user base who prefer to access their courses from multiple devices.
Course Management: Check out the course management functionality of the LMS you are planning to leverage for your online learning needs, for personal/professional purposes. The LMS must allow you to create, upload relevant course content, making them available in several formats such as on-site training, video tutorials, custom webinars, making it easy to assimilate the content.
Reporting: Real-time tracking of the course progress is a pivotal feature of the LMS software. It allows businesses to keep a track of the individual learner’s progress, mentor them as and when required and enable them with real-time feedback and support. Some LMSs even have leaderboard features to unleash the concept of gamification in e-learning, which improves productivity and user engagement substantially.
Price: With the growing demand, there are multiple LMSs in the market. Thus, choose the LMS that aligns with your objective as well as budget.
Besides, there are several other factors such as security, customization, learner and role management modules, support services that should be considered before adopting an LMS.
If you are yet to be convinced about adopting an LMS, here are some of the major benefits
- Online, centralized repository of course content
- Unlimited, 24*7 access
- Track learner progress and performance
- Cost-effective
If you are new to the concept of e-learning and unsure of the LMS options, check out the learning management solutions by AlphaLearn today.
