In today’s world of advanced learning, schools and institutions look forward to transform learning processes with the latest trends and methods. The learning management system has become the talk of the town for modern educators as it empowers learning and development and helps students excel academically.
To stay relevant in 21st century, learning management systems are actively used by students, institutions, and instructors to provide better learning environment for the teaching-learning process.

What is a learning management system?

A learning management system is a software-based or SaaS platform that supports the administration, automation and delivery of educational and training programs. Learning Management Systems are used to deploy different kinds of learning strategies across different formats that include – formal, experiential and social learning. It is a complete teaching solution where instructors can upload course content/learning material and learners can easily access it and maintain their own pace of learning.

Types of Learning Management System:

There is now a plethora of learning management systems used by institutions to manage e-learning and deliver training content to the students. Have a look:

1. SaaS/Cloud LMS Vs Hosted LMS: In the web-based software, you have two different views. You can choose a SaaS LMS or host the software yourself. In case, you will host the software yourself, you’re in full control of the server specs. But then, you’re also responsible for the security of the server. If you choose the online SaaS LMS, then you will have to concentrate on creating online courses.

2. Web-based LMS Vs. Installed LMS software: In installed LMS software, you will have to install early LMS vendor on your own server and would need to be maintained by your own IT team. It will cost you much as it will include setup fee and maintenance agreements. However, with web-based online learning management systems, the pricing becomes a fraction of the big clunky installed software. Moreover, the LMS vendors will take responsibility of improving online LMS software. No big setup fees will be charged and monthly costs will be much lower than the installed software.

3. Free Vs. Commercial: If you already have the technical team and you’re on a tight budget, then going for a free learning management system is a nice idea. They can be easily installed and maintained by education institutions. However, if you don’t want to install and setup software, then choosing a commercial LMS is always an option.

4. Open Source Vs. Closed Source: In both web-based and installed software, you have the closed source and open-source learning management systems. Open source gives you freedom clubbed with responsibilities. However, if you want hassle free life, then go for online saas LMS. Closed source CMS comes up with a lot of complexities.

What is the need of Learning Management System?

Learning Management System is essentially a software tool that helps deliver learning content to the end-users. It brings ease for teachers and instructors for delivering study material, monitoring learner participation and assessing performance.

Here are the reasons why education institutions need Learning Management System:

1. Offers centralised learning: First and foremost, the advantage of a learning management system is its centralised source of learning. It allows institutes to save the e-learning and training content in one single place, instead of scattering at different locations. This helps reduce the risk of important data and thus enhances the overall efficiency of the system.

2. Unlimited customisation options: : Learning management system can be a great tool for higher education institutions. It provides freedom of unlimited customisation options. Educators can tailor e-learning content as much as required from anywhere at a given point of time.

3. Easy upgradation: With a learning management system, it becomes really simple to update existing content without the need to make changes for every student separately as the upgraded content gets distributed to the learners automatically.

4. Simplify learning: LMS platform simplifies and revolutionises learning. It is easy to use and makes LMS a great tool for educators and help them provide a powerful learning experience for students.

5. Robust evaluation system: With an LMS platform, you can easily evaluate your students before, during and at the end of a course, without interfering with the overall learning process.

Benefits of Learning Management System

Using a learning management system has some large benefits over the old-fashioned way of learning. Have a look:

1. Consistency of learning: Course delivery through LMS keep the content centralised, so that all the students can access a single course of content. As the content remains up-to-date, students develop their learning pace accordingly.

2. Tracking and reporting become simple: The learning environment allows you to track the progress of your students. With LMS platform, you can have a glance at who has finished the course on time and who is just half way and hasn’t started even yet.

3. Develops engaging courses: With a learning management system, you can combine text, images and video. This makes a learning process engaging and allows students to keep their focus and learn more.

4. Gamification take the front seat: Using gamification, you let the users learn course content in an engaging way. It keeps your students interested and challenged.

5. Easy distribution: LMS is an interesting learning platform. It helps you distribute the course content as easy as sending an email. You have to simply upload users in the LMS and invite them via email.

6. Cost saving: Now with a modern learning environment, spending thousands of rupees on printing coursework has become a thing of past. Modern LMS features provide budget friendly solutions that cater masses.

Difference between LMS and LCMS

A learning management system (LMS) is a web-based e-learning solution. It enables scalable personalised education for academic learners. It allows organizations with a robust set of tools to drive automated learning administration and delivery. LMS basically caters to embedded content. It is not meant for content creation.

Whereas, a learning content management system (LCMS) is an eLearning platform that helps instructional designers to manage the learning content from authoring and publishing to in-depth content performance analysis. LCMS platform enables content delivery to learners by integrating with other eLearning solutions, like - LMS, LXP, or learning portals. LCMS allows the reusing of the eLearning content and assembles courses tailored to different audiences.

Point of Difference	LMS	LCMS
Primary users	Academic learners	Learning content creators
Learning management capabilities	e-learning, social learning and blended learning solution	Learning content management
Content curation capabilities	Built-in authoring tools with the basic functionality	Advanced authoring tools with the extended functionality for custom content creation
Data storage	Data is stored on both courses and students	Data is stored in a learning object repository
Content delivery	Support the count of e- learning courses	Deliver learning content in different forms - paper based materials, CD-ROM and e-learning
Content management	Capture and track knowledge elements	Develop various courses using Reusable Learning Object

Why Students must know about LMS?

Learning management system - An online application offers central storage and coordination space for educational assets like - content resources, assessment tools and regulatory tools.

Here are the reasons why students must know about the LMS:

1. Access study materials anywhere, anytime: With LMS platform, students can access e-learning content from mobile device. Students can attend live classes or recorded classes through the LMS.

2. Centralized content repository: All the study materials are stored in one location. That’s how students quickly access various resources as per their needs. Students get the opportunity to learn lessons through multimedia.

3. Improved communication: Students can collaborate on various tasks. They establish connections with peers and teachers. Students remain updated with the latest news from their teachers and friends.

4. Self-paced learning: With the LMS platform, students can study at their own pace. They can easily keep track of their performance and learning behaviour. LMS training courses are available in multiple formats like - audio, video and text content. Students can select the format as per their choice.

How to choose an LMS?

Choosing an LMS is not a joke. There are innumerable factors that need to be considered before making a decision. Have a look:

1. Whom you have to train: Before selecting an LMS, it is important to consider the target audience whom you have to serve.

• Age: If the user belongs to the primary level, then you can go for gamification. It is more engaging and makes learning an interesting process. However, for higher classes’ students, textual training programs can also be considered.

• Size How many people do you plan on training is also one of the important factors to decide LMS platform.

• Skills: Another thing that you should consider while choosing an LMS platform is to know the understanding level of the users.

2. Define your goals: Before finalising an LMS, you must know the learning goals. And your chosen LMS must comply with the SMART rule - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and time limited.

3. Security: Hackers are becoming more sharp and more cunning. Hence, it becomes really important that one should check the security level of the LMS. Students’ data must be preserved and this should become a deciding factor.

4. Should be able to track students’ performance: An LMS platform must be capable of tracking student’s performance and provide real time details on a student’s learning journey and academic strengths and weaknesses.

5. Learning models: Another way to narrow down the search for LMS is to define whether your training will be exclusively online or blended. In case, L&D initiatives involve instructor-led training, then you will need a platform that manages schedules and locations, and also manages attendances.

LMS Tracking:

You have chosen your Learning Management System (LMS). But did you know it’s really important to track and monitor the progress of your team to map LMS effectiveness? Here are the effective ways to test whether LMS is working or not:

1. Track learner development: An effective learning management system must be able to provide statistics to track the activity and progression of your learners. By tracking the relevant data, you can easily monitor the overall scores, success rates and time spent on your LMS. If you notice a high drop-off, it means that the training program is not tailored to the needs of your learners.

2. Test course attempts: People learn at different rates. Some of them will not have any problem completing the training with one attempt, while others may require more than one attempt to progress. Monitoring course attempts will allow you to monitor individuals and gauge whether the course will need to be adapted to be more effective.

3. Test learner’s knowledge: Make sure that the training programs include quizzes and other different activities that help map how much students have understood, what are their retention levels and give insights about the overall performance of the users.

4. Mock courses: Another thing that must be taken care of is that periodic courses must be assigned. It allows your team to stay at the top of their game and compliant with all the relevant fields. So, make sure that your chosen learning management system does not stick to repetition. Instead, remain fully compliant with the relevant fields with refresher courses.

5. Collect feedback: Last, but not least, track the effectiveness of LMS by asking for feedback from your listeners. After all, you cannot go with the changes that will only help a small group of children. Rather, it must create a learning platform that your team will look forward to invest and make sure that your training is being received.

LMS Standards

Standardised LMS assists trainees view courses and allows the trainer to easily track the results. Have a look at the popular eLearning standards:

• SCORM: SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is a standard that is recognized by every learning platform. It allows you to build a clear structure, use different portions of content and set rules for switching between the two.

• xAPI: It tracks most of the learning activities such as real-time learning, long-term learning, experiential learning and simulations. It can be launched from a local storage device or integrated into a standard WordPress website.

LMS Pricing

There are different pricing models for LMS platforms in education. You can go through them and select the one that you find most convenient. Have a look:

1. Pay per learner: It is a model that is often known as pay-per-seat. Its principle is simple - You pay a fixed price for a certain number of learners added to the system. This helps you predict your monthly and yearly expenses for LMS.

2. Pay per active user: It is the second most popular LMS model. Here you add an unlimited number of users to the LMS. However, you will be charged for the ones who have logged into the system during the pay period.

3. Pay as you go: This kind of pricing model is directly linked to its usage. So, you can save money during off-season of online learning during which users are mostly interested to attend offline classes.

4. Subscription pricing: Probably this is the easiest pricing model you can ever think of. You simply buy a periodic license for an LMS, pay an annual fee and add as many users as you want.

5. Open source LMS: The main benefit of this online learning environment is it’s flexibility, meaning you can make any kind of customization as you want at cheaper price.

How to choose the best LMS pricing model?

Before committing to a learning management system, follow the given instructions:

1. Count the number of users who need to be trained.
2. Assess how long the LMS will be used by each user.
3. Estimate how many courses are will need to be uploaded.
4. Define essential features and integrations.

Conclusion:

In today’s techno savvy world, a learning management system is an integral part of your learning technologies. With in-built authoring tools integrated into the LCMS, you can create integrated e-learning content for new age users. Additionally, it has become the foremost choice among educators as it helps engage with your learners, while ensuring that your users can access content from any device (mobile device, laptop, tablet etc) from any location. It manages external content files and curates blended learning programs.

As we move towards collaborative learning online, education becomes more dynamic and agile. Bowled over by the advantages of an LMS platform? Get in touch with us today to evolve the needs of your today’s educational institutions and transform a learner’s educational experience.