More and more businesses tend to use online learning to provide training to their employees today. Some use a customized platform with their label or use a third-party platform ready with everything. The digital platform is known as LMS. After reading, you will gain an understanding of what LMS is and how it can be beneficial to your company.
What is LMS?
We call it LMS in short, a learning management system which means a system to create and manage content, track progress, export reports, and more. The learning management system represents a platform used for digital learning. It also provides different features to engage the learners like gamification, assessments, and social groups. They are used by various sectors, whether educational centers, governments, or corporates.
Features
There are numerous features that you may be looking for in a platform. However, the main features that need to be available are mainly a platform that can be a learning library and can be increased with more training materials. The second main feature is managing your content, setting up a calendar, and sending training invitations. The last main feature is an automating system that handles grading and preparing reports and analysis. We will go through them in detail, highlighting 7 basic and advanced ones to have a more in-depth understanding.
1- Managing
Platform management is a massive feature because you will need to have ultimate control in the back-end. You can add users or assign training to them. Moreover, you can upload or update training materials and determine the users for the e-learning you provide.
2- Creating
Having a feature that allows you to create interactive content is important. Some earning management systems have an editing function to create content from scratch, edit it, as well as create easy assessments and tests.
3- Tracking
With this feature, you will be able to track your learners’ progress. That includes training and assessments to understand their performance at any time. Using this feature will help you identify their needs throughout the training and improve it if needed.
4- Alerts & Notifications
That is a vital feature if it is necessary to send notifications and alerts in the LMS platform. By setting up automated alerts, you are reminding your learners of their progress in training or a deadline. The smart feature works on its own and sends out the needed notifications at the right time.
5- Interactive learning tools
The goal of transforming traditional training into a digital one through LMS is to make it interactive and attractive to learners. You need to have the ability to add videos, use gamification components, and a blended learning technique to keep things organized and thus increase your learners’ motivation.
6- Certificates
That feature will depend on what types of courses you offer and what your learners need. Some Learning management systems have an in-built system to create certificates for users, whether it’s a training or a course. Therefore, if you are a company that offers training and should issue professional certificates, this feature is a must.
7- Learning Flexibility
You will need to consider the flexibility of learning when choosing LMS for your company. If providing your learners access to your training or course anywhere at any time matters to you, then this is an essential feature. Moreover, You want to ensure if your learners use their mobile for learning, they will have access through any device. Another feature you need to consider is creating a social learning environment like a social media group. That is necessary to encourage your learners to connect, share their knowledge across your channels, and have a live chat together.
How to choose LMS?
Based on the previous features we explained, you will need to choose the LMS that fits your corporate products. There are millions of LMS, but they do not all suit your needs. It may be hard to select the best LMS for you, but we have made it easy for you by following these three tips to identify what you need.
1- Determine your needs
Before you hop on choosing the best LMS, you need to decide whether it is suitable for your company or not. That can be defined when you confirm the goal behind your digital learning course or training and how your learners will benefit from it. Identify the number of your possible learners, their age, their career level, and the devices they use. When you know the answer, you are ready for the next step.
2- Identify your LMS features
Now is the time to choose what features you need based on your defined learners and training goals. You do not need to have the most expensive or the best LMS. You only need functions that will help you achieve your objectives. Check whether you will use gamification and blended learning or not. Find an answer to these questions. Will you need to issue certificates? Will you need your LMS to be integrated with your brand? Will you need to set up alerts and notifications to be sent out?
When answering the previous questions, you should have an idea about your ideal LMS. You need to start looking for the available LMS with these features and see if it matches your budget.
3- Getting the right LMS
It’s time to explore the market now to figure out which learning management system you will choose. You will probably have limited options to choose from according to your needs and budget. Hence, the process is much easier. You can start getting in touch with the vendors and providing them with your requirements to see if they can offer you the solution that fits. You can then decide whether it is the best choice for your company or not.
If you are still unsure about your final decision and wish to have an extra option before your purchase, you can ask the vendor to send a demo. That will give you an overview of how things are working on the platform and decide whether to proceed with your purchase. After all, choosing the right LMS matters to achieve your company’s goals.
Are you still looking for a suitable LMS? Request a demo for Evolve platform and discover all the available features before you finally decide.
