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LMS software has evolved over the last decade from their initial administrative purpose of managing learners to an all-encompassing purpose of managing learning. This shift entails the online training software to take up diverse responsibilities – content development using e-learning software, content delivery, student evaluations and assessments, creating digital repositories, providing an interactive platform for collaborative learning and much more. To successfully deliver as per expectations, LMS Software is moving away from a course-centric focus to a definite learner-centric approach. Many organizations choose to implement LMS software within their organization but often have to ask themselves a lot of questions. Here are some pointers that will help you drive your e-learning initiative with the most appropriate LMS software:
- The most important parameters one should keep in mind while selecting LMS partner: There are certain drivers for each learner group and if one knows ‘what one wants’, the selection is simple. Each LMS system has its own strengths, but these cannot be well utilised over the learning needs of different industries. For instances, a LMS system which is rich in audio-visual stimulus should do well for a manufacturing or infrastructure based company, whose learning modules often consist of a lot of information and tend to be tedious or text heavy. For a Financial services organisation, however, Web Based Tutorials (WBTs) would do better, as per the constant inflow of information that they require. Similarly, if you know what your learners want, the basis of the LMS can be Assessment or Certification (for technology and software companies), Search (for Research companies) or Content (for management trainees or consulting firms).
- The challenges of LMS implementations: The greatest challenge of all, even more than Technology, is that of Change Management. The preconceived notions about classroom versus e-learning are the hardest to break and often, learning development teams choose to pamper the egos of the training managers than to attempt to break new grounds. How I look at it is – like hands and feet do NOT have interchangeable roles, classroom and e-learning have their own set of strengths – and either one cannot be a substitute for another. The task of the training manager, should be that of setting up a wholesale market and the learners choose what they want to ‘buy’. The web’s most successful search portals and probably the best LMS model are Google and Wikipedia. Apart from this, Technological snags and Linguistics are also areas where the robustness and adaptability of a LMS is challenged.
- Post implementation support: Small issues that are overlooked at the LMS assessment and overview stage can prove to a problem later. Long term planning is necessary, as the LMS partner should show the way that learning will take in the future as well. Finally – snags, technical or other, in the support mechanisms can also hamper the success of a LMS. The LMS partner needs to provide constant sustenance and help in all these areas.
- Getting senior stakeholders/management excited about LMS: The senior stakeholders are all about the bottom-lines and numbers that get their attention. The Return on Investment for the LMS should be attractive to them and it is best if an insider – from the Training team or Human Resources Department, is clear about how business of the LMS partner works. If that is clear, then the ROI model starts to make sense as well.
- Keeping learners engaged: It is best to lookout for learner feedback. How many are being certified? How many are putting up presentations of what they have learnt? How many of them are getting appraised on the basis of e-learning modules completed? Continuous analysing the needs of the learners will keep them interested and if the value that a learning module provides becomes clear to them, the job of keeping them engaged is done. Timing is of essence, long and winding modules make tedious learning – be it in a classroom or on your computer screen. Shorter, crisper modules work better and show better retention.
E-Learning has the capability of providing instant results in knowledge delivery, which classroom based learning cannot. It is undoubtedly the preferred medium for the generation of today, who are ready to accommodate learning on demand.
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