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Jannik Weichert
Managing Director
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In this blog post, we'll look at the most common signs that your LMS might be out of date and the factors that contribute to its obsolescence. From outdated technology to a lack of features or support, there are many ways an LMS can become obsolete. Read on to find out more and see if it's time to make a switch.
An LMS is often confused with a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) or a Learning Content Management System (LCMS). Even though they sound similar, they are actually different or at least complement each other.
In summary, an LXP is all about the learning experience, while an LMS is based exclusively on learning management. An LCMS, on the other hand, is more about building and hosting your learning platform, while an LMS is only used to manage and manage educational materials.
A learning management system gives you better management options. To be precise, an LMS can help you do that
just to name a few of the features.
One of the main reasons for using learning management systems in HR and R&D departments is that you can teach your employees regardless of time and place, as it is now easier to meet online than in person. Workshops in a loud and crowded conference room are justified in some areas, but are rather outdated in many others. This also applies to an instructor who gives a presentation to bored and unfocused participants. So say goodbye to classrooms — the future belongs to e-learning!
There are a variety of use cases for a learning management system. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe all of these different use cases. But to give you an idea of what's possible, here are some interesting examples:
Now that you know the definition of Learning Management System and at least a few use cases, we can go ahead and explain why you might want to update an LMS.
Did you know that the first learning management system was introduced in the early 1990s? Although the e-learning market is constantly growing, the sad truth is that the L&D industry hasn't changed the way we use LMS since then. And why? Simply because LMS were created as a management tool to host learning, not to make it easier. It is time to make learning (and especially e-learning) attractive and interactive again for all users.
Reasons why your learning management system is likely to be outdated include:
An LMS typically consists of two parts: a management interface and a user interface (UI).
Here, administrators (you — teachers, trainers or learning managers) can carry out all tasks of organizing the company's learning programs.
The user interface (UI) is what learners see when they're enrolled in one of your courses. The user interface runs in the browser or in an app on the device.
It's all too understandable that administrators tend to neglect the importance of an appealing user interface for their learners. But at least learners shouldn't be bored or uncomfortable using an LMS. Better yet, they should really enjoy using it. This is where the word “user experience” (UX) comes into play. To better understand what makes for a really good UX for your learners, we can reverse the argument and show you what your learning platform's UX should NOT look like:
In short, your learning platform shouldn't feel like a traditional course catalog.
As we've mentioned before, learning should be fun. But how do you make every learning topic exciting and appealing to your employees? We have another fancy word for you: gamification.
If you're adding elements to your learning platform that don't feel like you're using a learning platform, then you're on the right track. If you haven't designed it this way yet, don't worry—we've got some tips for you:
Perhaps you've played a video game before. And you might have noticed that most games include something like “Experience Points (XP)” or fictitious currency — something that shows your progress. We can apply the same principle to e-learning. But here we call it Learning Points (LP). Learners can collect LP's by completing a course or passing a quiz, for example — and that's fun. This keeps your employees motivated and makes them want to learn more.
This is a powerful feature in e-learning and is also commonly used in the gaming industry.
It is not only important for administrators to track learners' progress, but also for learners themselves. A leaderboard can help your learners find out where they stand. This allows learners to compare their own progress with that of their colleagues. This can be an additional motivation boost for employees to learn more.
You probably still remember your time in high school: You and your classmates complete the same assignments and learn the material together. Just as with face-to-face teaching, cohort-based learning is also used in e-learning. There are dozens of reasons why cohort-based learning is so important. For example, you can facilitate social interaction and collaboration in the learning process. This improves your employees' learning experience and gives them a sense of community. It is also encouraging and motivating to set goals as a team and to achieve them. In combination with team leaderboards, the competitive spirit of team learning is awakened.
Even though some learning management systems include this feature, they usually have simple reports on test scores and the number of courses learners completed. In most cases, there are no detailed evaluations of:
However, detailed analyses are necessary to understand the learners' skills and thus the Skills Gaps to identify who they have. Does any of your learners have a high number of quiz attempts? Then the person should take another course on the subject. How often do your employees use the learning platform? Once a week? Once a month, or maybe even less often? And if they use it, for how long? This is important information for an HR or L&D expert. You invest hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in training your employees every year. You should know how valuable training really is for your employees. So make sure you get enough analytics.
Pre-recorded video sessions are certainly sufficient in most cases — which is why they are so popular in e-learning. But what if
Most learning platforms simply let you down. But when you include expert mentoring, you're not only giving a “human touch,” but your learners also have immediate access to learning advice. Like a personal trainer at a gym, a qualified expert can help learners achieve their learning goals faster and more effectively.
For mentors, the interactions also strengthen their own knowledge, and mentors also understand the learners' perspective. The latter help mentors to better assess the learning content. In return, expert mentoring leads to an increase in knowledge and closer ties between veterans and newcomers.
This is probably the worst thing a learning platform can lack. Most corporate learning management systems are a boring collection of PowerPoint slides, worksheets, courses, and quizzes. It's often no piece of cake to find the right content in traditional LMS, not to mention taking a lot of time.
One-size-fits-all solutions are simply no longer up to date in today's world — certainly not in an educational context. To make your training more efficient, you need to provide your employees with the right content at the right time. Otherwise, you'll lose valuable time for continuing education, waste money on useless content and see your employees' motivation dwindling.
Your learning platform should have recommended and mandatory courses based on your employees' previous activities to provide clear “next steps.” Like a perfectly tailored suit, the learning materials feel the same for your learners. In this way, personalized content keeps your learners engaged, increases retention rates, and improves your ROI.
LMS have been around for a long time, but they haven't evolved much. It is not so easy to explain why this is the case. However, it is possible to think about what makes a good, modern LMS and what effects it has on employee training.
Now that we've explored the reasons why your learning management system (LMS) might be outdated, let's look at an alternative solution that can help modernize your learning and development strategy: the Learning Experience Platform (LXP). An LXP is a new type of technology that goes beyond traditional LMS and provides learners with a more personalized and engaging learning experience. In the next blog post, we'll go into more detail about what an LMS is and how you can benefit from it.
Find out everything in our”Comparing LXP and LMS“Guide!
edyoucated is funded by leading research institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
