Most educational institutions these days use learning management systems as a platform to facilitate digital learning and online training. The features provided by the learning management systems make it easier for schools, colleges, universities, and training providers to create, distribute, and manage a wide variety of educational content. But the uses cases of a learning management system (LMS) vary across organizations and enterprises.
The educational institutions use LMS as a platform to enable students to acquire knowledge and hone skills at their own pace and convenience. At the same time, businesses use LMS as a specialized software solution to automate employee training, customer training, compliance training, and dealer training. That is why; each organization needs to customize the LMS according to its precise training needs and goals.
You have the option to choose from a wide range of learning management systems. The learning management systems differ from each other, primarily in the category of features. While comparing the learning management software, you must check if they come with features to meet your business’s precise training needs. However, it is also essential to focus on some important factors to understand how to choose a learning management system for your business or educational institution.
How to Choose a Learning Management System: 11 Things You Must Consider to Pick the Right LMS
Defining Your Training Needs
As mentioned earlier, the use cases of an LMS vary across enterprises and organizations. Before comparing the learning management systems, you must clearly define your organization’s training needs and goals. You can even consider making changes to your organization’s training strategy to choose an LMS that utilizes the existing training materials and resources.
Collect Information and Ideas
Your business can make the use of a single LMS system to training multiple teams. As the needs of individual teams vary, you must opt for an LMS that complements the training needs. It is always advisable to collect information and ideas from various teams to pick an LMS that complements the training needs and expectations of every employee.
Identifying the Key Features
Your choice of LMS must come with the features required to meet your organization’s varying training strategies. For instance, you should consider an LMS that comes with features to meet specific training needs like extend corporate training, train a large number of employees, access customized content, and implement online training programs. It is always advisable to choose an LMS that can be customized according to the needs of your business.
Integrating with Your Existing Systems
Your business can easily boost online training by integrating the LMS with their existing software and systems – digital library, reporting system, training program management software, and course booking system. If you have already invested in specific digital training tools, you must choose an LMS that can be integrated seamlessly with the existing software and systems used by your business. It is also advisable to check if the vendor provides options to integrate the LMS with your existing systems.
Assessing the Skill of Employees
The learning management systems differ from each other in the category of usability. Some of the learning management systems are easier to learn and use than others. You must choose an LMS that each employee can use seamlessly regardless of his skill and expertise. You can easily assess the usability of the LMS by making employees from various teams use the software during the free trial. The feedback will help you to choose an LMS that can be used to train each employee.
Making Accessible on Various Devices
According to elearningIndustry.com,
“Mobile is the present as well as the future of learning and a mobile LMS is now a must-have for everyone.”
While comparing and shortlisting the LMS, you must remember that most employees will access the application on their smartphones and tablets. Hence, you must opt for an LMS that is optimized for mobile devices. You can even use mobile user experience as the key parameter to compare the learning management systems.
Availing Technical Support Quickly
You cannot run multiple online training programs successfully without making the LMS available and accessible. That is why; you must check the technical support provided by each LMS vendor. It is important to choose a vendor that provides technical support through multiple communication channels – phones, emails, text messages, and instant messaging. Continuous technical support is essential to keep the LMS functional by fixing issues proactively.
Keeping the LMS Up-to-Date
The trends of digital learning and online training change from time to time. Most vendors update their learning management systems regularly to improve user experience and meet emerging trends. But you must check how to update the LMS without putting extra time and effort. Also, you must consider investing in a cloud-based learning management system. They allow you to avail of additional and updated features without updating or reinstalling the software solution. Here are the advantages of using a cloud-based LMS system.
Meeting Current and Future Training Needs
The right LMS will help you to launch a variety of online training programs without putting in extra time and effort. The right LMS platforms will allow you to launch effective employee onboarding and training programs using LMS system. But you must remember that the training needs of each business change from time to time. You cannot upskill and reskill your employees without launching new training programs regularly. Hence, you must consider your organization’s current and future training needs while comparing the learning management systems. It is also important to choose an LMS system that can is easier to customize and scale.
Reading Online Reviews
You can understand the key features of an LMS system based on the information provided by the vendor. But you must analyze important aspects of the LMS based on the online reviews and comments posted by other users. In addition to reading details on the vendor’s website, you must check the LMS reviews posted on authority review sites. The reviews posted by the current and past customers will help you to evaluate the software using real-time information.
Trying the LMS in Real-Time
You can analyze the features of the LMS by taking a free trial or asking for a live demonstration. The trail will help you to assess key aspects of the LMS, including accessibility, usability, scalability, and security. That is why; you must shortlist the vendors that offer a live demonstration or free trial.
The learning management system built by Mintbook aims to meet varying training needs of educational institutions and enterprises by combining online, offline, and instructor-led courses. Also, your employees and student can access over 1500 digital libraries consisting of a variety of digital content – eBooks, journals, magazines, audiobooks, and videos. Also, your organization can enable employees to access the cloud-hosted LMS available to employees anytime and anywhere.
