There’s no wonder that online learning is the new way of the future.
An adequate tool for online training is more necessary than ever since many organizations are transitioning to remote or semi-remote work. However, it’s not just remote companies that are embracing e-learning. Nearly every organization in the world can benefit from an asynchronous learning model.
Diving headfirst into learning isn’t as easy as launching some online courses. Learning management systems are the essentials of online learning. An LMS is a platform you require to design and assign courses and manage your learning programs. Here is everything you need to know about learning management systems and how companies can benefit from the right system.
What Is a Learning Management System (LMS)?
It is a kind of system for building, managing and delivering eLearning content. Companies use LMSs and some related software to manage their online learning and training programs.
LMS was first arrived in the higher education sector in the late 1990s. Those early Moodle and Blackboard LMSs were ideal tools for organizing instructor-led online courses. The software was pretty essential. It mainly consisted of defined class modules and assignment-submission features. Most classes include pre-recorded classroom lectures and written online course materials.
The corporate world has started adopting and embracing LMS software in the early 2000s to meet their learning and development needs. LMSs have evolved from clunky e-learning course-delivery systems to comprehensive online learning platforms with administration, course-building, and analytics features with an influx of interest and cash. At present, corporate Learning management systems are valued at a $2.5 billion business, and nearly 79% of all LMS users are outside the education industry.
Training Magazine’s 2019 Training Industry Report shows that 44% of businesses are projected to investing in online tools and systems to facilitate learning.
How LMS Are Used?
LMSs help learning managers handle the end-to-end life cycle of the learning process within a company. They’re a fundamental tool for any organization that wants to run a complete online learning program.
Enterprises are using LMSs to develop effective online courses to train and teach their employees. There are so many LMSs available in the market which need a separate authoring tool for course creation, while others can easily allow you to build it directly on their platform.
Learning management teams utilize LMS to save, organize, and assign courses to employees as and when needed. Employees take courses and submit feedback utilizing the LMS interface. A great LMS enables admins to view analytics, monitor employee progress, and recalibrate their learning programs for extraordinary impact.
Learning managers additionally use LMSs to manage learning programs within the organization. They assign roles and responsibilities to different users to designate between teachers and learners. Admins organize courses by subject or create particular tracks that employees follow (for instance, a sales training track or an on-boarding track for new product managers). They can then monitor individual employee’s progress and their feedback.
Why Your Organization Needs an LMS
In the beginning, LMS might look like an enormous expenditure for an organization that is just starting to flesh out its online learning offerings, but it is an excellent investment. An effective LMS makes it easy for everyone in the company to build and share courses. Moreover, you will not require a dedicated L&D department to find value in an LMS.
An LMS is considered to be an effective way to run an online learning program, both for the learners and administrators. Some popular ad hoc solutions such as instructional documents, video tutorials, and webinars on YouTube can take you so far. While you can share some essential information this way, you’ll never be able to create the right learning program without the LMS’s tools. Moving from in-person or informal online learning programs to an effective online learning system gives your learning programs a massive boost in efficiency and effectiveness.
With a good LMS, learning managers can build entire courses quickly without getting help from a developer. All vital information is stored in a single place so that employees can easily find what they are looking for. It’s easy to scale an online learning program alongside the company since there are unlimited times you can reuse and refresh every course.
A reliable learning management system takes this further by democratizing the learning process, taking some pressure off learning managers, and putting more accountability on employees to request and create courses. It’s easy to run an efficient training needs analysis because employees directly state what they need to learn.
An LMS makes it more impactful and easier to learn courses. With a great LMS in place, your employees can easily access their learning materials from anywhere, which allows them to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. The easier it is for your employees to finish online training courses, the more likely they will do it.
The 2020 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report discovered that 57% of L&D Departments plan to spend more money and time on online learning in the coming year.
Benefits of A Learning Management System
The benefits of utilizing an effective LMS to create more effective online learning programs don’t stop at better-informed employees. The positive effects are more remarkable than it.
- Greater Employee Retention
- The link between employee retention and career development has been well established. As per LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report, a staggering 94% of employees said they would work with an organization longer if that organization invested in their career. Helping employees acquire new skills and grow on the job is one of the greatest ways to show your commitment to them.
- More Comprehensive Onboarding
- A smooth onboarding process sets the tone for life and helps you engage and hold on to new joiners. Studies have shown that a smooth onboarding process makes employees 69% more likely to stay at the job for three years or more.
- Increased Employee Satisfaction
- Online learning programs are more convenient and enjoyable than sitting in all-day workshops or long training lectures. The 2020 #VyondTheSurface study on Workplace Attitudes discovered that nearly 51% of employees prefer self-guided online training over instructor-led training.
- Reduced L&D Costs
- An LMS is considered as an investment for the future of learning. While the expenses may be high initially, creating online courses can be repeated as many times as required as it is significantly cheaper than running live courses. Many large organizations have saved thousands or even millions of dollars by shifting to an online learning model.
- Better ROI On Training Programs
- An LMS gives you the tools you require to measure the efficiency of various educational programs. Fine-tune them to get the ideal ROI. Some LMSs integrate with other third-party tools so that you see the direct correlation between your sales numbers and training. This data allows you to allocate your training resources more effectively so that your training dollars stretch further.
- Easier Team Building
- While online learning might look like a solitary activity, new collaborative learning systems allow you to pull employees into the process of evaluating training needs, building courses, and giving feedback.
Conclusion
Choosing the right LMS for your business can improve employee retention, increased productivity, lowered training costs, and better compliance, for example.
Companies are still struggling to keep their training programs up to date, given the quick changes in technology and in-demand skill sets. Thus, more businesses were moving away from legacy LMSs and integrated learning solutions that offer more collaborative learning experiences.
Deck IT’s learning management system will help you train your employees. Their collaborative learning system will assist you in creating a larger culture of learning inside your organization.
Looking for a reliable Learning Management System? Reach out to Deck IT’s experts today.