Best Learning Management System

If you’re trying to find a learning management system (LMS) for your company or organisation, then you’re in the right place. It can be really difficult to know what to look for when you’re searching for an LMS. However, once you know what you’re looking for, it can get a little easier.

There are a ton of different learning management system softwares on the market. Although they all have their benefits, I’ve narrowed them down to just a few of them which you’ll want to consider. First, we’ll look at some of the systems available – then I’ll give you some advice about what you should look for if you are serious about getting an LMS.

So, let’s take a look at some of the bets learning management systems that you can currently find available.

Best Learning Management System

Zoho People

Pros

  • The customer service that you get with Zoho People is second to none that anyone else in the space. Any issues that I’ve had with the platform have been fixed quickly and easily.

Cons

Absorb

Pros

  • If you’re looking for a learning management system with the capabilities of having a ton of users (tens or hundreds of thousands), Absorb would probably be a great choice. In terms of cost per user, when you have a large company or organization, Absorb might be the best value.
  • You can easily set Absorb up with Zoom, which is one of the most used video calling softwares currently available. If you use Zoom, then Absorb would likely be a better option for you.

Cons

  • Although the product itself is great, the support you get from Absorb can be pretty bad depending on who your representative is. For the most part it’s great, but I have heard of people who have got the bad deal (Absorb outsource their support to someone else, so you don’t always get the most knowledgeable people there to help you).
  • The finance reporting from Absorb isn’t as coherent as you’d get with other learning management systems out there.
  • Absorb is an awesome option for those managing a large amount of people. However, I wouldn’t recommend it as my number 1 choice if you manage a relatively small company.

Cornerstone

Pros

  • One benefit of opting for Cornerstone is that you get the ability to have a free trial. Utilizing this can be quite time consuming, but it can let you know whether this LMS is going to be able to do everything you need it to.
  • Cornerstone is really good at doing the basics well. If you just want the ability to upload courses and let your users take them, then this allows you to do this with ease. You’ll also have the ability to track their progress at the click of a button too.

Cons

  • Cornerstone makes it very difficult when you’re managing a large amount of people. You don’t have the ability to edit the groups you’ve created, which can be a real nightmare.
  • There are quite a few small functionalities in Cornerstone which can be annoying. Things like the quiz feature having to be out of 100 – you can’t have a quiz of 20 questions out of 20?! It seems like a lot of things could be made simpler with Cornerstone. Instead, it feels like there’s always 4 or 5 clicks to get what you want, when it should only be a click or two away.

Most Commonly Asked Questions about Learning Management Systems

What is a Learning Management System?

At it’s simplest, a learning management system (shortened often to an LMS) is a web based system that can help you to automate employee training. It does this by being able to track and report the training that is being delivered across an entire company.

An LMS will allow you to put all of your resources – Powerpoints, Spreadsheets and pretty much any sort of file – and give your employees access to them via their laptop or computer (or even their phone, if you get the right LMS) within one click, so they don’t need to go rummaging through files unnecessarily.

You can then track the progress of each learner as they go through your training course. This is important for monitoring the development of each individual throughout the training process.

What kind of Industries use an LMS?

Pretty much any sort of company that you can think of can use a learning management system to help their employees learn. However, the most common industries that use an LMS are probably education e.g. high schools and colleges. This is because an LMS gives the ability to track the performance across thousands of different students.

How can an LMS help my business?

A learning management system can reduce your training costs significantly. Think about it.. an LMS will allow your students to learn at their own pace, as opposed to learning at the pace of the tutor. When everything is easily accessible, it’s a good way to show your employees more trust. You can monitor their progress if they’re not keeping up with things.

Another benefit that an LMS brings is that it allows you to easily meet requirements and legislation without having to track this manually. You can ensure that you don’t get any fines by not complying with the law.

Probably the best thing about an LMS though is that it can give the participants a good learning experience! You can easily make things engaging with an LMS, which will keep learners more enthusiastic about your content.

What steps do I need to take to create a learning management system?

When you’re creating your content management system, you’ll need to take a few steps to ensure things go smoothly. Firstly, you’ll need to think about what you need from your LMS and what you functions you need from it – some learning management systems lend themselves to certain industries better than others.

Secondly, you’ll need to confirm which LMS you’re going to opt for. Obviously, the list here is hopefully going to help you out in deciding that!

After you’ve decided on a learning management system, you’ll want to think about who you need to perform which roles. This will vary greatly depending on the size of your organization/company.

Not everyone has to be an employee, as you can just outsource certain jobs to freelancers and third parties. Typically you’ll need administrators, managers, an IT specialist always helps and maybe HR too.

Then you’ll need to train the necessary administrators in how to use the system properly (a good typing program can help with this). You need people you can rely on to know how to use the LMS easily and clearly, so tech savvy people are a must. After this, you might want to have a pilot launch before actually using your learning management system. Then, you can launch for it real!

Conclusion

Hopefully, this has given you some insight into what you should consider if you’re going to get a learning management system. I know how difficult it can be to find the right LMS for your needs! But, if you find the right system and implement it correctly, then it will make your training process a million times easier!

With eLearning becoming increasingly popular year on year, it’s safe to say that the learning management space is only going to get more competitive in the near future. So, now is as good of a time as ever to invest in a learning management system to help secure the future of your company.

About Sarah White
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