The LMS journey

The LMS Journey - Implementing a Learning Management System P a g e | 1
The LMS Journey
Implementing a Learning
Management System

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................... 4
Here we go again. ................................................................................................................ 5
What’s in a brand?............................................................................................................... 8
Collaborating on categories............................................................................................... 13
Curation – more than a buzz word.................................................................................... 16
What’s in a badge?............................................................................................................. 19
All the little bits................................................................................................................. 21
Something’s coming........................................................................................................... 23
Getting closer..................................................................................................................... 25
It took some time but we got there ................................................................................... 27

Introduction
Introducing any new software system is a major task which needs to be organised and
planned. Over the long period of time I have worked in Learning and Development I
have been involved with numerous new systems which have included two HR system
projects and six learning management systems.
In the spring of 2018, I joined United Welsh Housing Association based in South Wales,
potentially one of the best moves I made in my working life. It soon became obvious they
needed a LMS to help with their learning culture and deliver a wider range of learning.
As a started this project I decided to blog as I went along. This e-book is the result.
Bob Price
Cardiff
September 2019
http@//about.me/bob.price
Copyright 2019 Bob Price. All rights reserved

Here we go again.
For the past ten years part of my work has involved implementing, upgrading
and/or running learning management systems. Add to this creating content from
full blown modules to microlearning and it is fair to say that I have been
involved with a lot of LMS vendors, suppliers and manufacturers. I am now on
implementation number 6.
My original system was as low budget as they come, downloading and installing
Moodle (with the aid of an IT consultant) and learning how to theme and admin
from books, Google and forums. As time has progressed I have used Moodle,
Totara and a bespoke system cobbled together by a tech who swiped a load of
PHP pages from various sites.
What have I learned from all this?
1. Just because I know, doesn’t mean that everyone does
In ten years, I have built up a lot of knowledge. I have seen systems from the
ground up and had a lot of demos and pitches. Just walking around World of
Learning in Birmingham’s NEC last year I was accosted by numerous people
who had wonderful systems which did loads of amazing stuff. It was day 2 of the
show and when the fatigue usually sets in for some stands (don’t worry, I’ve been
there and understand how you feel) and so many were simply ‘help yourself to
freebies and we’ll call you’ whilst others offered full blown demos with the full
sales pitch. As a result, and armed with a cuddly Unicorn, socks and a new
running top (long story) I headed back for South Wales armed with a batch of
leaflets and lot new knowledge about systems I had not previously encountered.
However, when discussing the new system with people there were expectations
about systems that wouldn’t be fulfilled. It is true that some LMS will be all
singing and dancing and have function after function, but not at the budget that
we have and for the size of organisation that we are (180 people and counting).
Many of the systems with amazing functionality started with increments at 500
or 1000 users and as such unknowingly priced themselves out of the market.
So, to put this another way, manage expectations. It will save you a heap of
problems later.
2. If you build it, they won’t automatically come
“I don’t do all this computer stuff” Sound familiar? In one organisation where I
plied my trade we had 350 staff with 6 who would not do anything with
computers. They were highly skilled at what they did and were in roles that
didn’t require computers to function.
There will always be one or two people who will not be willing to use the system,
however there are plenty who are capable but don’t. Why? In short, they don’t
see any point. I have blogged before about people who only count learning if it is
a face to face session and don’t view any other type of learning as valid.
For many it’s the LMS is just another system and means nothing to them (many
also tick the box on the staff survey saying they are never developed). It may be

stuffed with content, modules, videos, micro learning and links to learning
opportunities across the globe, but to them it is just the place you go to do the
mandatory training and where you book the ‘proper’ training.
What can be done to combat this? There are many organisations who have
successful LMS systems and a positive learning culture, so what do they do?
Their answer is to involve people. We are building a learning group who will
oversee the elements we can influence: the design, structure and content. As a
result, the aim is the new system will owned by the organisation and not just
another project that Bob is involved with. This enthusiastic group will be our
voices across the organisation and the conversation will continue by making use
of Microsoft Teams, offering participation to anyone no matter where they work
in the organisation.
So, to put this another way, its not my system it everyone’s, so make it so.
As a side note, with my 6 people who were not digital confident, I setup the
online modules, logged them in and allowed them to work their way through
them; all 6 were happy with a mouse, they just didn’t have the confidence to
logon and move through a PC. Problem solved.
3. Some people just don’t get how it works.
When a new system arrives, it is important that everyone knows what it can and
cannot do. A lot of LMS’s will allow face to face sessions to be booked. As part of
this it will send out an iCal appointment as a place holder to be put into the
Outlook calendar. However, few of them have interactivity as part of this
process, in other words clicking on the ‘Accept’ or ‘Decline’ button will do nothing.
No matter how many times you explain this, some people just don’t get it. In one
instance we had ‘For information only, do not accept or decline’ written in the
calendar appointment. Despite this people when people failed to turn up for
sessions, their comeback would nearly always be ‘well, I declined the
appointment!”.
LMS’s will not do everything so their benefits and the difference they will make
needs to be promoted, however their limitations will also need to be outlined. A
proper launch of the new platform, involving the working group is planned, with
drop in sessions and full Q&As which will hopefully negate some of the common
issues often encountered.
So, in short, be real about what it will do.
The kick off meeting is in a few weeks time so more blogs will follow, but lets
hope that number 6 will be my lucky number. And no Prisoner jokes please….

If you build it, they won’t
automatically come…

What’s in a brand?
Next stage in implementing our learning management system project is
branding. The project team at the suppliers are full tilt starting work and have
asked us for the brand details.
As many of you will know a brand is not just a logo it's the whole ethos of your
company and involves colours, fonts and but incorporates the values and ethos
that underpins your company
In some cases, it's very easy to complete a brand request from a LMS supplier.
Many organisations have a brand handbook and it is easy to get hold of what you
need. In a lot of cases even small companies, charities and small organisations
have these. That part is easy. Where it can get problematical when you start
naming things.
My original learning management system was simply known as Moodle because
that's what it was. It was a downloaded copy installed on a server. To access it
uses had to type in the name of the server (which was Gollum – who says techs
aren’t geeks?) and put in the port number, which was something like 8088. There
was a link from the internet the most people just literally typed Golum:8088. As
time went on and a move to other organisations the name of the site was more
crucial.

Golum:88. Who says techs aren’t
geeks?

In one organisation I worked at the site had a name that included the @ sign.
This was an absolute pain and for anybody looking at doing this I genuinely
recommend you don't. If you have anybody who suggests this will be a cool thing
just give them a hard-withering Paddington stare and continue the conversation
without referring to it. Why? People could not get their head around the
difference between the name of the site and the email address that you used to
contact the admin. Hence, we had people sending emails to the site name
instead of the email address despite this being clearly listed on the front page of
the screen. The site was named before I joined (it wasn't my idea). When we had
the chance to upgrade to Totara and change the site name with grabbed it with
both hands and, after a lot of debate and discussion, we rebranded the whole
site.
So, how do we choose a name? Some people give clever names to their site and it
works. Others call their sites the Learning Store, the Learning Hub, the
Learning Portal to make it simple. Some make use of acronyms which make
names and in other cases these acronyms make an animal name. Often coupled
with this animal name is a mascot representing the site. In some cases, this
works really well and in other cases it doesn't. I had the suggestion to do this
with one site I was involved in and it was enthusiastically received. We even
bought a toy mascot, the idea being that it could be taken on holiday or trips and
a catalogue of photos added to the site. I was the first one to take this mascot
away on holiday and took photographs of said toy enjoying themselves in the sun
of the Dominican Republic.
On my return we discussed the branding with our comms department and
mentioned the mascot. We were told, in no uncertain terms, this was not
happening. The first rule of this comms department apparently was “no
mascots”. He was given to my Head of Services 9-year-old daughter and I believe
she still plays with it to this day (she has confirmed this is the case). As for the
pictures of him enjoying himself in the sun, well let's just say they are tucked
away somewhere on a Dropbox site. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
And then there's the matter of the font. In the particular system we are using
the font is fixed (Arial) and will be used right throughout the whole system. We
can't change this, but we can change some headings. The problem we now face is
our company font, which we would like to use, is non-standard and not within
the Windows or Macintosh default mix. It is licensed for use by us and we start
facing problems handing it out to external companies. So it looks like it's Ariel
for the whole site after all.

Coffee for Nacho

Once colours, fonts and names are sorted, there is the discussion about the look
and feel of the site. Modern day Moodle/Totara and other LMS products allow
your site look like an extension of an intranet and less like a learning system. At
one point, a few years ago, you could log onto any learning management system
anywhere and could tell instantly if it was a Moodle site. There was a particular
look and feel to the structure which screamed ‘Moodle’. Fast forward to today
and it's often very difficult to tell (unless you actually look at source code) as a
result the chance to personalise your site is greatly increased. Again, this is
where the brand comes in to make sure that the images that you're using are
consistent with the look and feel of your organisation. There are plenty of stock
libraries available offering free images. I make use of both Pixabay and Pexels
who supply high quality images and I am also lucky to have a good comms
department will have an excellent photo library.
Getting the brand, the name, and the look and feel of the site right is very
important if you want people to use it. When they log on for the first time we
want people to be impressed. In comparison to the early Moodle sites we can do
so much more, so we need to grab those opportunities and make this thing look
good.
Of course, this is just part of the story. Next, we look at content and what makes
people come back for more.

Collaborating on categories
The next phase in developing the learning management system involves
categorising the learning. I have a large amount of learning consisting of
documents, links to YouTube and TED talks (all of course credited) as well as
online modules and external links to courses from other organisations.
The challenge was to sort all these different learning titles into categories which
would make it easier to search, easier to group, and also easier to allocate badges
when completed. It would have been very easy to decide the categories myself,
however this is a collaborative process so I brought together the learning group
once more. This was an update on progress and show them where we were going
with the new LMS. More importantly it was to ask them the question, how can
we put all this content together to make it coherent.
I had printed all of the learning titles on to A3 paper which we stuck up on the
wall and attacked with a bag of smelly pens. The two groups collaborated decided
on some categories, scrubbed those out, merged them together, put a line
through it and started again.
At the end of it the two groups presented back and general agreement was made
on how we would proceed. As a result, we now have five categories of learning on
the LMS.
• Fundamentals which includes all the core leaning and induction modules
• Technology which includes IT and software solutions
• Client well-being which includes safeguarding and mental health
subjects
• Employee wellbeing and development which includes leadership
management and self department as well as staff wellbeing
• Service delivery which includes all the topics around housing,
compliance, and equality and diversity
For every category each learning topic needs a range of keywords. If anyone is
searching on a specific word, the system will bring back a range of learning
surrounding the topic, even if they are in different categories. This combination
of categories and keywords will be essential to ensuring the people can find what
they need when the system is launched later this year.

Categories by general agreement

Now comes the hard part. I have already uploaded 85 bits of learning, so I need
to recategorize them and upload the rest. I will be spending an amount of time
hiding in dark corners with music playing, going progressively mad. However,
once it's completed, we will have a learning management system full of content
curated by myself and others with more suggestions coming in every single
day. Even this morning I was sent a link to Welsh at Work, an online taster
course which I've been able to link from the system. It's a small thing however
more people are coming forward with suggestions of links, content and ideas to
add to the learning system.
Back to work and back to categories

Curation – more than a buzz word
The launch date is decided. The middle of September is now our target and I am
undertaking some serious work to ensure the site is ready before launch. One of
the many tasks I have to do is to link all the content we currently have available
via our SharePoint platform which has been gathered via curation. So, what is
curation?
According to Wikipedia, content curation is “the process of gathering information
relevant to a particular topic or area of interest, usually with the intention of
adding value”
From a social perspective various tools exist to help with content curation such
as Flipboard, Digg and Pinterest. These allow people with similar interests to
share their own findings and contribute content to be read on a wider basis.
Others ‘subscribe’ to these channels and view and/or add as they go along.
For people who have interests in particular topics these tools allow them to focus
on their own specific pursuits. It allows them to join with like-minded
individuals who also enjoy discussing and sharing information about their
interest. This results in people globally coming together to form small
communities in which social leadership acts to guide people to develop content
meeting the needs of others.
So how does this work in the workplace?
There is a huge amount of media available via YouTube, TED talks, forums,
downloads, online modules, and various other sites, which can be pulled together
under headings relating to your work area. For example, our SharePoint site had
handpicked collections of content relevant to equality and diversity, wellbeing,
mental health, safeguarding, and general housing.
Some of this content comes from research carried out by myself however
increasingly others direct me to content and ask if it can also be added to our
learning site. In recent times a fabulous YouTube video on depression and a
Vimeo video on abandoned cars have been recommended to me and all have been
added and linked.
Does curation take over from self-discovery? No, but as people discover for
themselves, they will also add to the mix of items to be added to the content thus
contributing towards the curation.
Curation is therefore not a singular activity, it is the activity of many people,
working together in a dispersed informal setting with social leadership guiding
people through the process. There is no wrong, there is no right, but there is
consensus. In some cases, content cannot be linked due to the nature of how it is
displayed. In other cases, it is useful and can be shared.
As a result, as we launch in September there will be over 200 pieces of content
linked or available from our new learning site.
The challenge is to guide people to the relevant content on any system. This is
where a good search engine and keywords come in. Our new learning

management system offers searching on a title, manually added keywords, and
on all the words within a short description compiled about any piece of learning.
Curation may not fit all. There are some who will argue they don’t have time.
There are some who want to have their finds put over others. There were some
who will simply want to add everything and anything they find without using
discernment as to its usefulness. For example, a 3 minute video can introduce
the subject, but a 30 minute webinar on the same subject may be relevant for
other people.
Curation therefore is a skill to be learnt. It is something we can get wrong and
like all things, we need space to be made for those who fail, to learn from that
failing and grow as a result.
The launch date is fast approaching and there still a lot to do, but thanks to the
curation from others I now have a huge amount of content to offer my colleagues.

As we launch in September there will
be over 200 pieces of content linked or
available

What’s in a badge?
Anyone who knows me, or has spent any time working with me, will know that I
am a fan of the Mozilla Open Badge standard. Open Badges are image files in
which metadata is hard coded to show why, where, and how the badge has been
earned. Badges are awarded as recognition of achievement and their open online
standard and has been adopted by a number of high-profile organizations.
I was excited to find a badge awarding mechanism built into our new learning
management system. However, these are not Open Badges defined by the
Mozilla standards. Having said that, in the same way that Open Badges are
earned as micro credentials, the badges on the learning management system can
also be awarded for completion of online or face-to-face learning or as part of a
learning journey.
When anyone completes a piece of learning a log in made in their training
history. Alongside this is a PDF notification of completion. This shows the date
and the title of the learning. For online modules and face-to-face courses, a more
comprehensive certificate can be issued. Users can print these keep them
digitally. However, in some cases a badge can be issued as a visual indicator of
learning completion on people's profiles.
So, do people want badges?
In some cases, people equate badges, and earning them, with gamification. For
some earning a badge is an incentive, it's something they want to do. Others may
find it childish and won't engage.
Therefore, by limiting the number of badges available at the launch and making
them awards for completing learning journeys, we can monitor their uptake.
There is enough incentive for people to earn them should they wish to do so,
while other people will take part in the learning journeys for their own sake. At
the end of the process people will have learnt, and that is what the new system is
all about.
The badges I have created relate to the categories our online learning group
brought to the table. As a result, learning journeys will have badges relevant to
their category assigned to them. If somebody completes the whole learning
journey, the badge will automatically be awarded. If not, they will still have the
completed elements of the journey within their training history.
It remains to see how many people chase after the badges and how many just
view them as trivial. However, once the system is launched and we're fully up
and running then we'll be able to tell from the reports in the statistics just how
many people are doing so and for what reason.
Not everybody has engaged with Open Badges it is fair to say. However, with
over 15 million badges awarded, and with the backpack now being taken over by
Badgr, the open standard is continuing. It is only hoped that the stand-alone
badges on my learning management system may one day also join that standard.
For more on Open Badges read my e-book here:
https://www.slideshare.net/Huxleypiguk/badges-book

15 million Open Badges have been
awarded globally.

All the little bits
As I have said, I have been here before, and this is the bit I hate.
A lot of content is now uploaded. Face to face sessions which are due in the
autumn have been added ahead of the launch. Scheduled reports on waiting lists
have been set up and trailed. Learning journeys and training plans have been
setup and are ready to go. Other ideas and projects are under way and people are
starting to understand there is a lot of opportunity to use this platform for a lot
of delivery.
So what’s wrong? As we near launch there are issues and questions building up.
• How do I do this?
• How to assign that?
• How do I see what people are doing?
• Why aren’t my scheduled reports coming through to my e-mail? (Probably
our Spam traps).
It’s the same every time I do this, and it doesn’t help that I am impatient. I want
it and I want it now. But it’s time to show some maturity and restraint (hollow
laugh). So, I am making a list and waiting to sit down with my colleague to go
through it all before we go searching for answers.
One of the big questions is our front page. What will people see when they land
on it for the first time? Do we want a lot of content available straight away or
link it up to other pages? We have the ability and we have tools to do it. Like
most LMS’s, we can configure this all ourselves.
So, it’s time for a group meeting and time for the flip charts and pens to come out
again. These collective decisions are genuinely making my life so much easier
and long may they continue.
As my thoughts turn to the launch, I was mildly excited to find you can order
cake toppers from Amazon for a few pounds. Now to find some cupcakes to put
them on….

Learning journeys and training plans
have been setup and are ready to go

Something’s coming..
We are trying to create a stir. A few of us are subtly passing on a message to the
organisation. The message is simple: ‘Something’s coming’.
As the launch date of the system draws nearer, we are letting people know
something new is coming their way. Hence the message filtering through,
something’s coming in September.
The plan is simple, on 2 September a teaser movie will be launched to all staff.
This will show the new system and will feature screen captures of the key
functions. It will start with the phrase ‘Something’s coming’ and then reveal
what.
To prepare for the movie launch members of the online learning group are
wearing button badges on their lanyards with the tagline and the date of
September 2019. An online flip magazine promoting the autumn core learning
sessions also finishes with a page that states ‘Something’s coming’.
Next week I am meeting with the Exec team to show them the system, the movie
and outline the plans for launch. This will prepare them for what is to come and,
knowing them, to help us with the promotion and launch.
All is falling in place, we just need to sort a few glitches out and we are ready to
go.
Something’s coming…..

Guerrilla marketing….

Getting closer
And we soldier on. After a massive list of questions to CIPHR I am now in then
position to move to the next stage and actually prepare for the launch.
Today I presented the system to the Executive team and showed them where we
had got to. They were impressed and offered to help me at any stage.
I am logging on as a user and team manager and checking the menus to make
sure everything is working. As a result, tweaks and modifications are taking
place and I am sure the support team in CIPHR are groaning every time another
mail from me comes my way.
Since I joined United Welsh I have organised some centralise training events
and logged their attendance All these events are now being added and I am
marking attendance so on day 1 people will have this is their training history.
So, what have I learned as we approach launch day?
Manage expectations – some of the training people have completed will be on the
history but not everything. Everyone in the organisation has completed an online
Safeguarding module but I have no simple way of marking 180 records as
complete in one go. In this case individuals will need to add this themselves.
1. Highlight the benefits - When launched we need to highlight what the
system can do and the benefits for individuals. It will grow and as people
use it will help to develop the content and journeys. We have a start point.
2. Make it easy to use - Front screens have now been set to show people what
they need to see with bookings for courses and recommended learning at
the fore.
3. Make it usable - Too many options and to many menus will confuse people.
The interface works, so people will be able to access a library of learning
and key journeys.
4. Fill it with content - There is now nearly 200 pieces of content available for
launch date. This includes new online modules and learning journeys based
on core subjects.
5. Aim to grow – one step at a time. Already discussions are starting about
building journeys to allow teams to gain the knowledge they need to grown
and progress in the organisation. Once the system has launched then there
will be more discussion.
6. Give the users time to use it. It was great to hear my Chief Executive say
we need to make sure users have the time needed to use it. The concept of
protected learning (30 minutes a week) was discussed and favourably
received, time to push this forward.
7. Start to excite people - The guerrilla marketing has started to have effect
with people asking me what my badge means? Next week a movie will be
sent to everyone announcing the system and its launch date. Then the
countdown really starts.
Still a lot to do, but we are close. And then maybe I can go on holiday……

Getting closer

It took some time but we got there
There is a gap in my blog series on the LMS for good reason.
Firstly, I slipped across the ocean and spent two well-earned weeks plodding the theme
parks of Orlando with my wonderful wife, celebrating 30 years of marriage. 14 days of
full on Disney and Universal, sore feet and the package that is Florida.
Secondly, we hit a snag. The API which links our two systems hit a roadblock and
stopped working. Investigations found some issues which could be quickly sorted, but a
couple of others needed more investigation.
Reluctantly we had to cancel the launch for September. I also had to bid au revoir to my
erstwhile colleague Emily who worked alongside me on this project driving the HR
systems aspects. She has headed out the door on maternity leave, and will be spending
the next year with her young son and even younger son who she gave birth to this week
– good luck to them both.
So, I returned to the UK to meet, and start working with, Caitlin who is standing in for
Emily. Together, with a conference call to CIPHR. we worked off the last elements
halting the API. The deletion of a final e-mail and the torrent was unlocked. The API
kicked in and the data started flowing cleanly between the two systems. So much so, the
HR system started sending out evaluation request for courses which I have been
manually administering in the LMS. We still are not quite too sure how that happened
however CIPHR have intervened and turned them off!
Today I sent out the e-mail to announce the launch on Monday and the IT department
are set to disable the links to my SharePoint site which acted as a holding are while I
worked on this project. The links from the HR system will be activated on Friday
afternoon so we can make sure they are working and then it is rollout time.
Next week users can logon via the HR system and access range of online modules,
videos, links to external courses and book on face to face training.
Then the work begins. Already teams are asking for tailored learning pathways for
induction and ongoing development, we are building plans for OD of specific groups to
allow them to move within the organisation and mails are coming through asking if
more topics can be added to the library of content.
There will be teething troubles, there always are, but this launch marks the start of a
enhanced focus on learning within the organisation.
See you on the other side.

Ready to go

The LMS journey

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