Top 7 Features in an LMS

Editor's Notes

• #4: A little bit about Lambda – our background is in Cloud Learning Management and we are full service organization headquartered in Vancouver, BC. We specialize in open source learning management systems like Moodle and Totara Talk about Totara and how it is a high-value robust system Both Learning Management Systems are feature rich and most importantly – they are 80% more cost effective when you match leading competitors in the market today making them one of the fastest growing technologies in our space. And as experts in eLearning and implementing the platform that we have found reduces IT operating costs by more than 40%. We have over 600 deployments under our belt that have allowed us to soak up industry best practices and pass them onto you. Like today’s webinar topic!
• #5: Your in good company with companies that use our technology like Google, Safeway and Four Seasons that use open source learning management systems like Totara One company that we would like to highlight is Step Energy Services, an oil and gas field services company located in Western Canada. STEP Energy uses Lambda’s hosting platform and services with the Totara Open Source Learning Management System They have said that using Totara has given them an an incredible response from our professionals, exec team and management.  Managers are loving the reporting and ability to check out their teams training records. STEP is also developing more engaging online courses to have on the system via Micro Learning, quick little 2-3 minute online courses that relate to safety hazards and all types of topics. I just returned from ATD in Orlando and this was a very hot topic.   
• #6: What are we talking about today? First off, let’s give you some background into open source. Then let’s talk about why organizations are gravitating to using open solutions Then we will highlight the four fastest growing open source learning technologies in the market today And finally we will talk about how to bring this technology to your organization with Lambda I expect that the total presentation to be around 30 minutes with time for questions and answers at the end. Feel free to ask questions throughout using the chat window and don’t forget this is being recorded and we will send the deck and slides in the next 48 hours.
• #8: With humble beginning's in the education sector, the LMS market has expanded into corporate spaces In 2014 alone, the market grew by 21% to $2.5 billion – in 2018 the market is expected to reach $8 billion There are now over 500 LMS’s worldwide making the task of selecting an LMS fairly daunting, we hope that this presentation will make the process easier for you! The first LMS’s served Universities for online learning and course authoring – today – the LMS continues to be an advanced platform for delivering eLearning and has grown to encompass talent management and training capabilities as well We’re excited to share the 7 features that will ensure you find an LMS that meets the unique needs of your learners, trainers and system administrators!
• #10: An engaging design is a theme that is branded to your organization, and has a modern, user-friendly interface A metaphor we like to compare this to is the experience in a live classroom. If the classroom is unapproachable, outdated and unfamiliar, you will have certain negative connotations to the learning experience. Make it friendly and inviting for your learners. Branding will allow your company’s message and values to be an underlying theme throughout the learning experience It will also create consistency between your LMS and website, creating a seamless user experience, enhancing engagement, and ultimately increasing user adoption Request a demo from the vendor - before you go into the demonstration it is a good idea to consider your audience needs and expertise level. You will want to do this to ensure the technical capabilities of your users aligns with the LMS you choose In other words, are your user’s technologically adept, or are the novices? Depending on the answer to this question, your evaluation of the ease of use will vary All the thinking and consideration you put into the design of the LMS interface will also carry through to the design of your learning or training courses
• #11: A good LMS will mold to fit your organization, and mirror your business, not force you to morph your business to fit the LMS. If your business has complex hierarchies, or varied groups, your LMS needs to be able to support the needs of each one.. Look for an LMS with multitenancy capabilities. Some common reasons organizations look for multitenancy are that they require privacy, they have a large number of various groups or tenants within their organization that require streamline training, or they are a global organization with multiple offices. There are a couple of ways a LMS can support multitenancy. You can categorize your users, providing specified training and complete privacy to each group You can sort your users into organizational hierarchies, where users are separated by organization and category We have a great learning resource on multitenancy that we will include at the end of the presentation.
• #12: In any learning environment, content is king. You can have the perfect LMS, but without engaging course content this means nothing. Find a vendor that either develops their own engaging content, or who has leveraged a third party content marketplace. For example, Lambda has partnered with both Lynda.com and OpenSesame, to provide customers with a large library of courses to choose from these content providers offer everything from leadership training to health and safety courses Whether you are in healthcare, or government, you will be able to find the courses that meet your needs now and in the future For anyone who is interested, at the end of the webinar we will be offering our OpenSesame Plus Totara PowerPack, containing 12 of OpenSesame’s most popular courses, valued at $120 per employee per year, free for an entire year.
• #13: In the age of technology, attention spans are shrinking. Gamification is increasingly being used by instructional designers to keep learners engaged, motivated and even excited to excel to greater heights. Why? It’s plain and simple, games motivate because people like to have fun. When looking for an LMS it’s important to find ones that have tools that will allow you to implement gamification into your learning or training These tools include: Leaderboards that allow learners to see where they rank compared to their peers and the ability to assign points to their accomplishments Levels that learners can pass through and, Timers that motivate learners to work smarter and faster Plugins and course authoring tools in Moodle and Totara LMS make it easier to implement gamification into your learning/training programs Backed with research, using game mechanics will increase knowledge retention, engagement and motivation through your online learning and training programs Research has shown, when compared to non-gamified learning….read slides
• #14: A robust reporting and analytics tool is a must in a modern day LMS because: You will be expected to show the ROI with an LMS (we have a great guide on this if you would like to learn more) LMS reporting and analytics will allow you to provide data to your stakeholders on the effectiveness of your training/learning programs It will also give management and user level information to ensure the success of your training program. Many organizations use LMS reporting tools to prove compliance via reports that show things like: time spent learning, training scores and completion reports In general, we hear the biggest complaint is that is is difficult to find the information I need and it is not easy to get at that data. A flexible and easy to use reporting solution especially the ad hoc capabilities of the system to meet the varied needs of information for your organization.
• #15: Which one of the 7 features is most important to you?
• #16: Authoring flexibility will come from authoring tools, which allow you to develop your own eLearning courses. These tools will provide you the creative freedom over the entire design of your online platform. In-house, self-authoring is a rapidly growing trend. Why? Well, there are many organizations who are effectively decreasing the cost of their training, by creating custom course content using self-authoring tools. Others who don’t have the expertise in house will use content repositories like OpenSesme and Lyda.com Look for a vendor that has the following features in their course authoring tools: A user friendly interface – it should be intuitive and easy to use, for course designers and learners. Publishing abilities in a number of different formats, such as HTML, XML, Flash, SCORM Easy customization – it should be simple for users and learners to personalize them Interactive capabilities – some examples of this are games, social activities, interactions, tests, and simulations
• #17: Leverage the existing investment into your current business systems and you can streamline the business process saving you time and money. Many companies will connect their LMS to CRM’s to integrate training and learning data into the sales process. This may include training for channel partners or product resellers. It is a super helpful integration because it allows you to attach a dollar amount to training that has taken place and sales that result from it. Student Information systems is more relevant to Universities and schools. In essence, integration with an SIS will allow learning data such as test scores, completion rates and final grades to sync directly to the SIS. As aforementioned, integration to content libraries will help you decrease course development by providing access to ones that can be uploaded right into your LMS. Single-sign-on is likely one of the most popular integrations because it allows your learners to login with credentials from another application. This helps to streamline the login process. Integration into Active Directory, LDAP, Google Docs, etc. is really a must in today’s market.
• #19: According to the Brandon Hall group, 48% of organizations are looking for a new LMS. Why? Because many organizations have outgrown their current LMS, feature and function-wise. Organizations with older LMS’s are searching for modern LMS’s that primarily provides: Robust reporting Ease of use for administrators and learners alike. AND Quality customer support What does this mean for you? Well, for one – search for an LMS that provides you with the feature and functionality you need NOW, while being mindful of what you and your organization may want in the future. I recognize that this may be hard to do so one thing I would recommend is to do you due diligence when you are searching for an LMS. Ask the vendor questions about their product road map and how they plan to grow in the years to come. One way to verify this is to look into their past development – do they consistently update and renew their product adding feature and functionality that is user-driven? If so,