Some companies avoid cloud-based LMSs due to data security issues. They believe that their information stored on a remote server could be compromised. However, there are different ways to protect your data. For example, make sure the LMS vendor has effective encryption protocols and will back up your information.
Course Creation (LCMS) vs. no course creation (LMS)
To be more precise, an LMS (Learning Management System) is a tool that allows you to simply distribute ready-made content. And a system that, in addition, has functionality for creating courses is called an LCMS (Learning Content Management System).
There is a tricky balance between these systems. An LCMS has greater capabilities to create and manage e-learning content while an LMS focuses on managing users and providing a broader range of learning experiences. For example, it allows you to manage more traditional ways of learning, such as scheduling face-to-face training.
If you plan to create courses in-house, you can choose between two alternatives: purchase an LCMS or purchase an LMS and authoring tool separately.
However, here you may face two problems:
Integrated course editors often have serious functional limitations, so you can only create simple courses or tests.
Not all LMSs and authoring tools are fully supported. For example, there may be difficulties in submitting courses to the system or tracking student progress.
If you want to avoid compatibility issues and create beautiful interactive courses, choose an LMS with a built- in authoring tool . For example, iSpring Learn LMS is fully integrated with iSpring Suite. This integration allows you to create professional-looking e-courses, easily upload them to the platform, and take advantage of advanced reporting capabilities.
Who uses an LMS?
Big companies
Large companies need to continually train hundreds and even thousands of employees from different affiliates. Many of them use learning platforms to keep resellers, franchises and other sales channels up to date on product releases, compliance requirements, and more.
small and medium companies
Do you think an LMS is just for big companies? Now, even a small business can launch e-learning to educate employees and develop their skills with less human resources and training costs. By empowering their staff with technology, they scale their business growth and adapt to the ever-changing marketplace.
Other users of the LMS include non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions.
What tasks does an LMS automate?
Here are some cases where using an LMS is a good idea:
1. Integration
With an LMS, you can automate developer integration. Just create a training program once and assign it to all newcomers.
2. Compliance training
An LMS can help you keep employees up to date with compliance regulations. With a learning platform, it's easy to update your training program — you can add new compliance and standards to your online course in just minutes.
3. Product knowledge training
With an LMS, you can educate salespeople and other professionals about your company's products or services. The system allows you to provide on-demand training, just after new products are released, and provide updates on the catalog.
4. Sales training
An LMS can help you teach sales representatives in different offices and geographic locations how to sell better. You can develop your sales and communication skills with the help of dialogue simulations and SCORM courses, and assess your knowledge with online tests.
5. Partner channel training
An LMS allows you to train thousands of partners around the world using the same program. You can easily educate your partner channels on how to best market, sell, and support your products.
6. Knowledge base
All learning content is stored in one place. Even if employees don't take a course, they can easily find the information they need upon request. This is especially convenient for companies that need to provide training to salespeople on a wide range of products.
How to organize learning with an LMS
Let's look at the iSpring Learn LMS as an example of how to organize training with an LMS.
iSpring Learn is a cloud-based service. That means you don't need to download, install and configure the software. All that is needed is an Internet connection and an email to register an account.
Step 1: Submit courses
To start training, you need to add materials to the LMS. The process of uploading content to iSpring Learn is similar to working with file sharing services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Click the "Upload File" button and select files from your computer.
he LMS recognizes common PPT presentations, audio and video, and documents, as well as special SCORM courses.
If you have many courses on a topic, it's a good idea to combine them into a learning path for a consistent flow, even with the most complex subjects. You can customize class order and assessment criteria and, if necessary, issue certificates to students.
Step 2: Add users
One of the most useful features of an LMS is the different user roles. In any LMS, there are 3 main types of users:
A user or a student . This is the most common role. Users can take assigned courses and study materials available for free.
An author . A copyrighted user can manage learning content: add and remove courses and assign courses to students.
An administrator . In addition to working with learning content, an administrator can add and remove users, group them into groups, and assign roles.
In small businesses, a person generally has two roles: author and administrator.
In a good LMS, administrators are freed from tedious work, such as manually adding users to the system, as most of the processes are automated. For example, you can invite students by email or import a list from an XLSX file.
Step 3: Deliver knowledge
Once your content has been submitted and user roles have been assigned, you are ready to present courses to your students. It is up to you whether you want to grant access to all users or invite some of them by email. Maybe you want to sell your courses? With an LMS, this is also possible.
What about the students' side? Modern LMSs like iSpring Learn allow students to get new information directly from their mobile devices. With the free mobile app, they can study whenever and wherever they want: at home, in a cafeteria at lunch, or on the road. And, by the way, it's okay if they don't have a signal, say, on a plane. It is possible to take courses offline; performance data will be saved in the LMS when the device is reconnected.
Step 4: Evaluate the results
The ability to measure learning effectiveness is one of the main reasons why more and more companies are starting with LMSs. No matter how many users you have — 5 or 5,000 — with an LMS, you can track their progress in real time. Detailed statistics show how much time students spend studying, as well as their results.