How to choose a LMS: Learning Management System
If you have identified that your organization needs LMS or your current LMS is ineffective and needs to be replaced. Choosing the right LMS is a significant step to take. This is because the solution you opt for influences your organization's online training strategy.
With the numerous options available in the online market, choosing the right LMS can be overwhelming. However, this article highlights the top five steps for choosing the right LMS.
Know your target audience: It is important to begin by identifying your audience. This is because LMS for customer training differs from employee training. While training for employees may be more focused on monitoring progress and ensuring retention, training for customers is focused on upselling and retention. When creating training courses and products for customers, more emphasis is laid on keeping the content engaging and interactive. That way, the customers get to finish the course and find out more about the available products and services.
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Identify the key features: Although there are general features of LMS, there are also specific features that differ across the software. These features determine if the LMS is suitable for the purpose. Thus, this step is where you would distinguish the essential features that your software must-have. Some of these features include the following:
1) Visual Front End
Many LMS offers many adminstrative features but very poor Learning Experience. Ask for a pilot, test the system inside out! You need to be able to deliver a well branded and rich media content to your students.
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2) SCORM and xAPI compliance
SCORM and xAPI compliance is an essential feature that is indicative of how well a system is adapted for creating and managing high-quality training content. This feature determines whether the chosen LMS is a basic or advanced system.
3) Ease of use
Although it seems like a basic feature, ease of use should be one of the major features considered when choosing LMS. This is because it determines how well the required team and personnel can use the software. A rule of thumb for LMS is that the less complicated, the better.
4) Learning portals:
Learning portals are important both at the frontend and the backend. The learner gets to improve the user experience with learning portals at the frontend. At the backend, they are important for creating and managing content for multiple audiences.
5) Research suitable LMS
Having identified your audience and key features, you can follow up with research to determine the options that meet your need. The findings from your research should make up your longlist. You can then filter the longlist by contacting representatives of the LMS, preferable business development marketers.
6) Research LMS vendors
Researching LMS vendors is an essential step in choosing the right software because the vendor will determine the kind of aftersales services you get. Research and confirm the quality of service vendors offered. Also, confirm the quality of technical support the vendor offers and start by subscribing to a demo product to get a feel of the service.
7) User Friendly
Finally test the administration system! Your need to feel confidement with a system that offers all the latest technologies to manage easily and rapidely your content: drag and drop, duplicate, reorder, save, share, add documents, virtual classroom… the all in a clean and enjoyable look and feel!
8) Make a final choice
At this point, you should be down to two or three options. During this final stage, use free trials to get a complete feel of the LMS. You can also seek feedback from users of the LMS that made it to this final stage. Before choosing the final LMS, confirm the quality of service you will get from as many genuine sources as available. This way, your choice is a well-informed one with good consequences.
Conclusion
Choosing the right, LMS simply involves confirming the option that is most suitable for you, amongst the numerous available options. The five steps outlined above should lead you to the right LMS.