In today's fast-paced world, e-learning has become a crucial component of education and training. Learning Management Systems (LMS) have revolutionized the way organizations and institutions manage and deliver e-learning programs. An LMS is a software application that enables the creation, delivery, tracking, and reporting of e-learning courses and training programs. It provides a centralized platform for learners, instructors, and administrators to manage learning content and activities. In this article, we will explore the basics of an LMS, how it works, and how to effectively manage learning with an LMS. 

Where LMS systems are used

The main purpose of such control systems is the organization of the learning process. Thanks to a custom LMS, the process of creating courses is minimized. Most often, such systems are used when necessary:

• conduct training for employees to improve their skills;

• develop an individual development plan for employees;

• create a corporate mobile portal;

• carry out certification;

• organize partner training;

• create a single internal knowledge base;

• collect statistics and conduct analytics.

Purpose of use

As we have already found out, LMS-systems allow you to monitor student learning. These can be both ordinary students and already qualified specialists who need to receive additional education or simply improve their skills.

In the corporate field, the learning management system is used for individual training programs for the adaptation and development of employees. Typically, organizations use enterprise software to track employee progress and assign courses.

Another subtype of software is institutional learning management systems, which are software platforms for teachers in educational institutions. Such products are used to manage and organize online educational courses and provide students with a single place to organize all curriculum materials.

In addition to this, LMS can be used for conducting tests, grading students, analyzing results, and much more. There are enhanced versions that let you put people into groups or classes based on age, gender, experience, or learning ability.

How LMS training works

Learning on platforms is comparable to a typical offline learning. There are also theoretical and practical tasks that are managed by the administrator.

The construction of lessons is most often built in such a way that initially only one task is open. To open access to the following tasks, the student will need to complete the first task. For example, if there are 10 assignments in the course, then in order to open access to the last one, you must complete all the previous ones.

Practice assignments might look like this:

• with a simple answer

• with the possibility of choosing one or more answers;

• in the form of a creative task with the ability to upload files.

All assignments are reviewed by an administrator, teacher, or other qualified person. If an assignment is not completed correctly, the student will either receive a low grade or be required to retake the assignment to gain access to the next lesson.

System Benefits

The learning management system LMS will be convenient for both students and teachers.

Benefits for the organization:

• reducing the cost of training and development of personnel;

• reduction of training time;

• simplification of the work of heads of departments for training and development;

• tracking student progress;

• measuring the impact of training on organizational performance.

Benefits for students:

• understandable form of education;

• all tasks are displayed, even if they are not yet open;

• Easy to track learning progress.

How to choose an LMS

When choosing an LMS system, we recommend paying attention to the following factors:

• Technical support. Feedback from developers on such platforms is a very important parameter that can come in handy when you encounter difficulties.

• Administration. Make sure your LMS is easy to manage learning.

• Customization. Some platforms provide the ability to change the look and feel of online courses. Perhaps you will find it useful.

• Demo version. You should not immediately pay for the platform, first you should test it. Find out if the system you have chosen has a trial period.

• Alteration. Find out if activities can be edited after they have been uploaded - this is a very useful and convenient feature.

• Test development. Find out if the program provides the ability to develop different types of tests.

• Chats and forums. It is always good to set up communication between users on the platform.

• Cross-platform. Find out if a given platform works on all devices.

• Gamification. A great way to motivate students, for example, through achievements.

• Profile change. Find out if students have the ability to add or change their profile settings and see their own progress.

Naturally, these are not all the parameters that you should pay attention to, but on their basis you can already understand whether this learning management system suits you or not. For the most part, everything is individual here, comprehensive table with LMS prices: for some, the cost does not matter, but the presence of gamification and chats are the most important features.

1. learning
2. LMS