The real value of LMS software and how your organisation could benefit

Educational institutions and the corporate world are increasingly looking to introduce flexible learning options and cost-effective training solutions. It’s why the online education market is expected to be worth US$ 350 billion by 2025.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further driven home the value of online learning software, as traditional classrooms and face-to-face training options have been shut down due to physical distancing requirements.

There’s never been a better time to move your courses or corporate training programs online. Which means you’ll no doubt be considering whether to invest in an online learning management system (LMS) and what value such a system brings?

The right LMS makes eLearning a worthwhile experience for both learners, instructors, and organisations or businesses delivering courses. Let’s take a closer look at what an LMS offers and the benefits you stand to gain by adopting the best software for online teaching or training.

What is a Learning Management System?

It’s possible to deliver online training in many ways. For example, a basic set-up could involve an instructor sharing their screen over a webinar program. It’s learning and it’s done online.

But the problem is, you can’t easily reproduce the experience, scale the number of learners, tie the learning activity to a broader program, or easily see how successful you’ve been in transferring knowledge.

Online learning is made easier with a learning management system (LMS). An LMS is software that helps education, training, and L&D providers to organise and track content, student information, and course delivery.

One platform to manage all activities associated with course delivery is smart. It means you can offer the convenience of online study and training, while also delivering an end-to-end eLearning experience in a more streamlined, cost-effective, and professional way.

So, what’s the best LMS software for online teaching and training? 

A popular approach is to leverage a cloud-based, open source platform, which can be modified to suit your precise needs.

One of the most credible open source LMS platforms is Open EdX. It was developed by Harvard and MIT universities (and is still maintained by these institutions). Open EdX is used by thousands of leading universities, corporations and small-to-medium businesses around the world.

That’s why it’s also the platform Groove eLearning Solutions uses to develop bespoke systems for our customers. By using a flexible LMS, expertly configured to address your specific organisational challenges, we can help you make the transition to online learning fast.

The biggest benefit of great online training software? Engaged learners.

The first and most obvious way your organisation benefits from quality eLearning software is giving your learners the best possible experience. That allows you to attract more students or employees to your programs, better help them achieve success/completion, and keep them engaged over the long-term.

With many organisations and companies now grappling with how to foster lifelong learning and a learning culture, including up-skilling and re-skilling—it’s essential to take a holistic approach to how you manage learning online.

An LMS provides a clear advantage because it simplifies the experience for learners or training participants. For example, using a customised, cloud-based LMS enables learners to:

• Learn online at their own pace, and on any device, where and when it suits them.
• Pay for and enrol for courses with minimal fuss online through self-service features.
• Access all course content, assessments, schedules and learning history in one spot.
• Revisit and review learning materials multiple times to refresh or remind themselves.
• Easily interact with instructors and other learners in a central, secure environment.
• Access a wide variety of interactive learning such as videos, VR, and forums.

Organisational benefits: more effective teaching and better ROI

Above and beyond improved learner/employee engagement and outcomes, using the best online training software is wise due to the business benefits. Adopting an online learning management system can deliver significant wins in terms of productivity gains, reduced costs, and improved compliance.

A tailored, cloud-based eLearning system allows your organisation to:

• Centralise content management and teaching administration: Imagine having all of your learning material in one spot that’s easily managed. Your instructors can quickly find, add and collaborate on content, and basic student administration tasks can be automated or completed much quicker with digital tools that encourage consistency and accuracy.
• Shorter training timeframes: When students can access what they need when they need it, you can slash the lead-up time to delivering training sessions, and empower self-directed learning. You can offer on-demand L&D courses so employees can fit training into a busy workload or move more quickly through a program resulting in reduced training costs.
• Keep training fresh and relevant: You can add, delete and modify course materials easily from one central platform. That means you can offer new courses/modules with less effort and keep current content up-to-date as regulations or knowledge evolves, or based on learner feedback. Materials can be easily shared rather than sitting within silos across your organisation.
• Helps you meet compliance obligations: Let’s say you run health and safety compliance training. An effective LMS makes it straightforward to update materials if standards or legislation changes, ensure instructors are using the most current content, and record which employees have done the training, how well they performed, and when they need to repeat the training.
• Reduce the cost of teaching and training: Online teaching and training is less expensive than in-person learning. You can cut the costs associated with physical room hire, catering, travel, presenters, and accomodation. In addition, a cloud-based LMS is more cost-effective than other software deployment methods—you don’t have to maintain a physical server, and you can easily scale the system without a huge investment in infrastructure.
• Understand and improve eLearning with better data: Track the progress of your learners and easily compare performance. Understand the courses and activities that drive results so you can refine your courses, training or learning and development programs. LinkedIn’s 2020 Workplace Learning Report revealed that nearly a quarter of L&D pros don’t currently measure learning engagement. Analytical tools available in the best training software gives you valuable insights that will help you improve your content and demonstrate your return on investment.

Shift learning online with the best software for online teaching

If you want more flexibility, more mileage from your training and L&D resources, and to truly empower learners and employees to develop their knowledge and skills over time—investing in an LMS offers incredible benefits for your organisation.

Remember too, the best software is made more useful by working with the right vendor. Choose your edtech provider carefully to ensure you make the most of your LMS platform.

We’re an edtech company and Open EdX hosting provider that has worked with organisations across Australia, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong—so you can rest assured your system will be secure, up-to-date, and reliably managed.

Get the best eLearning platform and experienced partners you can trust. Talk to us now about embracing an LMS to deliver more cost-effective, organised, and data-driven online learning.