Learning Management Systems are all the rage right now and for a good reason. The pandemic of COVID19 has brought forth the benefits of remote training for both the organizations as well as trainees. The organizations which only relied on in-person training have also started including e-learning in their repertoire. LMS such as Thought Industries is coming up with ingenious features to provide effective as well as efficient training.
Following ahead are a few of very essential elements required in the LMS in the current scenario-
Reporting and analytics-
Multiple parties require the data collected by the LMS and it needs to be reported to interested parties after proper analysis. The trainers, trainees, and administrators all need proper reporting in different formats for their use. This data is then used by all for different purposes yet again and helps make employee training smoother and easier.
Assessment-
All the activities and exercises for the training in LMS require a proper assessment to understand their effectiveness. The progress and improvement taking place in the skillset of the trainees, in relation to the level that existed before needs to be kept track of. This assessment should ideally be qualitative as well as quantitative. It is important to assess how much trainees know, how well they know it as well as if they can implement it in real-life situations.
Multiple delivery formats-
Blended training is gaining momentum across the industry. In-person training when supplemented with e-learning, brings out the best results. Thus, modern LMS needs to support multiple delivery formats for the best results.
Social Media Integration-
Social media integration aids peer learning. By its integration into the LMS, the trainees are provided a platform to socialize as well as sharing the learning experiences and exchange information with each other. This not only generates much-needed excitement but also provides an avenue for important information sharing and bond with peers.
Self-enrollment-
The modern LMS offers self-enrollment to the interested trainees. With the help of this, trainees can enroll themselves in the courses that they see fit, and reach their intended goals. The automatic enrollment option is also a good one. This assesses the performances of the learners and the prerequisites for the courses, after which it offers the required courses to the trainees generally based on a test questionnaire.
Feedback-
The LMS in modern times should be able to provide proper feedback. This helps in gauging the satisfaction level of the learners if the instructors were able to provide support when needed, etc. This, in turn, helps in bettering the training program as a whole and also tells where the LMS lacks in its function. This feedback can be collected by the way of online surveys, polls, and questionnaires, etc. The LMS platform should be able to collect this data as well as provide the visual representations for the same.
Data Migration-
The data migration feature is much needed by the trainers as there might be a large amount of data in the existing LMS that needs to be migrated to the new one. This does not diminish the already achieved progress and removes the requirement to essentially start from scratch. Additionally, the process should be as straightforward as possible.
Gamification tools-
Gamification of the learning helps motivate the learners and inspire them to achieve their goals. This, in turn, increases the retention of knowledge as well as return on investment for online training. It also increases the fun quotient in knowledge acquisition and promotes competition.
LMS features are evolving every day to suit the needs of online training programs. It is important to keep an eye on the development.
