Thursday, 25 February 2010

  • A Second Look: Finding the Right Learning Management System

     

    Of course, whether or not you choose to hire a learning management system consultant, your first step to securing the perfect LMS is to decide on your organization's needs. Consider a few different issues. First, determine the scale. How many students and other users will you be catering to? Consider the number of learners, courses, trainers, sessions, and administrators involved.

     

    Second, what do you need your learning management system to do? What do you need to track? These might be courses, grades, attendance and so on. Find out whether or not you need your LMS to be standards compliant (SCORM, IMS, etc.).

     

    Third, consider your distribution plan. Will you be using your LMS only internally, or will you want it to have e-commerce capabilities? Will you need automatic billing?

     

    Get straight on all the details before choosing an LMS. Learning management systems come in all sizes and meet a variety of requirements, so ensure that you have one in mind that covers all the bases you see fit.

     

    A fourth consideration: should your LMS be connected to other systems within your company? Should it be able to export data to other systems?

     

    The fifth issue is a critical one. What kind of support will you need? Does your organization have a strong IT department which will be able to meet any tech-related issues that may arise while using the LMS? And finally, does LMS you are considering provide reliable and 24-hour support to users?

     

    Sixth, take into account your organizational needs in respect to organizing the training. LMSs have evolved to provide not only online education and training, but also to meet organizations' planning and procedural needs. Ensure that these functions will be sustainable throughout the development of your organization.

     

    Oftentimes, choosing an LMS forces companies to take a hard look at their approach to corporate training. For example, you may discover that you need to redefine some of your business processes, or even redesign your course delivery methods.

     

    See Related Post: Scalable, Perfect-Fit Learning Management System  Options to Suit Your Company Needs

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