3 Modern LMS Trends

By: Justin Ferriman • November 13, 2013
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Today more than ever, the importance of a quality learning management system is being recognized in organizations all over the world.

Companies are actively training their staff to improve performance, employee satisfaction, and their bottom-line. Therefore, it has become even more necessary to have an up-to-date, functional LMS to reliably deliver elearning.

Naturally, as there have been technological advances, the LMS space has jumped on board. The more popular trends to hit the scene in recent years include:

Social Networks & Gamification

Gamification in conjunction with social network integration has become a common scene in the LMS market. Users may want to share on Facebook when they have completed a course, or perhaps tweet their score.

Modern learning management systems are now making this easier than ever before by pre-configuring compatibility with the most popular social networks today, some are even being built upon the social network itself!

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Offerings

SaaS itself is not totally new, but we are seeing more and more SaaS offerings in the LMS industry. These offerings take the technical burden off of the organization and allow them to focus just on the content and delivery – usually resulting in a more stable environment.

The perceived disadvantage here is that any organization using SaaS for their training potentially lock themselves into using that service “forever”. This might not be seen as bad though, especially if the LMS offering is progressive, constantly adapting, and reliable.

Another potential down-side if you are using a SaaS offering is that there is a good chance that you will be paying on a per user basis, which can become pricey.

Mobile Compatible

This only seems logical given the new gadgets available. Now, an LMS is almost required to be mobile compatible. If it isn’t, then it severely limits the opportunity for learning for its users.

Perhaps in some contexts, lack of mobile compatibility is okay, but we can reasonably expect that most platforms will evolve to mobile compatibility in the near future (or risk being irrelevant).

Open-Source Code

In the past, the code for many learning management systems was “closed”, meaning the company issuing the program was the only one who could see and change it.

Open-source platforms like WordPress and Moodle (among others) are challenging this status-quo by opening their code so that further customization or tweaks can be implemented – allowing developers to tailor the offering to their needs.

 

Reference:

CommLab for elearning

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter