Choosing a learning management system for your online courses is an extremely important decision. Ultimately, you want to find something that is both intuitive and offers your learners a pleasant experience.

With so many options available today, all of which look great on paper, how do you know which to choose?

There are a variety of factors to consider of course. Most importantly, you want to avoid choosing based on features, but rather make your selection on characteristics.

In addition, there are some recommendations on things to look out for (in a general sense) when making your LMS choice.

1. Intuitive Interface – Not every LMS is easy to navigate. If you are spending too much time trying to figure out how to add a simple course on your LMS, then you’re in trouble. This is precisely why we decided to build our learning management solution on the easy to use WordPress platform.

2. Hosting – Some learning management systems are hosted, while other are self-hosted. In both cases, you will end up paying for hosting of some kind. If you are using a hosted solution, then expect to pay more because they technically will be managing it for you. Make sure that your hosting plan (in either case) is giving you what you need from a storage and performance standpoint.

3. Easy Integration – Your LMS is not the only thing you need to run your training program effectively. If you are running your site on WordPress, then your selection should integrate with the most popular WordPress plugins and themes available. Otherwise you will be stuck.

4. Social Features – Simply put, learning is social. Your LMS should certainly have badge programs that are Mozilla backpack supported, point distributions, and social integration with networks like Twitter and Facebook. These are the capabilities your learners will expect when taking courses on your site.

Reference:
Origin Learning