Learning management systems can be extraordinarily complicated pieces of software. This fact is made worse by them being inexorably joined at the hip with other complicated pieces of software: the authoring tool. In the world of eLearning, both set-ups tend to require a high initial outlay, specialist operators and managers. The most disheartening part is that the resultant courseware is notoriously ineffective with average completion rates hovering around 15% and no real enthusiasm for partaking in them from employees. However, in 2019, it does not need to be like this. These are the LMS questions you need to be asking if you are looking to overhaul, update or augment your company training programs.
In the developed world, attention spans are shorter than ever. On top of this, expecting adults to learn multiple new things, in a work environment, when they may not have interacted with significant learning material for – in some cases – decades, is not a recipe for success. How to fix this problem?
The first answer is microlearning. Human short-term memory can only hold several pieces of information at once before it is lost or overwritten. By sticking to short, sharp topical microlessons, there’s a far greater likelihood of knowledge transfer.
A major LMS question is that workers associate their work computers with work. To get their brains in a better frame of mind for learning, use mobile learning. This is especially true of Gen-Y and Gen-Z learners who are glued to their phones when they’re not actively working. By delivering learning materials to their phones (which they’re comfortable with and will carry with them wherever they go on the planet), they can access training materials wherever they are, whenever they want. More importantly, the messaging sticks and course completion rates will zoom past 80 per cent.
eLearning represents a sizeable investment: whether it’s purchasing authoring software or an online learning management system, managing that software or commissioning others to create courseware for you. As such, many organisations will be loathe to abandon that investment. However, with a dedicated mobile LMS (with integrated authoring tool) it’s feasible to add a modern training strategy to your company without abandoning what you’ve already got. The template-based nature of course creation means anyone can do it. As such, the answering the LMS question to implementing, operating and executing a new eLearning LMS setup is not as complex (or expensive) as you think.
Translating courses for a multi-lingual, globalised workforce can be a hard LMS question to answer for many organisations. However, Google’s Cloud Translation tools have reached a point where they are scoring high marks in human translation tests. A good LMS can therefore translate to more-than 100 languages in just a couple of clicks.
Got more LMS questions? SC Training (formerly EdApp) serves tens of thousands of mobile-based microlearning lessons each week. If you’d like advice or if you’re interested in other features including gamification and spaced repetition, get in touch at enquiries@edapp.com. You can also try SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Mobile LMS and authoring tool for free by signing up here.
Author
Daniel Brown is a senior technical editor and writer that has worked in the education and technology sectors for two decades. Their background experience includes curriculum development and course book creation.