A learning management system (LMS) is the terminology now used to refer to a software program that handles the training aspects of a company. Often times an LMS is packaged as part of a human resources management program.
A learning management system can be quite useful for businesses in specific, training-intensive industries. However, not all companies necessarily stand to benefit from an LMS. If a company simply has a few training classes, a learning management system would be a bit of an overkill. Learning management software is a comprehensive and powerful program that simply is not necessary for companies that do not have a large amount of training information to keep track of.
- Financial Services
- Biopharmaceuticals
- The health care industry. Nurses need to maintain their licenses and keep certain training current, like CPR. This is a similar situation for any organizations that have to keep track of licenses, programs or CEUs and credits such as union organizations and many government jobs.
- In the educational sector teachers can utilize an LMS to stay in touch and up to date. This is called CPE, or Continuous Professional Education. Additionally, students use an LMS when registering online or use a collaborative learning technique. By reaching more students, improving the standard of teaching by way of educated teachers and creating a learning atmosphere whereby the student-teacher learning relationship is complimented with other learning techniques, an LMS in the educational field can make a huge difference. In an atmosphere of computer saturated schools today, an LMS can also be quite necessary.
- The manufacturing industry, with certain ISA9000 certifications that must be met, is another example of a training intensive business model where an LMS benefits.
Learning management systems can be extremely dynamic in their application varying greatly from the health care industry to the educational sector. While some of the basic characteristics may be similar, there are certainly going to be specific needs individual to each industry. There are many different variations of learning management systems created by over 60 different companies, so whatever the specific needs for any given company may be, there is sure to be a specific learning management system designed to fit.
Learning management system capabilities
An LMS maintains all information about classes. Location, costs, grades, instructor and current credits are some of the various types of information to be maintained. Additionally, an LMS can establish a time table for when the classes need to be taken and provide notifications so time specific certifications do not expire. If a certain amount of credits or CEUs need to be maintained, the system can track current status in relation to those requirements. It is also possible to run reports on all of this information.
Learning content management system (LCMS)
A learning content management system is a more thorough learning management system. The learning content contained and utilized by an LMS can be edited, managed, stored, or otherwise manipulated by an LCMS. Again, in this case more is not always better. If your company does not have a need to personally create or alter the actual content there is no need to invest in a system with these extra capabilities. If however your company would benefit from and has a need for authoring the classes or information in the system, an LCMS is certainly better than purchasing separately an LMS and an authoring tool with which to create the information. This will prevent compatibility issues between the authoring tool and the
Learning management systems integration
A learning management system can and should integrate with other aspects of a business. The training program necessarily is affected by recruitment and employee retention. As such many successful businesses have taken initiative and now utilize fully integrated learning management systems for maximum potential. It is for this reason that some learning management system companies have started including succession planning, recruitment functionality, employee appraisals, etc for easy integration. For those considering purchasing a learning management system software program as a standalone, most human resources software provides these services in addition to a Learning Management System so it would be much more of an intentionally integrated software program.
An LMS can organize and streamline a training program that can be very overwhelming in some cases where the industry is training intensive. The learning management system market is continually growing and in 2009 was approximately an $860 million market. Whether in the health care industry or the corporate market if you find your company or your training department weighted down with the number of certifications or classes required to stay relevant and up to date, a learning management system as part of an overall human resources software package or by itself is something to consider.
A learning management system, when used effectively and appropriately, can be a cost effective and extremely efficient tool.