There’s no question that online learning is the way of the future. The 2020 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report found that 57% of L&D Departments plan to spend more time and money on online learning in the next year. Training Magazine’s 2019 Training Industry Report discovered that 44% of businesses anticipated investing in online tools and systems to facilitate learning.
An effective mechanism for online training is more important than ever since more companies are transitioning to remote or semi-remote work. But it’s not just remote companies that are embracing e-learning. Almost every company can benefit from an asynchronous learning model.
Diving headfirst into learning isn’t as simple as slapping up some online courses. How do you create them? Where will they live? How will you gauge their effectiveness?
Learning management systems are the foundation of online learning. An LMS is the platform you need to create and distribute courses and manage your learning programs. Here’s everything you need to know about learning management systems and how to choose the right system for your company.
What is a learning management system (LMS)?
A learning management system is software for creating, managing, and delivering e-learning content. Organizations use LMSs and related software to manage their online learning programs.
Learning management systems first appeared in the higher education sector in the late 1990s. These early LMSs, such as Blackboard and Moodle, were facilitation tools for organizing instructor-led online courses. The software was pretty basic. It consisted mostly of defined class modules and assignment-submission features. Most classes involved prerecorded classroom lectures and written course materials.
In the early 2000s, the corporate world began adopting and adapting LMS software to help meet their learning and development (L&D) needs. With an influx of interest and cash, LMSs evolved from clunky e-learning course-delivery systems to comprehensive online learning platforms with course-building, administration, and analytics features. Today, corporate LMSs are a $2.5 billion business, and 79% of all LMS users are outside of the education industry.