Checklists to choose an effective LMS for remote learning

 

Learning management system or LMS emerged as a learning-assistant in schools and oganizations, and is now becoming a core part of learning- especially in the remote learning environment. Multiple LMS providers are available in the market. But the question is, how effective is each LMS?

Here in this article, we are illustrating a checklist to help you choose an effective LMS for remote learning. We hope this will be helpful for institutions and corporate

1. Easy access for learners

The platform should be easily available for the learners, who are the backbone of any learning system. The LMS needs to be accessible for all kinds of learners with minimum basic requirements to enter the platform. The registration and sign-in process must be simpler. Giving sign-up with existing account in other platforms such as institutions’ learner account or social media profiles will ease the registration and login.

Readily available content is another feature of a robust LMS. The resources should be accessible for the learners in a few clicks and in a downloadable format. Interactive and dynamic materials are ideal. Providing offline homework/practice options is also a better feature of effective LMS.

2. Embedded, flexible content

Understanding which material will work best in a distance-learning context is critical. Quality curricula embedded in an LMS gives educators a critical advantage. The right LMS should provide solid pedagogy and engaging activities to introduce, teach and monitor progress—all in one platform.

3.  Plug-and-play interoperability

Today, people use many devices for different purposes at different times. Smartphones, personal computers, laptops, tablets, wearable devices and others are common among many people. Since all these devices let them internet connectivity and almost similar features such as video streaming, browsers etc, the users tend to use them for their learning purposes as well. Hence, it is necessary for the LMS having support for all these devices. Usually, most of the LMS is designed based on adaptive web design principles and compatible with all kinds of screens – personal computer, laptops, smartphone, tablets etc. It is necessary to check if the LMS you choose is compatible with all the devices.

4.  Ease the assessment process

Examinations or test help rate the success of the learning method. As learning has moved to digital platforms through the coming on LMS platforms, the assessment part must be online and should not be an added burden for the learner. The assessment can be in several formats such as frequent quizzes after each lesson or assignments at different levels of the learning progression or multiple choice question tests etc. All the assessments should be interactive and given multiple attempts for the learners. It should also enable peer-to-peer review along with instructor review and feedback. Quick results can be shown for quizzes and MCQ tests. The final result must be the outcome of continuous evaluation during the duration of the course rather than the final examination.

5.  Detailed reports

The LMS dashboard must have an analytics page to show the progression report. The detailed report for the assessments helps the learner to know his/her learning progression. The report can be periodical or final report after the programme. It is ideal to have detailed feedback from instructors and peers on each element in the assessments. It should also include the necessary topics or resources in which the learner needs an improvement. Sharing the report with a registered email ID or notifying through SMS as well as giving a sharing option is also a great feature of a robust LMS.

6.  Gamification method

Everyone likes games. Nowadays, almost all the applications incorporate gamification method to attract and retain the users. Some of the popular language learning apps are designed in this method and impart the topics to the learners effectively. Some of the LMS also adopt this method in which for each task, the learner earns points and allows challenging or comparing with the peers. This ensures healthy competition among the learners and helps them to complete the lesson in a fun way.

7.  A two-way feedback

LMS should provide a feedback section for the learners and instructors. The feedback must be two-way, wherein the learners and instructors give feedback for each other. The feedback option below every activity will help the developers to improve the platform and let the learners participate in making the LMS a better learning place.

These are the seven features of an ideal LMS. You should ensure that the LMS you are going to purchase/subscribe to has all these features before investing in.

LMS from Manipal ProLearn

As a leading training and educational institution, Manipal ProLearn offers an advanced learning management system (LMS) for both corporate L&D and educational institutions. This end-to-end remote learning solution enables employees or students to remain connected and upskill from the confines and comfort of home, office, college or anywhere. Also, this complete LMS helps to implement learning to distributed teams, align organisations’ training needs and meet business goals.

Hosted on Amazon cloud, this open-source LMS works across devices including mobile phones and software with high security. So far over one million users have been trained across domains such as technology, leadership & management, supply chain, IoT, big data, strategy & research, sales & marketing, consumer behaviour and project management.

This LMS can be used for virtual training, self-paced training and instructor-led training on the basis of requirements. The interface includes an interactive dashboard with AI-enabled chatbot for assistance, a discussion board to interact with the peers and trainers, coursebook and a feedback section. Assessment is done to check the learners’ progress and provide individual analysis to the learners and organizations.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing unprecedented situation, this award-winning digital learning platform has become the catalyst for business continuity. As a leader in the education and training space, Manipal ProLearn makes sure organizations’ L&D doesn’t need to look elsewhere for their capacity building. This agile learning management system bundled with comprehensive modules in various domains (IT/FMCG-Sales/BFSI) and soft-skills will lead you as a corporate or institution to be able to service the learning needs of your employees or students with increased confidence.