How to compare Learning Management Systems

OK, so you want an LMS.

Where do you begin? It is a minefield – there are so many from which to choose.

So, do your homework so you know exactly what you want, and know what your budget is – as the latter is always the bottom line.

I can’t really help you with your budget, but I certainly can help you with your homework.

First, understand why you want an LMS

It’s usually for these reasons:

• Track your learners’ progress – will you need it to be able to record off-line learning, such as attending seminars?
• Track their scores/passes/fails/number of attempts, which could provide evidence the course isn’t quite right by being too difficult, too easy or misaligned to the learning objectives. Talking to a GP the other day who has quite a lot of on-line learning to do, she bewailed on how she was asked questions that weren’t covered in the content! Now, this is not an LMS issue, but if this question was being answered incorrectly by many learners, the LMS can alert you to get the reasons checked out
• Track popularity of your courses (when not mandatory)
• Offer top up courses as and when necessary
• Obtain feedback relating to the course

Then consider if you need the LMS to be scalable. Bear in mind that some LMSs are priced according to how much content they will have whilst others by how many learners will they have.

Look at ease of use and maintainability

Ease of use doesn’t just apply to the people who are loading the LMS with content and learners but it also applies to your learners. That same GP bemoaned on how difficult she found it to find the courses she was looking for. A good LMS should make life easier, not more difficult!

It’s not an easy choice though, to choose the perfect LMS for your organisation, and you really don’t want to be lumbered with something you’ll regret later. Be wary of supposedly free LMSs, you may only get the most basic of functionality and if you want more, it could work out very costly. That’s why, you should let Webanywhere help you to make the correct decision. Webanywhere has tons of experience, and they’re only a click away: