LMS Top Ten Characteristics

An effective learning management system (LMS) can be an asset to any company or institutions that desires to grow and thrive. Learners are motivated when inclusion is established, positive attitude toward the learning is present, meaning is enhanced, and competence is engendering. LMS need to be able to (1)integrate organizational requirements with personal learning needs. Inclusive software solutions that serve the many parts of an enterprise and are (2)comprehensive are needed. The ability to change and modify and be (3)compatibility as an organization changes, (4)scalability, is also needed. As new LMS’ enter the market, companies who have stood the test of time are a good bet for an LMS, the (5)longevity of a company shows a commitment to growth. As always, cost is an important consideration and each (6)cost structure and/or package must be researched completely. Each LMS needs to have administrative features that allow for various levels of (7)management usability including course management system, academic portal, single login, automation, and customization. The LMS needs to be able to integrate into the clients organization and software. e-Commerce ability is a significant need within an LMS, assisting both learners and administrators in keeping track of learning. Within the administration of an LMS the following specific management needs were listed: registration (including payment), rosters and attendance records, student participation, grade books, course calendars, public bulletin board, online surveys, and access to materials. Specific (8)instructional tool requirements to help learners using an LMS are: friendly access, variety of course material integration, use of media, support of media sharing and conferencing, manage separate virtual conferencing environments, shared instructional materials, test development and scoring capability, and test result reports. (9)Technical features of an LMS is crucial and many issues must be thoroughly researched including server platform compatibility, client software compatibility, ease of deployment, and ease of administration. Course development is expensive and to reduce this (10)cost, organizations can share self-contained modules of instructions called learning objects. Learning objects have been developed by the Department of Defense for several years in which standards for the content have been developed and resulted in SCORM, which is Sharable Content Object Reference Model. SCORM is the basic language for most learning objects.