LMS experts, trainers agree on one thing: Usability is key

What is the most important thing to look for in a learning management system?

When we asked a dozen elearning and training professionals this question, we thought it was the kind of query that wouldn't have a simple answer. After all, while everyone has similar needs - employee development, customer education, executive training - they don't have the same needs.

We were flat-out wrong.

Yes, there are plenty of things that people want in an LMS - cost, adaptability, tracking, etc. - but the item at the top of pretty much everyone's list is even more basic: ease of use.

When you think about it, that makes perfect sense. Good training software shouldn't have a large learning curve, or, for that matter, any learning curve. It should be practically invisible. Users should be able to hop right on and begin training without being challenged by a confusing interface. The same goes for trainers: they shouldn't have to jump through hoops to create online training modules or generate the reports and documentation they need.

The director of an elearning consultancy in the United Kingdom summed it up this way: "My life for the last 10 years seems to have been trying to work around illogical LMS functionality that simply isn't user friendly for the learner!"

Our admittedly unscientific survey of professionals on LinkedIn and current Ziiva Prosperity LMS clients was intended to develop a list of starting points for businesses thinking about purchasing an LMS system. While we found a common, overriding theme in usability, we also heard about some other important factors you may want to consider as you conduct your own search for learning management systems.

Here are some of the other key points raised by survey respondents:

• Implementation: How fast can I deploy the system? How much support will I need?

• Security: Does the system allow secure remote login? Does it protect proprietary corporate materials?

• Adaptability: Can the system support various file types such as Flash, streaming video, podcasts, etc.? Can it support classroom elearning, instructor-led training and self-paced web-based training? Can the system be modified to accommodate new or revised learning modules, as well as scaled to organizational growth?

• Cost: What are the startup costs? What are the long-term costs of service fees and licensing?

• Data collection: Can the system retain records and monitor learners' progress at the level you need to document employee completion of safety, ethics/compliance and similar classes?

These items should provide a useful starting point for anyone looking into LMS software, but if you have any other issues you want to add to this list, please add a comment below.

Admittedly, Dr. Patrick Patterson isn't one to lavish praise. But the administrator of education for IntegrityFX Ltd. gives this one-word description of his experiences with Ziiva's Prosperity LMS: "Excellent."

IntegrityFX provides broker services to foreign currency traders around the world. In the off-exchange retail foreign currency (Forex) market, banks, corporations, governments and others entities - including individual retail traders - seek to profit by taking advantage of fluctuations in exchange rates. With average daily volume in the trillions, Forex is one of the world's largest and most liquid financial markets. Individual traders are a small but growing segment of this market.

To give its Forex retail traders the knowledge and confidence to succeed, IntegrityFX created an Education & Training Center powered by Ziiva's Prosperity Learning Management System.

"Our Education & Training Center serves a niche market and the education that has historically been made available has been both expensive and poorly developed for one reason or another," said Patterson, who oversees the development, implementation and dissemination of the curriculum via computer-based training, webinar presentations and in-class lecture. "Thus, our greatest challenge is to market our training in a way that makes clear that our curriculum has superior quality in content, quantity and delivery."

To meet this challenge, he turned to Ziiva for an enterprise LMS.

Having used other learning management systems over the years at several colleges and universities, Patterson knew what he wanted: the ability to import e-learning content, robust data collection technology for learner tracking, reasonable ease of use for course management and contact management, customizable reporting features, a feature-rich exam management suite and a reasonable cost.

He found those things with Prosperity.

"Their customer service is excellent and their staff is knowledgeable about the products and services they sell. In addition, the cost of their LMS with its large assortment of stock features was very reasonable," said Patterson, who singled out Prosperity's course-management features as a big plus.

IntegrityFX currently offers a half-dozen Web-based training courses such as "Introduction to Forex," "Technical Analysis" and "Risk Management." The curriculum was recognized with the 2009 Best Forex Education Provider Award at the ME Forex Expo in Dubai.

"All feedback has been generally positive," from students taking and/or evaluating the courses, Patrick said. "However, almost everyone has said that the sheer volume of reading is daunting, and they have recommended more audio/visual elements - we are currently working a new multimedia version."

In addition, Patterson said IntegritryFX plans to incorporate instructor-led webinar scheduling and training into the Prosperity LMS.

While courses currently deal with foreign currency exchange, IntegrityFX has a number of other curriculum programs in development including spot gold, spot oil and "contracts for difference" trading. Down the road, Patterson said he sees value in not only using Prosperity for customer training, but also for employee training.

Patterson, who set up the courses himself, said he appreciated Ziiva's willingness to let IntegrityFX customize the interface, but noted that customer support was readily available as needed.

Overall, Patterson has been very happy with his experience.

"Their staff is approachable, knowledgeable, and prompt," Patterson said. "That has not been my experience with other LMS vendors."

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have increased in popularity and become within reach of more organizations over the past few years.

Corporate demand for knowledge management software is growing because it represents a good deal for the company, as well as for the employees being trained.

It’s easy to see why employees like training management software. Employees can train whenever they want (even in PJs), they don’t have to sit through boring classes, and they are engaged by the interactive nature of online training.

Typical corporate reasons for implementing e-learning systems are the initial cost savings easily seen in the hard costs of instructor fees, room fees, and travel expense.

However, organizations won’t enjoy the full advantages and savings of computer based training without a Learning Management System.

1. Training Consistency - Because a LMS is centralized delivery of training, it's consistent. While the quality of instructor-led training can vary based on how well the instructor engages students (as well as instructor knowledge base), employee training (elearning as well as instructor led) through a Learning Management System delivers a consistent level of training quality to all employees by providing a single source for content, related materials and instructions.


2. Reporting and Tracking - A Learning Management System allows an organization to easily produce training reports on an overall or an employee level basis. A well-designed LMS will allow the organization to easily track utilization, goal progress, knowledge gains, and ROI. An LMS allows the organization to clearly demonstrate cost savings for individual training initiatives and strategies.


3. Measurement of Knowledge Gains - Pre and post testing gives an organization the ability to measure knowledge gained through the LMS.


4. Ability to quickly change and update training materials - A Learning Management System allows the organization to change employee training to quickly respond to client feedback. Organizations can easily release training for new products and features.


5. Compliance - A Learning Management System provides training reporting and evidence to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements.


6. Personalized Learning - A well designed LMS allows training to be tailored for each employee.


7. Training Time Management - Learning Management Systems can monitor training time, giving insight for training improvement opportunities.


8. Administration Automation - A LMS can reduce learning administration costs by automating enrollments, registration, payments, student recordkeeping, syllabus, course assignments, course content reviews and updating, assessments, certification, surveys, course evaluations, student communication, reporting, education analysis, development and analysis of training costs.


9. Build training feedback systems - Learning Management Systems can track employee course satisfaction, and knowledge differentials. These measurements can uncover opportunities to change course content for increased effectiveness.


10. Demonstrates organization's training priority - Organizations that commit resources and internal projects to LMS implementation signal the importance of training to employees.

Organizations that invest in employee training can leverage savings by adding a well designed Learning Management System to corporate elearning strategies.

Whether training is driven by increased performance strategies or regulatory compliance, a well planned LMS can affect additional organizational savings.

Source: www.ziiva.com