Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are software programs that are used to centrally administer classroom education or training events via the Internet. High end LMS applications are normally capable of providing a wide-range of management and education-related services. These services range from personalizing content for the student, supporting web standards and portability, delivering content in a rapid fashion, supporting self-guided or self-paced courses of instruction, and providing centralized administrative controls over the course content.

What Are Learning Management Systems Used For?

An LMS can be used for many training or education tasks. These range from teaching a college course to administering required corporate training for an organization. LMSs have become a more popular option in industry due to the reduced long-term cost of providing education/training for attendees and the advanced administrative reports and options that high-end systems make available to the course administrator or sponsor. Additional uses for learning management systems include teaching compliance training in regulated industries such as the finance sector, teaching advanced degrees for those who cannot afford to attend a postgraduate school full-time, and for recurring training requirements in the corporate world.Learning Management System

What Are the Characteristics of a Learning Management System?

Although an LMS used for corporate purposes have different goals from one used in an educational environment, both types share common characteristics. These include incorporating the ability to manage a course calendar, creating and managing user roles (student/instructor), creating and generating reports, student and instructor messaging and notifications, grading coursework, roster processing, web delivery, and the ability to assess and test students. An LMS that is more tailored to the corporate environment also has the ability to identify skill gaps at the individual or organizational level, auto-enrollment of students, and placing students according to demographics (geographic, employment category, etc).

What is a Learning Content Management System?

A Learning Content Management System (LCMS) may be bundled with an LMS. It can create, store, and publish course content for online learning. An LCMS permits multiple developers to work together from remote locations in order to create, review, and test course material before conveying them to students via an LMS. Advanced LCMSs allow course managers to create new content by combining blocks of related coursework into a cohesive package to be presented to students. An LCMS is not normally designed with the student management functions that are included in an LMS.

Current Trends for Learning Management Systems

Learning Management Systems represent an almost $1 billion market that consists of more than 50 different system/software providers. The largest area for potential growth in the LMS industry is for small businesses that have not yet reached the 50% penetration level. Most popular LMS products include basic course content authoring tools with the product. They require customers to buy an advanced LCMS or content creation tool kit in order to create and convey more advanced training to the desired audience.