What is an LMS?
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software that delivers training modules by electronic mode. These modules are delivered via a computer on the internet (cloud-based LMS) or a networked solution within the organisation. Its primary use is to manage and develop learning it comes with the TMS functionality and added services such as monitoring the learning and target setting. It also keeps skill profiles to manage skill compliance.
The typical features of an LMS
The typical features of an LMS are to create courses and track the users progress. Besides these basics, there are advanced features that export the results and hand out the certificates. They also invite other learners into the system and allow 3rd party integration.
This helps build and create eLearning courses that combine text, video, images, practice questions and exams. It creates
exams to test the knowledge through online exams and makes assessments as well as draws up single or multiple axis assessments that help understand the learner needs. These assessments help build further courses and the results can be sent out to various agencies as pdf. They learn through quizzes which not only test the learner but offer revision and practice.
LMS are content-rich in text, video, images and practice questions and address multiple intelligence for visual learners, music-rhythmic learners and visual-spatial learners through video lessons. They also cater to logic-mathematical learners and verbal-linguistic learners via text and logic elements as well as facilitate the naturalistic learners through activity based learning. All these helps improve the inter- and interpersonal skills of the learners. Besides, you can customise and white-label an LMS to build a brand.
The purpose
An LMS is a systemic framework that handles all the aspects of a learning process. It is an infrastructure that delivers and manages the instructional content. It identifies and assesses the individual learning and the learning of the organisation and helps in training need analysis offering goals that should be achieved and tracking the progress towards meeting these goals, after which it then collects and presents the data for supervision. These offer themselves to further assessment leading to appraisals in the organisation. The LMS not only handles the registry of courses and their administration but also tracks, identifies and reports the skill gaps. These skill gaps help develop further training.
LMS are not only used in education but also by synchronised industries such as pharmacy, finance etc, for compliance training and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It is used for learner self-service by self-registration on an instructor-led training where it may be used to deliver training workflow by user notification followed by manager approval and wait-list management. The other uses are continuous professional education (CPE) and collaborative learning by application-sharing and discussion threads.
Additionally, it helps in training resource management (TRM) of instructors, equipment and facilities. Performance management systems are LMS that encompass employee appraisals and competency management. They offer skill-gap analysis for succession-planning and multi-rater assessments, i.e., 360-degree reviews. Modern techniques are employed for competency based learning these help discover learning gaps and guide the learner through a selection of training materials. There are other LMS that include recruitment and reward functionality for the commercial market.
What is ERP?
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an LMS that is designed to run your entire business. The basic functions of an ERP are customer management (CRM) and accounting. But like most of the one-size-fits-all solutions, many ERPs provide many modules (as explained in the purpose) for training to the companies. Most ERP systems attempt to address two or more small business management solutions and are suitable for organisations offering these multiple services.
Connection between LMS and ERP
Every organisation should focus on learning the ins and outs of their business. They should keep abreast of the developments in their field. All this is necessary to stay alive in the fiercely competitive world. Regardless of the size of the organisation, ERP not only helps incorporate learning but also skills assessment, TNA and appraisals.
These appraisals help sketch out the career pathways for the incumbents within the organisation. They also help the incumbent map out their careers as per their aspirations. The ERP doubles as an LMS that helps you organise your learning. It cuts down the cost and time spent in creating and distributing courses to your coworkers.
LMS is a part of the larger ERP system as it serves as the part of the human resource suite that provides data on the talent in the organisation besides the skill gaps. As a part of proactive learning, it offers solutions via mobile learning and performance support. It helps in disseminating off-the-shelf content and authoring tools. The only imperative is to ensure maximum benefit is gained from the system via end-user training.