Before we get too technical, let's go back and address the fundamentals: what is an LMS (Learning Management System) and why do you even need one?  Click here to see the animated video on this topic.

Analogy

To use an analogy think about it this way:

You pick up a textbook and you read it.  This is like your eLearning item.  In eLearning, it could be an online video, or an interactive scenario, or a document download, or any number of different electronic ways of disseminating learning information.

To continue to analogy, you read the book and you learn something.  That's great. But now what?

You could pick up another textbook and read that one too.  But you can't always be sure that the one book relates to the other in a logical sequence, or they may have conflicting information – confusing you.  Also, you have no proof (should you need proof) that you even read those books.

This is where a learning management system come in!

LMS Does It for You

An LMS helps to organise all your items of eLearning into a curriculum – providing sequence and structure to learning.  Learn the right things in the right order at the right time.

It provides administration for learning.  A university or a school for example will have a whole department dedicated to admin.  An LMS will electronically and often, automatically, handle all your training administration for you and more.  Automate everything from student enrolments, documentation, classroom and course scheduling, reporting, general and targeted communications, course organisation, certification and so forth.

It can provide detailed data on student progress.  It can show where exactly in the course a single student is and how much time they've spent on a particular part of their course.  This tracking and monitoring data has become invaluable to organisations using learning management systems for their online training.

Distribute online or blended courses over the Internet, and communicate throughout your entire organisation quickly and easily with an LMS.

With an LMS, do employee appraisals, 360 degree reviews, key performance indexes, professional development processers, skills-gap analysis, competency management, and more.

The Framework

An LMS is the framework that handles all aspects of your employees' learning process.  All your employee training needs are managed online, in one location accessible from anywhere in the world and always available.

Don't allow your amazing eLearning items to drift about online, use an LMS to give the whole thing meaning.

Sound Idea Digital specialises in Learning Management Systems and eLearning development | soundidealearningmanagement.co.za
Sandra is an eLearning Specialist & Content Editor for Sound Idea Digital | sandra@soundidea.co.za

To cite this blog article:
Slabbert, S. 2016, August 31. What is an LMS?.  <ideas> the official Sound Idea Digital blog [Web log post]. Available: http://blog.soundidea.co.za/articles/What_is_an_LMS-483.html