Bianca Baumann
The LMS has been a staple in the L&D sphere for many years now. When the first learning management systems hit the market, it was revolutionary. A way to measure and track what learners do, how much time they spent, what their answers to certain questions are.
The traditional LMS aligns perfectly with traditional learning models, such as the beloved ADDIE model. L&D professionals like the LMS and ADDIE because it allows them to put what they do into perspective. It allows them to prove their worth to the rest of the organization, it makes them feel in control and needed because no one else knows how to upload content onto the LMS and how to pull reports. When creating training and being able to talk about the analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation phases of a project, they sound like big shots and they show off what they know about the concept behind education. “Education isn’t just fluff and not every SME can do what I can do, you need me”, is the thought of many L&D professionals when creating training. The learner is just an after-thought at this point.
Change Your Thinking
What we seem to forget is that with the development of technologies in general and the advent of mobile devices, apps and chatbots in particular we started to consume information in very different ways and our learners’ expectations are changing based on these technological development. An LMS is not the newest and coolest tool anymore, it is often a nuisance, another tool you have to remember a password for.
I believe the LMS will be around for still quite some time and that’s alright. I would suggest however to start thinking outside the LMS box and start creating learning solutions and experiences that really make a difference to a learner. The LMS is not some magic box that creates amazing training. If your content sucks, your LMS won’t fix that. Always start thinking about your content first and then decide what the best delivery channel would be. Now you are probably thinking, well, that’s great, but I still need to track and measure what I am doing. Don’t worry, there are LMS-free solutions for this!
Two of my favourite tools are Slack and Obie by Tasytt, a chatbot that works within Slack (bonus: they are Canadian based!). Obie can be connected to your Google Drive and retrieve any stored information. Don’t use Google or don’t want to connect your Drive to Obie? No problem, you can create books within Tasytt that Obie has access to. You can create flows that can either push content to the learner at certain times, or the learner decides to pull this content as needed. The basic version is free but the upgrade allows you to track usage in the system, just like your LMS!
Wistia and ViewedIt
If you leverage a lot of video content for your learning, Wistia or ViewedIt might be for you. Wistia allows you to upload a video that you have created, whereas ViewedIt lets you create a screencast on the spot. Both platforms allow you to track usage and see how much a user viewed and where they dropped off. This information is extremely helpful as the learner is either not interested anymore or already knows about the content that is covered.
This platform is free if you are an individual learner, and they offer an enterprise version for 250+ learners which connects users to free and paid learning resources. Unlike a traditional LMS, Degreed recognizes all forms of learning; inside and outside an organization. Users can discover content and share it, and track learning from any source. It’s a learner-centric solution that helps boost employee engagement.
Thinking outside the LMS box doesn’t have to be difficult and it doesn’t mean that you will be out of a job anytime soon. Get yourself up-to-speed with the newest technologies out there so you can stay relevant and help shape the L&D landscape for years to come.