A Brandon Hall Group survey asked 457 responding organizations to rate the features of their learning management systems. Among categories that included feature set, ease of use, meeting current needs, and overall value, the only one that returned a favorable score was system reliability. In other words, the best thing many companies can say about their current LMS platform is that it doesn’t break down too often.
Corporate training materials have evolved to the point that outdated, underperforming LMS technology will leave organizations at a competitive disadvantage. Fortunately, software solutions are available that give learning management systems a new lease on life. Here are some reasons why corporate training materials should have an LMS technology extension:
Tablet-Accessible Content
The advent of the iPad and other Internet-accessible, video- and audio-capable portable devices over the past five years has completely changed the eLearning game. Employees at all levels and across many industries no longer must be tethered to a desktop computer—or worse, must read binders upon binders of boring content—to receive the full benefit of corporate training materials. However, many LMS platforms were designed before tablets fully emerged. An extension can fill in the technology gap and allow your system to make the most of training content on portable devices.
Enhanced Video Capabilities
Older LMS platforms might never have been set up for any extended application of video. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that video files required monstrous amounts of memory, storage, and bandwidth. Yet, corporate training materials that incorporate video are wildly effective in increasing productivity and employee engagement. An innovative LMS extension opens up this powerful medium to your training efforts without bogging down the system and the network.
Increased Collaboration Possibilities
Corporate training materials shouldn’t be one-sided conversations. Execs, trainers, managers, and front-line workers should be able to communicate with each other in order to offer feedback, ask questions, make suggestions, check on progress, and so on. A high level of collaboration has been shown to improve employees’ investment in their jobs, but many learning management systems come up short in fostering this communication. A software extender can promote collaboration within an existing LMS and gather disparate methods of communication together to create a more efficient process.
Sheer Convenience
One of the original intents of the learning management system was to simplify the training process for all relevant parties. As technology has developed—and as employees have adapted to that technology—corporate training materials have taken an innovative direction. Nowhere is this innovation more evident than with convenience. With today’s tablet-based LMS extensions, trainers can easily track eLearning activities, amend content, and communicate with superiors and on-the-floor employees alike. Managers are able to update devices with minimal effort (if any at all, thanks to automatic push/pull). And workers absorb the training they need to effectively do their jobs wherever, whenever, and however it’s most convenient. In these ways, an extended LMS not only lives up to its original productivity and simplicity goals, but exceeds them
How well do your corporate training materials work within your existing learning management system?
