EDU632: Blog 1

Learning Management Systems: A 3-Part Reflection Series

Part 1 of this series explores my impressions and insights from the first two units of this LMS course.

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MY EXPERIENCE

I recently celebrated 35 years at my job. I recall the many training workshops I shuffled off to in my early years, traveling far distances. At the end of the day, I earned a paper certificate which merely served as proof that I sat in my chair all day.

I can’t remember precisely when my company evolved from traditional brick-and-mortar learning to a digital environment, but I do recall that it felt exciting for many reasons. I have always had a predilection for digital media and self-actualization, so the marriage of these two felt like a watershed moment. I never knew about the field of instructional design, or I’m sure I would have studied and entered this arena. However, many of my skills have teased this work – including writing SOP (standard operating procedures) and technical how-to guides, managing employees’ annual compliance and awareness training, and a personal endeavor: creating and orchestrating community health and wellness in-person workshops for 12 years. It’s fair to say that I would be good at instructional design, even though I have not formally entered the terrain.

Still, when beginning this course a few weeks ago, I was surprised to discover that I knew more about LMSs than I had been aware of, although my experience is from a surface level. While I have performed tasks as an LMS user and created and managed content in a CMS, I didn't know the difference between these entities. It's like learning how to drive a car but not knowing how it's made or what's under the hood.

Hands down, the most important knowledge I have learned in this class so far is how to differentiate learning management systems. An LMS [Learning Management System] houses, delivers, and tracks learning courses (Foreman, 2018) and serves the learner (Continu, 2022). A CMS [Content Management System] primarily facilitates learning content creation and management (Seismic, 2022). Lastly, an LCMS [Learning Content Management System] serves the trainer by combining an LMS and a CMS for the sole purpose of learning (Seismic, 2022).

Read my White Paper: Corporate Learning with LMS, CMS, LCMS

Although I am not intimate with the nuances and mechanics of LMS engines as an administrator, my experience is beyond a complete novice, as illustrated below.

• Launching Corporate Compliance Courses (LMS) I use an LMS to launch several compliance courses for my organization. However, my involvement is on the front end: content creation (outside of the LMS), planning, employee communications, tracking, reporting, and resolving issues. Our L&D partners (one internal, one external) ensure that everything gets loaded into our LMS (MyWorkday) and things are working correctly. I am not familiar with the inner mechanics and administrative duties of MyWorkday.
  

• Creating Content for our Intranet (CMS) At certain times across the year, I publish articles and calendar events on our internal website using the CMS portion of our intranet site. Our CMS is company branded. I learned in this course that this likely means that our CMS package is self-hosted vs. cloud-based because the latter typically does not allow for customization.
  

• Taking Corporate Compliance Courses I have had to complete many courses using our company's LMS as an employee.
  

• Taking College Courses I have been with Post University for many years, having completed my undergrad here, too. I am highly familiar with Blackboard, although from a front-end user perspective.

This video briefly reviews what an LMS is, who needs one, the benefits it offers, and more.

INSIGHTS

Reading about LMSs, notably Foreman's (2018) deep dive on Corporate vs. Academic, was fun because I recognized much of what he explained. Learning about LMSs feels like the scaffolding method of teaching: I have learned a bit about LMSs from my experiences over the years, and this course is adding to my understanding. For example, we use many of the features in our corporate training that I read about, like automatic emails to employees, reporting queries, single sign-on (SSO), and more. It doesn't seem foreign when you can experientially "add on" to what you already know, even if that knowledge is minimal.

Also, it was impressive to realize that our company’s LMS already has (and uses) many of the user management, course management, user-course interactions, administrative, and reporting features offered in an LMS. As an employee, this made me appreciate the research and funding that had to happen for my organization to bring us a great LMS tool.

Additional insights:

• I hadn’t realized an LMS could be cloud-based (SaaS), self-hosted, installed on a desktop, and even uploaded for mobile learning (eLearning Industry, n.d.).
  

• It's interesting the things that we take for granted. I see language translation options across our company (intranet, internet, LMS, company-wide emails). I didn't recognize that this is called "localization" and "multilingual support" in the LMS world, nor that this was probably an option that my company chose when selecting these digital purchases.
  

• I hadn't considered how many other industries use an LMS besides academic and professional – e.g., hospitality, sales, healthcare, IT, legal, manufacturing, human resources, and more (Biswas, 2020). Yet, it makes sense that anyone needing knowledge can benefit from using an LMS.
  

• I learned that an LMS allows you to not only create a course (via built-in authoring tools) but also import an external eLearning course into an LMS (Dalto, 2020).
  

• I now understand the difference between commercial and open-sources LMSs. The former is fully supported by the manufacturer, while the latter is not and has no licensing costs but will require knowledge to use and customize (Foreman, 2018).

OPPORTUNITIES

Below are some opportunities my company could take advantage of while expanding our current LMS capabilities (or usage).

IMPORTED APPS + PLUGINS

Learning that some LMSs can import apps or add plugins is exciting because this can enhance everyone’s experience (administrator, instructor, learner) and offer a better aesthetic encounter making it more delightful for the learner.

For example, my company upgraded to MyWorkday last summer. Besides being more user-friendly than our old system (MyPortfolio), an element that I love (and is new to employees) is the integration of LinkedIn Learning courses. Based on what interests I select, MyWorkday will populate LinkedIn Learning courses that match my query. Foreman (2018, p. 13) describes an app like this as allowing employees to “access learning programs alongside related documents and other content.” Another added benefit is it allows for a more consistent and streamlined experience.

M-LEARNING

One of the reasons I enjoy LinkedIn Learning is because it’s mobile-friendly. While I am a fan of m-learning and advocate the benefits, until I know the nuances, I will not yet push for it at my company. For example, I oversee employees' issues while completing their annual compliance courses. A heavy handful of employees always have trouble, either neglecting to X out of a segment or overlooking an area they were supposed to click and view. If they stumble in this way using a wide screen and keyboard, I worry that taking our courses on a mobile device can lead to additional issues. While I keep open the possibility that m-learning may make it easier, I do not yet know.

COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

According to Foreman (2018, p. 40), some LMSs can “automatically generate a job-specific, competency-based self-assessment.” For example, if I aspired to be in a higher role, a customized LMS could identify what skills I’d need for the position to match them to my proficiency level to identify the learning gaps for me.

Admittedly, I see a considerable hurdle: jobs would have to be cut and dry described and lack subjectivity. In other words, job descriptions evolve over the years and may not be filled in the same way with the same responsibilities if someone were to leave. Still, in an ideal working environment, an LMS that could create a personalized "self-development curriculum" like this could spark employee motivation while improving their job satisfaction and workforce quality.

LEARNING CURRICULUM vs. INDIVIDUAL COURSES

We currently launch one compliance course at a time, using an editorial planning calendar to ensure courses don't overlap each other, which can cause stress on employees. For example, an Ethics course may run for five weeks from February into March; then, Data Privacy will launch a month later for five weeks. We are already looking at the idea (before this EDU632 course) of launching an "umbrella" of compliance courses in early 2023 that will include registering employees for all the courses simultaneously. Employees will now have several months to complete this package of courses (vs. five weeks per) and can manage their own time to complete it by the due date. As Foreman (2018) noted, we will want to identify a sequence of the courses that need to be taken in case any build off one another.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

AI can offer learning materials based on job interests and work requirements (Bersin, 2017). We have an environmental health and safety (EHS) course that teaches employees using theory (via voice-overs and on-screen text) and visuals (via animation tools like Doodly). Imagine using AI to teach about warehouse safety! Employees would be able to “practice” stocking pallets on high warehouse racks and using forklifts without the danger of hurting themselves or others.

CHALLENGES

There could be many challenges with taking on an LMS, from carrying out careful research to considering futuristic trends and eventual needs and requirements.

Some challenges to consider are listed below.

COST

It’s easy to argue that acquiring an LMS requires financial investment both upfront and ongoing, whether via subscriptions and fees for licensing or IT SME help for issues or customized programming and installation of apps and plugins. Even though an LMS promises to save money in the long run (amongst many other benefits), there still needs to be a budget to get (and keep) it off the ground.

STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN

All company employees must understand the purpose of the LMS and its benefits. Change management and stakeholder buy-in are essential for all involved (Lim, 2021). There must be a clear commitment.

ONBOARDING

Introducing a new way of doing things requires proactive change management strategies. For example, academic educators may be more comfortable with the traditional classroom (“sage on the stage”) vs. orchestrating online instruction (“guide from the side”). In a professional setting, employees who are not adequately adept at digital learning may need skill-based guidance to navigate an LMS. From a cognitive science perspective, they may also require motivation to adapt to an LMS.

LMS ROLES

Identifying users' needs is necessary to personalize learning experiences. This requires customization skills and identifying roles, responsibilities, and delegation to oversee administrative duties (Smith, 2022).

INTERNET CAPABILITY

Robust internet capability, especially across a global organization with many users, should be ensured before launching an LMS.

I am not yet aware of how this new knowledge of learning management systems will benefit my corporate work aside from having a more profound understanding when talking with my L&D partners. However, I aspire to adjunct teach a communication curriculum at the college level post-M.Ed. degree. Everything I am learning in this course about LMSs will be invaluable to me then.

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The next blog in this series (2 of 3) reflects on my experience building a simple course shell in the Canvas LMS as this course progresses.

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References

Bersin, J. (2017, May 28). Watch Out, Corporate Learning: Here Comes Disruption. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2017/03/28/watch-out-corporate-learning-here-comes-disruption/?sh=5d3b4db7dc59

Continu. (2022, February 5). What is the difference between LMS, CMS or LCMS? https://www.continu.com/blog/difference-lmscms-lcms

Dalto, J. (2020, January 4). LMS Basics: Can You Import eLearning Courses from One Provider Into an LMS by Another Provider. Vector Solutions. https://www.vectorsolutions.com/resources/blogs/lms-basics-can-import-elearning-courses-one-provider-lms-another-provider/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20Yes %2C%20You%20CAN%20Import,an%20LMS%20by%20Another%20Provider

eLearning Industry. (n.d.). Learning Management Systems. https://elearningindustry.com/directory/software-categories/learning-management-systems#buyers-guide

Foreman, S. (2018). The LMS Guidebook: Learning Management Systems Demystified. ASTD.

Lim, A. (2021, May 12). Key LMS Challenges: A Practical Guide For School Leaders. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/key-lms-challenges-practicalguide-for-school-leaders

Seismic. (2022, March 28). LMS vs CMS vs LCMS…what’s the difference? https://seismic.com/blog/lms-vs-cms-vs-lcmswhatsthe-difference

Smith, L. (2022, March 30). The 9 Challenges of Managing an LMS. Wahoo Learning. https://wahoolearning.com/learningmanagement-system-lms/the-9-challenges-of-managing-an-lms

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