Monday 28 August 2017

Learning Management Software - Its Concept, Features And Benefits

In line with the ever-evolving modern era where most people rely on the internet for most of their activities, it is important to use an online system that cater to their training needs. Learning Management System (LMS) is an efficient online portal that connects educators and learners. It provides a platform to share classroom education and other related activities without any hassle.


The LMS provides an avenue for learners where they can search for information regarding their e-courseware, ensuring accuracy of the information at the same time. It is one of the most effective solutions which are useful for learners in an online learning environment. Learning Management System aids educators to deliver training content along with interactivity features such as discussion threads, forums and shared files. It also offers management activities including planning, tracking, virtual classrooms and statistical analysis. Consequently, it helps saving lot of time and effort of trainers without making any considerable change in the teaching process.

Challenges with LMS Implementation

With increasing use of online learning platform, there will be certain problems arising for the users. Most of the organizations are using LMS to create e-learning courses, but many instructors restrict themselves from uploading training materials on the web and are not familiar with the use of interactive features such as forums, wikis, emails and messages. In addition, few organizations face problems while integrating instructional technology into workplace training. Reasons behind this failure include huge expenses on technology, competition and lack of effective business strategy. Such organizations that impart e-learning face difficulties in achieving successful strategies from information delivery to the acceptance of courses.

A Glimpse of LMS Features

In a corporate world, LMS isused to monitor employees’ performance and track records of training and appraisals. Whether e-courses are implemented for few learners over long period of time or for short duration, LMS makes learning easier and smoother. Some of the features of the flexible learning platform are discussed here:
  • ·       Easy-to-navigate GUI

Learning management systems provide customized options for the interface to enable users access content with ease. Graphical User Interface (GUI) of an LMS should be functional enough so that administrators can assign multilingual courses only once and these can be accessed by learners globally.

  • ·       Personalized learning

LMS also provides customized options to cater to different needs of learners. Language versions, notification settings and other functionalities can be amended to suit the training requirements.      
  • Virtual classroom

The integration of LMS with whiteboard systems for virtual classrooms help scheduling learning sessions. It also offers an ability to send invites and reminders and incorporate with online calendar.
  • ·      Reports

It is crucial to generate reports through learning management system in the excel format, providing an easy to understand graphical representation.


In today’s digital world where information is conveyed faster via Internet, the LMS is a vital tool to keeplearners updated with their training course. In turn, online classes can reach out to maximum audience out of regular training hours and can instantly update learners over the LMS on issues associated with their course. 

Thursday 17 August 2017

Microlearning: Transforming E-Learning into Knowledge


The evolution of internet and mobile learning have impacted learners’ expectations of accessing relevant information. With the increasing pace of businesses and introduction of new content, more demand is placed on employees to perform better at workplace. Classroom training approach from the bygone days is no more sufficient to cater customized learning needs and improve employee retention level. It is crucial for organizations to develop effective e-learning courses and benefit learners with access to the right content at the right time. There comes the need to adopt microlearning, with an ability to provide just-in-time support to organizations.

Driving Force Behind Microlearning

New-age learners have a hectic schedule and they prefer hassle-free training as well asknowledge rich content. Professional instructors also look for strategies to engage maximum learners, and ensure high retention rate and workplace productivity. In today’s time, everyone is busy and business leaders are attracted towards bite-sized learning because:


  • Modern learners are more distracted and they lean for impactful learning opportunities that improve their career growth, without wasting their valuable time. 
  • Learning preferences are evolving with time. If learners are given with the choice to opt between a 60-minute training module or ten 5-minute modules, then they would prefer the latter. So, it is important to listen to your target audiences for successful content delivery.
  • Chunked information is easy to remember and reinforce learning experience. 


Microlearning is about creating micro content and getting macro results. 

When thinking about the role of microlearning in e-learning courses, there is lot of flexibility. Nuggets of information can be used anywhere, as a standalone piece or as a large piece of training program. When learners progress through the learning lifecycle from readiness to reinforcement, microlearning plays a big role in all these stages.

Readiness
It is a phase where organizations try engaging more learners before actual training starts. It’s not about telling learners what they will learn, but also inspiring them to take up courses.


Discovery:

In this phase, microlearning provides bites of content that targets on one objective. As a result, this creates a behavioral change whenever required. E-courses help to empower learners impart their ideas and facilitate future organizational goals.

Reinforcement:

Instructors use micro content to tailor content and review learning, providing reference tools and assessing performance matrix. Without reinforcement, content can be forgotten, but as learners do not want to repeat a lengthy course, so here comes the need of microlearning.

Microlearning is cost-effective because it is reusable. Increasing demand for informal training has a huge impact on how e-courses are delivered. Organizations are looking for ways how training can occur quicker and cheaper, focusing on developing content that can be re-used. Incorporating microlearning as a crucial learning strategy helps employees sustain for long and apply knowledge continually at their workplace.