LMS Australia: What you need in a modern learning management system
The global training spend is 00bn per year. Australian businesses can’t afford to lag behind as better-trained employees are more loyal and more productive and in an increasingly-globalised marketplace, this is increasingly important. So what’s the best LMS Australia? What should Aussies look for in a modern LMS?
What is an LMS?
LMS stands for Learning Management System. It’s software that’s traditionally been designed to distribute training courseware that’s been authored on software called an authoring tool. In the world of eLearning this typically means interacting with questions and answers after engaging with content. However, newer training systems that use microlearning, mobile devices and VR are transforming the space and making learning much more effective.
LMS Australia: what to look for
1. Microlearning
Microlearning is the process of breaking learning down into small, bite-sized chunks. This way, information can be much-better absorbed. Lessons need to be short, topical and targeted so that learners won’t drown in partially-relevant information.
2. Mobile Learning
All of your workers will be joined at the hip with their mobile devices. It makes sense to leverage this quasi-addiction and send training direct to their pockets where they can interact with it in their own time – when the mental barriers that come with a work computer are lowered. Using a mobile-focused LMS in Australia also brings other benefits: you can distribute learning instantly via the cloud; this is especially important considering Australia’s Tyranny of distance. A mobile LMS in Australia subsequently opens the door to just-in-time training.
3. Spaced Repetition
A modern Australian LMS should make use of distributed practice which means to revise content at increasing intervals until knowledge is embedded. Revising microlearning lessons is straight forward as they are so short, but using dedicated features to manage intervals and ensuring that only the content that a learner is struggling with is focused on, takes it to another level.
4. Rapid Authoring Tool
Typical eLearning courses get created by a third-party company, over the course of weeks, before being distributed to multiple clients and never seen again. Updating them rarely happens. However, if your SCORM authoring tool is integrated with the LMS and uses templates to create lessons, anyone can make a lesson in the morning and distribute it anywhere in Australia, instantly. This also opens the door to Peer Learning – where colleagues train colleagues – which is incredibly effective because learners can relate more to both the teacher and the context.
5. Interactivity
Many eLearning LMS in Australia require a learner to choose a multiple-choice answer and press next. It’s not engaging and not surprising that typical course completion rates rarely surpass 20 per cent. Interactive learning is much more engaging. If you can’t face creating your own, use existing templates that are proven to work – just add your own questions and answers.
6. Gamification and Prizing
A level above interactivity is gamification. When learning doesn’t feel like learning it’s at its most effective. Using gamified lesson templates makes this simple. Some LMSs also have built-in prizing features. We find that offering multiple small prizes (food and coffee vouchers for instance) is more effective than the opportunity to win a large prize.
7. Responsive Design
Many eLearning LMS in Australia will function on a mobile device, but when it comes to doing so, interaction is fiddly and distracting. A truly-responsive LMS should be designed for mobile first but work flawlessly on any platform with a web browser.
8. Multilingual Training
Australia is known to be a multicultural country, meaning that the majority of organisations today have multilingual workplaces. This diversity calls for a versatile training solution which can be solved through the utilisation of microlearning. Good authoring tools, such as EdApp, provide users with world-class translation systems, whereby courseware is translated into over 100 languages to accommodate each employee. Personalising learning in this way is favoured by learners, often resulting in increased course completion rates and a more well-informed workforce.
Want to know more about LMS opportunities in Australia?
If you’d like to know more about how EdApp can help your training practices (inside and outside of Australia) with all of the above features, get in touch at enquiries@edapp.com. You can also try EdApp’s Mobile LMS and authoring tool for free by signing up here.
You can also try one of our microlessons in our content library to see for yourself how effective they really are. Here is one of our popular courses on Gender Bias.
You might also be interested in these articles:
www.edapp.com/blog/lms-america/
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Author
Guest Author Daniel Brown
Daniel Brown is a senior technical editor and writer that has worked in the education and technology sectors for two decades. Their background experience includes curriculum development and course book creation.