Learning Management System – LMS
What is an LMS?
LMS stands for Learning Management System. Its name is very helpful in understanding what it is: a system that enables educators and trainers to manage student learning. Today, this system is online and web-based, using digital software and technology.
The two main components are the server and the user interface. Think of the server as the computer hardware which allows the system to run. The user interface, the part the instructors and learners use, is a collection of input devices and software. For example, an input device could be the learner’s mobile phone. The software would be a particular training course they are working on.
An LMS typically has the following components:
- On-demand, Cloud-based course content (educational and/or training) for any time, any place learning
- Real-time tracking of learner use and performance
- Reporting analytics to measure course effectiveness
The first item in the above list (on-demand content) is a key feature of a learning management system. Instructors and learners have access to the LMS whenever they wish. Nothing needs to be “turned on” or “opened”. Once a user logs in to the system, everything is available.
Visit EdApp for a relevant infographic of the four main LMS areas (illustrated above); Learner App, Authoring Tool, Editable Content Library, and Admin Portal.
Here’s all you need to know about the Learning Management System (LMS):
What is an LMS used for?
A better question would be, “What can’t a learning management system be used for?” To give you some ideas, it’s perfect for anything from employee onboarding to customer training, compliance training, and acts as a virtual classroom to round out your holistic learning experience.
Here are some examples of the many ways an LMS can be used, organized by industry.
Learning Solution for Automotive companies
While taking a break between tune-ups, your garage mechanics can watch a short video on their phones about a new diagnostic tool. In an auto showroom, sales staff can play a game on their phones about the new features of a new model.
Learning Solution for Construction Companies
We are continually finding out ways to build better, safer, more ecologically friendly structures. However, this knowledge does not help our world if it is not used. Use a virtual classroom (instructor + students meet via the internet) to enrich your staff (engineers and builders) with improvements that could help your company beat out the competition.
How much do your employees know about protection in this time of cyber threats and hackers? A few LMS modules of Cyber Security Training can reduce the risks. Teach your workers to more easily spot phishing attempts and email scams.
A common teacher (and student) complaint is boredom in the classroom. With the variety and speed of web-based apps and games, “regular” lessons feel dull and L-O-N-G. Since their mobile phones are on their desks anyway, might as well use them as a learning tool to liven up teaching. Include some mobile-friendly games to reinforce your teaching.
Making sure your facility is safe and secure for workers and users, leaving as green a footprint as possible, increasing productivity, overseeing sustainable cost management in the long run, and dealing with compliance are just a few of the tasks of a facilities manager. A learning management system offers busy managers a chance to refresh their knowledge and learn new strategies at times convenient to them.
The prizing incentive feature of an LMS makes it very appealing for people in finance. As a result, more training is done as it is more fun and motivating.
New medications are almost daily events in this industry. There is little time for lengthy classroom lessons, seminars, and workshops. LMS microlearning lets you deliver new product information quickly, helping to keep your healthcare workers current and their patients healthier.
Compliance, such as workplace health and safety, is a key to staying open and being successful. Rules and regulations are changing all the time. An LMS is perfect for short, drop-in, compliance free training modules of what’s new.
Working together is not easy. One of the challenges can be different LMSs. Uploading your content as SCORM makes it compatible with other learning management systems.
Competition means that policy changes are happening constantly. An important part of onboarding new employees includes teaching them which policies are available and what each contains. Current staff needs to be kept up-to-date with changes. Both are perfect tasks for a learning management system.
An important component of shift work is that all teams turn out identical products. When inconsistencies happen, use an LMS survey to get information from your workers about why they think this is happening. Often, those in the field know quite a lot about a situation.
A learning management system lives in the cloud. That’s why it is available to anyone with the internet and a compatible digital device. At the moment, there are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world for a global percentage of 45% of the world’s population. And chances are, if someone doesn’t own a smartphone, they have access to one…and the internet. Perfect for worldwide organizations such as NGOs.
When they are stuck in classrooms (or traveling to and from those classrooms), your realtors are not out making sales. Nobody is happy. On-demand LMS content means learning can take place any time, anywhere—instead of checking their personal social media while having a coffee break, your realtors can complete a short training module. Win-win.
Learning Solution for Retail training
New products? Use an LMS to educate your sales staff about the top-selling points.
A key need for franchises is the same customer experience no matter in which branch they shop. Using microlearning as part of your blended training strategy helps unify staff-customer relations across your global sales team.
Learning Solution for Retail Luxury Companies
It’s all about the mystique, right? You need your sales staff to use the right keywords to make the sale. Drilling effective vocabulary is the perfect job for an LMS.
No matter how much your salespeople know, if they don’t close, it doesn’t matter. A learning management system can help perfect their closing strategies, so their percentages increase.
A degree in telecommunications becomes obsolete quickly. Perhaps not overnight, but certainly within a year, significant changes in the telecom industry. Your staff doesn’t need a new degree, rather a few bespoke LMS micro modules of the updates.
Transport workers need everything from current licenses and permits to basic “fix it” ability to first-aid knowledge. While some of this training is hands-on, quite a lot can be done beforehand to shorten the learning curve. LMS videos are great examples, showing refreshers of correct driving procedures, mechanical “how-tos”, and proper actions in the event of an emergency. Best thing—these videos can be watched on most digital devices again and again.
What does an LMS provide to a learner/employee?
As a teacher who has sat through many long and boring compulsory seminars and workshops, a learning management system gives those who use it a number of extremely important benefits.
Personal pace
You go through the material as quickly or slowly as you like. You are sitting there bored with nothing to do waiting for others to catch up, so the instructor will continue. Neither are you frustrated with content that is presented too quickly for you to understand it. Simply listen/view again.
Your choice of venue
You decide where you will study. Some people need the structure of a table and chair. Others do better outside in nature. Perhaps you prefer studying in bed or while lying by the pool—just be careful that no one splashes your digital device by accident!
Whenever you like
Are you a night owl? Watch fewer Netflix episodes and do some studying. On the other hand, early birds can catch up on their learning before their regular day begins.
Also, you can study for how long a session or how short you wish. Microlearning modules usually take under 10 minutes to complete. You can do one or several. It’s up to you and your concentration.
Specific benefits of a Learning Management System
With an LMS, there is something for everyone. Let’s look at some specific examples to give you a better idea of how an LMS can benefit your learning organization. While I’ve highlighted certain aspects per organization, many of these benefits overlap, of course, and are enjoyed by a variety of industries and educational institutions.
What does an LMS provide to a teacher/instructor in an educational setting?
Even before COVID-19, the demand for online classes was increasing due to their efficiency and potential. So much so that the predictions are online learning will be mainstream by 2025.
Providing relevant, interesting, quality online education is not just a matter of turning on Zoom (or some other meeting platform) and speaking. From over 100 hours of online teaching in one course alone, I can tell you how much effort needs to be put in beforehand just to make each lesson a success.
In addition to the variety of ready-to-use task templates, a learning management system provides rapid authoring. In minutes, you can organize and deliver pedagogically sound content in a highly motivating and engaging way.
What does an LMS provide to a business/product trainer?
One thing we can (hopefully) agree on about training: it is never-ending. Successful organizations which know the power of continual training spend lots of resources making it happen again and again and…
A learning management system is highly budget- and time-friendly. Organizations don’t need training centers. Trainees just need a seat and their phones. There is no travel time. An LMS can be accessed from anywhere. There are few (if any) paper deliverables (such as booklets and handouts). Everything is online and can be reviewed at any time. Scheduling issues have disappeared. Trainees learn at their own pace and at the times most fitting for them.
What does an LMS provide to an L&D Director / Chief Learning Officer?
Whatever the goal(s) of the employee learning and development programs, it is the numbers that count, right? Management wants to see the data.
A learning management system has accountability built-in. A variety of analytic tools reflects your trainees’ performance in global as well as drilled-down versions. In other words, the data analysis of the training as a whole as well as the progress on individual levels.
And then there is the training feedback loop. It will be no surprise if I say that training (the same for any type of education) can always be made more effective. Feedback is one of the keys.
Feedback to the learner encourages them to learn more. Examples include positive remarks when the learner gets an answer correct and helpful hints when they need to try again.
Feedback from the learner gives authentic, organization-specific information to improve the next training cycle. In this case, I mean direct questions about the content such as which specific components were most/least useful, not just whether they enjoyed the course or think it will be useful.
Both types of feedback are available in an LMS.
What does an LMS provide to a small business?
Startups and small businesses have most of the training requirements of larger companies but (usually) far fewer of the resources. Using a learning management system can give outsourced-quality training at in-house-produced costs.
One of the huge benefits of a professional LMS is a content library. A top-level LMS comes with a free library of reputable, thoughtful, expertly designed courseware. Even better, these courses can easily be edited by someone in-house to meet your specific requirements. Compliance training, for example—you might find the exact one you need, but if not, just choose the closest match and tweak the contents as needed.
Designed with the newest learning techniques and fashions in mind. For top brands throughout the world, EdApp’s instructional designers have produced thousands of interesting courses. This allows for quicker training for your teams.
What does an LMS provide to a large (and/or growing) company?
Many training programs work fine for small groups but fall short in large-scale applications. An LMS is scalable, especially when it is hosted in the cloud.
For a cloud-hosted learning management system, handling many simultaneous requests and huge amounts of data are part of its DNA. I am speaking about of simultaneous users, potentially millions. Access and streaming are smooth due to high-performance algorithms and low-load times, with scalability issues being handled seamlessly in the background.
What does an LMS provide to a chain or global organization?
Obviously, all of the above benefits will be enjoyed, but perhaps the most important gain is mobile-first. Using the #1 global digital device as your “classroom” means your learners can access their “teachers” from wherever they are. Enough said.
LMS Features
If the learning management system you are considering doesn’t have at least these features, keep looking.
AI-Based / Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) works via a set of algorithms: processes and/or rules for calculations and decision-making. In this case, the decisions focus on providing learners/trainees with the optimum learning experience. Complex AI is able to provide information that is relevant to learners’ needs and of sufficient challenge to be motivating without being overwhelming. As a result, AI facilitates a forward-thinking approach to the learning experience, be it students in academia or employees in an organization.
EdApp’s AI translation tool
Of special interest to corporate learning, AI streamlines and personalizes the corporate learning experience, giving as seamless delivery as possible. In addition, an AI-based LMS enables L&D Directors and Chief Learning Officers to assess the performance of their training/education programs, including identifying areas that could benefit from expansion or consolidation.
AICC
The Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee (AICC) standard is an eLearning protocol. Its purpose is to standardize the training of airline workers, making sure the materials and technology used are consistent.
Currently, the AICC format is over 30 years old. Given its age, one might wonder why it is still an LMS feature.
This format is good in situations that require security and deployment flexibility. A recent survey showed that of 150 corporate LMS users surveyed, 23 percent still use AICC as their course standard. In addition, many courses developed with AICC are still relevant today. So, using an AICC-compliant learning management system is still a good idea.
Assessment / Test / Evaluation
Learning for the sake of learning is very honorable, but that’s not the situation here. If you are interested in a learning management system, chances are, you’ve got some goals, milestones, objectives, etc. The only way to see if you are on target is through some type of assessment.
An LMS offers assessment and evaluation opportunities at virtually any point in the process. For example, before finalizing your course, you could do a learning needs assessment—asking your trainees what they think needs to be studied. At the end of a module, your trainees can do some evaluation. They can give feedback on the relevance of the content, on the effectiveness of the tasks chosen to present and practice the information, and on the level of challenge/motivation the course offered.
Data from assessment/evaluation is especially important for corporate learning where resources used for eLearning need to be justified.
Cloud-Based
If you use cloud-based apps and platforms, you may already be familiar with many benefits of being “in the cloud”. Let’s look at a few which are particularly important for those using a learning management system.
- Scalability/extension: A quality LMS is built on an architecture that allows growth. Since most organizations are interested in expanding, it makes sense to choose tools that will grow with you.
- Reliability: Since they are catering to more than one client, cloud-based apps are designed with backups to their backups and Plan Cs to their Plan Bs. In addition, due to economies of scale, they can put in place security protocols that an individual corporation could not afford.
- Internationality: If this word is not a “proper” adjective, it should be as it applies to many organizations today. Different from international, “internationality” here means an organization with a global footprint, whether or not it has offices/branches in more than one place. Such organizations need their training/education content available wherever their staff is located. Just like real clouds, a cloud-based LMS “moves” where it is needed.
Content Personalization
By nature, a learning management system offers students the opportunity to customize their learning. An instructor-led course usually progresses through a set series of lessons without taking into account the differences in prior knowledge of the learners. Since an LMS is a library of content, students can “check out” the modules which they need and bypass those which are unnecessary.
Some of you may want to raise the important question: “How can we be sure that the learner does not need a module they have chosen to bypass?” The answer is via assessment. The process can be set up so that students must pass a test or other form of relevant evaluation in order to leave a module undone.
Course Templates
One of the most exciting features of a learning management system is the collection of course templates. Anyone who has ever created a worksheet or online task knows how long it takes just to set things up. Using “plug and play” design, LMS course templates are ready and waiting for your content. Just add your specific information, tweak your preferences/settings if needed, and click SAVE.
Besides the rapid authoring, course templates support variety in your eLearning. Often, we get stuck on a few task types. Part of the reason is that the design is set up, so we can easily copy/paste and change the content. Makes sense. LMS course templates level the design playing field, so we are free to explore other task types. You might even find a few that you have never used before.
Discussion
One of the advantages of F2F learning in a classroom is the element of discussion. A top-level LMS includes such a feature.
Using a “forum style” component, instructors and course admins can create opportunities for peer-to-peer and/or peer-to-admin interactions. Conversation threads give eLearning a more dynamic and interactive aspect. Besides relieving the “sameness” of online tasks (an important consideration), the discussion can help learners understand the material more deeply and holistically. In addition, discussion allows role-playing situations which are invaluable for any type of customer service training.
Gamification / Game-Based
While learning can’t be all fun and games, some are a really good idea. So, make sure your learning management system offers gamification to promote a good corporate learning culture.
When students and trainees complete courses, they are rewarded. Online, their reward is stars. You can choose to leave the stars as their own motivation or allow learners to “buy” real prizes with the stars they’ve earned (as your budget allows)—simple things like a voucher to a popular local eatery, a coupon for a gym membership discount or choose from a selection of small “prizes”. Another option is an entry into a prize draw.
If the cost of providing small prizes seems a lot to you, consider the cost of not having a good learning culture in your organization. In a recent article, I reported that “the current skills shortage is costing UK businesses a total of £4.4bn annually… and that’s only the UK.”
Leaderboards
Healthy competition is a great motivator. Tracking progress with LMS leaderboards is a great example.
Basically, leaderboards reflect totals over a given time. Each time a student or trainee completes a lesson within the time period, their score is transferred to the leaderboard. If a lesson is able to be redone for a better score, the best score will be reflected. Individuals can compete against others within one group. Alternatively, groups can compete against other groups.
You can allow your learners to see their leaderboards to motivate and encourage them further.
Microlearning
In the eLearning world, dividing content into bite-sized chunks is called microlearning. In addition to more efficient learning and recall, the development, updating, and distribution of microlearning courses are less labor-intensive. Another benefit is that learner completion rates are considerably higher—rates as low as 15 percent can rise to 90 percent or more.
Microlearning facilitates success due to its inherent characteristics. Each short, compact LMS lesson has a clear learning objective. Achieving this single objective is highly doable, giving learners a sense of achievement. This accomplishment is a great motivator, encouraging students and trainees to look forward to completing further course components.
Microlearning suits virtually all types of content, from learning a programming language to sales training.
Mobile Learning / M-Learning
Using the world’s #1 digital device as your primary educational or training tool is basically a no-brainer. And due to its namesake, mobile learning can take place any time, anywhere. Lessons are downloaded to the smartphones of the students or trainees. Push notifications make sure they are reminded of deadlines, informed about new lessons, and alerted to prizes won.
Since mobile-1st is such an important feature of a learning management system, choose one that is excellent. Perhaps even an LMS which has won multiple awards.
Make sure your LMS choice is both Android and Apple compatible. Don’t forget that it should also be able to handle computer-based web browsers for those who prefer to learn on a desktop.
Powerpoint Import
You have already spent valuable time on your PowerPoint presentation (PPT). Everything is just as you wanted it. Now, your organization is moving to a learning management system. What is going to happen with your PowerPoint presentation?
The content in your PowerPoint slides is good—that’s why you’ve been using it all this time. However, the format is not preferred for eLearning. Firstly, there is usually no learner interaction. In the classroom, a PPT is usually supplemented with discussion or other hands-on activities. Not so when the PPT is online. Secondly, most PPTs are static. They do not have high-level visuals to capture your learners’ attention. Lastly, there is no practice or repetition. Again, in the classroom, PPTs are accompanied by further work. Used online, however, retention of material is low.
The solution: Upload your PowerPoint slide deck with EdApp’s built-in tool and transform it into microlessons at an unlimited capacity and completely for free.
SCORM
SCORM is another file format. It allows courses to be shared across different platforms. Since SCORM is a global eLearning standard, a modern enterprise LMS should include a SCORM feature.
One of the issues with SCORM is that developers usually need in-depth technical skills. If you are planning on creating SCORM courses, it is recommended to look for a learning management system that simplifies this process. Instead of “experts only”, some learning management systems offer “drag and drop” template structures to allow a wider range of people to create such content.
Choose an LMS with a powerful SCORM creator software giving you customization, including branding, logo, and creative direction. Make sure the template library is updated and evolving, so you will always have the structures you need.
Slide Templates / Rapid Authoring
A learning management system does everything it can to support rapid authoring—quickly creating the training or educational content you need without losing quality or professionalism. Part of rapid authoring is slide templates to “copy/paste/change” in a good way.
Consider practice and review. If you are training about new products or procedures, your graphics are going to be the same as in your presentation. In addition, your text is going to be similar but perhaps phrased as questions or fill-in-the-blank sentences. So, it makes sense to be able to import slides you have already created and tweak them accordingly—no need to re-upload images and write everything from scratch.
Social Learning / Peer Learning
We know that humans are social animals. Studies over the last 10 years show that isolation can damage our well-being. In its infancy, eLearning was mostly a solitary experience—the learner and their digital device. Even if there was live instructor content, it was mostly watching with little interaction.
A modern enterprise learning management system needs to incorporate social learning. In other words, have opportunities for learners to communicate similarly to F2F: interact with their peers and interact with their instructors. We could call this “discussions and assignments”. In Discussions, students and trainees can interact with each other (peer-to-peer) and/or interact with their teachers (peer-to-admin). In Assignments, learners submit work and then receive personal feedback from their instructor.
Spaced Repetition
Some people never forget a face, and others never forget a name. I belong to the first category. Even seeing a face once, I remember that I’ve seen it. Names, though, are a different story. After summer vacation, I could even forget student names.
Why? To really “cement” information into our brains, we need to repeat using it over time. In the beginning, we repeat or practice it a few times to make sure we have learned it correctly. Then, we need to let some time go past and practice it again. Then a longer time period and more practice, and so on. In eLearning, this principle is called “spaced repetition” or “distributed practice”.
Therefore, your learning management system should have a feature, like Brain Boost, which makes such repetition/practice easy for you to organize.
Virtual Classrooms
The best eLearning is blended, using both old-school tools in a modern way and new ones. An example of an updated old-school tool is the virtual classroom. An LMS should support some way to teach and train in a face-to-face way.
Two popular communication platforms today are Zoom and Microsoft teams. So, a learning management system that supports conferencing via these platforms means that when it is an advantage to speak face-to-face, you can—without hassle.
At the moment, we are impacted by COVID-19, so virtual face-to-face communication is essential. However, even in the future, with the globalization of many organizations, virtual conferencing to facilitate learning and training will be an important part of a successful, blended eLearning strategy.
xAPI / TinCan
The Experience API (xAPI) aka TinCan protocol is an eLearner standard, so it can be used across a variety of technology platforms. It is one of the newer formats and enables the collection of online/offline data. In eLearning, we can use it to understand more about the experience of our learners.
This protocol creates LMS learning records and stores them. These records can be used within the same LMS or shared with others.
Using such data, L&D Directors and Chief Learning Officers can set up a complex metric to measure learner performance. While this data should not be the only feedback used to evaluate the impact of your courses, it does give a lot of valuable, relevant information for consideration.
LMS Metrics
One of the big selling points of a learning management system is the variety of metrics available. What exactly are the features available? How will they help inform you about how your teaching is going?
Looking at the course
One way of analyzing results is by looking at the way the course is performing. In other words, is the course itself contributing to your organization’s education culture in a positive and meaningful way?
Course Completions
This metric is actually a set of three, showing all the courses associated with your particular learning management system. You can see open and completion rates based on total user access. Data is available for both the individual user and the collective user group. This gives you a better feel for the course performance: Are 1 or 2 users bringing the stats down? Perhaps a particular group is having a problem? Or maybe the course just needs to be looked at.
Looking at the path
An LMS “learning path” guides learners through the courseware. Just like a Playlist, a path sets up a “to do” list, so that the learners can progress through courses in a certain order.
Path/Collection Completions
Often, training involves a series of courses in which the following course builds on the knowledge of the previous one(s). In addition, there is often a timeframe by which this training must be completed, so trainees can be ready when needed. The LMS path completions metric allows you to see if the training process is on track or not. In cases in which things are getting delayed, you now have an opportunity to get them moving again.
Looking at the users
It is not surprising that the largest collection of LMS metrics focus on the user, both individually and in groups. I am going to present these from the more general to the more specific.
User Course Collection/Path Progress
Progress: As we spoke about earlier, a path, like a playlist, guides users through courseware in a particular order. This learning management system metric lets you know how individual users are doing in their assigned paths. If they are off track, you will have a chance to let them know and together, work out a schedule so that their training (or other learning) can be completed in good time.
User Course Collection/Path Completion Rate
Completion Rate: You assigned a path to your users. What percentage of them actually finished it? This LMS metric will give you that information. When the path completion rate is low, it will be useful to dive deeper. Is it a group issue such as lack or time? Perhaps the learners feel that the path is too difficult or not relevant. The following metrics will help you get more information.
User Group Average Course Completion TimeAs we mentioned above, when the path completion rate is low, it is recommended to figure out why. One factor could be time. A learning management system can inform you about how long it takes to complete a course on average. Since it is based on your users, this is a good way to compare the projected course completion time (what you thought it would take when you designed it) vs how long it is actually taking. In general, there is an inverse relationship between course completion time and learner completion. In other words, too long, and they just give up.
User Group: Course Completion Rate + Lesson Completion Rate
More information about what’s going on with your learner completions comes from these two LMS metrics.
Course Completion Rate: Within a learner group, how many are completing the course? Is the rate high enough to feel that training is being accomplished well? Perhaps the rate of path completions is off track. Is it due to course completion issues? One way to find out more details is by looking at the lesson completion rate.
Lesson Completion Rate: eLearning is based on microlessons—bite-sized bits of learning/training. On average, each microlesson should have a 5-10 minute completion time. If lesson completion rates are down, one factor could be that the lesson is taking too long. Lessons which drag are likely to remain incomplete. Too many incomplete lessons are going to reduce your course completion rate significantly.
***Let’s drill down even deeper with individual user metrics.***
User Course Completions
Looking at users on an individual basis helps you understand the group metrics even more. Perhaps the group metric is poor because many group members are having some issues. On the other hand, it could be that most are doing well but a few have serious problems. Either way, you will be in a better place to tweak things as needed.
User Course Progress
Your learning management system gives you detailed information about user activity. Since a user’s courses are displayed in one place, you get an excellent idea of their overall learning.
Course progress (yellow box above): By course, see how far along the user has traveled towards completion. As the progress increases, the color moves towards green. A green bar indicates that the course has been completed.
User Score
Course score (blue box above): This is the score the user has received at the end of the course. If a course can be taken more than once, it is the best score received. Comparing the course scores for a user can give you an idea of which content the learner has mastered and which they may need more practice or reinforcement.
User Completion Time
Completion time (brown boxes above): Total Duration and Time Spent inform you about the amount of time the user has spent on a course. If a course score is low, it is interesting to look at the time spent. Perhaps the learner is racing through the material to just get it done, rather than paying enough attention to the learning process. If so, they (and your organization) could benefit from having this pointed out.
User Time Spent Learning
If learning or training is not moving along at the expected rate, it is useful to get an idea of just how serious your learners are. Your LMS can give you this information.
Time Spent Learning: A learning management system keeps track of learner visits. This gives you a good idea of the amount of time a trainee or student has spent learning. If they have not visited very often, chances are their learning progress is going to be low and completion rates off track.
User Last Access
Last Access: Has a lot of time elapsed since their last visit? It could be because they have finished their course path, and all is complete. On the other hand, if completion rates are not as expected, it is time to find out why.
User Lesson Score
The maximum number of points in each lesson is 100 and is evenly weighted over all the non-content slides in the lesson. When lessons can be repeated for a higher score, only the best score will show in a general report. However, your LMS should keep ALL the scores for each user and make them available to you in further analytics.
Looking at individual lesson scores helps you pinpoint which material the user has mastered and where they may later be gaps in their learning. In addition, since further lessons usually depend on the successful completion of previous ones, you can get a jump on future problems.
Looking at motivation
Leaderboard Metrics
Good learning management systems are designed to help with motivation. One type is the leaderboard. Similar to the “employee of the month” picture on the organization’s notice board, leaderboards are “public” displays of learner progress within a group, enabling healthy competition to support competence. Basically, learners earn points for their best lesson scores. The more points they earn, the higher their leaderboard position. Are your group members’ leaderboard scores high and close? This probably means that they are learning at almost full capacity. Are there big gaps in the leaderboard or the scores are generally low? This points to issues that need more investigation.
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