Online learning or e-learning is the fastest-growing market in the learning and training sector. According to research by Arizton, the global e-learning market will reach revenues of over $345 Billion during the period 2020-2025 (Source: Arizton, April 2020). E-learning uses information and communication as a learning mode and delivers electronically, using databases and LMSs. But what is LMS? Why should we use an LMS? In this blog, we will talk about LMS in brief. Then we will also talk about a free open source LMS.
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What is an LMS?
LMS stands for Learning Management System. A learning management system (LMS) is a software-based application or web-based technology that helps you automate employee training. Learning management systems take all traditional teaching and learning-related processes into the online world. An LMS can gather all the learning materials in one place and make them available to all learners worldwide in just one click. You can create a different group of learners according to their function or job position. An LMS helps you track each learner’s progress to develop the team faster.
Who needs an LMS?
A wide range of organizations, from learning institutions to large corporations, can benefit from using a learning management system by reducing expenses like transport and accommodations, instructors’ salaries, and learning materials. A well-aligned LMS helps organizations save time and money, accomplish learning goals, set a structured learning environment, and regularly assess and develop employees’ knowledge. Therefore, organizations that need to improve the learning and development environment require an LMS.
Benefits of using an LMS
A learning management system allows its users to track the improvement level in the learners’ performance. It creates interactive courses for your learners in a safe, accessible, and highly engaging online space. It has the following benefits.
- Convenient to use: A learning management system lets you store all the content in one place, reduces the risk of losing data, and even makes organizing the content very easy. Each e-learning management team member, instructional designer, or user can access information, data, or anything else through the cloud storage system anytime.
- Easy to access material: Once you upload your material on the LMS, it will become available to all users. It is easy for learners to get courses from anywhere and promptly and use any mobile device.
- Easy to track the learning journey: An LMS allows you to track learners’ progress in the course material. More precisely, one can track their understanding of the material, measure their interaction with the content provided, see if it meets all their needs, or be enhanced with text, audio, and video files to enrich it.
- Cost-effective: A learning management system (LMS) provides a lot of mobility to attend courses since the facilitators’ and learners’ presence can be avoided simultaneously. It reduces the cost of learning and training development.
- Reduce the duration of training: An LMS allows direct access to learning contents that the learner has not yet been able to learn. A system of evaluations enables the learner to confirm that some units, sections, or parts can be exempted from the subsequent study.
- Easy to update materials: If the users want to add, delete, or update online modules for an electronic learning course, they can access the learning management system and make the necessary adjustments, which is easy and cheap, unlike traditional paper courses and programs.
- Promotes social learning experiences: A learning management system lets you integrate the social learning experience into your e-learning course, which makes it helpful to learners. You can also market the e-learning course on social networking sites and educational websites to attract more learners.
What is an LMS Moodle?
Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is the most widely used free, open-source learning management system today. LMS Moodle aids around 328 million educators and learning and development professionals worldwide in creating and delivering e-learning.
Why choose LMS Moodle?
LMS Moodle is the world’s most customizable and trusted open-source learning management system used by hundreds of millions of learners worldwide. The reasons to choose Moodle are as follows,
- Moodle is an open-source and adaptable LMS, which can be tailored to suit every learning outcome. LMS Moodle can conduct courses online while providing face-to-face teaching, learning, and training programs for employees worldwide.
- LMS Moodle supports over 1500 plugins. Moodle integrates seamlessly with third-party platforms and plugins and allows teachers to create engaging, accessible, and active learning experiences.
- Moodle User Interface (UI) is user-friendly. The global Moodle community collaboratively designs Moodle. With intuitive dashboards and a graphical user interface, using LMS Moodle becomes easy. The consistency and coherence nature of the Moodle UI makes it better than any other learning UI. Moreover, Moodle is written in PHP programming language, known for its easy deployment and implementation.
- LMS Moodle supports e-learning standards. Like any other e-learning, it is flexible, learner-centric, cost-effective, and eco-friendly.
- LMS Moodle is mobile compatible. Moodle materials can be accessed from anywhere and from any mobile. Therefore, the learners get the freedom to learn at their own time and pace, according to their convenience.
- Moodle, a learning management system, has various features and resources for its learners, like a calendar, features like auto-save, share, and student activities, and text activities like chat, forums, and wikis to help learners socialize.
- LMS Moodle is secure and private to ensure the systems and data are safe.
- It has robust reporting and analytics to track the learners’ progress. The procedure of tracking grades is also made exceedingly simple by Moodle. By verifying that the objectives are being met, the analytics component of the Moodle learning management system aids the administrator in gaining insight into the learner’s growth. Analytics allows for the observation of participation, submission, and other data trends that can help learners enhance the online learning environment.
- Moodle learning management system supports integrations. LMS Moodle can integrate with some of the premium software portals seamlessly, like Webex, Adobe Connect, CMSs like WordPress and SharePoint, CRMs like Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics, e-commerce portals like Shopify, and collaborative tools like OneDrive and Dropbox. Moodle learning management system can be integrated with an endless variety of programs and software to meet the customized needs of the learning and training department.
- LMS Moodle supports SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). It can decode various SCORM learning objects. But Moodle does not generate SCORM content per se. It simply puts forth the content in the form of SCORM packages to the learners while saving the data from user interactions with the SCORM package.
- LMS Moodle believes knowledge is built and developed through constant interaction and collaboration between the facilitators and learners.
- The feedback system in LMS Moodle helps understand how the course, trainers, learners, and educational methods are doing, which is otherwise not possible to know.
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Conclusion
Due to the reasons mentioned above, any business can benefit from an LMS Moodle. Moodle gives access to learning materials anywhere, from any device, and unlimited times to refresh knowledge anytime they need to. As well as provides an opportunity to collaborate during the learning process.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is LMS Moodle?
Moodle stands for a Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is the most widely used free, open-source learning management system today.
What does LMS mean?
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application or web-based technology.
Is LMS Moodle free?
Yes, LMS Moodle is free.
Why do we need LMS?
A learning management system allows users to track learners’ improvement in the course material. It creates interactive courses for your learners in a safe, accessible, and highly engaging online space.