One of the most important tasks in the Human Resources area of a company is training management. An essential function for the internal growth of the company that, in addition, directly affects the motivation of the employee and his well-being. That is why more and more organizations are opting to incorporate an LMS (Learning Management System) platform “into their ranks”.
What is an LMS Platform?
Thus, a Learning Management System – LMS (Learning Management System) is a virtual learning platform; a space aimed at facilitating the distance training process. If you’re still relying on old-school webinar platforms or outdated e-learning platforms, you’re missing out on a lot of it. The software allows the creation of virtual classrooms for evaluations, file exchange, and other actions aimed at improving the training of students.
One of the main advantages of a Learning Management System (LMS) is that it offers us the possibility of accessing a wide variety of training resources at any time and from anywhere.
More technically, it is an LMS platform installed on a web server that manages the educational activities of an institution. These activities can be framed within a completely virtual training process (e-learning) or a blended learning process (Blended Learning).
6 Characteristics Of A Good Learning Management System
To meet the training needs of any type of business, in addition to the elements discussed in the previous section, an LMS platform must meet the following requirements:
1- Adaptability and scalability
Good LMS software should be able to adapt to our needs and scale – that is, we should be able to adapt it to processes of different sizes – as our business expands.
For example, if you have a limited field of resources – by number or type of resource that can be included in the Learning Management System platform – or the number of records that can be included, you will end up limiting us in the medium or long term.
2- Easy to use
A good Learning Management System should be suitable for all levels of learners. In other words, it should be intuitive and easy to use for its users, who will be able to navigate through it naturally and without the need for advanced computer skills.
However, the LMS has tools that are very similar to each other, since they are designed to meet training objectives. That is why a Learning Management System is always composed of two parts:
1. Administrative interface
The administrative interface is what allows the creation, organization, and control of content and courses. This part is mainly handled by the instructors who are in charge of the programs.
2. User interface
The user interface is, as its name suggests, the part of the LMS in which the user accesses and interacts with the materials.
3- Cross-platform function
It is essential that students can train through any type of device, including mobile devices. For this, the LMS or Learning Management System platform must comply with the responsive protocol, which refers precisely to this characteristic.
This means that the content can be seen correctly in the commented media. In other words, it will adapt to the display requirements –size, aspect, distribution– typical of each of these devices.
In addition to the analytics mentioned so far, most LMS systems offer a selection of built-in reports that make it easy for teachers to receive instant insights into various aspects of student progress.
Some of the most important reports are those that generate data on class enrollment, class completion, missing work, and class status. These reports allow you to take a look at what is happening in a classroom.
For example, a useful embedded report is one that shows students’ current grades and their progress toward completion.
After you have spent some time using the LMS, we recommend that you also start using the custom reports.
Ad-hoc reporting within an LMS is a powerful tool that allows teachers to generate reports using parameters that they define.
You can take better advantage of these reports after you have had some experience with the LMS and when you can identify your weaknesses and the personalized analysis you need.
However, custom reports are great for gaining access to detailed analytics that might be difficult to obtain otherwise.
For example, you could create a report that shows all students in all classes who are in the top 10% of their class.
You can create a report that runs weekly that shows all students within a class who have not yet turned in their pending assignments, or a custom monthly report that shows course completion rates for self-paced classes only. The possibilities are endless.
With ad-hoc reports, you can also sort, group, and filter data, and create various graphical representations. You can even generate some reports and pin them to the classroom dashboard, so you always have access to important analytics that are updated in real-time.
4- Customer support
A good Learning Management System should offer its clients high-quality support and support service and human closeness. In other words, a tool that allows you to get in touch with customer support –even talk in real time over the phone or an integrated chat, for example– and resolve doubts quickly. In case it is not possible to tackle, self-service can always be an option.
5- Integration and use of standards
A basic and inalienable point of the LMS must be its ability to integrate with other business management applications. In the case of the Bizneo HR LMS platform, it offers different modular solutions capable of interacting perfectly and improving different fields and functions of a Human Resources department –from evaluations to time control.
6- Security
In order for your users’ data to be protected, it is important that you choose a Learning Management System with advanced encryption protocols and proof of bugs and other types of errors in general. This ensures that the system is secure and your users’ data is kept safe. In addition, it is essential that you establish rules and controls that determine who can access and see certain evaluations, information, etc. Using secure passwords and multi-factor authentication can also help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data
Conclusion
There you have it, this was a summary of the most useful LMS analytics that teachers can use for their classroom.
As mentioned before, every teacher and every class is different, and you don’t need to use all of these analytics. This is why they are divided into categories, such as progress, assessment, mastery, and reports.
In each category, you can select the key analyzes that are relevant to you as a teacher. If you’re just starting out with an LMS, start with just three or four important analytics. If you are an advanced user, then of course you can try the custom reports. You are the one who decides.
The thing to remember is to use analytics regularly to enhance the learning experience for students and help them achieve their goals.