Thursday, January 24, 2019

3 benefits of adding personalized learning to your training program

LMS

Personalization has taken a new form with the increased penetration of internet and mobile devices. Modern users seek a personalized experience in terms of content and its delivery. They want to learn things at their own pace and expect a training program to go beyond traditional classroom approach. Therefore, your learning management systems (LMS) should focus on offering a personalized experience to your learners. When employees get exposed to personalize learning, they engage and participate on regular basis. So what benefits personalized learning does add to your training as well as your organization? Let’s find out:

Improves workplace communication

For modern learners, professional development and recognition are very important. It helps them to establish their own individual identity in the organization. A personalized learning experience makes them feel valued and motivates them to communicate and ask questions more openly. Such a learning environment improves workplace communication as everyone strives to do better and share their inputs with fellow learners. This not only encourages collective learning but also creates a platform for discussions and collaborations. Therefore, personalized content helps to create a better learning experience for employees, resulting in better communication and engagement.
"We are moving from traditional training methods to new-age solutions customized for individual needs. New technology and content formats are changing the very nature of daily work."

Enables Skill Advancement

Today’s work culture demands multi skills capabilities, therefore employees should receive personalized training that allow them to enhance their skill set progressively. Organizations can identify the strong and weak points of learners by applying personalized learning and help them to unlock their maximum potential. It builds a broader understanding of a subject or topic as learners keep visiting your learning content frequently. For example, employees who take product sales training can also enhance their knowledge on product design to understand the product USPs and its selling points. Also, project managers can also receive personalized material on content management, product promotion or presentation skills to hone management skills.

Encourages Self-directed learning

When approached with personalized approach, employees take the initiative to identify their own learning needs and create a strategy to meet them. A personalized training can boost your learners’ confidence and persuade them to engage with your training on regular basis. They push themselves when they have the freedom to explore their capabilities with the support of their personal comfort in a professional environment. Therefore, aligning your LMS program with your employees’ current needs and their past learning behavior; you can build an environment of self-directed learning in your organization.
We are moving from traditional training methods to new-age solutions customized for individual needs. New technology and content formats are changing the very nature of daily work. Today’s employees learn things at their personal ease and you can create a growth mindset and culture by adding personalized learning in your training program.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

How to read and utilize your LMS data

It is very important to analyze the LMS data at every step of your training program. You have to keep an eye on all the processes to know what data you should put to good use. Simultaneously, you need to analyze the way your learners are receiving the information you are conveying. It might all look technical to you initially but with right methods, you can surely get the most out of the LMS program. To achieve that, you should know how to read your LMS data and utilize it effectively. Here are some data points that you need to check on a regular basis:

Assessment Report

The objective of the assessment is to identify their skills gaps and then get a clear picture of how your training is actually helping them to improve. It can be done at many levels including trainer, manager, and peers to gather the data effectively and boost learners’ performance. Today, most LMS come with built-in assessment reports to compile data for individuals and groups and spot the problems that need your attention. For example, some learners score low on their communication skill exam at the beginning but then they score high by the end of the training. It means they have bridged their knowledge gap and your training has achieved the desired outcomes.

Training Completion Time

The completion rate allows you to monitor the performance of learners and helps you to take a targeted approach when necessary. Sometimes an employee can take longer than expected to complete a task. There can be multiple reasons i.e. lack of user-friendliness and crisp content, no multimedia support, non-compatibility with their devices etc. You can analyze the training completion time report weekly, fortnightly or monthly. For example, you have set the target that 90% of employees pass a specific course in 30 days. But after one month, only 50% of them complete the task. It indicates that you need to redesign your strategy to achieve the targeted timeline. Also, by tracking the training completion time in LMS, you can identify your top performers and use them as mentors for slow performing learners.

User Feedback

LMS offers you an opportunity to tap into virtual interaction with your learners by online forums. Tools like online forum, survey, questionnaires, and polls offer deep insights into your targeted audience. Forums offer an interactive method to measure the satisfaction level of learners while identifying the impact and flaws of your training. For example, in your forum you get to know that your learners would like to see more interactivity in the training or they want micro learning nuggets to be a part of the program. By considering these inputs, you can personalize their training experience, making it relevant and relatable.

Analytical Report

For the success of the training, your learners must actively participate in your online training course. And to ensure that, you need to determine their engagement level by analysing the activity report that LMS generates. The report provides data on how your learners are interacting with the training content and how often. It also tells you what kind of content is a hit among the learners so that you can customize your course material accordingly. The participation rate can also help you to gauge the effectiveness of your training and its targeted objectives. For example, you have implemented a new change in your training program. By running the analytical report and tracking test scores, you can measure if the change created the desired impact or not.
You can use this data to compare the progress of your training quarter basis and apply the positive outcomes in the next quarter. Needless to say that your LMS data puts useful and actionable insights at your fingertips to help your training become more productive. If you are looking for an LMS, or want to customize the existing one, check out Nucleus, an enterprise-class/cloud-based LMS that offers customized reporting, user analytics, and performance management to enable holistic learning and training experience.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Choosing a right Learning Management System and LMS provider

An LMS (Learning Management System) is a software platform that helps an organisation to conduct, manage and track online learning of their employees through LMS software.
A Modern Approach to Corporate Learning and Training
Any Organization setting foot to become a 21st Century looking forward to employing dynamic employees now need to emphasize on their Learning Roadmap. Selecting an LMS to handle their  online training has become a trend and there are very few Organization who have still not adopted an LMS in their system.
Mobile accessibility has further worked to transform the landscape of LMS, putting learning at the fingertips of employees and managers. LMS has helped to effectively utilise the training budgets of the organisation while making learning happen 24 X 7.
Functions of LMS Systems
The function of the learning and training department involves tracking employee training, skills & abilities upgradation, and accomplishments. To achieve these Learning Objectives , LMS helps the employees to achieve their learning  Objectives and various Programs as per their convenience , at a time that they want and at the place that they want. This helps the professionals as they not bogged down by training schedules imposed on them .
Learning Management System has a host of activities that a user can access . With these host of functions , information gathering or tracking becomes a breeze . LMS modules are capable to assist an Land D Manager with :
  • Manage skilling
  • Assessment
  • Gathering, storing, and accessing employee learning/training information
  • Keeping training records
  • Performance evaluation
  • Analytics and informed decision making
Assessing the Need for a LMS Solution
Before a company makes a decision regarding the selection of a LMS solution, it is important for the management team to identify the needs of the company, its processes, and their goals for the both long term and the short term. It is essential for the success of the project that the Professionals from the Learning Department and the Heads of Organization are actively involved in the process.
Depending on the size and structure of the company, it may be helpful to have an organization-wide buy in or alternately select representatives from each department to discuss their Learning Goals and their expectation from the Learning Management System .
LMS Security
Security Features in an LMS are one of the most important traits to be considered when it comes to choosing an LMS. The information stored in an LMS can be  highly sensitive, including proprietary company data and volumes of personal information about employees.  It is therefore essential for the companies to choose a solution that utilizes a method of secure transmission such as SSL which encrypts the data as it transmits over the internet.
Internal security is also critical; information should be guarded by passwords that have varying levels of access in relation to what is needed for the job position. While most companies now allow employees to access LMS functionalities depending on their job role, employees must understand the importance of maintaining the integrity of the system and protecting the security of the information it contains (i.e. no password sharing). Safeguards should also be in place to quickly bar terminated employees’ access to systems.
LMS Selection
Selecting and implementing the right LMS for your company can make a huge difference to your future growth and success. While it is possible to take care of employees learning through classroom training, a LMS can help to elevate productivity levels and can change the way that your company is perceived in the modern marketplace. It is important to remember that these systems are not “one size fits all,” however; just as each company is different, so are the systems available on the market to choose from.
Finding the Right LMS
Choosing a Learning Management System is a complicated process and can be very time consuming and overwhelming for organizations  since there are many different aspects to consider, not to mention that the LMS is usually the most expensive component of the online learning ecosystem. The main features and most important functionalities that selectors should look for during their search for the perfect LMS.
Functionality
  • SCORM / AICC
  • Tin Can API
  • Analytics
  • Scalable
  • Features
Course Design
  • Instructional Design Tools
  • Course Creation Tools
  • Content Development
  • Course Feedback
Assessment
  • Realtime Learner Participation Tracking
  • Customizable Reports
  • Printable Cerificates
  • Group Reporting
  • External Training
  • Event Tracking
Collaboration & Communication
  • Course Notes
  • File Exchanges
  • Discussion Groups
  • Collaboration Features
  • Resource Management
Accessibility
  • 24/7/365
  • Web-Based
  • Tablet Accessible
  • Assignable Privileges
Easy to Use
  • How-to-Guides
  • Customizable
  • Easy Navigation
  • Onboarding
Customer Support
  • Help Desk
  • Vendor Support
  • Online Support Hub
  • User Groups
Security
  • Privacy Controls
  • Server Locations
  • Automatic Backup System
Finding a LMS that fits your needs can be fast and easy! We take the pain out of your search by doing all of the heavy lifting for you and providing you with a short list of highly compatible solutions. If you’re ready to find the best LMS software for your company just get in touch with us or explore more on Nucleus to get started.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

5 reasons why you need an LMS with social media integration

LMS Development Services
Social media has become an essential part of our life as we are constantly connected with friends, peers, and the whole world for various purposes. We can gather knowledge in the form of blogs, videos, podcasts while can engage with people via games, discussions, and experiences. Also, this interaction is not limited to just chatting or sharing information; it has also become a learning tool for personal and professional growth. Therefore, many organizations are opting for a learning management system (LMS) that can integrate the social media to make eLearning more engaging for their employees.
An LMS with social media integration not only supports online training goals but also helps in increasing the participation and engagement of the users. Also, the effectiveness of including social media in your eLearning or eTraining program will depend on the fact that how positively your organization supports the use of social media in your work culture. As more people are logging on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it becomes imperative to customize your LMS and align your training program with social media and analytics.
Your LMS can be more measurable by adding social learning features and analytics to your training and learning program. Here are five reasons that explain how social media integration of an LMS can provide a good eLearning engagement:

Interactive Learning
Social media when connected with LMS allows the admin to create interest based polls, surveys and discussions to engage learners as well as trainers. As people are constantly connected with their mobile or laptop, they tend to interact more by sharing their common interests. This not only helps to spread the objectives of eLearning program, but also enables close communication among all the learners. This not only enhances the interaction but also helps all stakeholders to share their perspectives.

Measurable Analytics
With internet and mobile devices, the learning has gone beyond time, demographics, and physical appearance. When your LMS has social media integration, it offers 24×7 accessibility to your employees and encourages self-learning to help them achieve in their daily goals. Also, if the learning program is using an LRS, you can store data about your learner’s experience by analyzing their social media habits. Using these analytics, you can customize your training program and engage your learners to improve their skill sets and boost the productivity.

Content Outreach
As your LMS users are connected online, they share information in real time using various social media channels. They share what they have learned using your LMS and what best practices you are using to deliver an impactful eLearning. This not only boosts the outreach of your content but also increases online visibility, which can potentially enhance your LMS sales. Social network integration also provides you an opportunity to connect with your target audience  swiftly and build credibility among them in the most natural way.

Compound Learning
With the integration of social learning, you can the employees to learn things in multiple styles. You can create the variety by using audio, video, infographics formats and distribute the same using social media. By practicing this, learning becomes more interactive and sharable; therefore everyone enjoys the process to learn things quickly. You can also opt for third party integration like YouTube, podcasts, and mobile app, which can act as a medium to deliver your training via LMS.

User-generated Content
We all love to share our achievements and success with the world, especially on social media. Learners who have got benefitted with your training can share their experience with their peers. This provides an opportunity to use your learner’s feedback as original content and reach out to potential target audience by posting it on various eLearning industry forums. Additionally, this user-generated content also helps you to organically promote your business, training program, and eLearning courses.
If you are still wondering whether to incorporate social media learning in your eLearning system or not, contact our team of experts to have a free demo of LMS customization and integration. Our customized LMS, Nucleus enables social media connection, customized reporting, user analytics, and payment integration for all your learning and business solution needs.