6 Top LMS Features You Should Look For in 2024

When it comes to LMS features, the options are endless now. Perhaps, you want to look at an LMS that has an automated education process. Or maybe you are more interested in a platform that streamlines the aspects of measuring and assessing student progress. 

Or maybe you want an LMS that offers robust communication tools in order to interact efficiently with co-workers or your students. Whatever it is that you are looking for, there are plenty of options available when it comes to selecting the best learning management system for your business or organization.

Recently, there has been an increase in demand for low-code LMS solutions. The low-code model is gradually replacing the full-scale custom development of instructional E-learning courses. Currently, there are thought to be 73.8 million LMS users worldwide. Nearly 87% of active users have LMSs that are available online.

If you type “learning management system” in the Google search bar, it will come up with about 2,440,000,000 search results in 0.61 seconds (to be exact!). Rewind it back to 25 years and the scene was entirely the opposite.

One of the major reasons for this shift is that corporate training departments want to keep their LMS functionalities up to date by applying new features and functionalities. 

However, many customers failed to meet the ever-changing technological requirements as they had to continually update templates and content which acted as a big barrier in their growth trajectory. If you're just dipping your big toe into the world of e-learning, this post will help you find where to start.

What is a Learning Management System (LMS)?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a web-based software application that facilitates the delivery of learning content, such as courses and training modules, to individuals or groups. 

They are designed to be used by both instructors and learners. With an LMS, instructors can create courses, assign roles to users within the system, administer tests and assessments, track student progress, and more. Learners can access courses and take assessments within the system. The LMS is used by organizations to manage the entire process of training and development. This includes:

• Creating and publishing content.
• Delivering content to learners.
• Reporting on the success of training programs. 

LMS software development is a process that focuses on creating and maintaining educational content. It involves creating learning materials, as well as strategies to deliver those materials. This can include things like designing an effective syllabus, developing a course outline, creating lesson plans, and teaching students how to use new technology.

What Does an LMS Do?

Learning management systems (LMS) help in organizing and developing work skills, securing all your progress on a unified platform. These systems are user-friendly but can become cumbersome if you go overboard with the selection of features, using LMS. 

To avoid getting all jumbled up in your online work record-keeping flow, you need to be careful while choosing the features that do not turn out to be a distraction.

What To Look For In An LMS?

Most LMS developers offer custom development, but you still need to be careful when choosing features. Setting up learning goals can make the process easier. A number of private companies do not want compliance training modules (OSHA, HIPAA, etc.), but any LMS used in a government institute would need to be compliant with such regulations. Therefore, it is important that you have a clear idea in mind about what you want.

What are your needs and goals? Is E-commerce a necessity for your business? Do you have specific integration needs? What changes do you most likely expect from the future? What are your needs and goals? All of these questions are crucial and must be considered before choosing an LMS. 

Once you have set a goal, it is easier to look for the most suitable features in your LMS. Here's a list of a few useful features that you should look out for:

What Are The Features Of A Good LMS?

A good LMS should have features that help you achieve your goals. Here are a few of the most important LMS software features to consider:

1. Creation Mode

This is a must-have feature that is included in most LMS software versions available. However, this fact cannot be ignored as well as the course creation module is not present in the basic LMS functional definition. Therefore, personalized content creation is often required (including text, visuals, and videos).

If the creation feature is not included, it becomes a nuisance at times to import your created content into the program. LMS development system with a built-in content creation feature will help you in streamlining the dynamics of your process flow.

2. Certification and Skills Tracking

One of the most salient features of a good LMS is the certification and skill-tracking feature. It is applicable to all kinds of LMS users, but it is especially useful for companies who want to measure their employees' potential growth through performance.

Having a certification and skill tracking feature helps you set a baseline to evaluate their learning. This feature can be a great help to a government institution, as they can deliver certifications and reports via exportable sheets, as soon as the request is made by an authority or an individual. Immediate certification can do wonders for raising the morale of workers.

3. User-Friendly Interface

When choosing an LMS, whether it's for your company or for a non-educational purpose, choose one that's easy to use and quick to learn.

It is unwise to expect individuals and organizations to spend hours (read: days) and tons of resources to take a course. Most would opt out of it without giving it a second thought. A good LMS needs to be user-friendly above all.  

4. Content Management

Content management is the most basic, yet essential feature that you should be looking for in a learning management system you choose. If you have experienced using LMS, you must have noticed that some do it better than others.

Check and see if your LMS is compatible with the latest international E-Learning standards. E-Learning software development gives several options to choose from, Tin Can/xAPI, and SCORM, for example, is compatible with most E-Learning software versions.

One of the top LMS features is that it should enable you to upload videos, assessments, link learners, and documents to hosts worldwide. 

If you are using LMS for educational purposes, see if it can organize your curriculum, learning aids, and sheets, etc., in a single place, making the learning process fluent and smooth. Goal achievement is as important in the learning process as the evaluation to assess the steps.

5. Mobile Learning

With the shift in the global work and education perspective due to COVID-19, it has become essential for all reputable companies and institutions to facilitate their members with educational materials or work essentials when they are unable to join workplaces or institutes.

Mobile learning is the need of the hour. Upgradation to facilitate is inevitable. LMS mobile apps make it easier for young individuals to stay connected to the remote learning process. Mobile learning not only extends extensive learning interactions but also consumes less energy, hence, is more productive.

6. Security

Data security has become the biggest concern for LMS development companies over the past few years. The reason is, all learning management systems hold an enormous amount of personal data. In the education sector, although learning aids are mostly of commercial value, it is always safer to secure them.

Check your LMS for the following security features:

1. Does it ask for an initial sign-in, and is it offering password protection?
2. What is the process of securing sensitive content? Is your LMS offering cloud-based security services or on-device?
3. Who is your LMS allowing access to authorized data? Is it enabling the selection of users?

LMS development should enable you to authorize certain users to access certain sections/niches of data. It is risky to provide equal administrative privileges to all users. Data authorization strategy never disappoints if used with caution. Also, make sure your LMS provides access to users with legitimate reasons to access data. 

People share sensitive login information, passwords, etc., putting at risk the security of everybody involved. It is efficient to choose a system that can enable multiple administrative roles so that work needs are met at multiple platforms.

How to Choose An LMS?

Choosing a user-friendly LMS is not as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of factors to consider, and you have to be realistic about what you need from your system.

1. Type of Learning

You need to know what kind of learning is going to happen on your platform. Is it going to be a mix of formal and informal classes? Will it be mostly one-on-one or group learning? Will the users be self-directed or guided by instructors?

2. Purpose

What is the purpose of this platform? Is it going to help you build skills in your field, or is it just an extension of your training program? Will this course material be used for certification, continuing education credits, or something else entirely?

3. Content Management System (CMS) Requirements

What kind of content management system does this course require? If you need something that can handle multimedia content, for example, make sure that your LMS has built-in tools for this type of content creation before you sign up with a system that doesn't offer these features natively!

4. Authorization of Data

It is important to give authorized access to your data, but it is more important to control if those authorized persons can bring certain changes to your data, hence compromising its integrity. Data modification should only be allowed after passing through another level of security. Make sure that the LMS you are choosing facilitates layered security.

5. Budget Considerations

The cost of licensing and maintaining an LMS varies widely depending on the features offered by each platform. You'll want to choose one that fits within your budget, but also offers enough functionality for your needs (and those of your students).

6. Integrations

Before you purchase an LMS, find out what other software is available in your organization and whether there are any integrations available for those tools. This will help make sure that everything works together seamlessly for everyone involved!

Final Words

Digital education is the future, and it's here to stay. The development of e-learning systems is a complex procedure, in which the role of the LMS development company is crucial. Their work includes the development of e-learning platforms with the corresponding functionality and design.

Whether you're in need of LMS software, or you just want to build your own, Invozone can help! We offer Educational Software Development Services that are designed to meet the needs of your business. Whether it's a simple e-learning platform or a full-blown enterprise solution, we'll work with you to establish a plan for achieving your goals. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the features of LMS?

LMS is a learning management system that supports the delivery of online educational content. It has several features, including:

• A course catalog with course descriptions, prerequisites, and descriptions of modules.
• A calendar to keep track of course dates, deadlines, and activities.
• Content management tools that allow instructors to upload their own materials or manage existing ones from other sources.
• Interactive tools for collaboration among students and instructors.

2. What are the benefits of an LMS?

Using an LMS has a number of advantages.

First, it provides a central place for all your training content and materials. This means you can easily share information with your employees and keep everyone on the same page.

Second, it allows employees to take courses at their convenience, which can be a major advantage in today's busy world.

Thirdly, the platform makes it easy for employees to access all the information they need about their jobs at any time. They can learn new skills or brush up on old ones without having to wait for scheduled classes or meetings.

3. What is an example of an LMS?

An example of a popular Learning Management System (LMS) is Moodle. It is open-source software that provides a comprehensive platform for delivering online courses and assessments.

Moodle offers a range of features, including course creation and management, collaboration tools, and reporting and analytics capabilities. It is widely used by schools, colleges, and universities, as well as businesses and organizations of all sizes. Other examples of LMS include Blackboard, Canvas, and TalentLMS.