Training is a pain normally. Nobody’s denying this. In a professional environment, where people have to live with the drudgery of workaday life, people take solace in at least knowing that school is over, and they just have to do their job and move on with their lives from then on. And, then, training comes along, and all of the misery associated with scholastic life comes back to haunt people. This is why SaaS LMS solutions are such a miracle.
See, the classroom model of lectures, homework, letter grades and judgmental tests are not something people want to have to live through again, as it’s bad enough they’ve got that nine to five ball and chain ruining their fun as it is. So, the alternative training approaches that SaaS LMS provides, along with the freedom they can permit when implemented right has earned them a lot of high esteem among training experts and professionals who must endure training alike. Why is this?
Well, it’s hard to sum this up, even though we’ve already done that in the past. Let’s actually look at some of the best LMS solutions out there, and let them speak for themselves this time around.
#1 – Moodle
Everyone adores the open source system Moodle. Supporting complete customization, alteration of grading models and mobile compatibility that can’t be beat, this one exemplifies how open-ended and flexible training models can be made to be when handled correctly.
Moodle offers text and video integration, automatic student progress and course delivery, wikis, scriptable tests, collaborative projects, resource repositories, integration with social networks, forums, direct chat and so much more.
And, since it’s open source and has an extension system, the features out of the box are only the beginning, if you’re feeling creative.
#2 – Blackboard
Blackboard is currently up to version nine, so it has the advantage of having been around for a while. This means there’s an established user community for this offering creative new approaches to implementing it, as well as top of the line support and knowledge bases out there.
Like Moodle, it supports text and video integration, lots of course and student tracking automation, rich, flexible tests and alterable grading models, wikis and other resource repositories and communications channels which can be brought in.
The problem with this one versus Moodle is that it is considerably more expensive, and is not open source, meaning the only vendor is Blackboard’s developer, and there is only one version available. This also limits additional functionality you might want.
However, this is solid and requires less mucking about to optimize as a result of being closed source.
#3 – SkyPrep
You undoubtedly expected Moodle and Blackboard to be on this list, so here’s something a little different but quite good. SkyPrep is more affordable than the others, and given it’s more of a cloud model, it’s easier to set up as well. But, it’s not as flexible as Moodle or as solid with support as Blackboard. Still, the features are appetizing.
It offers multiple simultaneous content uploading, easy reporting tools, PowerPoint, Word, Excel and PDF support, fast course creation, certificates, payment only for active users, portal branding and custom domains, automatic grading, and the ability to sell courses online through their platform.
SkyPrep is promising, and I think it’s going to provoke Moodle and Blackboard to rethink a couple things about rights and permissions if nothing else.
So, given the flexibility and schedule friendliness of SaaS LMS systems, you can clearly see why they’re so popular. So, the next time your company needs to do some training, spare your employees tedium and misery, and consider an LMS and some alternative training models to make it less of a dungeon of mental torture.
