There are two critical elements for L&D professionals when executing training and learning programs: the first is creating content, and the second is managing that content. Sounds simple, right?
Creating engaging learning content and effectively managing the delivery, tracking, and effectiveness of that material can feel like a balancing act. A mixture of learning and development tools is vital for a well-developed organisation – that’s where course authoring tool and the almighty LMS come into play! You’re probably already using one or both of these, but do you know why you should be using them hand-in-hand?
Together, an LMS and content authoring tool help combine all elements of training for a simple experience. Here are three advantages of using both together:
Your company has experts with wisdom to share, but not everyone’s an instructional designer, and those with the most knowledge in one area may not know how to easily communicate that knowledge to others. People who aren’t L&D pros need access to easy-to-use tools to create and share their subject matter expertise. The support needs to be there too – it’s critical that instructional designers can easily collaborate with your SMEs in the authoring tool.
When your authoring tool works seamlessly with your LMS, those updates and new courses are reflected immediately – meaning time saved and better content! It also helps alleviate the issues around understanding publishing standards, as knowing when and how to upload it to the LMS is probably a step too far for most people in your organisation.
If your LMS and authoring tool work together, you eliminate the need to download another tool or remember the URL and login to another platform. When your authoring works seamlessly with your LMS, native users with permission can just create content and share it directly with those who need it – no extra steps required!
Most LMSs require the user to have permission to load shareable content (or any eLearning file) and set the correct permissions and enrollments manually. This can be a complicated and scary process (you wouldn’t want someone to accidentally assign something to the entire company!) If L&D admins become the gatekeepers to the LMS, it can create unnecessary work and delays in getting content out to the desired audience.
Just because users don’t know what SCORM is (telling them it’s Shareable Content Object Reference Model might still get you blank looks) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about it. An authoring tool that supports learning standards and exports is important because it gives you the freedom to easily move learning platforms or share content with other learning platforms in the future. If the authoring platform in the LMS doesn’t support the export of courses, be cautious as you may have to redo all that work.
As more users have the ability to create content, you’ll want that content to have a consistent look. Designing preloaded templates and brand-approved styling means authors aren’t starting with a blank canvas. Another best practice is to train your teams on how to create great content and tell a compelling story to engage an audience.
Now you’ve heard what’s possible when bringing these two critical L&D elements together, ask yourself if your current setup is giving you the best experience possible. If not, you have a great new goal to work towards: A seamless authoring and LMS experience for your organization and its learners!
Author bio:
Jeff Fissel, Vice President – Learning Products
Bridge and Gomo Learning
Jeff has spent his career in the video learning space. He led the integration of what was KZO Innovations’ video technology (an organization he was a co-founder of) into the Instilled LXP which is combined forces with Bridge to build a market leading learning and development platform. Jeff has served as an adviser on video to some of the world’s top companies and often shares his thought leadership at conferences, web events, and publications with the industry’s top outlets. Jeff is currently helping drive product and sales alignment between LTG product and services businesses. He loves talking learning so please reach out anytime.