Elearning - February/March 2009 - (Page 35)

12 Wishes for LMS and LCMS Systems FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LEARNERS/USERS, HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS. BY ELLIOTT MASIE Companies that write learning management systems (LMSs) and learning content management systems (LCMSs) have provided us with some excellent tools over the past few years. But the journey has just begun. This article is not intended as a preview of what’s coming in the way of LMSs and LCMSs in the near future. It’s intended more as a wish list for the learning industry from the standpoint of the learners/users. That is, it’s a list of the improvements yet needed — and it’s our hope that the vendors will eventually comply, the faster the better. Here, then, are 12 “wishes” for the LMSs and LCMSs of the future: They know how to track attendance, participation and certification. These are important, but not sufficient. We need to have our learning systems focus on the learner. They should know more about the learner, from background to style to context, and aggressively make learning easier, more efficient and continuous for the learner. While reports of learning consumed are interesting, we really want our learners to turn to these systems for real support in learning. ued a program’s content before they start that program. Why not provide ratings, sorted by demographics and roles, to help a learner select the content and activities that were most highly valued? This can be a simple thumbs-up/thumbs-down, a fivepoint scale or more in-depth rating system. Great content should rapidly float to the surface and be visible to the workforce. Poor content should also be labeled and either improved or avoided. 2 1 Focus on the learner. Most LMSs are focused on the organization’s perspectives on learning and training. Content, content and content. When the first LMSs were launched, they were primarily “vending machines” to dispense and track the consumption of e-learning (then called CBT) courses, mostly from third-party providers. As the creation of internally-created content increased, many organizations purchased LCMSs to add content creation/ management capabilities. Our learning systems now need to hone in on the vast amount of user content (from podcasts to FAQs to performance guides) that will be created by workers in the workplace. Ratings, please. Learners want to know how other employees who are similar to them have rated and val- 4 3 More context. Every classroom experience blends formal content with informal context. This may be in the form of a sidebar story from the instructor, comments/questions from fellow students, or conversations at the coffee pot on breaks. Yet, as we moved toward online learning, less attention was paid to the role that context plays. We need to address how learners will get that context — from collaborative tools like discussion boards/wikis and blogs to more fundamental design changes — to incorporate the voice of the field more actively into the learning experiences. I have yet to see a context management system, even though in many situations the quality of the context is more impactful than the quality of the content. Elearning! February/March 2009 35

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Elearning - February/March 2009

Elearning - February/March 2009 Contents Editor’s Note News Social Networking Popular Learning Needs Technology On Competency Management IT Employment Drops Trendlines Deals Learning Roles in Talent Management Informal E-Learning and Web 2.0 Cover Story: Learning Your Way to Profits Collaboration Trends, Strategies 12 Wishes for LMSs, LCMSs Tips: Recession-Proofing Your Job Case Study: Military Training Case Study: City of Arlington, Va. New Products Pop Quiz Last Word

Elearning - February/March 2009

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