In today’s world, more and more processes and products are moving online. Education is no exception. 10 years ago, online education was just beginning, and today, nearly every major college in the world offers online classes, and many others offer entire online degrees. The use of Learning Management Systems help facilitate the process of distance education better than ever. As Phillip D. Long, the Director of Learning Outreach for MIT iCampus, says in his 2008 book Learning Spaces:
“Digital technology continues to advance at a frenetic pace, offering greater capability while simultaneously becoming more mobile and more affordable…The implications are significant: more affordable and mobile technology facilitates greater access to content and resources. This enhanced access, in turn, has made it possible to implement a learning paradigm that emphasizes active learning, formative assessment, social engagement, mobility, and multiple paths through content.”
What is a LMS?
A learning management system, or LMS, is a specific tool designed to make online education easier and better than ever. An LMS is an online platform that allows students to connect from all over the world, submitting work, communicating with others, and listening to lectures right from their individual computers at any time of day or night. These systems also help track student’s progress as they complete the course and also serve as an evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching method. An LMS system can provide many benefits to online education through traditional education and social platform learning. Today, many programs use LMS systems, including the University of Phoenix online and other top colleges.
LMSs lead to increased cooperation
In an LMS platform, students and teachers can communicate freely about any related topic about their subject. At any time, students can get together and chat about the class or ask specific questions about the subject directly to the professor. This facilitates group projects and makes learning more of a group activity. This eliminates some of the isolation that many students feel in online classes.
LMSs improve university social platforms
While many universities are creating their own social platforms, the integration of an LMS-style system can improve the communication between students and teachers and the students themselves. This is helpful for online classes where students never meet each other and can also benefit group products in live campus-based classes as well.
LMSs provide centralized learning
A LMS platform makes it easy to find everything you need for a class in one place. The textbooks, outside reading, and other class documents are available for students at any time. This helps them learn more about each subject and get a better feel for the entire subject without using multiple sources of information. Online books and documents can also help keep university costs low for students and teachers alike.
LMSs make reporting and data tracking easy
In an LMS system, the class teachers is able to track the individual progress of each student at a glance. Many of these platforms keep track of grades, test scores, assignments, and other classroom details automatically, eliminating the hassle of tracking down individual assignments and test scores. An LMS platform is easy for a teacher to use to monitor the progress of each student and identify the students that need additional help with the subject.
LMSs provide instant evaluation
On the other side, with a LMS system, a university can instantly see if the teaching methods used in a class are effective. If many of the students fail or receive low grades, the university can evaluate the techniques used by the teacher and identify any areas where changes need to be made to improve the education of the students. This is something that is nearly impossible through traditional forms of education.
All of these benefits make it clear why LMSs have been used for several years as the preferred platform for education. As social platforms and cloud programs improve, it is likely that the design of these programs will change, but the simplicity of the original design will remain for many years into the future because of the many benefits it provides both students, teachers, and schools.
Author info: This is a guest post by Lilly Sheperd, an occasional guest-blogger and a freelance communication consultant. Currently she starts learning at the University of Phoenix online MBA/Marketing program. When not blogging, Lilly likes to travel and read a lot, especially about education and technology.