I recently attended a project workshop where the purpose was to discuss the high level requirements for the procurement of new Learning Management Systems and to plan the project going forward. At the meeting a stakeholder asked me to explain the difference between a Learning Management System (LMS) and a Learning Content Management System (LCMS). It is true that the lines between these systems are becoming increasingly blurred as an LMCS can add LMS functionalities, and the same can be said of an LMS. In other words they can overlap in their capabilities.

The purpose of this post is to explain and highlight the features of both an LMS and an LCMS. This post is written specifically for individuals researching whether procuring an LMS or LCMS is the right system for their organization or educational institution. I will provide details about both systems, as well as a detailed comparison between the two systems.

What is a Learning Management System?

So what is a LMS? Well, it’s typically a web-based software system designed to manage, track and report on training events. To expand on this definition, an LMS is a server based software system used to manage and deliver various types of learning through a web browser, particularly asynchronous e-learning. The types of learning delivered can be online, in the classroom or a blended solution. In addition, these systems are used to track and manage the different types of learner data, especially learner performance.

LMS have evolved over time and they generally have the following functions and features:

• System – The organisation of learning related functions into a system with efficient access to these functions via layered interface navigation.
• Security –  Including authorization for users, protection of data and administration functions.
• Registration – Learners can find and select courses, or be assigned to a course or curriculum.
• Delivery - Delivery of learning content. This involves the medium in which the content is delivered. For example, classroom or online. Also this refers to the method. For example, instructor-led, self-paced or blended.
• Interaction - Learner interaction with content and communication between learners, instructors and course administrators. This also refers to communicative content.
• Assessment – As well administering assessments, LMS collect, track, and store assessment data. Based on the results of assessment further actions could be taken and possibly in other systems. For example, HR. Many LMS include the ability to create assessments for learners, feedback and survey tools to evaluate training, etc. These tools can help developers build and refine learning programmes over time.
• Tracking - The tracking of learner data, especially information such as learner progress and course usage.
• Reporting and record keeping – The storage and maintenance of learner data as well as the reporting of that data.
• Configurability and personalization – Functions to enable administrators to configure interfaces, functions and features. Learners can also have the capability to customise their user interfaces.
• Integration and interfaces – The exchange of data with external systems. Typically, these systems include HR to facilitate enterprise-wide tracking of learner performance and transfer of user data. They can also include portals, content systems, registration, etc.
• Skills Management – Some LMS include functionality for skills assessment and management capabilities revolve around learners assessing their competency gaps.
• Administrative – A feature set for purpose of managing the LMS and all its functions.
• Adherence to standards – An LMS should attempt to support standards such as SCORM or AICC.

LMS are typically used by organizations that are in regulated industries such as financial services or pharmaceutical.  These types of companies use LMS for compliance training. LMS are also used by educational institutions to enhance and support classroom teaching and offering courses to a larger population of learners.

What is a Learning Content Management System

Now we’ll talk about Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) and the difference between the two systems. Whereas LMS is software that automates the administrative tasks of training and a system that serves as a platform to deliver eLearning to students, an LCMS is primarily focused on managing and delivering the appropriate e-learning content for learners when they need it.

In essence an LCMS provides a system that can be used to rapidly create, modify, manage and reuse content for a wide range of learning. This contrasts with the logistics of managing learners and their learning activities, as well as competency mapping provided by an LMS. The tools within the LCMS are used mainly by course developers, rather than by learners. Typically they offer features such as object repositories for learning objects where they can be searched, reused or adapted.

A learning object is a self-contained chunk of instructional material. It typically includes three components:

• A performance goal (what the learner will understand or be able to accomplish upon completion of the learning)
• The necessary learning content to reach that goal (such as text, video, illustration, bulleted slide, demo, task simulation).
• Some form of evaluation to measure whether or not the goal was achieved.

A learning object also includes metadata, or tags that describe its content and purpose to the LCMS. Therefore, with the focus on creating courses most LCMS include authoring capabilities with which comes the management functionalities. These include the ability to launch and track courses. However, the launch and track features are often limited when compared to some LMS products.

The following features are usually found in a LCMS:

• Based upon learning object model (LOM)
• A content repository with versioning (and archiving) of files and/or content objects. Content is not tightly bound to any specific template and can be re-deployed in a variety of formats
• Authoring application used to create reusable learning objects that are accessible in the repository
• Interoperability with third-party LMS
• System provides workflow tools to manage a multi developer team environment
• Ability to manage diverse and complex object types
• Web interface directly to the content; A dynamic delivery interface to serve up learning object based on learner profiles, pretests and or user queries, etc. Navigational elements are not hard coded at the content/page level
• Administration application; Used to manage and track learners, launch e-learning courses from the catalog which includes the ability to search to enable discovery of content objects and/or files

The table below highlights the key differences between LMS and LCMS

Like LMS, LCMS are used primarily in business and government training communities. It is worth noting that the term LCMS is sometimes used to refer to an LMS that has extended to include an authoring capability. However, this is without meeting the spirit of the functionality described for a true LCMS. The main advantage of LCMS over LMS is that LCMS enable assembly of courses, usually dynamically, from a variety of smaller source content objects. Therefore, if your environment requires output of a variety of materials from a variety of sources, this is probably a good choice of a system.

A LCMS has several additional advantages over LMS, namely:

• They include an integrated authoring tool
• Individual assets and learning objects (including screens) can be managed, not just courses
• Assets can be version controlled
• Master copies of content objects ripple changes through all outputs
• Competencies and objectives can be mapped explicitly to any level of course organization and to learner progress
• Course units and assets can be easily reused

However, LCMS don’t have it all their own way and thus have the following disadvantages compared to LMS:

• The student management functions tend to be less robust, since the system concentrates more on the authoring, assembly, and delivery of content.
• Their capabilities are usually predicated on doing everything within the LCMS system. They may not interoperate well with other systems (for example, an external authoring tool).
• Navigation controls for courses usually are provided by the LCMS, not the content (this is especially true where the content is assembled dynamically)

For organizations to successfully select the right LMS and/or LCMS there needs to be several important factors in place. For example, a learning blueprint that describes the current learning environment and desired future state, as well as buy-in from all the stake holders, particularly IT. To help organizations define the learning blueprint, a vision and planning effort with a number of assessments, including a strategic analysis and IT infrastructure assessment, should be completed.

By Nic Hinder. Nic is a specialist in e-learning and related technologies, and mobile development.  He lives and works in the UK. Nic works with many corporate and public sector clients providing consultancy ranging from technology procurement, e-learning strategy development and learning design. To find out more about his work, please contact him at nic.hinder@yahoo.com.

Thousands of trainers right now are thinking about investing in a training platform, or learning management system, to automate, maximize, leverage and get the most ROI out of their training activities as possible. However, before you start spending time reviewing systems and talking to various vendors, you should ask yourself a few questions to identify your current and near future needs.  A small amount of needs analysis, as shown below, will allow you to more easily streamline your research process and quickly identify your system requirements.

SCORM Files

Does the system run SCORM 2004 and/or SCORM 1.2?

SCORM is the most common eLearning standard and most content authors offer SCORM files of their courses.  So ideally, you want a system that can launch/track both versions of SCORM.  This is an essential requirement for a platform.  You need to have the ability to install a wide range of courses on your system . . . otherwise, you’re needlessly limiting yourself.  Beware, many of the ERP and Payroll vendors advertise a LMS or learning platform, but these platforms cannot launch SCORM 2004 or 1.2 courses so their practical value is limited.

AICC Files

Can the system run AICC files?

AICC seems to be in decline as the prevalent eLearning standard so this is no longer a critical requirement. Having said that, Skillsoft is probably the biggest content vendor out there with literally thousands of titles. Skillsoft courses are in an AICC file format, so you need a platform that can run AICC files if you plan on licensing Skillsoft courses.

Classroom Management

Do you currently utilize classroom workshops or instructor led training?  If so, you should be capturing that data so you can better understand and quantify the results of your training efforts.  Therefore, you need to ensure the system can manage classrooms and enroll and notify people, create rosters and schedule rooms, instructors and equipment.  Given the anticipated explosion of eLearning, many vendors who have historically focused on sales and marketing solutions, are now jumping into the LMS marketplace.  While that’s fine, many of the former sales presentation platforms do not manage traditional classroom training.  If you currently conduct instructor led training, or you plan to, you need to have a system that can manage in-person workshops.

Webinar Integration

Historically, there are three delivery methods for training activities:  eLearning, classrooms and webinars.  These days, I would add a fourth delivery method which would be informal file sharing, blog posts, discussion groups, and other forms of social media.  In any event, canvas each department in your organization and determine how many webinars each department is holding and which webinar providers are being utilized.  Webinars are a fast, easy way to conduct training so there’s a good chance that some departments rely on them quite a bit.  If so, the LMS should be able to integrate with your webinar provider, or offer their own solution, so you’re able to login and record all of your training activities and learners’ training records in one web-based system.

Course Tracks and Lesson Plans

Will the system allow you to offer different sets of courses to different groups of people based on pre-selected criteria?  At a more granular level, will the system allow you to develop a lesson plan for a particular job or position, e.g., an analyst 1 takes course A, then course B, then course C, in that order?

Most of us train people based on their identifiers such as job title, department, region, etc.  Accordingly, the system needs to be able to reflect that common training work-flow.

Roles and Permissions

Does the system allow you to de-centralize training responsibility so various managers can view their own employees, assign courses, send notifications and run reports?

In most organizations, training is usually conducted at a department level.  Only a general compliance course such as a harassment or ethics course would be launched throughout the workforce.  Therefore, the training system should reflect that practice and provide a more limited administrative view and functionality to designated “sub-administrators” on the system.

Email Notifications & Syncing to Desktop Calendars

People often ignore “canned” or stock email notifications.  Check to see if the system will allow you to customize a number of messages to store in a Notification Library.  Various administrators should be able to customize their own messages and reminders to go with their training activities.  The ability to attach files to the email and/or copy others on the email is helpful.  For email notifications regarding a scheduled class or webinar, the learner must be able to sync the notification with his/her desktop calendaring system.

Certificates & Certification

Do you manage or need to track certificates such as continuing education credits?  If so, can the system manage, track and generate training certificates?  To drill down, check the system library to see if the library tracks whether a particular course entails a certificate.  Also, review the reporting capabilities to determine if you can run a report that will give you a snapshot of a learner’s certification credits.

Reports

Arguably, the reporting function is the most important function of any training platform.  The greatest benefit of a LMS is to consolidate and track all training efforts to better quantify and objectively evaluate any resulting performance increase or other change in the organization.  The only way to do that effectively is to have a robust and flexible reporting structure that allows you to run a wide range of reports by learner, group, course, completion or incomplete status, etc.  So make sure you’re satisfied with the reporting functionality.

External Learners & Ecommerce

Do you foresee the need to offer training to customers or partners?  If so, does the system support training to external audiences?  In most systems, it should be a simple matter of a few custom data fields to identify and organize the customers.  Additionally, can the system support ecommerce functionality so you can charge for training and allow external customers to pay online?

Web-based Course Authoring Tool & Document Management

Will you or any other trainers take an active role in course production?  If so, how sophisticated do you expect the courses to be?  For example, will the courses include video, audio, flash?  If you plan on creating your own courses, does the system come with an integrated course authoring tool and document management system that can meet your needs?  If so, the built-in tools will potentially save a lot of time and headaches entailed in uploading courses to the system. If you’re creating courses with the vendor’s tool, they should upload rather easily.  Also, ensure the course authoring tool is web-based so geographically dispersed subject experts or content developers can easily collaborate on the courses.  Lastly, a web-based document management system will allow you to store training objects or assets and re-use them in other training courses, allowing you to leverage all of your past training files.

Social Media Functionality

Social media is quite the buzz these days and clearly people are spending more time getting quick information updates in blog posts, discussion groups, videos, etc.  Yet, it’s still a new concept and can potentially eat up huge amounts of employee time and productivity.  With respect to social media, it may be best to decide what you want or feel comfortable with and start with baby steps and expand your strategy as you gather more data about the results.

Some Notes To Think About Regarding Training Vendors

Training systems should be designed for trainers, with an understanding of typical training work-flows and an intelligent user design.  This is important to consider because many companies have recently jumped into this space coming from other markets and catering to other end-users.  For example, there are many platforms designed for sales purposes rather than employee training, and those platforms are being re-purposed to jump into a growing and popular market.  There are also plenty of learning platforms offered by ERP and payroll vendors that merely “house” training data in a table but do not push-out, launch or schedule training courses and learners.  Make sure the vendor has a deep understanding of the training function and common work-flows. There’s no comparable substitute for practical experience.

Also, ask about the vendor’s product roadmap.  You want a vendor who will partner with you and consistently evolve their system to reflect current needs and trends.  Many of these systems have web pages that haven’t been updated in years and rely on outdated technology.  Ask about the number of features a vendor will typically release each year and make sure every customer gets the newest releases without any additional charges.

Lastly, in selecting a LMS vendor, you’re selecting your training partner so it’s best to choose one you trust. Towards that end, it could be helpful to interview the account management team in addition to the sales executive as the account manager is the person you’ll mainly be partnering with and relying on in the future.

By Janine Yancey.  Janine is a trainer and founded emTRAiN in 2000 to provide eLearning courses and a user-friendly web-based learning management system to launch and track all types of training activities.

There are many learning management systems (LMS) out there, but knowing that there are specific software programs tailored to different grade levels may benefit your school. For example, Haiku LMS is geared towards a K-12 audience, whereas other platforms might target college students.

“The Haiku platform is very attractive, and extremely user-friendly, which makes it appealing for young users in primary and secondary schools,” Susan Smith Nash, an elearning trainer and educator said on Haiku’s testimonials.

Personalizing Important Features

Haiku also supports community-driven software, meaning teachers help and plan new features. This way, the features fit what is needed in the classroom better than if someone who did not work in the school system had a more active role in feature planning of the system. Haiku can even help with implementation of their LMS.

Furthermore, Amy Hostetler, Chair of the Department of English at Goshen College says Haiku has “revolutionized” her teaching. Other educators have described the platform as the best that has happened for elearning and have praised the company for the accessibility and simplicity of the software.

One of the main reasons many educators use Haiku has to do with four variables: availability, simplicity, organization and affordability.

How to Start an LMS at Your School

A few details must be decided before starting a successful LMS system at your school.

“An organization should ask itself, what do we want to do with an LMS and what do we already have that the LMS would need to interconnect with? Do we have special needs, such as multiple-language support? E-commerce for selling training? Tracking compliance training? Different portals for different groups? Social media and networking? What size is the organization?” Senior Analyst for Brandon Hall Research Tom Werner said, from the eLearningcoach.

“This may take quite a bit of discussion inside your own organization. The IT department should be very, very involved. Your HR department should also be very involved because there may be an HR system that has some of these capabilities and needs to be connected with.” he said.

How Classrooms are Benefiting

Classrooms across the country are reaping the benefits of learning management systems.

Here are a few links to the classroom websites of teachers and schools that use LMS’:

1. Indian Creek Fourth Grade
2. Fifth Grade Math Resources
3. Eighth Grade Language Arts
4. Middle School Band

As you can see, the classrooms that utilize websites for teaching convey much information in a convenient way for both students and parents.

Providing Structure for Students

The examples also show how schools with LMS’ provide a clearer structure regarding what is expected from the student. LMS Class sites can contain weekly activities, thematic units, detailed course content and calendar applications, among others. Not only do these systems allow students and teachers to stay connected, they also allow students to take an active role in learning. Many of the classroom resource sites have a login and a place where they allow the student to check their grade in the course. Staying informed and up to date has never been easier with LMS.’

But learning management systems can also appeal to students’ drive for new technological advances.

Figuring out Technology

Moodle is another LMS that is utilized in K-12 classrooms. In the site’s community forum, educator Paula Clough stated, “my experience with elementary age children is that we don’t usually give them enough credit. They love technology and they will put the effort into trying to figure it out and make it work.”

Therefore, more usable technology in the classroom may be just what students are looking for.

“The possibilities are endless,” Clough said. “Once you start and you and your students become familiar with what is there and how to use it, you will find more and more what you want to do.”

The beginning of a learning management program is just a stepping stone to future endeavors.

Maintaining Successful Systems

Implementation may be the most difficult step of establishing an LMS. Once all of the planning and basics are worked out among a team, the project should not be very difficult to implement.

Refer to the following resources to learn more about maintaining a successful system:

1. Syberworks LMS offers a podcast about implementation
2. Angel LMS provides help with technology and systems integration ideas, as well as an Implementation Guide
3. Joomla LMS also talks about Implementation

Another comprehensive site that is helpful for carrying out your learning plan is Moodle.org. With this site, education is being transformed through technology. The community forums are especially helpful for troubleshooting the small details of your program.

In one of the Moodle forums, educator Dan McGuire wrote that, “Moodle is the best thing since the invention of the pencil for teaching writing to any age.”

Changing Times

Therefore, technology is certainly changing the way schools are operating and learning management systems seem to be beneficial across the board.

As an article in The Journal said, course learning management systems can do it all:

“Need to take a course online due to a scheduling conflict? No problem. Want to see what courses your children are enrolled in? Check. Create online professional development videos for teachers? Done.”

The enthusiasm for these systems illustrates the fact that, for right now, LMS’ belong in schools.

“As we have more and more ways of getting information (phones, apps, games, and who knows what else), LMSs will certainly evolve to support them.” Werner said on the eLearningcoach.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

There are four important things to consider when establishing a learning management system for your business.

Factor #1: Cost

Implementing an LMS at your business must be done with careful thought.

“You need to have your homework done ahead of time so as to make the implementation process as trouble-free as possible,” Amit Gautam said on The Upside Learning Solutions Blog, which discusses “innovation, design, development, and trends in the Learning Solutions domain.”

As a first step, Gautam suggests creating a team to carry out the plans for starting a learning management system. “Early on, it is very important to clearly define a team for configuration and implementation of the LMS. Ideally, the team should include individuals from all stakeholder units, key ones namely HR/Training, Management, IT,” he said on the blog.

It also important to make this process as clear and as streamlined as possible.

“Identify a clear owner of the team and define roles and responsibilities clearly. Set some milestones at a macro level to begin with but leave the team to come up with the plan in consultation with the vendor,” he said.

Factor #2: How much of a commitment is involved?

Goals for your business may have justified purchasing an LMS in the first place. Therefore, it is important to know what commitment you will have to make to get the program off the ground and keep it going strong. From inception to managing the reliability of your system, you will need to realize that there are about five steps you will have to take to get your system from start to finish.

Latitude Learning outlines these phases as:

• Inception
• Elaboration
• Construction
• Transition
• Production

All five detail the commitment you will need to make when you are proposing an LMS for your business. However, management of the system is not completed after the production phase. In fact, all phases after transition are the most important. During the transition phase, the LMS accessibility will be tested, which will determine whether your employees will feel comfortable using the system.

Making sure every employee is “on-board” will allow you to assess the support and commitment of your long range plans.

Factor #3: How can LMS’ increase employee morale?

LMS’s may cut costs for businesses, but they also heavily enforce compliance by utilizing performance measures to the highest degree.

“An LMS allows an organization to identify individuals who contribute to its success,” Kurt Salmon Associates, a global management consulting firm, stated in a whitepaper, entitled “Top 10 Reasons LMS Implementations Fail.”

“Companies often opt to share the financial benefits of a performance management program directly with associates through an incentive pay added to the hourly wage,” a representative at Kurt Salmon Associates stated. “If done correctly, this will maximize the efficiency gains of the program.”

LMS’s can increase employee morale by adding a monetary incentive, or morale can be increased by having every employee meet the same compliance standards equally, ensuring fairness.

Factor #4: How can you make it work at your business?

Linking learning with business does not have to be complicated and difficult. The key to making an LMS work has to do with many steps after implementation. Gemini Performance Solutions used follow-up surveys sent to participants, they assessed how the skills taught to employees would apply in a real-world situation and they also utilized company reports. These three aspects assessed the training and allowed Gemini to gain a better understanding of their system to meet the needs of their employees. At the same time, such a follow-up allowed the company to make the system work.

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

A Learning management system (LMS) in the workplace can be vitally important. They work by creating a virtual work environment for employees, which can ultimately streamline business practices and employee training, among other attributes. But there is also a competitive advantage to using learning management systems.

“75 percent of organizations believe knowledge management plays a significant role in improving competitive advantage,” a KPMG study, cited by learning solutions company elementK, said.

By using the knowledge they have learned from taking performance improvement tests on LMS’, employees can bring their companies many extra benefits than if they didn’t use the system.

Where LMS’ are being used

The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) is by far the most comprehensive website for employee training e-Learning options. The organization offers resources about consulting, evaluation, leadership, performance improvement, training fundamentals and social networking, in addition to e-Learning.

How LMS’ benefits management

There are many benefits to management from implementing this type of a comprehensive system.

Company SumTotal’s TotalLMS system benefits can include, “increased productivity, improved compliance and audit readiness, stronger customer and partner relationships, more engaged workforce, and greater visibility across the entire business,” according to the organization website.

Plateau Learning & Performance Management Solutions agrees that LMS’ can create a more engaged workforce. Other benefits also include increasing workforce productivity, decreasing operational expenses and improving regulatory compliance.

Staying compliant

LMS’ can also help with compliance standards. If employees must take a test to be certified with a specific skill set, LMS’ can facilitate that instruction.

Company inspired elearning offers an LMS that can “deliver, track and manage all of your online and instructor led training programs in 16 languages,” according to their website. Companies who accept these systems include Hearst, IRI, Lincoln Financial, Sealed Air, Flagstar Bank, and ADP.

Evaluating training

LMS in the office support professional development. Employees can take the required testing they need for their particular job, without much hassle on the employer. Since the system is online, the results of the testing can be configured immediately and employers will not have to wait to let their employees know the results of any compliancy tests.

By using the systems to evaluate how well an employee is performing, managers can also quickly and easily identify areas an employee needs to improve.

“Performance improvement is the process of identifying and analyzing important organizational and individual performance gaps, planning for future performance improvement, designing and developing cost-effective and ethically justifiable interventions to close performance gaps, implementing the interventions, and evaluating the financial and non-financial results,” according to ASTD.

It is also worth visiting A2XConsulting.com, a business resource providing human resources and general management related advice. They are a good resource for learning more about topics such as training and performance management.

Resources

There are a few web resources that can help companies establish LMS’. These include:

American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)

The University of Akron Learning Management Site

By Kelly McLendon.

Learning management systems (LMS) are used to connect students, parents and educators in the classroom. A system could allow students and parents to see their grades from home, or it could allow educators to tutor their students virtually via chat room or video chat. Although there are many different possibilities with LMS’, the purpose remains the same: bringing students and teachers together to learn.

How they are used in schools

To have an effective online education system or eLearning system, the National Education Association suggests teachers have a Learning Management System (LMS) available. This is so “there is a shared vision and student-centered teaching which will provide educational support for evaluation and assessment.”

Creating a manageable structure

“LMS’ like WebCT, Blackboard, and Desire2Learn offer their greatest value to the organization by providing a means to sequence content and create a manageable structure for instructors/administration staff,” elearnspace, a site focused on education online said.

There are a few sites that can help educators with these systems quickly and simply. Moodle.com is one of them. Moodle is a “Course Management System (CMS), also known as a learning management system (LMS) or a virtual learning environment (VLE).” The site can be used by educators to create online learning sites.

School example

The Connections Academy LMS allows parents to:

• “View all students’ schedules, assignments, and lessons.
• Adjust the learning schedule for students in grades K-8.
• Monitor students’ progress using the online grade book.
• Record attendance.
• Communicate with teachers and other families via our secure WebMail and message boards.
• Rate the Connections Academy learning experience, at any time.”

Other attributes of LMS’

Besides offering the accessibility to view student schedules, lessons and assignment plans, LMS’ can also help teachers with their career goals and certifications.

“Elluminate Inc., a Canadian company, provides live Web conferencing that is tailored to school functions, such as professional development for teachers. The live-video capability and moderator tools can be integrated into the use of Moodle or Blackboard,” according to Education Week.

Resources to consider

The following are websites that educators can access to learn the latest information about course management systems and connect with other teachers for advice and support.

• Moodle

• Elearningguild

• Open Education

By Kelly McLendon. Kelly is studying Environmental Policy and Journalism. She can be reached at mclendon.kelly@gmail.com.

You manage a training function and you have decided to utilize a learning management system (LMS). Great choice. Now you need to figure out where to start. Regardless of whether you are using a home-grown system made in Excel or a database, or if you are using a commercial program, the initial steps are straight forward. Thinking through those steps should help you better understand the value of the LMS. A recommended approach might be:

1. If you are using a commercial program, review the entire program and decide which features you will use at first, and which you will hold off on. This is critical because the task of populating an LMS is daunting. Start with priority. Make sure each feature you target has an owner.
2. An obvious first step is to get all company employees entered. No short cuts here. If at all possible, get the list tied to your payroll system to keep the process of updating the list easy.
3. My favorite next step is to add in all available courses. Start by reviewing old training tapes and web programs. Look for the programs you offer in house. Don’t forget job aids. It is likely you will surprise yourself with the number of programs available. Make sure you are careful in noting which programs require re-certification.
4. If at all possible, enter detail as to wages and training costs. You want to build as accurate picture as possible as to the cost of training. Senior management should know how much a training event costs inclusive of salary. Too often this step is ignored, as well intentioned training managers don’t want managers to see how expensive training is. My view is different. I think senior managers should see this so they provide the appropriate attention and resource to the training department to assure programs are excellent. The challenge is to make sure that training costs are accompanies by a description of benefit and an ROI calculation.
5. Have a manager review his or her team, and assign training programs to that person. Start with the managers who most support the LMS.
6. Once the system is up and running, review it with all parties who will access it. Get their buy in, and set a plan for stage 2.

Let us now if you have experience to share. Post a comment here, or start a discussion in our forum.