How To Know When To Upgrade Your Learning Management System

How To Know When To Upgrade Your Learning Management System
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Summary: Keep your members engaged with an upgrade to your association Learning Management System that uses gamification features and other tools to motivate them.

5 Signs That Help You Know When You Should Upgrade Your Learning Management System

If your association has been using a Learning Management System (LMS) to offer member education for a while now, you’ve already seen the positive effect that this solution can have on your members’ professional development and their engagement with your association.

As with all software, however, recent developments in learning management technology should encourage your organization to consider the benefits of upgrading your LMS.

With an upgraded LMS, your association will be able to better cater to your members’ specific eLearning needs, whether by providing them with more opportunities to receive necessary certification or giving them more ways to complete courses. Today, we’ll show you how an upgrade to your LMS can benefit your association when:

  1. Your members want more ways to engage with the content they are learning.
  2. You need better ways to assess and track your learners’ progress.
  3. Your members are looking for more social learning options.
  4. You are planning to gather valuable information in your AMS and CRM.
  5. Your association is growing.

When your members enjoy the learning process, they’ll complete more courses and engage more deeply with your association and your professional field. Upgrade your LMS to give your members more ways to interact with the content they’re learning.

1. Your Members Want More Ways To Engage With The Content They Are Learning

As your association already knows, eLearning can be just as enjoyable as traditional classroom learning when information is presented through modules that encourage learners to interact with the content. If your LMS doesn’t have the capabilities necessary to present content in an engaging manner, it’s time to upgrade to a system that will make your members excited to learn.

As you search for a new association LMS, look for features that take your members’ learning beyond the presentation of content and encourage them to participate in the learning process. These features include:

  • Multimedia Elements
    Video and other multimedia elements help accommodate various learning styles and break up text-based modules, which are effective but could become monotonous without variation.
  • Interactive Modules
    Make your members active participants in their learning with modules that invite interaction with the content rather than passive absorption. Drag-and-drop areas motivate learners to take these active roles.
  • Gamification Tools
    Already useful as corporate training tools, gamification techniques are just as excellent for your members’ eLearning programs. Badges, scoreboards, and other elements motivate learners and reward them for their progress and completion of courses.

Members who are motivated to learn will complete more courses, meaning your association LMS needs to be capable of assessing their work, tracking their progress, and providing them with the appropriate certification when they complete courses.

2. You Need Better Ways To Assess And Track Your Learners’ Progress

As your learners progress through their courses, your association needs to know how they are doing. You’ll also want to stay up-to-date on the courses they have completed and the levels of certification they have earned.

Choose an LMS that makes it easy to assess your learners on the most important material and provide them with the correct certification when they succeed.

The key to an effective assessment system within your LMS is configuration. This extends beyond the process of making your own questions to include such features as:

  • Quiz And Exam Question Banks
    Create, upload, and save questions to create quizzes and final exams that address your learners’ most pressing needs for each course (and save your staff some time while you’re at it!).
  • Adaptive Quizzes And Responses
    Transform your members’ missed questions into valuable learning opportunities with tailored corrections that help ensure they’ll understand the material they need more work on.
  • Certification Capabilities
    In some fields, such as healthcare, members need to complete courses to attain certifications that allow them to advance in their profession. You’ll need to choose an association LMS that can create and distribute these official certifications.

As your members engage with course materials in preparation for these important assessments, many of them will benefit from opportunities to discuss the material with fellow learners.

3. Your Members Are Looking For More Social Learning Options

eLearning may take place online instead of in the classroom, but that doesn’t mean your learners have to be isolated! Look for an LMS that provides several social learning options to further engage your members in their learning.

Effective in both the corporate and association spheres, social learning strategies range from facilitating online interactions among learners in a given course to in-person events. Your association can incorporate several types of social learning with an LMS that:

  • Features Discussion Boards
    Discussion boards are a great way for learners in a course to interact with each other and gain new perspectives on the material under consideration.
  • Facilitates Live Chats
    Encourage interaction in real time with live chat options that allow your learners to discuss the material with one another.
  • Offers Content For In-Person Events
    In-person events are key to association education offerings. Use your LMS for in-person events to create an ongoing conversation, not just a one-time networking opportunity.

Interactivity and gamification, assessments that encourage further learning, and social learning opportunities all motivate your members to engage with your association LMS. When they do, ensure that you’re able to gather information on their progress in your Association Management System and CRM.

4. You Are Planning To Gather Valuable Information In Your AMS And CRM

It’s likely that your Association Management System (AMS) is a hub for both your members and your association’s team, facilitating processes from gathering dues to registering members for events. When your association LMS integrates with your AMS, your members’ eLearning data is automatically streamlined to their profiles in your AMS.

Integrating your systems means that as members complete courses and gain higher degrees of certification within their fields, these achievements are displayed on their member profiles within your AMS and reflected in your association’s records.

Because the updates are automatic, your team doesn’t have to spend time transferring these records and risk losing valuable information in the process. You can learn more about the integration process here.

Before you select an association LMS, check to make sure that your current Association Management Software is capable of integrating with your new LMS. If your association is considering upgrading both systems, you can use this guide to the best Association Management Software to learn more about your options for a new AMS.

As your association grows, you’ll likely need to upgrade your software solutions, including your association LMS, to better suit the needs of more members.

5. Your Association Is Growing

Growth is wonderful for your association, but like all changes, it comes with its own unique set of challenges. If your association is growing, you’ll likely need to upgrade your association LMS to accommodate more members who want to become lifelong learners.

The more learners you have, the more learning options you’ll want to give them. As your association grows, ensure that your LMS:

  • Is Mobile Responsive For Learning On The Go?
    Mobile apps allow learners to complete courses wherever they are. An association LMS that offers mobile learning opportunities will be convenient for many of your members.
  • Can Meet Your Future Needs?
    Look for an LMS that can grow with your association, allowing you to expand your course offerings as the need arises.
  • Addresses Individual Learners’ Needs
    No matter how many learners you have, your association wants to provide each of them with as personalized an experience as possible. Make sure that you can provide the courses they need as well as adaptive feedback to facilitate their progress.

With an upgraded association LMS, you’ll meet the learning needs of your members even as your association grows and create a culture of learning that inspires them to develop as professionals. Your members are sure to benefit from the learning opportunities that you provide.

When it comes to facilitating your members’ development within their fields, an association LMS is an essential educational tool. To best serve your members, upgrade to a system that engages them in the learning process and inspires them to interact with course materials.