The 2019 Learning Management System Forecast

The 2019 Learning Management System Forecast
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Summary: As the competitive space for Learning Management Systems continues to expand at breakneck speeds, staying on top of the latest trends and developments is critical. From AI and VR to specialized market segments and new protocols, see what will be hitting the training industry throughout 2019.

Presenting The 2019 Learning Management System Forecast

With the growth of cloud computing and increased demand for cost-effective learning solutions from multiple industries, the global Learning Management System (LMS) market has ballooned during the past decade. In fact, during this time, the market has grown from about a dozen providers and solutions to more than 700.

Curious about experts’ LMS industry predictions for the rest of 2019? Find out how the market is expected to grow and change this year—and beyond.

Growth Continues

While the consolidation of services has been an ongoing trend in the past few years, overall industry growth is expected to remain strong. In fact, the global LMS market is expected to more than triple in value by 2023—skyrocketing from where it stood in 2016 at just shy of $5 billion to more than $16 billion by 2023.

While the two main LMS user types include academics and enterprises, many of the industry’s players are beginning to specialize to focus on particular vertical segments. These include government, education, retail, healthcare, IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, and hospitality.

LMS Trends To Watch

From technical innovations to an expansion of resource offerings, there are plenty of up-and-coming LMS trends to keep an eye on this year.

CMI-5 Continues To Gain Ground

The alphabet soup of eLearning standards and specifications will remain complex in 2019 and beyond, and some experts are predicting that the relatively new CMI-5 will gain significant ground.

For some background, the same committee that developed the AICC standard began developing CMI-5 in 2012, as a set of guidelines that would make it easier for xAPI to work with a course delivered by an LMS. They created CM15 to address the following 5 areas [1]:

  1. Simplify data tracking
  2. Support content-defined data
  3. Support cross-domain content
  4. Deliver browser independence
  5. Support knowledge sharing between learners

Learning technology expert, Craig Weiss, doesn’t believe CMI-5 will kill off SCORM or AICC in 2019. However, he suggests that it’s still a growing tool and trend that Learning and Development leaders should keep in mind as it continues to gain prevalence in the market.

He indicates that CMI-5 is clearly better and some LMS providers are taking advantage of this and implementing it into their offerings. However, consumer acceptance and understanding continues to hold it back from claiming a majority among providers. While Weiss suggests that there is still enough adoption to identify it as a trend and begin to see its advantages in the market, he still doesn’t think everyone is going to start using CMI-5 in the next year even though its use will be more widespread than xAPI in its first two years in the market. Consequently, it shouldn’t be discounted entirely.

Artificial Intelligence

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence’s spot in the general marketplace, retailers like Subway and Sprint are already making use of messaging bots, also known as chatbots, and their number is expected to rise in 2019. In fact, their legion is growing so fast that they’re on track to save businesses more than $8 billion per year by 2022 [2].

Customized training was a major trend in 2018 with organizations serving up tailored learning opportunities and styles best suited for specific roles and locations. In 2019 and beyond, the growth of Artificial Intelligence will help Learning Management Systems continue on this personalized path.

Augmented, Virtual Realities

When it comes to practical applications, technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have foundered over the past few years, mostly drawing investment, interest, and enthusiasm from the entertainment industry. But a growing trend to look out for in 2019 is organizations across verticals using VR and AR for cost saving—and profit-growing—purposes.

There are already dozens of Virtual Reality learning apps—focused on everything from art to archeology. And, both VR and AR have found their way into job training, supplying organizations like the Pima County Sherriff’s department with immersive training, sans downtime or danger.

While the implementation price tag for VR and AR training is still a bit steep for many organizations to include in their LMS strategies, experts predict costs will continue to drop to open the market for more players and wider adoption.

An Abundance Of Resources

A final 2019 prediction from Weiss is the proliferation of additional learning resources to supplement organizations’ existing LMS platforms and tools.

He believes that the main trend this next year will involve expanding the exploration of traditional course alternatives. This includes social networks and performance support. Furthermore, we should see a shift to formal learning from an event model to a more sustainable and equally distributed one.

In his forecast, Weiss predicts that learning and development professional vendors will add content such as workbooks, eBooks, articles, templates and more.

References:

[1] cmi5 vs SCORM Comparison Document (https://github.com/AICC/CMI-5_Spec_Current/wiki/cmi5-vs-SCORM-Comparison-Document)

[2] Chatbots, A Game Changer for Banking & Healthcare, Saving $8 billion annually by 2022 (https://www.juniperresearch.com/press/press-releases/chatbots-a-game-changer-for-banking-healthcare?utm_campaign=chatbots2017pr1&utm_source=prnewswirepr&utm_medium=email)

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