As educational institutions adapt to provide more blended and online learning opportunities, a robust yet easy-to-use higher education LMS (Learning Management System) has become increasingly important.
Selecting the best Learning Management System can help schools, colleges, and universities overcome key challenges, boost student engagement, and elevate the learning experience.
The usage of educational technology in schools is already growing and is likely to increase significantly in the coming years. Read on to find out how to keep up with your competitors and deliver the best learning experience for your students.
IN THIS ARTICLE...
What is LMS in higher education?
For higher education, a learning management system (LMS) is a software application or platform for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials, or learning and development programs.
An LMS provides the technology foundation for delivering modern education across academic institutions. This helps schools and universities to manage and deliver educational content that meets the demands of today’s students.
For academic settings, an LMS allows you to:
- Build online courses with multimedia materials for students.
- Create quizzes, track grades, and review analytics on student progress.
- Deliver eLearning and schedule virtual classes via video conferencing tools.
- Share documents, and host online discussions and forums.
This means instructors and students can hold classes, collaborate on work, take tests, and fully track assignment scores online. Beyond fully virtual learning, an LMS also enables “blended learning” models combining physical and digital instruction.
Key Benefits an Academic LMS Delivers
A higher education-focused LMS enhances key aspects of teaching and learning while offering flexibility for administrators, instructors, and students. The platform delivers an engagement-centric digital learning environment that caters to modern student expectations.
Implementing a robust learning management system tailored for higher education delivers institutions major advantages including:
Student flexibility to take classes on campus or online. With an LMS, students can join live classes virtually or watch pre-recorded lectures and eLearning at their convenience. This flexibility to learn online or in classrooms caters to varied schedules while increasing accessibility. Allowing students to switch seamlessly between learning formats keeps them engaged in course materials.
Continuity across teaching models with the ability to support in-person, hybrid, or remote learning. A top priority for schools and universities is providing consistent yet versatile instruction whether delivered in-person, remotely, or via a hybrid approach. An LMS easily facilitates these blended models with integrated tools for live video lectures, document sharing, online quizzes/submissions, and more. Maintaining continuity across delivery formats is vital for student satisfaction and outcomes.
Data to refine teaching and analytics to hone teaching methods over time. Robust LMS analytics provide granular insight into how students interact with content which topics drive engagement and where struggles emerge. These data-driven insights allow instructors to tailor lesson plans to optimize comprehension and retention. Over time, informed curriculum refinements translate into improved student performance.
Key Challenges in Higher Education Systems
Many colleges and universities still use older learning management systems that were implemented years ago. These aging platforms fail to offer the tools and capabilities that match today’s blended and online learning demands.
This causes major issues including:
- Faculty can’t create multimedia online courses due to rigid authoring capabilities.
- Complex interfaces make the system hard for students and teachers to use independently.
- The lack of built-in discussion forums, chat tools, and group project areas leads to lower student participation.
- Gradebooks and dashboards lack the insights needed to quickly identify and assist struggling students.
As a result of these outdated LMS systems:
- Both enrollment and retention drop as students move to more modern online education options.
- Faculty and staff are less effective and more frustrated with their work environment.
- Institutions can’t provide consistent experiences across in-person, hybrid, and remote learning models.
The bottom line is that clinging to legacy higher education LMS solutions threatens an institution’s competitiveness, growth potential, and learning outcomes over the long term.
Solution: Intellek LCMS for Higher Education
Using a new, purpose-built LMS platform can directly address the core issues caused by outdated systems. Selecting a tailored solution designed specifically for higher education institutions gives colleges and universities new capabilities including:
- Easy-to-use tools that let faculty build interactive multimedia online course content.
- Intuitive interfaces that make the system accessible for all students and teachers.
- Built-in deep links and sharing options that drive greater student participation.
- Powerful analytics to readily identify students at risk who need support.
With a modern LMS that meets specialized needs, institutions benefit such as:
- Improved enrollment and completion rates thanks to engaging, personalized online classes.
- Happier faculty and staff by using effective ed-tech tools to enhance their work.
- Delivering consistent blended learning across physical, online, and hybrid learning formats.
Investing in an LMS specifically tailored for higher education helps schools overcome existing barriers while achieving key objectives around student outcomes, operational efficiency, and future competitiveness.
LMS Customization, Training & Scalability
We work as an extension of your team to implement a higher education LMS tailored to current and future institutional objectives.
Customizing the LMS Experience
Implementing a new LMS tailored to higher education only works if the platform adjusts to meet institutional needs. That’s why we offer colleges and universities complete control to:
- Customize course templates, certificates, and branding to match policies.
- Configure recommended learning, enrollment, and delivery methods based on what works best.
- Integrate with API and SSO seamlessly into existing campus systems.
Driving User Adoption with Training
Beyond system-level tailoring, preparing faculty and students to use the LMS effectively is crucial. Our training programs help smooth adoption by:
- Walking faculty step-by-step through how to build online courses.
- Teaching students self-service basics through video tutorials.
- Staffing phone, chat, and email support to answer platform admin questions.
Scalability to Support Growth
A top concern for institutions is selecting a higher education LMS able to scale. As online and blended course enrollment expands over time, will the system keep pace?
Our solution offers colleges and universities seamless scalability including:
- Quickly add online courses and expand catalog depth.
- Accommodate surges in enrollment during peak periods.
- Integrate emerging ed-tech tools over time.
Higher Education LMS Project Delivery
As a leading provider of an LMS catering to higher education, we understand many institutions are still using legacy systems that fail to offer the capabilities required to meet today’s blended and online learning demands.
For universities seeking to select a next-generation platform purpose-built for higher ed, we propose partnering to implement our Intellek LMS solution.
The system can address core needs centered on:
- Easy course authoring enabling faculty to develop multimedia content.
- Intuitive interfaces providing self-service access for all technical abilities.
- Built-in collaboration tools to increase student participation.
- Robust assessment creation, certification, and analytical insights.
Compared to other options, Intellek LMS provides optimal usability for administrators, faculty, and students alongside superior development tools to create engaging online courses.
We would collaborate closely on a transition plan to:
- Migrate existing course content.
- Train university stakeholders on using the new LMS.
- Provide change management guidance to drive adoption.
At launch, based on extensive experience supporting higher education institutions, we are confident both students and staff would praise noticeable improvements in the learning experience and administrative flexibility.
Higher Education LMS Provider of Choice
We welcome the opportunity to serve as a long-term higher education LMS partner focused on supporting emerging enrollment growth and continuously elevating the user experience over time.
These client testimonials reflect our solution’s proven abilities to help higher education institutions deliver world-class digital learning.
“We deploy Intellek’s eLearning content as classroom curriculum for hundreds of US universities, to teach students how to use a multitude of software programs. Thousands of new students use this courseware each semester. Intellek courseware and LMS has been the backbone of our program for over 4 years now. I couldn’t imagine using any other platform to accomplish what we do. They are truly the best higher education LMS provider in the business!”
Douglas Lusk – National Society for Legal Technology
“In delivering the new T-Levels qualification, we looked at our in-house system Moodle but functionality was limited. So we looked at other options to try and produce the systems we needed. Navigate went some way to fulfilling the criteria, it enabled the student portfolio to be stored and evidenced but it didn’t offer any form of triage/3-way communication with the employer, or handle the qualification in a wider context. South Devon College is totally invested in our Intellek powered platform, we fully believe that it will knock any competition out of the park. We offer a high-quality qualification and we need a high-quality system to deliver it – and the Intellek LMS does.”
Kerry Pilato – South Devon College
Using an LMS for Higher Education
As competition increases, higher education institutions need to provide the best learning experience possible. Investing in a purpose-built LMS solution can help schools, colleges, and universities boost student success, engaging both learners and faculty to gain a competitive edge. With the right LMS platform, educational organizations can deliver cutting-edge blended and online learning at scale.
If you’re a college or university seeking to elevate your student learning experience, engage effectively, and streamline administrative tasks, connect with Intellek now. Discover how our innovative Learning Management System for higher education can revolutionize your teaching methods and empower your students for success.
Contact us to schedule a free personalized platform demo and embark on a journey toward modern, effective higher education delivery. Transform your educational approach today!
Intellek (formerly TutorPro) is a founding member of the learning technology industry. With a presence in the USA, UK, Canada, and the EU – for over 30 years we have pioneered the development of cutting-edge eLearning software and online training solutions, with a large and diverse portfolio of international clientele.
Disclaimer: We use all the tools available including generative AI to create relevant and engaging content.
