For several years now a number of industry pundits have been predicting the demise of learning management systems. Personally, I don’t think they’re going away, but will be part of a mix of systems for tracking learning experiences that will range from LMSs to personal electronic portfolios. It is true that learning management systems have evolved from simplistic imitations of school-based control systems to more elaborate enterprise systems that allow a for a variety of ways to track and facilitate learning. Recently, I reviewed the evolution of learning management systems in the Canadian HR Reporter.
As long as there is a demand for tracking and reporting of courses, assessments, and achievements within large organizations, I believe there will be a demand for some form of learning management systems. For a copy of the article, click here.
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Great article and related points. The notion that the LMS is going away ignores today’s reality that learning and training is increasingly being called upon to prove itself. In a competitive, digitally connected world, corporate training departments, universities, school system and other educational institutions are being tasked to quantify and qualify their results and communicate these outputs to a variety of audiences in a variety of ways.
Over a year ago, I listened to a CSTD roundtable webcast involving three e-Learning prognosticators (Jay Cross, Stephen Downes and one other – Clark Aldrich??). Each panelist was and still is a highly regarded as an industry expert. Many engaging online training topics were discussed however what was surprising was hearing all remark about the coming demise of the LMS and that a more personalized, less management systems approach was just around the corner. I replied with a contrasting viewpoint in support of a bright future of the LMS to one of the panel (Stephen), however did not hear back, other than ‘interesting point, let me get back to you’.
My humble corporate training experience (borne out of industry euphoria and resulting disillusionment) tells me that when it comes to most funding of training and related delivery technologies, the bottom line is the bottom line. While more companies are taking a balanced scorecard approach, the application and management of training solutions must still be financially measurable, maintain a positive ROI and be able to weather the up and down tides of the business cycle. A parade of innovative and ground-breaking concepts and designs will come and go if improperly implemented, if unable to adapt to varying organization scale and if costs and outcomes are not in line with expected returns. Remarking on the poor judgment behind most failed LMS and course implementations, Jay Cross commented, “Corporations always cut training in bad economic times; think of it as deferred maintenance of intellectual assets. “.
The LMS landscape is indicative of today’s training realities: while not perfect, it provides a measureable snapshot of performance and knowledge gaps in the enterprise, which can be used to quickly identify training opportunities and track success.
Which is a considerably more advanced method to track success in this world of data than the previous method: the training evaluation ’smile’ sheet.
I work in the banking industry where government and corporate regulations and compliance is very big. Each year we have numerous campaigns where employees must take required training on things such as AML (anti-money laundering). Because the training is required and has to be reported the LMS is a must.
It is for this reason that I must whole-heartedly agree with your assessment that “…I believe there will be a demand for some form of learning management systems.”
I work in the pharmaceutical industry. The company I work for is just in the process of getting its 1st global LMS!
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment as well. With many companies just beginning to research and implement learning management systems, I believe they will be around for awhile. I’ll be anxious to see how they evolve over time.
I agree with Gary and the other Gary from May. LMSs are not going away. If anything there is more scrutiny on corporations today to prove the value of training and show data. LMS technology is currently the tool to track training data and either report on it directly or export out to other enterprise reporting solutions.
Just my 2 cents…
I’m responding before having read the entire article (in the middle of Gary’s Emerging Technologies workshop in Chicago). I *do think that LMS will survive, but that they must adapt to provide better tracking/reporting for non-formal training experiences. Corporate managers will still want to know who has the skills (regardless of how they were acquired), not just who completed the formal training.
Learning management systems definitely have a future. I just started using a free service called CollegeBrain.net (www.collegebrain.net). They have most of the same features as Blackboard & Moodle, except they are free of any license fees, hosting costs, or other IT nightmares.
I took it for a testdrive this quarter and hosted my History 97 course. Couldn’t have been happier. The signup process took 2 minutes. The support staff had very prompt response times, and interface is remarkably cleaner than Blackboard (although Moodle already managed to beat them a long time ago! Sheesh Bb!)
Anyway I encourage any other course instructors reading this to checkout http://www.collegebrain.net
I was refered by this site: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/site-of-the-week/site/?i=53553;_hbguid=c1a1fc5d-258d-486a-a765-f7950b754d2c&d=site-of-the-week
And I managed to dig up a press release dated last month: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/new-course-management-solution-instructors/story.aspx?guid=%7B40211544-5797-4232-ADCB-05E8EDE9DBFE%7D
I’d say this is a sign that LMS’s have a future, and are just beginning to evolve. I imagine they will fuse more with the “social” movement of sites like Facebook, but only time will tell. For now, I’m just happy I can manage my students for free, without needing to involve any IT staff from my University.
-JBF
While school-based control systems figure into the history of learning management systems I diagree that modern LMSs evolved from them: “It is true that learning management systems have evolved from simplistic imitations of school-based control systems to more elaborate enterprise systems that allow a for a variety of ways to track and facilitate learning.”
The theory contributions of Robert Gagne and Leslie Briggs (Florida State University) – two of the early fathers Instructional Systems Design – stand out in this history. Their 1950s and 60s seminal work (with due respect to the work of Benjamin Bloom and others)provided insights into instructional sequencing. Their work inspired work by M. David Merrill (Utah State University) on Component Display Theory (1970) which described an approach to instruction based on the use of discrete chunks of instructional sequences.
Between 1965 and 1985 computer science theorists formulated the notion of object oriented programming. In about 1994 David Hodgins coined the term learning objects that helped to facilitate a conceptual bridge between Merrill’s CDT and the capabilities of information technology of the time.
By the late 1990s we see the emergence of Learning Management Systems that (in theory) can facilitate the re-usability of chunks of electronic instruction. At about this time we see the emergence of electronic standards for the use (interoperabilty) of learning objects. These standards were AICC and SCORM. The point was to enable a cybernetic system (a LMS) to facilitate the recombination of discrete electronic learning objects into new whole courses. Lego blocks are the perfect metaphor.
That ideal has not been fully realized but it is possible. Thanks to the Internet and Merrill’s seminal CDT, Learning Management Systems had broad potential. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of LMSs aren’t (yet) motivated to facilitate interoperability of shareable content objects (SCOs).
A Learning Management System should allow organizations to load and deliver any SCORM or AICC learning object (i.e., whole course or course component) and track and report on user activity.
Imagine that I have a national business. I have operations in every state. If every employee in every state needs to complete (demonstrate capability) in widgets 101 but South Carolina, Utah, and Alaska employees need additional instructional (for regulatory reasons) my LMS can add additional modules (i.e., objects) to the course and deliver those as part of the course for national employees but only for them.
Learning Management Systems are not just for community colleges, schools, and universities. Those institutions will not lead the industry in their use. The LMS is by no means dead.
I have just started my practise in the company ,which are making the program about elearning … I have never think these kind of programs could be so necessary… But the main point is for sure, that if the people (young people ,students and companies ) will not speak about elearning and LMS , the future of it will not be so good… People must know that elarning systems made a big improvement after two years…
E learning cant replace the whole way of studying but can be more helpful with that …