8 Must-have Features in an LMS for Better Learner Experience and Engagement

No matter how superlative your training design is, if accessing it is a challenge, then your learner engagement levels are definitely likely to dip. A smooth learner experience is imperative, especially at a time when organizations are scrambling to upskill and reskill their employees so they can meet the evolving demands of the corporate landscape.

It’s not enough to simply put together well-designed programs without giving your learners the right training tools where they can access the courses easily. For this, a must-have tool in your L&D arsenal is a learning management system (LMS), and picking the right one is integral to ensuring a great learner experience, and in turn engagement.

While this sounds easy, it’s hardly that!

As per a 2020 Brandon Hall Group report,42%companies were looking to replace their LMS vendors, with usability being one of the main reasons.

But there are several LMSs that are built especially for users and focus mainly on them. With learner-centric features, these solutions make learning easier and user-friendly with an intuitive experience that boosts engagement.

Here are 8 must-have LMS features that help offer a seamless learner experience and augment engagement rates:

1. Nudge

Nudge, in reference to learning, can be delivered through mediums like email, text, or via an LMS. Nudging learners to go for reinforcement learning material on a regular basis is one of the possible ways to improve knowledge retention. A good LMS should enable you to send out email and SMS notifications to let your learners know about important updates with regard to the training. They help keep learners abreast of all developments within the LMS. Besides, you can have peace of mind knowing your learners will be reminded to engage with learning.

2. Adaptive and Self-Learning Path

Adaptive Learning is a great way to increase learner engagement and motivation if used correctly. Your LMS can have Self Learning Paths that enable you to create and automate a structured training program. A Self Learning Path can also make it possible to set completion criteria for learners and notify them about updates while allowing you to track the performance of each learner.

3. Mobile Learning

In the era of remote working, a mobile-friendly LMS for on-the-go learning is a perfect fit. An LMS that offers a complete learning experience with a fully responsive design provides users access to their learning via PC, laptop, tablet, or mobile and gives them the flexibility to complete their courses anywhere, anytime. Such an LMS can allow your learners to receive effective training by providing them access to real-time data, letting them download resources and videos to view offline later, and syncing everything once they are online to update the progress in the LMS.

4. User Generated Content

Your LMS will be more impactful if it encourages user-generated content by providing platforms like communities and discussion boards where learners can learn from their peers. You can create new communities, add search tags, and send notifications to participants to kick-start conversations while also getting a comprehensive view of trending topics, users, the total number of active communities, etc. Such an LMS helps capture knowledge that is prevalent in the enterprise, going beyond the conventional view of courseware, assignments, and assessment.

5. Easy Integrations

Your LMS can give you more bang for your buck by seamlessly integrating with a bunch of apps, tools, and systems while reducing manual efforts in the process. These can be any apps and tools like web conferencing and virtual classroom experience, virtual labs, payment gateways, HRMS, and HRIS and Performance Management platforms.

6. Localization and Personalization

As businesses take place around the globe, diversity in the workplace is a necessary outcome for enterprises. One way is for your LMS to provide support for multiple languages to ensure that your learners are able to use their learning platform the right way in 'their local language', thereby increasing user adoption. Another way of offering a seamless learning experience is by personalizing your LMS as per your brand by creating custom login pages with complete branding set-up, setting up custom logos, color scheme, and background along with options for the user login screen, portal promotions, and SMTP settings. This makes the system familiar to your learners and reduces the alienated feeling of the LMS being another system to be managed.

7. Blended Learning

Your LMS should be able to offer Blended Learning which basically means combining Instructor-led Training (ILT) or Virtual Instructor-led Training or VILT (more relevant to the current times) with online training. Blended Learning is a holistic package that consists of guided learning, classroom training, eLearning, microlearning, and mobile learning. Implementing a Blended Learning approach allows your learners the flexibility to choose the type of learning that they are most comfortable with.  

8. Reporting and Analytics

An LMS with an inbuilt reporting and analytics feature can track the status of learners’ progress across the organization. This can be used to generate progress reports for individuals or groups and can be linked to how active the learner is. Learner activeness is an important factor in Curriculum Completions, CPD Points, and Gamification Points. L&D professionals are now increasingly finding more value in leveraging learning analytics to access learner behaviors to improve the training quality and delivery methods.

In Conclusion

Enhancing learner experience is important to increase learner engagement. Offering learning that can be easily consumed with the help of a user-friendly LMS is a pathway to improve learner experience and consequently learner engagement.