2020 is the year which showed us how education and the corporate world has changed all of a sudden. No one ever thought that the school-going students, college-going teenagers, and white-collar professionals, will work in a blurry mix of<em> laptops, pyjamas and Zoom.
Above is a report by UNESCO that figures that 1,379,344,914 students (approx 80 per cent) of the world’s learners are away from educational institutions due to global lockdown.
Work from home is here to stay and educational institutions have realised that it will be a long time when students will go back to school in fall. Institutions who are looking to kick start or resume their learning with an online platform should go for an online Learning Management System.
With this article, you will eye upon some of the must-have LMS features and add an edge to your institution’s goal.
Selecting an LMS: Five Features for COVID-19 and Beyond
Tools for Personalized Learning
Your Learning Management System should be integrated with in-built AI features that could dig into deep data analysis and personalization. Artificial Intelligence is a powerful data processing tool that provides an interactive and immersive e-Learning course delivery.
Intrusion of AI into LMS simplifies a large number of tasks like smart course personalisation, course content localisation, and success evaluation for tutors and learners. AI-based LMS enables comprehensive BI reporting and automatic subtitle generation in the content. This will help the learners from any community across the globe can participate in the learning tutorial.
It automates and scales complex workflows like online exam proctoring by using AI-based proctoring solutions – computer vision and deep learning mechanism. This technology monitors thousand examinees and figures out suspicious activities with ease as compared to human proctors.
Physical Boundary is not a problem any more
Physical Boundary is often a problem with students in remote areas as they can not afford for primary level education also. Through web forecasting, tutors and instructors can impart learning to students across any region of the country and even beyond the nations’ boundary.
Very soon, online learning will become a new norm and the future of the education system across all the countries. The COVID 19 outbreak has garnered more students worldwide than a physical classroom.
Students won’t have to take time to reach the traditional classrooms and lecture hall to attend the live classes. Perhaps, with a selected LMS, an educator can deliver high-quality lectures from anywhere, anytime, and on any device.
Helps stay connected while delivering remote instruction
If you are planning to have an LMS, then it must fulfil the needs of both the institution and instructors. Being safe is the primary concern of students and parents in this COVID 19 pandemic.
A well designed LMS should come integrated with several essential features and functionalities. There should be an automated alert mechanism within the LMS through which new assignments, their deadlines, forum posts etc. can be uploaded or sent to the students on time.
With these initiatives, students will actively take part in online courses. Apart from this, there should be short tutorials on the homepage to show ways on how to submit assignments, check their respective grades, take part in a discussion forum etc.
Cross-platform access
What we need for an LMS is a mobile device that connects the learners and mentors at one place. An LMS that is mobile-optimized will help the learners to decide when and where to study these course materials and incentivise participation.
The unpredictability of this pandemic can not be ignored, and hence this kind of flexibility and accessibility is most welcome in your LMS. You need to integrate learning activities via smartphones, tablets and smartwatches.
This will leverage the hidden but unique capabilities of these device types and hence result in higher retention and engagement rates.
Uninterrupted learning through 24/7 Mobile
The COVID 19 outbreak has instilled a new way of learning into the students. Globally, around 1.2 billion students are taking online education out of their classroom. This has been possible only because of the basic necessity and not so sophisticated tool – mobile phones.
Virtual classroom experience offers the students to view the contents visually and interact with other students and educators via chat and audio. It provides the same aura and environment as the real classroom offers.
LMS allows the students to complete assignments and takes quizzes through their smartphones and collaborate in different ways. Students can view grades and course materials and never feel a deterioration in their learning skills.
Also, students can clear their queries during the session and can learn if the learners leave the session at any point of time.
Implement AR/VR technique in LMS</strong
Develop single or multi-user modes for training sessions and present to the learners highly specialised real-word environments infused with AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) technology.
You can sharpen your competitive edge with an enterprise-grade LMS integrated with AR and VR. With this, learners can easily access materials via VR headsets and web browser.
In this COVID time, single or multi-user modes for training sessions can be quite beneficial for both the learners and educators. Instructors can also create in-depth reports featuring the learner’s performance.
Engaging media content
Try to make the content engaging, and this is possible only if you incorporate the course content with media materials. Media tools often accelerate the learning process and make it truly attractive.
So, what types of functionalities must you include in your CMS? Just go through these features and functionalities, and you are good to launch your CMS.
- Extensive on-demand libraries with multimedia content such as workshops, audiobooks.
- Gamified VR Virtual Reality) experiences and 3-D-models equipped with an advanced filtering tool.
- Live-to-VoD (Video-on-Demand) functionality that enables the tutors to record live classes and make them live on the platform with a few clicks.
- Implement desktop-sharing and co-browsing within the LMS as it allows the instructors to have more control over the material during the presentation.
- Provide second-screen functionality as it supports multi-device learning patterns and boosts learner engagement.
Uncompromising scalability
Learners and mentors both have become accustomed to online learning, and this is the time where companies need to expand online training programs and events.
A cloud-based LMS either private, public or hybrid can handle scaling with the help of its highly scalable cloud infrastructure. Migrate your existing LMS to the cloud one and support an ever-increasing learner base.
Cloud LMS performs business continuity testing and provides smooth integration with major cloud providers such as AWS, Azure and more.
Ability to make the students self-learners
With the COVID situation going worse day by day, students have inculcated a self-learning environment in themselves. This indicates that your LMS should be developed in a fashion that can create a self-learning environment among students.
Put options like predefined online assessments and quizzes in between after the completion of every single topic. This will drive a competitive feel inside the students and give a good amount of self-reflection into their learning.
Design personalised dashboards that can display real-time status bar reports of the ongoing, past and future course progress. This will help the student to understand where they are lagging and guide themselves better.
TakeAway
While I have jotted down the essential features that need to be incorporated in your LMS designed for COVID 19 and beyond, the question is that the importance and benefits of an online LMS dry up post the global unlock or will continue in the same fashion?
Even earlier also, we used to have several LMS, but things have changed with this pandemic. Social distancing is the new normal, and you need to develop an LMS solution that addresses the learners and tutors needs in the best way.
This post has walked you through the technology knows–hows, and it’s time to bring these features in your LMS that will work efficiently for learners post COVID19 as well.
Hire developers from the top eLearning development company who develop custom learning management solutions that will reinvent the learning process.
