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What are the functions of a learning management system?

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learning management system

Seeing training programs or materials on the Internet isn’t surprising anymore. Educational technology (EdTech) has created a lot of buzz over the years because it presents a fresh approach to education.  

One of the EdTech tools that particularly interest businesses is learning management systems (LMSs). But what are LMSs, and how do they function?

What is the learning management system?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software platform for managing educational content, such as training programs.

The main purpose of learning management system is to help organisations and educational institutions organise and streamline their learning processes.  

Businesses especially value LMS since it provides courses and resources in a central location, which is perfect for a corporate environment. But what do the numbers say?

The market overview

According to Horizon Grand View Research, the global LMS industry was valued at $24,046.5 USD in 2024 and is expected to grow to $28,581.7 USD the next year.

Image of Global Learning Management System Market

The wide adoption of LMS in corporate and academic environments is not unexpected. According to another report, the adoption is the result of these factors

  • Corporations are interested in upskilling employees 
  • LMSs can be integrated with AI tools for analysis and personalised user experience 
  • LMSs are accessible through smartphones or browsers.  

 

Overall, LMS adoption will yield meaningful educational improvements, which makes them so popular among businesses. 

Types of learning management systems

Depending on the business needs, the requirements for the LMS integration will change. The main factor behind the decision comes from the business’ scale and user needs.  

There are four main types to choose from.

Types of learning management systems

Cloud-Based LMS

This type of LMS is self-explanatory. The platform is hosted on the cloud, meaning you don’t have to use on-premise infrastructure and staff to manage it. The shining point of this LMS is its flexibility.  

Users can access training programs from anywhere as long as they have the Internet, which is perfect for wide international businesses.  

A cloud-based LMS is your choice if your business doesn’t rely on physical servers and has too many employees worldwide.

On-premise LMS

Unlike cloud-based LMS, this system relies on businesses’ own infrastructure to function. It is more secure since you are in control of the data, and it allows you to add custom features.  

However, these features have one drawback: you’ll need a maintenance team to manage the system and ensure smooth performance.

Open source LMS

Open-source LMSs are free to use and modify. Because of their specific architecture, they can be easily adapted to your business needs.  

Just like with on-premise LMSs, open-source ones require you to have a maintenance team add new features to them. This process also requires specific technical expertise, which might be tricky to find.

Custom LMS

When off-the-shelf solutions don’t satisfy your business needs, there’s also an option to build a custom LMS solution. 

Custom software development is tailored specifically to fit your business but has one drawback.  

Building an LMS from scratch takes a lot of time and finances. On the other hand, they give you full control over the software and its ownership.

training courses in LMS

Which LMS to choose?

The main driver behind this decision should be your needs, resources and what you want to achieve. Learning management systems are diverse, providing flexibility, control, and customisation depending on your requirements.

How can your business benefit from LMS?

LMS are irreplaceable tools for businesses. But are they worth such high praise? There are two perspectives on this question: from the teachers and students.

Benefits of Learning Management Systems

Learning management systems for teachers

Easy content creation

Two of the most time-consuming tasks for teachers are creating and distributing educational materials. Traditional education makes this problem even more obvious.   

LMS provide a place for teachers to upload, share, and manage their training programs. These systems usually have additional tools that help teachers create content, saving them a lot of time.

Personalised training programs

As traditional education proves, the “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t always work. The learning management system helps teachers personalise each student’s learning journey. 

LMS allows students to track their progress and see where they’re struggling.

It also provides adaptive quizzes and allows teachers to leave personal feedback, adding to the student’s tailored experiences.

Automation

If content creation and distribution take most of the teacher’s time, the second most time-consuming task is assignment management. LMS automates this job.   

For example, instead of manually grading students’ assignments, the teacher can set auto-grading.

Features like this free the teacher from manual work, allowing them to focus on teaching and communicating with students.

Collaboration with students

Most LMSs have forums or group chats for collaborative projects. This feature promotes student collaboration and opens a new line of communication with the teacher.   

The team learning effort helps reinforce understanding of the subject and helps monitor student’s participation in conversation.

People learning together through learning management system

Learning management systems for students

Learn at your own pace

From a student’s perspective, one of the biggest highlights of LMS is the ability to learn at one’s own pace.

Students have full control over the subject they choose and when to study it. This ensures a better understanding of the learning material and relieves them of the stress of deadlines.

Personalised learning

The traditional education system isn’t fit to provide a personalised learning experience to its students.

On the other hand, EdTech makes the tailored experience the front and centre of its approach to education.  

An LMS accounts for a student’s specific interests and performance to create a tailored set of exercises that reinforce the topic.

Additionally, it can provide extra resources to learn from, opening up more options for students with less common learning types.

Cost-efficient

For better or worse, traditional education doesn’t come cheap.

Books and materials expenses can quickly add up and overwhelm. LMS is a cheaper alternative that uses a monthly or yearly subscription model.

On top of this, most of the LMS also provide free resources, such as lectures, quizzes, and access to discussion forums.

Highly engaging

Depending on the purpose, some LMSs might include gamification elements to engage students. Others rely on providing dynamic learning to keep students interested.  

Both systems are successful in achieving their goals, easing the pressure on students and making the education process less of a chore.

People exchanging knowledge through learning management system

Best learning management systems features

Knowing what learning management systems are capable of, let’s talk about how they do it. Due to the variety of LMSs on the market, the feature list is almost endless.

However, these LMS functions in particular stand out.

Most Popular Learning Management System Features

Course management

Course management is the core function of an LMS. With it, users can create, organise, and edit learning materials, as well as store them in a centralised system.

In addition to having full managerial control over the content, users can also set assignments with deadlines and manage the course’s structure.  

Think of LMS as a big library containing every piece of information the student might need.

Assessment and exam features

To see the student’s progress, you need a way to measure their performance.

Luckily, LMSs come with assessment tools, such as quizzes, exams, and assignments. After the student finishes the task, the system will analyse the answers and grade the student’s work.

Surveys

Surveys serve two purposes in LMS.

On the one hand, they allow teachers to gather student feedback.

On the other — it provides valuable insights into how students interact with LMS and shows where it could be improved.

Webinars

The feature that gained the most popularity during lockdowns is webinars, which allow users to host virtual classes in real-time.

By bringing live interactions between students and teachers, webinars offer a unique level of interaction and collaboration.

Gamification elements

Some LMSs incorporate gamification elements to keep students engaged and develop motivation for studying.

Simply put, gamification refers to interactive features in games that use psychological triggers to reinforce students’ interest. 

Such elements usually include badges, milestone rewards, leaderboards, and dashboards with their statistics.

Social learning tools

One of the best ways to ensure learning progress is to create an appealing environment. LMSs have built-in tools for this, such as forums, chats, and the ability to create group projects.

To promote student collaboration, LMSs have places where students can share ideas, help each other study, and work together on subjects.

Certification tracking

Some corporations and educational institutions offer certifications or other completion credentials to show that a student or employee has the relevant experience.

LMSs allow students to monitor the progress towards certification and manage their renewal.

Reporting and analytics

Tailored experiences are the hottest trend in the digital world, so it’s only natural that EdTech tools incorporate them as well.

Some LMS use AI technologies to analyse students’ behaviour, needs, and learning styles to come up with a custom learning path for each student.

Notifications

Especially useful on smartphones, the notification system alerts users about important events, such as deadlines, updates, and assignments.

LMS allows you to customise which actions are worth your attention, helping students not to miss anything important.

Notifications aim to reduce missed deadlines and cover communication gaps.

Process of learning management system

Accessibility

LMSs are built to be accessible to everyone. This includes features like video subtitles, voice command recognition, and other features that help provide every student with a learning experience.

Blended and asynchronous learning

To expand more on accessibility, LMS offers blended and asynchronous learning options.  

  • Blended learning is a way to bring traditional education to the online space. It provides the same in-person experience while allowing students to study from home. 
  • Asynchronous learning is about giving each student the freedom to approach assignments at any time. This way, everyone can progress at their own pace without being rushed or waiting for the rest of the class. 

Mobile learning capabilities

There are 4.25 billion smartphone users worldwide. LMS developers recognise this, which is why most learning management systems are accessible through the phone.  

Having access to the vast knowledge base literally at the tip of your fingers gives students the flexibility to access information whenever and wherever.

Talking people through learning management system

LMS integration and compatibility

The described learning management system functions are mostly beneficial for users. But what about business?

From a business standpoint, an LMS’s efficiency will be determined by how well it integrates with your infrastructure and how compatible it is with your systems.

Let’s take a look at what LMSs bring to the table.

Software Integrations and APIs

Thankfully, most LMSs can integrate with already existing software through application programming interfaces (APIs). These interfaces ensure seamless integration with your systems, making LMS management easier.  

For example, businesses can integrate their HR systems with LMS to track the progress of new employees during training.

As a result, they can synchronise course completion data between the two systems, reducing reliance on manual data entry and the risk of human errors.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Implementation

Contrary to popular belief, security measures can be convenient, and SSO is the best example. Single sign-on allows employees to access multiple systems using one login information.  

SSOs simplify user management and reduce the risk of forgetting important passwords, making important systems more accessible for users.

Think of them as a centralised authentication tool for all of your business’s systems, including LMS.

Final words

LMSs take a very special place among EdTech solutions. Their rich functionality makes learning easier for both teachers and students.

The LMS functionality can be expanded even further with AI tools and software integrations.  

LMSs are particularly useful for businesses looking to enhance their employees’ skill sets.

Such systems can address everyone’s learning preferences by creating tailored experiences for each user and allowing them to take on tasks at their own pace.

How Altamira can help

If you’re looking to build your own learning management system, consider Altamira.

With more than a decade’s worth of experience in EdTech development behind our backs, we follow best industry practices to address all of your business needs. Working with us brings: 

  • Personalised learning experience tailored to address each student’s unique needs; 
  • Data-driven decisions based on insights gathered via student’s progress analysis; 
  • Inclusive learning solutions designed to support students with special needs via assistive technologies; 
  • Gamification strategies to enhance the learning experience and motivate students to engage with the content; 
  • The transition to online learning environments by converting and enhancing traditional textbooks and other physical data. 

 

Book a call to start building your custom learning management system today. 

FAQ

What are the main LMS functions?

An LMS’s main functions are to streamline and manage the delivery of educational content, track learner progress, and provide a centralised platform for both instructors and learners.

It facilitates course creation, enrollment, communication, assessments, and reporting.

What does an LMS do exactly?

An LMS is designed to support the management and delivery of learning programs.

It allows educators to create and manage courses, track students’ learning progress, deliver content (such as videos, quizzes, and documents), and assess performance.

It also enables learners to access materials, collaborate, and monitor their own learning outcomes.

What are the key features of a learning management system?

Key features of an LMS include: 

  • Course management;  
  • Automation;   
  • Surveys;  
  • Webinars;  
  • Gamification elements;  
  • Social learning tools;  
  • Certification tracking;  
  • Personalisation;  
  • Notifications;  
  • Accessibility. 
What is the role of the LMS?

An LMS provides an environment for managing training or educational content.

It serves as a hub for instructors to distribute materials, track performance, and interact with learners, helping them stay engaged and progress through courses.

What is the primary purpose of the LMS?

An LMS’s primary purpose is to make learning more accessible and organised.

It allows educational institutions, businesses, and other organisations to efficiently manage learning content, track learner performance, and offer a scalable way to train and educate individuals or teams. 

What are the functional requirements of an LMS?

The functional requirements of an LMS typically include: 

  • User authentication and access controls 
  • Course management (creation, enrollment, and delivery) 
  • Learner tracking and analytics 
  • Content management (uploading, organising, and accessing learning materials) 
  • Communication and collaboration tools 
  • Assessment and feedback mechanisms 
  • Reporting and certification capabilities 
  • Scalability and integration with HR, CRM, or other systems

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