What should a good LMS measure?

The principal advantage of using learning management systems (LMS) in organisations is an opportunity to gain information on how employees develop themselves and what forms of training suit them. Based on this information, training managers can identify what needs to be improved. Different systems, however, offer different reporting capabilities. If you want your LMS to provide you with all the important data, make sure that your LMS supplier offers the following metrics.

Illustration

1. Progress and completion of courses

You need to see how fast employees can complete individual training courses and how well they understand the topics covered. The system should, therefore, inform you when an employee started a course, how long it took them to complete it and whether, or with what problems, they passed the final test.

2. Level of improvement

The aim of training employees is to help them remember certain facts and acquire certain skills to be applied in their further practice. Your LMS should therefore measure the levels of employees' knowledge and skills before and after the completion of individual courses.

3. Evaluation of the quality of courses and lecturers

Participants should be able to evaluate individual courses. Your LMS should record their views and comments regarding both the courses and individual lecturers in the form of simple questionnaires, based on which you will be able to compile charts, tables, etc.

4. Return on investment

Purchasing an LMS is not cheap. Moreover, you will also have to invest in maintenance and possibly the production of new electronic courses within the system. Your LMS metrics should therefore include measurement of costs compared to benefits. Data obtained by measuring the above described criteria may be compared, for example, with the volume of sales, evaluation of customer service, etc.

-kk-

Article source eLearning Industry - online community of professionals involved in the e-learning industry
Read more articles from eLearning Industry