The pandemic has vastly spread, claiming millions of lives worldwide. With its gradual rise, schools & colleges are now observing many difficulties creating an organized education environment. Which is why we need to look into a learning management system to better shape the future.
Even though schools have chosen to virtualize the educational experience, they are still experiencing quite many different challenges. Some of these burdening challenges are,
- Providing uninterrupted learning sessions.
- Classroom management
- Progress report tracking and notifying parents
- Conducting proper assessments
- Offering customized learning programs
- And much more.
It has led us to explore what methods education institutions can implement to overcome this gap. Since the past few years, many secondary and higher education institutions have tested various technological solutions. And one that has seemingly gained significant traction among the educationists is none other but Learning Management Systems (LMS). These efficient systems are well structured & can provide the best education environment for students and create the same for teachers.
The LMS technology is well powered to create, administer, distribute, and manage all the activities.
What is an LMS System?
In the simplest of terms, a learning management system is a digital learning environment. It’s where an organization’s governing bodies manage some of the essential aspects. For example, in an educational learning environment, it may involve the management of courses, setting up classes, personalizing learning experiences for students, setting up counseling sessions, parent/teacher meeting channels, and much more. A good learning management system (LMS) greatly assists in an individual’s personal & educational development.
Moodle, Chamilo, Open edX, Totara Learn, Canvas are just a few worth mentioning.
Why is LMS Vital in the Education Industry?
LMS can create the best classroom experiences, especially during the coronavirus breakout. They can make them highly interactive, precisely monitored, and highly personalized for delivering the best education. Here are a few increasing benefits of getting an LMS system for your school.
LMS Creates a Centralized Learning Environment
Deploying an LMS system is no rocket science. Its implementation is fairly easy in comparison to other complex technologies. It establishes a centralized learning environment where every piece of the puzzle fits accordingly. One can easily find relevant academic programs, complete subject guides, well-built training modules, and much more. All the e-learning materials are kept in a single central location instead of different places. The storage can be a separate hard-disk on a local server or in a virtual cloud environment. As a result, the risk of data loss and content handling is significantly minimized.
LMS Provides Easy Access to Learning
Once the content is uploaded on an LMS, it becomes relatively easier for a student to access it. There’s plenty of data for learning which is easily accessible by the student. They can access all learning material through a desktop, laptop, or smartphone device. All a student will ever need is a stable Internet connection, and he/she can easily connect in a classroom and start their learning session. Besides ease of access to learning materials, the LMS is a very convenient tool for creating seamless communication between students and teachers. Scheduling of classes and much more can easily be done.
LMS Helps in Setting a Student’s Learning Path
An LMS can further ensure a student is moving in the right direction within his/her education. By analyzing a learner’s report, an LMS can be one of the best tools to help teachers determine which area a student is excelling. Based on the patterns, the teacher can easily create an appropriate learning path for the student. As a result, a student can feel more empowered in grooming himself/herself in a particular learning environment. For example, a student achieving better grades in sociology can display early signs of becoming the perfect journalist in the future.
LMS Cuts Down on Expenditures
Running a traditional school or college can be cost-intensive. With LMS, you can significantly cut-down on many expenditures. The cost involved in printing study materials, purchasing books, using online video conferencing tools such as Zoom, and the list goes on. With LMS in place, the school can create an online space that will provide a list of learning materials. Students can acquire them on a rental basis. In short, getting an LMS can significantly minimize a lot of expenditures.
How is Learning Management System Evolving?
As we see advancements in AI, Big Data, and Augmented Reality, our very perception of reality is changing. Machines are now becoming more adept and life-like, capable of making decisions on their own.
Similarly, LMS systems are also evolving and becoming better.
The Effects of Big Data in Student Counseling
We see many individuals going through a struggle at various levels of education. An LMS equipped with a predictive analytics algorithm can help overcome that problem considerably well. With modern technological solutions, LMS can access multiple data points where students most likely leave behind their digital footprints. These could be forms, tests, windows, and other similar things.
These digital footprints can later allow teachers to understand where a student’s interest lies. In this way, a teacher can better grasp how to shape the struggling student so he/she can be at pace.
The Effects of AI in e-Learning
While educating themselves through an LMS, students can often encounter a series of questions. At times, these questions are very basic, which are easily answerable by a smart AI bot. An LMS system can have a predefined set of questions to answer the respective student when asked.
For example, if a student wants to know the value of Pi or something as basic as the circumference of earth or the distance between the earth and the moon, the AI must be capable of answering that. Self-learning bots are now becoming a trend in many applications.
Concluding Thoughts
We live in a time when the world is transforming technologically at a breath-taking pace. The LMS is one such technological solution that has immense potential and can be customized in never-ending ways to deliver par excellent educational experience. Never have we experienced a combined learning experience such as we are observing now where teachers, students, and parents are all interconnected throughout the learning experience.
Learning Management Systems are undoubtedly contributing to creating quite exceptional students.