Custom Learning(LMS/LRS) Suggestions
Apr 18, 2024
Is this the right place for this? Maybe not. Am I still hoping to be pointed in the right direction? Yes, please!
We are a CEU training provider in CA and the bulk of our training is housed in SCORM files (yay Storyline!) but we also offer a fair amount of livestream and in-person training.
We have basically "outgrown" our LMS solution in terms of functionality. We are not the type of business that is their primary audience and it SHOWS. We exclusively sell our training to external customers and they're built for internal training.
They also do not offer the option to customize much beyond logos and colors.
I've been on a quest to find a better LMS for us and would LOVE to explore something custom - however - I can't justify a super large ANNUAL price. The larger cost upfront with lower annual maintenance costs, maybe. (We are very small in ever sense of the word)
I've looked at SaaS solutions and I've looked at WordPress plug-in solutions but still haven't found something that meets our needs without the extras (We do not need gamification or forums for example).
Recommendations for what to look for? I feel like there's a secret keyword that I just haven't searched for.
4 Replies
Hi Kim
I feel your pain. I recently published an update to a LinkedIn article I wrote back in 2018:
Not all LMS's are born equal
In this article I raise exactly the point you make - there are different types of LMS! So articles like "The best 10 LMS's of 2024" aren't actually that helpful. They should be "The best academic LMS's..." or "The best corporate LMS's...." or, in your case ,"The best commercial LMS's..." where, by commercial, I mean an LMS that is designed as a platform you can sell training from.
Plus, you can spend a LOT of money for a hosted SaaS solution, particularly, if you want to impose your own brand on the UI.
We have recently done a number of projects for clients wanting to do exactly what you are looking for (including looking for an LMS for our own website!). Different LMS's were involved but, since you mention WordPress plug-ins, this article might be helpful:
A practical look at the LearnDash plug-in LMS
Why is an LMS plug-in worth considering? well...
(a) its not expensive
(b) there aren't branding issues becaue the LMS sits on top of your own website and uses headers, footers, colour schemes and fonts from your own site!
(c) with a commercial LMS one of the biggest issues is how do you register external students? By integrating user registration onto your main website you don't have problems of having to pass student enrollment/completion data between your website and a third-party hosted LMS.
You will see from my article - we were sceptics - but have been converted. And don't be put off because LearnDash doesn't support SCORM natively, You can get another plug-in to sit alongside it if you have to - but, seriously, ditch SCORM! The clue is in the name of its latest version SCORM 2004 - it's 20 years old!! There are WAY better methods to track learners.
Good luck - hope the articles help...
PS - just re-read your post - customization. If you do go LearnDash, DON'T install a LearnDash theme - just install the plug-in on top of your existing theme. And DO buy the Elementor integration - then your course and lesson pages can look EXACTLY how you want them to!!
Is there a way to ditch SCORM without rebuilding the SL file? I'm 100% not interested in doing THAT but if we can just re-publish, I'd love to know more.
Hi Kim - there are LMS solutions for external enterprises which would probably be a better fit. They focus more on the types of features that would work for you. But I have yet to find "the perfect" LMS in my 30 years designing and developing training.
The big players in this space are Thought Industries, Skilljar, Gainsight/Northpass, Intellum and then a more affordable one would be Thinkific (although they aren't SCORM compatible).
Check out Talented Learning for LMS insights https://talentedlearning.com/
Good luck!