Which LMS do you use and why?

Nov 03, 2011

Hey all,

Just a quick question to you....what LMS do you use and why? 

I use Moodle 2.1.2 currently.  Why?  It seemed like a good idea at the time!  Now I'm frustrated with the SCORM reporting and interface.

Any thoughts?

-Dave

301 Replies
Brian Krenc

We utilize Kaplan Eduneering.  I have used Plateau and ISOtrain and several custom applications over the years and have found this to be the most user friendly and functional.  Working in pharmaceuticals we are bound by certain requirements with regards to record keeping and reporting and this sytem has been designed in partnership with the FDA.  It has a super easy SCORM interface that just requires little more than a quick file upload once the program has been published in Articulate.  Wth regard to reporting 90% of the reports are customizable and can be sent on automated schedules that are quickly set by an administrator.  If you have telecommuters the system is also great in that you only need internet access to the log into the system so you can access from work, home or on the road.

The system also comes with an extensive library of EHS and GMP courses that are pre-configured and conform with OSHA and FDA regulations.

In addition we have just licensed their Cross Knowledge catalog which is a 15,000 item management development portal which has been designed by folks at Harvard and Oxford Universities.

If you are looking for something that is simple to use, easy to set up and run on a daily basis look no further.

Dave Newgass

Brian Krenc said:

We utilize Kaplan Eduneering.  I have used Plateau and ISOtrain and several custom applications over the years and have found this to be the most user friendly and functional.  Working in pharmaceuticals we are bound by certain requirements with regards to record keeping and reporting and this sytem has been designed in partnership with the FDA.  It has a super easy SCORM interface that just requires little more than a quick file upload once the program has been published in Articulate.  Wth regard to reporting 90% of the reports are customizable and can be sent on automated schedules that are quickly set by an administrator.  If you have telecommuters the system is also great in that you only need internet access to the log into the system so you can access from work, home or on the road.

The system also comes with an extensive library of EHS and GMP courses that are pre-configured and conform with OSHA and FDA regulations.

In addition we have just licensed their Cross Knowledge catalog which is a 15,000 item management development portal which has been designed by folks at Harvard and Oxford Universities.

If you are looking for something that is simple to use, easy to set up and run on a daily basis look no further.


Hello,

Any chance on a link or contact?  Also, do you have an indication of price?

Many thanks,

Dave

Brian Krenc

Here is the link, price will depend on the number of users in the system and what level of access they have.  Some of our folks have full access to the system and some we just keep training records for. 

Here is the link:

http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/solutions/enterprise-learning-management/

Alicia Pennington

We are in the middle of evaluating new LMS options.  I looked at Taleo several times.  They have some nice functions, such as an Outlook plug-in.  However, after a few demos, I realized their report creation set-up is not as user friendly as our current system.  Although Taleo can customize any report for you, it's not easy for LMS administrators or managers to create reports. 

Alicia

Karyn Aberts

We have just acquired an LMS after not having anything.  They chose Absorb, which someone mentioned previously.  The cost really waan't all that much, but we are not hosting it ourselves, so that might be why.  While there are may great things about Absorb, such as very user friendly, there are still some major challenges.  There is no consistant and easy way to track absents ro now shows and studnets cannot un-enroll them selves from a course.  Granted so far, those have been our biggest issues and when you take that into consideration, that isn't bad.  I can say their support tema is pretty good, they have been listening to our needs and really trying to help us find ways to fix any issues.

As someone also siad, there isn't a perfect one out there, but if it comes along I will definitely be willing to check it out.  In most cases I do find it is really how the course itself works with the system.  Lately I have found that the authoring software doesn't always work the same way with different LMS.

Marty Blevins

Dave Newgass said:

You guys are awesome.....thanks for all of the direction.  As we all know, each LMS comes with the good, the bad and the ugly.  My needs may be different that yours (as I am sure they are). 

Thanks again!

-Dave

We vetted about 17 license-based systems and ultimately settled on Learn.com (now Taleo Learn).

Our search was complicated by the fact that we had approximately 13 functional areas that each had a stake in the LMS and, as you said, different needs.

We broke our requirements down into "Must haves", "should haves", and "nice to haves" and rated each system on how well it met the identified needs.

Since we were looking at a commercial solution, we had several vendors come in for demo sessions. We gave each vendor a script that included the things that we were most interested in seeing (our "must haves") and asked them not just to tell us whether it could be done on the system, but to show us HOW to do it on the system. From our initial vendor responses to our checklist, you'd have thought that each system did everything. By asking to see the process, we were able to weed out some systems that would have made our day-to-day overly cumbersome.

So my advice - Get a reasonable idea of how you want your process to flow and then do a "show me, don't tell me" review.

Dave Newgass

Marty Blevins said:


So my advice - Get a reasonable idea of how you want your process to flow and then do a "show me, don't tell me" review.


Hey Marty,

Thanks for dipping in on this.  Your post made me think a bit.....I like you approach and idea!

Based on YOUR criteria then, what were your top three? 

Cheers mate,

Dave

Marty Blevins

You're asking me to dip into the ancient past here, but as I recall, the top three were Learn.com, Plateau, and SABA. Technology is always changing, though, so it may be a different landscape today.

We were required to exclude any open source products, so I can't speak to where any of those would have fallen in.

Extending the "show me" concept to the open source tools, you may not have a sales person to demo the functionality, but a search for "how do you ______ in Moodle/etc." would likely give you the community-based equivalent.

Dawid Kucinski

You should not base your choice just on opinions of others. You are most likely trying to identify software that will be used in your company over next couple years. Consider performing a proper evaluation to make the right choice.

We approached this by creating a matrix of desired functionalities we would expect from out LMS of choice, i.e. requirements in terms of customizability, user management, compatibility with our existing content, etc. Next steps were to give weights to these various requirements and score a number of promising LMSes on the market.

One of the key factors I would consider is an Open Source. Although some of the closed-source commercial products still offer a lot of additional functionalities not present in OS, you gain flexibility to tailor the system to your specific needs. You also have a chance to expand it without waiting for mercy from a commercial vendor.

After thorough comparison we have chosen to go with ILIAS. It has won mostly for following the standards (no or easy to troubleshoot problems with SCORM), decent functionality and very good clean, object oriented code. Also unlike Moodle, it is a very controlled project with clear division of responsibility between the parties involved in its development.

Andrew Somiah

Hello Dave,

I have been using an LMS Kallidus since 2007. It works very well with articulate out puts.  Kallidus is supplied by a UK based company e2train. This LMS is configurable so no need for extensive customisation. It has the full functionality that you will expect from any leading  LMS. We have 35,000 users on it with domain functionality so you have a lot of control without getting your IT department  or technical whizkids involved. Support from the supplier is first class. Reporting is also very good. Visit www.e2train.com for more information. Good luck with your sreach. A lot has to be considered before selecting an LMS. I implemented this in my organisation and the main reason for picking this was that it was easily configurable supported scorm 1.2 and 2004 as well and  a whole host of other multimedia solutions. I looked at moodle, Saba and a fews others before settling for this. The cost was competitve.

Parul Thakrar

We use an LMS from a company called e-learningstudios - called Knowledge Presenter .

Heres a free 30 day trial :

http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/assets/lmsmain.htm

They even do all the hosting , installation, uploading  of  third party courses etc. The LMS really does waht it says adn manages the learners with minimum administration saving a lot of tiem adn money !

I'd give it a 10/10 !  

Parul Thakrar

We use an LMS from a company called e-learningstudios - called Knowledge Presenter .

Heres a free 30 day trial :

http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/assets/lmsmain.htm

They even do all the hosting , installation, uploading of third party courses etc. The LMS really does waht it says adn manages the learners with minimum administration saving a lot of tiem adn money !

I'd give it a 10/10 !

Mohammad  Hassam

Hi Dave, 

It seems like SCORM complaint feature plays as an asset in your job. If it is, then I would suggest to use eFront as an LMS. because for only SCORM complaint feature they have special recommendation from ADL. which makes eFront different from any other LMS and secondly, its opensource models are also available so, you can try without paying anything. 

I have uploaded lots of different courses developed in STT trainer, Articulate and Udutu through SCORM complaint and found very good results.

Just try at once and do give me your feedback. 

I also have created a small presentation on overview of LMS, where I am highlighting the SCORM complaint feature.

http://blendtolearn.com/flash/engage.html 

Regards,

Hassam