Of all the eLearning software programs that you will use, the LMS or learning management system is probably the one that will affect your organization the most – whether it will succeed or fail. Once this is implemented, both students and instructors will be depending on this system. So if it fails, you might find yourself losing the investment money on that system. Not only that, you are also in danger of losing the productivity or employees (for business training programs) or learning achievement of students (for educational institutions).
For those who are struggling with the first phases of this eLearning software, you need to identify the factors that might cause your LMS to fail. By being aware of the pitfalls, you could avoid them or at least, do something to minimize their effects on the success of your eLearning initiatives.
Here are 10 of the most common reasons why your LMS can fail after implementation.
- Lacks proper leadership. Any project requires an adept leader that will help push all the members to implement the changes of the LMS effectively. Unless someone spearheads this change efficiently, the roll out of this eLearning software will either be incomplete or ineffective. This is how key people will know their responsibilities in the implementation, administration and maintenance of the program.
- Rushes to see results. Depending on the specific reasons and circumstances in the company or institution, the results of the LMS will be manifested differently. Do not be discouraged when the expected results do not show immediately. This discouragement leads to the lack of commitment to the implementation of the system.
- Not everyone believes in the eLearning software. Although leadership is strong, if the members are not united in implementing this change in the company or institution, then the LMS is bound to fail too. For instance, this change may require instructors to change their teaching methods. If this is something they cannot accept, then the LMS will fail.
- Key people are incomplete during the selection process. Another cause of failure is when not all people concerned are involved during the selection process. The administrator should consult with the instructors, students, employees and everyone else who will be using this program.
- Not aligned with the education or training goals. While cost is important, it is not something that you should solely consider when deciding what LMS to use. Make sure to strike a balance so that you can still meet your budget while reaching your eLearning goals.
- Failure to train those responsible for the LMS. Most eLearning software programs are user-friendly but they still require proper training. This is true for everyone involved in this project (e.g. instructors, students, employees, IT specialists, etc.)
- Lack of technical support. Whether this is from the provider of the LMS or your own in-house tech support, this has to be an efficient team so they can deal with the problems every now and then.
- Not enough quality content for the courses. The LMS is a program but it does rely on quality content to be effective. Enough focus must be put into the content that will be used in the eLearning program.
- Limited access to infrastructure. Although an LMS is effective, if the instructors, students, employees and other people involved do not have access to the Web, LMS program or a computer, then this will really fail. Not only is access to the web be there, it has to be enough to sustain the eLearning software.
- Inability to identify improvements and changes needed. All LMS, no matter how effective they are at first will never stay the same. The administrators, instructors, IT specialists and even the students should be able to identify the changes as they are needed.
Check if you have committed these mistakes that may be causing the LMS to be effective. The effective implementation of eLearning software programs can give significant improvements to the training and education goals of any company or institution.
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