FlexTraining Learning Management SystemTM

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Learning Management System
A Learning Management System for the Rest of Us

The FlexTraining Total eLearning Solution is the only available streamlined, flexible, cost-effective Learning Management System. This robust LMS delivers eLearning and skills management to over a million online learners worldwide.

The FlexTraining LMS is to eLearning what Microsoft Word is to word processing. It is aimed specifically at the non-technician needing to conduct interactive, cutting-edge, dynamic training.

Learning management System for the 21st Century

 

Ten Reasons You Should Consider a Learning Management System (LMS)

  1. A Learning Management System provides a focal point for all your course development work.
  2. A Learning Management System is the only effective way to track who has been given what training and when it was given.
  3. An LMS allows you to automatically test students to see if knowledge transfer is really occuring.
  4. A secure Learning Management System protects private training resources, such as procedure and policy manuals, software screens, and other sensitive files.
  5. E-Learning software retains records and monitors learners' progress, allowing you to measure whether your training investment is being returned to you.
  6. Modern Learning Management Systems provide interactivity and multimedia, making learning more effective and interesting.
  7. An LMS saves money when compare to the increased travel required for classroom learning.
  8. Your LMS will provide measurable results, where classroom training may not.
  9. A properly-maintained Learning Management System will cost very little to operate, after the initial licensing fees.
  10. Quite simply, an LMS can leverage the expertise of a few individuals and distribute it efficiently to a large number of employees, customers, or business partners.

 

Ten Things to Look For in a Learning Management System (LMS)

  1. Can the Learning Management System be implemented quickly and easily, without programming or complex IT tasks?
  2. Does the LMS have a robust feature set, or is it merely a collection of documents for online viewing?
  3. Can the Learning Management System support multimedia files such as Flash, streaming video, and audio narrations?
  4. Is it truly a web native LMS, using open standards like HTML, SQL, and HTTP?
  5. Does the Learning Management System have everything you need in one package, or will you need to buy third party authoring or reporting tools?
  6. Is the LMS widely accepted in a variety of industries, or is it a limited niche product?
  7. Does the LMS support instructor-led training, self-paced automated training, and classroom (off-system) training?
  8. Can the LMS easily support Skill Groups or certifications, so you can track learners' progress toward a defined goal?
  9. Can the LMS pull together content from various sources and formats to create a seamless, consistent learning environment?
  10. Does the LMS come with open source code, in case you need to make modifications at some point?

 

Learning Management vs. Course Development

The implementation of a Learning Management System is a key element of an online education project, but an integral part of that implementation.  A Learning Management System (LMS) will deliver, track, and serve as the primary course development tool. 

Some key points to consider: 

What content already exists, how can I use it, and who are Subject Matter Experts within the organization?  Research possible sources for learning content.  (MS PowerPoint, Word files, video material, flash movies, web sites, HTML and text, etc.)  In many cases you may already have web deliverable components and simply need an authoring tool to create the logical arrangement of learning screens.  In other cases you may need to convert text from word processing format to html format.  Classroom and CD-ROM based learning tools often generate large files that are too slow to load over the internet.  Conversion to streaming video format or Flash movies can prepare these multimedia materials for use in a network-based learning environment.  You also need to identify colleagues with expertise and materials pertaining the course, even if delivered in other formats.   Are there potential developers you can recruit for the project?  The first step is taking inventory of existing materials and resources.

How and when should I use multimedia?   Video and other multimedia such as Flash movies or PowerPoint can be valuable and entertaining when demonstrating a procedure or concept.  To hold learner interest, and save bandwidth, multimedia should be brief and targeted.  You also need to consider if the multimedia object can stand alone as an entire section of the course, or should it be embedded into a learning screen with other learning screens around it to enhance, add variation and complete the learning concept.  

How do I efficiently utilize the authoring options available?  What authoring options are available in the LMS, and can you utilize other authoring options outside of the LMS?  Can you use multiple authoring options within the same course by creating sections from different sources?   What testing features are available and how many exams or quizzes are needed?   What information needs to be tracked and reported from the examination process?  

What technology best communicates the purpose of your content? When you select a particular LMS technology or design format, make sure you are doing so because it is the best way to accomplish your goal.  Subject matter will normally dictate the choice of design and media.  If you are trying to teach software procedures a screen capture or recording of your mouse movements might be the most effective way to communicate the concept.  In other cases you may want to use static images but incorporate “hot points” that open multimedia objects in a pop up window.   Also don't under estimate the effectiveness of simple image and text utilizing variation in backgrounds, color choices, images and text arrangement.   Images and text are easy to create, usually require less development time, and put little strain on the LMS and your bandwidth.

What materials are online, and what materials would make better support materials?   Instructional material is needed to teach the concepts and knowledge you want to disseminate through your LMS.   Material that covers special cases, alternative methods or additional examples can be organized as support documentation.  Your LMS courses could use hyperlinks, document libraries, or simple reference information.  Which content is training material and what is reference material depends upon frequency, immediate and critical needs.  

When do I need an introductory course to lead to more advanced courses?   Most experts will agree the cardinal rule of LMS-based authoring is to make sure courses are not overwhelming in size.  Even within the course you want to make manageable sections, and possibly even break up the course into multiple courses.  Do you need a grouping of courses to effectively cover a specific competency or certification?  Job requirements, experience levels, and the diversity of your learning audience will also help you determine how to structure course offerings within your Learning Management System.   

The properly-implemented Learning Management System should facilitate, not dictate how your content is structured to produce the online course.   Needs and environments will change and the avenues offered by the LMS to create and adjust training content will remain vital. 

 


Increasing Training Costs?

Does a Learning Management System (LMS) really help control training costs? When you factor the expense of either bringing the employees to a central education site or sending an instructor to multiple sites, coupled with the loss of productivity while in training, the annual expenditure for education can soon become outrageous. Many organizations have put some type of LMS on their agendas for implementation from this point going forward. But how do we effectively implement the LMS and processes necessary to educate our staff? This is the proverbial $64,000 question. 

First, the organization needs to look within to see if it has the staff and system requirements to provide online training and support a robust Learning Management System. Is our data backbone robust enough to drive the training? Who will develop the LMS-based courses and provide the content? Will the end result be a cost-saving solution for the company?

Luckily, most companies have the content already in many different forms and the staffing to implement beginning and even more in-depth courses. Also, the requirements on the backbone systems for an LMS have been drastically reduced through technology to eliminate this hurdle of added expense. The only piece missing is the actual delivery tool or Learning Management System.

This is where Learning Management Systems like FlexTraining come into place. They provide the templates for advanced course development as well as the full management tracking and reporting capabilities necessary for online training.

With the development and delivery of multiple courses to large groups of employees or customers in a consistent and time effective manner, the cost per student for training can be reduced to pennies per class - a tremendous savings to the organization. Every bit as important as cost is the direct impact on the employee or customer. Learning is provided in a relaxed environment and can be reviewed over and over again to continually reinforce the content.

Performance testing and tracking are significant development and rating tools for employee advancement. In a world of spiraling costs and increased demands on all employees, on-demand e-learning solutions are bucking the trend and assisting organizations in every industry.

The best Learning Management Systems now combine an advanced feature set with a straightforward management interface and a visual layout for course development.

 

Rapid Setup, coursebuilding and Built-in Interactivity The FlexTraining Learning Management System is a complete end-to-end training development and management framework. This groundbreaking LMS is designed from the ground up to deliver effective web-based training. Simplt load FlexTraining onto any standard Microsoft web server and start training the same day. A good Learning Management System provides interactivity, and FlexTraining's built in exercise templates, dynamic images and multimedia support give you just that. More ...

 

Single-Source Solution FlexTraining provides a complete portfolio of integrated eLearning tools. It is no longer necessary to buy a Learning Management System from one vendor, an authoring tool from another, and collaboration tools from a third. FlexTraining is easily the most complete LMS available today. You'll have all the necessary tools provided in a single menu and environment.

There is no need to throw out all the material you developed for classroom training. With FlexTraining's LMS, you can re-use learning material such as Procedures manuals, charts, diagrams, forms, web pages, PowerPoint presentations, movies, and audio files. Often these materials can be used and tracked as learning objects with no changes at all. In other cases, it makes sense to adapt your content to a faster, more interactive format. Either way, the FlexTraining Learning Management System lets you re-use your multimedia and image learning content as many times as you wish. More ...

 

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