Learning Management Systems (LMS) Training Blog

Learning Management System Looking Forward

December 25, 2009

Looking back through education history it is incredible to see how far we come as a “learning management system” is playing a major role in distributing courses online. Who would have ever thought that regular courses would be taught online? However, this is just the start of the evolution as technology progresses we see new signs of advances as more features are being implemented into learning management systems to ultimately make it easier to use.

Dating back to the 1700’s, classrooms were merely consisted of a one room school house, with 4 or 5 grade levels all crammed in and participating in the same studies. As education progressed, school houses grew; educations doors were open to all ethnicities, genders, age groups, and even social classes. Age groups were divided up and lesson plans were created for each “grade” to ensure the appropriateness of the material. Now moving forwards a few Centuries to when computers were introduced into the classrooms. Students were required to learn the systems and basic skills such as typing.

Advances were made yet again as wireless internet was created and was brought to College campuses, most local cafes, the workplace, even apartment complexes. High School students now a days are turning in their assignments online to their school account that shows upcoming assignments and class schedules. This feature has enabled parents to keep track of how their children are doing in school with the electronic report card. College students are capitalizing on this new technology as they participate in distant learning programs earning their degree online.

As education continues to evolve and advance the more effective and efficient learning management systems have become with interactive courses and virtual instructor led courses. Assessment tools to help measure the effectiveness of a course have also been implemented into the systems to ensure that learners are truly getting the most out of their learning experience. Technology has opened so many doors that facilitate different ways to further education, and with the learning management system various learning methods are implemented into the course content to increase comprehension for each student. It is an amazing accomplishment to look back at where we use to be and see how far we have come and know that there will be more exciting developments in the near future changing the way we learn.

Related Post: How Far We Have Come with the Learning Management System

Respond to Organization Needs with Learning Management Systems

December 17, 2009

Learning management system courses respond to this call for new pedagogical attitudes and practices. Inspired by pedagogies like Montessori and Waldorf, more schools–both private and public–are allowing students to explore learning content in a more hands-on and individual way. The trust in human beings’ drive to know is a critical part of this new pedagogical trend.

"The Montessori Way", a book by Tim Seldin and Paul Eppstein, explains this idea as follows: "Montessori teachers observe children’s exploratory patterns of behavior with an implication of trust and respect. Teachers trust that a child will ‘know’ and pursue what she or he most needs in order to become an adult." As children become adults, the things they need to know change. But whether it’s choosing to go back to school or choosing a self-help book off the shelf, such trends are a testament to people’s natural curiosity.

But, of course, people do need deadlines and motivation to keep moving ahead. Certain expectations need to be in place, and standards enforced. That’s why quizzes, exams, projects and deadlines are all important aspects of an online course. This goes for both young and adult learners.

Online content may supplement face-to-face course work, but it should never be tacked on superficially to an in-person course. Online courses should always fulfill a concrete purpose and benefit students in ways that are tangible and evident. Ultimately, a good learning management system course responds to the needs of the organizations and/or schools that will be using them, and also to existing trends and movements.

Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.

Some Considerations Before Choosing the Best LMS

November 12, 2009

There are many considerations when choosing a new tool like a learning management system for a classroom or training program. Besides the fun and practical function that an instructional technology offers a learning experience, perhaps the most critical factor for many educators is how user-friendly a technology is.

Learning management systems are a great option for educators for many reasons, including the fact that they allow educators to have fun creating multimedia learning content for their classrooms. But perhaps more importantly, an LMS like Coggno gathers many applications together and fuses them into a nice neat package, so that educators feel comfortable using the tools to create content. The Application Exchange partnerships often built by learning management systems help to make for seamless and simple course development.

Using Coggno’s LMS, for example, there’s no need to ask for IT help to design and deliver multimedia courses and training.

How about some Flash-based learning content? Using Coggno’s learning management system, educators and course developers are able to use Rapid Intake Unison and other applications to make their students’ learning experience more enjoyable.

Rapid Intake Unison makes it easy for educators and course creators to capture, storyboard, develop, review, test, and publish Flash-based learning content. Users don’t even need to know Flash to use the app. All a user must do is fill out form-based templates, and Flash-based material including demos, simulations, quizzes, and learning games is simple to create.

Another consideration for many educators in deciding which instructional tools to employ is the commitment involved. If I try out an LMS or LCMS for my classroom, and for whatever reason decide that it’s not a good fit for my needs, what happens?

All too often, organizations sign on for monthly LMS contracts, but discover they never end up creating and deploying as much training or other instructional content as they planned. Time goes by and net costs begin to mount. Pay-per-use learning management systems respond to this problem.

LMSs like Coggno make it easy for anyone to create and deliver training and other content on a needs-basis, so that no long-term commitment is required.

Design and syndicate robust courses and training with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. User-friendly, powerful and affordable.

Go East, Young Man–or Think Learning Management System

November 5, 2009

It may be that many students currently enrolled in training programs hosted on learning management systems were prompted by the sudden loss of employment to better themselves and gain more skills.

The possibility of being laid off or not finding work to begin with continues to plague people all over the map, and especially in North America and Europe. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook report for October identifies that East Asian and South Asian economies are leading the way out of recession, leading many job-seekers to pursue employment abroad.

But it isn’t necessary to move out of the country to find work. Consider furthering your education with LMS online courses, online certification programs, and vocational schools. Online courses can provide students certifications or degrees, or supplement face-to-face learning. Partly due to the recession and an exceedingly competitive job market, more people are enrolling in LMS online vocational degrees.

Vocational courses are related to a particular skill or kind of work. In a vocational course, students complete a series of tasks and assignments which prepare them for real work experience.

Vocational certification programs may include employment areas like social care, health care and childcare; hospitality and catering; leisure and tourism; media and design; construction; business; information technology; and animal care. Indeed, vocational courses traverse a vast landscape of professional possibilities.

Furthering your skills is likely to help you gain employment in a field you’re interested in. Take advantage of online courses hosted on learning management systems and/or offered by a technical, vocational, or community college near you to gain the skills and certification you need at a pace that’s right for you.

This is your time to beat the odds and face the challenges presented by a cut-throat job market. Even in such an inhospitable environment, play your cards right, and you will find that success is possible and not as difficult as you believed.

Create and distribute engaging learning experiences with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Easy to use, robust and reasonably priced.

LMS Training Marketplace Redesigned for User and Author Convenience

October 22, 2009

With the goal of making more connections in mind, Coggno has recently announced the launching of its newly redesigned LMS Training Marketplace. Coggno’s new Training Marketplace will highlight courses and enhance their presence and optimization on the web, as well as display graphics for each course.

In the new Marketplace, each learning content creator (Author) can create a short video describing the course, themselves and their expertise. In addition, on the main page of the Marketplace will be a featured video of a particular instructor. These new features on the Marketplace will allow browsers to better understand course content and determine whether or not the course is the right fit for their needs. It will also give Authors a chance to reach out to users, giving them a space to introduce potential learners to their courses, the product of their expertise.

The layout itself of the Training Marketplace has also changed. Once upon a time, Coggno’s former Marketplace page displayed course titles and a short description in order according to their date of uploading.

However, on Coggno’s new Training Marketplace, visitors can browse the available courses and training modules by category. The new Marketplace is designed to be more intuitive, user-friendly, and convenient for users.

The greater ease in searching for courses combined with more opportunities for Authors to be seen and heard make the new Marketplace an exciting improvement on the Coggno site.

For those who aren’t familiar with the idea of a courseware marketplace, Coggno’s Training Marketplace is basically a meeting point for creators of learning content and those who wish to acquire it. The Marketplace showcases courses covering a range of training topics, including those created by top e-learning authors like SilkWeb.

Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.

Respond to the Times with LMS Sales Training and New Sales Strategies

October 8, 2009

Why is powerful, effective and up-to-date learning management system sales training a must? Sales strategies, and therefore sales training programs, are undergoing sweeping changes in recent years and even months. The new sales strategies are a response to different factors including the economy (tough economy = difficult clients) and the different ways in which customers and potential customers are using the internet.

More and more organizations are tapping into social networks to reach potential customers, understanding that to understand clients, you have to first go where they are going, and see how they are interacting.

Harvard Business School professor Mikolai Jan Piskorski has dedicated years to studying online social networks and how people use them. A recent post on the Harvard Business School blog discusses how Piskorski helps organizations develop strategies for leveraging social networks for profit.

According to Piskorski, corporate marketers struggle with how to use social networking to reach customers. The main problem is that execs think of online social networks as social media, and treat them as simply another channel to get people to click through to a website.

However, Piskorski notes, it doesn’t work out that way. His studies show that people don’t generally click through on ads posted on social networking sites.

"A good analogy is to imagine sitting at a table with friends when a stranger pulls up a chair, sits down, and tries to sell you something while you are talking with your friends. You will not get far with a strategy like this," Piskorski says.

"To be successful," he continues, "you need to shift your mindset from social media to social strategy."

Then there is the shift from pitching to engaging a potential customer in a conversation. The ability to listen and respond to a client’s needs, ask the right questions, and overcome objections by listening rather than pitching are increasingly taught as effective sales techniques.

Conversation-building and tapping into online social networks are just two examples of how traditional sales methods (and therefore LMS sales training) are being edged out, as improved sales strategies are able to respond to factors such as new forms of media and new economic circumstances.

Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.

Choose a Learning Management System Not in Desperation, but Innovation

September 24, 2009

Is the use of learning management systems and blended learning environments a testament to the quality of a school’s education system? How important is keeping up with cutting edge technology?

The private high school I attended was certainly not known for its facilities. Our computer lab was a small, anciently-equipped place, and there was certainly no online courseware to be found. But times are changing, and with a faltering economy affecting families’ pockets, private schools are marketing themselves more competitively.

Avonbourne Business and Enterprise College, for example, now boasts a high-tech virtual reality studio. The studio includes a video conferencing center, a projection room, a laptop suite for online courseware, and various virtual learning experiences. Using 3D glasses, students can explore a virtual Tudor town or study the movements of a volcano. "The world is changing," says one Avonbourne educator, "and we need to respond in how we’re educating our children today."

Of course, the implementation of online tools should never be haphazard, forced without educators’ understanding and/or desire for it, or done for novelty’s sake, as a shiny new toy for a school. Nor should it be, in my opinion, a last resort.

To instill the next generation of Americans with 21st century skills and the ability to thrive in an increasingly tech-savvy and collaborative world, the integration of online tools must cater to the uniqueness of each student. The trend has to move away from bulk-produced, one-size-fits-all instruction and toward more customized teaching strategies. And first, they need to be embraced by educators themselves.

Most educators understand that every student is unique and has something special to offer. Using learning management systems to track student progress and deliver curriculum has the power to save educators a great amount of time, and therefore the means to efficiently provide each student with learning systems that work for them.

Online tools provide the opportunity for students to obtain a tailored education that caters to their unique learning styles, skills, abilities and interests. Using smart and structured blended learning, students can be engaged in a variety of instructional modes, including teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, self-paced and independent learning, collaborative projects and virtual tutors.

Design and syndicate robust courses and training with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. User-friendly, powerful and affordable.

Natural Law Challenged with LMS, E-Learning Training

September 10, 2009

It may seem obvious, but it’s something with which many companies considering a learning management system to deliver training are still coming to grips: Tough times mean tough clients.

However, many organizations are rising above that natural law. For companies seeking an edge in the competitive market created by the recession, online training can help tremendously with everything from cutting costs to training employees to be more professional and efficient.

Courseware developers are using all the available on e-learning platforms like Coggno–and an increasing number of these tools are applications offered by e-learning platforms.

Applications exchange partnerships help courseware creation toolkit providers help organizations create more feature-rich and low-cost training. On Coggno’s LMS, Blueberry Software screen capture software is one such app that now integrates seamlessly with the Coggno learning management system.

Course creators who use BB FlashBack 2.6 to make screen recordings can now integrate the recordings with their curriculum, using Coggno’s simple course creation tools, and then deliver training through Coggno’s LMS. The combination of Coggno’s tools and Blueberry 2.6 offers a more versatile and multimedia learning experience for trainees.

As an e-learning course creator, BB FlashBack allows you to record everything you see on your PC screen. It also records your commentary, PC sounds and webcam as picture-in-picture video to give your course content a personal touch. You are able to make a personal appearance in your own course, providing demos and tutorials to students. With BB FlashBack’s user-friendly design and quick, automated recording steps, users are able to transform course content into a richer, more dynamic experience and give courses a more professional touch.

Using BB FlashBack, you have total control over what students view, so there’s no need to rely on stock simulations or outdated demo in a training program. You yourself create, edit and apply it to your e-learning course. And employing Coggno’s LMS which includes a text editor, SCORM publisher, question banking, video tool, audio tool and podcast producer, and assessment and quiz tools, organizations are able to provide feature rich training cost effectively.

Design and syndicate robust courses and training with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. User-friendly, powerful and affordable.

The Solution to That Age-Old LMS Problem

August 27, 2009

Being asked to "please try again" is something that’s happened to most of us in the learning management system community. There’s no shame in it. Juggling all the different subscription, banking, social network, email, and other account passwords is overwhelming.

And it seems like more websites are creating increasingly complicated password requirements. So the handy password you once used is suddenly no good anymore. Some sites want you to have a mix of numbers and letters. Some require more than 5 or 6 characters.

Others want a combination of lower-case and capital letters, others a mix of both plus numbers, while the most horrible sticklers require an over-six-character mix of both cases plus numbers.

Some very efficient, clever, and/or über-organized people have figured out a trick for remembering passwords. Taking the first letter of the website and the last, and sticking their usual key words in the middle with a set number. There are others, but I’ve forgotten them. Just as I’ve forgotten the passwords to oh-so-many subscriptions and other accounts.

I know I’m not alone. And that’s why universal login, that magical feature that learning management systems and other e-learning platforms are beginning to adopt, is so amazing.

For organizations and schools delivering e-learning content to large numbers of students, they can aid the accessibility and ease of use for their students by using a learning management system that provides universal login.

Coggno’s has recently integrated RPX with its learning management system. Accessing your training or other e-learning content is now so, so simple.

Coggno no longer requires users to create a Coggno account, providing instead a vast range of login options. Through the RPX app, users can now access Coggno using identities from major sites such as Google, AOL, Yahoo!, Twitter, WordPress, MySpace, and Facebook.

Using Coggno’s learning management system which include a text editor, SCORM, question banking, and video, assessment, and quiz tools, organizations are able to provide feature rich training cost effectively, and public schools are able to provide students with free and powerful e-learning solutions.

Create and distribute engaging learning experiences with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Easy to use, robust and reasonably priced.

Seeing The End of a Trend in LMS Training Content Writing

August 6, 2009

The trend in learning management system and other e-learning content writing has traditionally followed a "voiceless writing" model.

In this model, course creators write using a formal tone and text without style or affect. This is the writing style traditionally preferred by academia–one without any trace of an author’s voice or personality.

However, a burgeoning community of e-learning developers are creating content with more voiced writing. Particularly in an e-learning context, studies suggest that students respond with more interest to a voice with personality, in contrast to a formal and impersonal tone.

It’s true that in some cases, a bland tone is simply unavoidable–and that’s fine. But to create content with that blandness as the ideal isn’t wise. And too often, course creators fall into the trap of intentionally creating difficult-to-read content in order to impress learners, or so that students will have greater respect for the content. This is a bad idea.

What’s the best solution? Clear, concise, and relevant content.

Once you’ve prepared your course content and infused it with an interesting writing style and your own enthusiasm and passion for the subject, next comes the revision process. This is a major aspect of keeping your course writing concise and clear. Put your course through what writers call "deep revision." Look over your course and ensure that no sections, paragraphs, graphics, etc. look clunky, out of place, dull, or extraneous. Just as you used your powerful writing voice, use your authorial power to scrap whole pieces that don’t seem to fit. Any unnecessary bit needs to go.

Especially in online training courses, learners require content to be to-the-point, engaging, and one hundred percent relevant to what learners will need to perform tasks later on. These may be new skills, company policies, or any other critical information.

Just remember: voiceless writing in an online course is worse than live but bland and boring lecture. E-learning strives to be better than that. When developing content for a learning management system, keep your writing clear and concise, but most importantly, your own.

Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.

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