Purchasing vs. Building Training Platforms: Tips and Ideas for Decision-Making

Assume that you been assigned by your employer to suggest whether your company should buy or build a training platform from scratch. How would you state your case, for and against the decision that your company should make? Should you recommend buying an existing off-the-shelf software application or would you suggest that your company purchase existing software?

Custom-built software has the appeal of being designed to fit your particular training needs. One issue you should address early is whether or not it will save you any effort and time, rather than purchasing existing software. Also, you would have to determine the employees in the organization who need to have access to the training software. An additional point to note is that the data management, data processing, and data reporting functions and features should be planned on from the onset of the project to then be implemented and tried out during product testing. Remember also to focus on data quality as you develop the training software. So, if you are planning to incorporate e-learning tools, be sure that data tracking and management is accurate and efficient.

If you make a decision to purchase a learning management system, be sure that the features that you really need are already part of the system. You should not assume that the training platform will meet all your teaching and learning needs. As a matter of fact, it is not a good idea to assume that the training software;s data management and collection system is going to be automatic. Hence look to answer the following questions as you decide what is it that you want for your training needs:

Seek to answer the following questions: What user interface features are desired? What level of trouble shooting and debugging is needed during production and development? What levels of access will different users have? How will usability testing be approached? What database outputs are needed for training and records?

Typically, the above questions will generate different answers for each individual company or organization. Therefore a team should work together and have a project manager coordinate the entire process. Usability testing must also be part of the process throughout the design and implementation. Using a small group of learners and instructors, the training platform should be tested out to ensure that it suits both the instructional and training needs of the organization.

Sometimes it turns out that homegrown products are more expensive either to build or maintain. There is also a possibility that the people who build the systems are no longer with the organization and the technical support is thus interrupted. Because of these issues, companies end up looking for off-the-shelf product, with standard support, training, and continuous upgrades and improvements that they can buy rather than build themselves.

One disadvantage of pre-existing software is that it may not always meet your particular training and educational needs. Technical support can be expensive and not readily available when needed. The support features that include licensing and copyright requirements and software updates should be part of the project management teams discussion while the procurement process is ongoing. Whenever it is possible, looking into the customizable, flexible features of off-the-shelf applications is suggested. Most software vendors may have this as an option, so it is a good idea to investigate this further.

So, regardless of the option you or the company decides to go with, remember that you will likely incur additional costs in maintenance, updates, and user training. In the final event what it boils down to is the return on investment for the company. Even more important is the value added to the organization through the training and skill and knowledge advancement of the trainees (employees), instructors and learning management system team.

Training Crafted to Fit Your LMS Online Needs

What are some factors to take into consideration when designing or adopting LMS online training? The diversity of LMSs on the market means that your organization, with a little planning, should be able to find an LMS customized to fit exactly its needs.

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Consider the amount of learners, faculty, courses, administrators, and sessions that your online course will cater to. Will the course be reserved for internal use only, or will it be available to outsiders? What do you want to track–courses, grades, assignments, etc?

A strong LMS is versatile and helps an organization with self-evaluation. These days LMSs are more than a tool to deploy elearning courses and track students. They are equipped to aid organizations in self-assessment and planning.

Adopting LMS online training can profoundly aid an organization, allowing it to carefully review its approach to training. Oftentimes organizations discover that they need to reshape procedures or training.

The other way to wrap your brain around the seemingly endless array of LMS providers, besides getting clear on what your organizational needs are, is taking the time to understand precisely what each system provides. Each LMS is created differently.

Now let’s say you’ve chosen a LMS, and training is in process. Creating an interactive learning experience will carry a greater impact for your students. Also, be sure to establish early communication between learners and the trainer, including pre-course basic training on how to make one’s way through the online course and LMS.

When speaking about interaction in an online course, this could mean many things. One effective and exciting way to help orient students in their new virtual classroom is through videos. Video tours like those of Coggno’s various features can create a feeling of ease and comfort as students begin the course.

To ensure that you have made the perfect fit for your organization, and that you are making the most of the LMS’s tools, the trainers themselves must be closely familiar and comfortable with the LMS online features. Keeping a watchful eye on your organization’s goals, and crafting your elearning experience tailored to those goals, will serve to complement the robust training your perfect fit LMS provides.

Using an LMS Training System in Times of Crisis

It’s a well-understood fact in the business world. During times of economic downturn, achieving and/or maintaining that competitive edge is essential. A recession indicates an aggressive job market in which competent employees wake up without a job, and recent college graduates formerly aiming for the stars are temporarily lowering their gazes.

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In this kind of setting, if you have any hope at all, you also have a one-of-a-kind, potent rsme that outshines the rest in the pile.

But the news isn’t all bad. For both individuals and organizations, there is no better time than a recession to update skills and business proficiency. Organizations and professionals all over the country have recognized this truth and invested in staff skills through LMS and/or face-to-face training this year.

Training administered by an LMS is an affordable way to gain staff competencies. When some person or organization invests in LMS training, it’s guaranteed that when the economy does come around, that investment will have paid off by a major increase in staff or personal marketability.

LMS training is one way to ensure that employees are kept up to date with new information and skills. Learning management systems like Coggno offer management courses like: Managing: Groups and Teams, Empowerment and Motivation, Goal Setting and Feedback, Adaptive Leadership, Coaching, Managing Change, and Managing Conflict.

LMSs are not only convenient and versatile, but can aid in organizing collaborative projects and accomplishing company goals.

Of course, the best way to let your talents emerge and strengthen is to practice them. If you’ve ever considered a career as an online course developer, now is the perfect time to start. Courseware syndicators and LMS training providers like Coggno allow you to upload your course content using simple course creation tools, providing you with complete customization and control of your course.

Using Coggno’s development tools such as video, text, quiz, template and assessment tools, as well as the Apple Podcast Producer, BB Flashback Screen Recordings, and the SCORM publisher, authors find great flexibility and easy access to a range of robust functions.

Coggno’ Learning Management System (LMS) 100% Green

While all the different kinds of media, information and education systems go online, it’s not difficult to see the effects on the paper and pulp industry. The popularity of learning technology like learning management systems makes it harder for textbook companies to stay afloat. Online media gives newspapers and magazines a run for their money, and so on.

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A “greener” information-based society is a concept that excites not only environmentalists, but regular folks. Those of us who enjoy clean air, water and other niceties, for example, probably like the sound of it. And though too many forests are cleared and resources eaten up in product packaging, it’s safe to say we are less reliant on trees for our reading needs.

Therefore, it isn’t shocking to find that pulp and paper companies are experiencing difficulty. In the last ten years in areas like Maine, recruiting has become no small feat, due to the widespread fear that it is a business on its deathbed. Nevertheless, many people within the trade claim that it is vanishing at all, but simply reassessing and planning its prospects–just like many other industries.

Increasingly buyers seek compact products–especially in electronics. Lightweight and elegant models aren’t only trendy, but more eco-friendly. One could even say that the new aesthetic is one manifestation of the “green” technology movement.

Online courseware systems and LMSs such as Coggno create virtual, no-waste classrooms.

LMS tools such as Coggno’s audio, quiz, text, assessment, and Apple podcast producer provide a paperless classroom that does not necessitate extraneous technology.

Furthermore, Coggno’s “greenness” offers another inherent plus–the easy-to-use, lightweight training format its LMS provides. LMSs such as Coggno help sustain the new world movement that wants an end to the unsustainable system of production and waste that has characterized the electronics market.

Create and deploy interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, powerful and cost-effective.