Whether you’re an L&D professional looking to set up a skill-building program or a company in need of an employee training tool, LMS software can give you the best modules and features to fulfill a range of learning needs. In this article, we’ll discuss the different types of LMS modules and how they streamline your training processes to facilitate effective employee learning and development.
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What This Article Covers
Key LMS Modules
LMS modules are components or features of an LMS that either come prebuilt on the system or can be added via integrations that expand the platform’s capabilities. They’re designed to enhance the learning experience for both instructors and learners with interactive tools and user-friendly functionality.
Having the right set of LMS features makes a huge difference in how well the software can work for your training model. Here are some must-have LMS modules that you should look for during the software evaluation process.
1. Assessments
Assessments are an integral part of your training program. They help you evaluate and report on each learner’s course progress, and tailor their training plan based on individual strengths, weaknesses and feedback. You can also generate assessment reports to visualize and compare data from grade sheets and exam results.
Add multi-format questions to tests. Source
Many solutions provide an advanced suite of skill-based assessment tools that allow you to:
- Create assessments in the form of quizzes, MCQs, surveys, questionnaires and PPTs using audios, videos, images and other multimedia files.
- Automatically grade assignments based on set criteria.
- Create and store test questions in a question bank to reuse them across multiple assessments.
- Allow learners to take multiple attempts on tests and quizzes.
- Collect learners’ feedback via surveys.
- Share progress reports and grade cards with learners.
2. Collaboration
Real-time communication is at the heart of effective online training. Whether you’re managing 20 employees residing in the same city or a global team of 1000+ workers, staying connected without any constraints is a must. When your staff members feel a sense of community towards each other, they can work together on a common goal and steer toward success.
Allow users to co-author documents. Source
An LMS offers a suite of easily accessible collaboration tools, including:
- Discussion boards to facilitate knowledge exchange between users.
- Calendars to view course and group events, assignment and quiz deadlines, and other training-related information.
- Rules for sending automated email notifications to learners when they’re enrolled in an event, assigned to a group, awarded a certificate and in other such scenarios.
- Group chats for open communication among learners, instructors and other members of the organization.
- Video conferencing tools to host live classes, conduct exams and hold discussions.
- Notes and annotations inside courses to give feedback and suggestions.
- File sharing and co-authoring.
3. Compliance
Technology and development both keep changing, and so do the legal provisions surrounding them. Companies need to ensure they’re in compliance with any laws and industry standards that pertain to system and learning content, accessibility and security.
Train your learners on important compliance topics. Source
An LMS makes it possible for organizations to abide by all industry-specific guidelines and rules with compliance and certification functionality. For example, you can create custom certificates for each course and award them to learners upon completion.
Some common industry regulations include:
- COPPA Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
- FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- SOC 2 (Service and Organization Controls)
- 21 CFR Part 11(FDA Regulation Governing E-Signatures)
- Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)
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4. Content and Course Management
Once you’ve set up your training content, it’s time to upload and organize it on the platform. LMS tools provide you with the option to effectively create, edit and manage all types of eLearning content in a central location. Be it progress reports, course packages or question banks for multiple disciplines, the software can handle it all.
Store all learning materials in one place. Source
This module gives you the ability to:
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- Create content for lessons, presentations, assessments and more using built-in content creation tools, or upload existing content from third-party sources.
- Assign courses to learners and allow them to rate the content.
- Add, store, update and track all training materials, employee handbooks and technical documentation in a centralized repository.
- Search content and related curriculums, learning paths, certifications, competency skills and other differentiators using the global search tool.
- Display a list of all the available or upcoming courses in the course catalog.
- Set prerequisites in courses to prevent learners from proceeding to the next lesson before completing all the required tasks in the current lesson.
- Monitor learners’ progress on courses through a dashboard or progress reports.
5. Ecommerce
The eCommerce market has grown significantly in the past few years, registering an impressive CAGR of 27.43% during the 2023-2028 forecast period. Taking your business online is an effective way to increase your reach and revenue without breaking the bank.
Sell courses individually or in bulk. Source
An LMS allows you to monetize your course content and training services through a branded eCommerce platform. It comes with all the tools and features to showcase your online presence to both internal employees and external customers, and manage daily business operations in a streamlined manner.
Under this module, you can:
- Group multiple courses or training products together and sell them as a single unit.
- Offer discounts, coupons or promo codes to customers for purchasing courses or subscriptions.
- Process transactions on a secure payment gateway.
- View and manage order history.
- Send marketing emails to customers.
- Generate real-time data reports to monitor sales activity.
- Track revenue and view purchase history.
6. Learning Delivery
The mark of a good LMS is support for a range of learning delivery methods. Supporting a variety of methods ensures that your employees’ diverse learning needs are served, whether they’re attending their training online, coming to the office for practical learning, or learning according to their own pace, schedule and preference.
Engage learners with short-spanning course modules. Source
Some common types of learning delivery models include:
- Asynchronous learning, which allows learners to study at their own pace and location.
- Blended learning, which facilitates both in-person classroom training and self-paced training courses.
- Microlearning, to deliver short and easy-to-remember bites of content in each lesson.
- Live webinars, in-person classroom training and virtual instructor-led training that an individual or a group of learners can attend simultaneously.
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7. Mobile Capabilities
A Data Reportal survey found that, in early 2023, 5.44 out of 8 billion people were using mobile phones. Another report by Data.AI noted that most users spend almost five hours a day on their phones. Making your training accessible on devices like smartphones, tablets and iPads can go a long way towards creating a continuous learning experience for your employees.
View submitted assignments, tests and graded discussions. Source
Many popular solutions like Tovuti and Canvas come with a user-friendly mobile app, typically compatible with common operating systems like Android, Windows and iOS. On the mobile app, you can:
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- View and track course progress.
- Access assigned courses and resume in-progress courses.
- Help users collaborate with two-way messaging, group chats, discussion boards, file-sharing and more.
- Enable learners to complete courses offline and sync their progress when back online.
- Add custom logos, fonts, colors, themes and more to the system interface.
8. Reporting and Dashboards
LMS platforms come with a comprehensive suite of reporting tools that help you visualize company data in various formats and get valuable insights into overall performance. You can track a range of KPIs like course completion rates, enrollment volumes, online sales, learner progress and engagement rates.
Visualize exam results in the form of data reports. Source
The reporting and analytics module lets you:
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- View data in the form of graphs, charts and maps.
- Apply filters to obtain specific data or add widgets to monitor and analyze various aspects of learner performance on a customizable dashboard.
- Generate pre-built reports on learners’ performance and progress per course, course enrollment and completion, learning time spent per course and more.
- Build custom reports using different sets of data.
- Schedule reports to be sent out at a specific time or recurring intervals.
- Set up automation to schedule and share reports with other users.
9. User Management and Gamification
LMS solutions provide a systemized platform to manage your user database and store employee information in an organized way. With the help of gamification tools, you can digitize many elements of the training process to make it more exciting and participative.
Rank all learners on the company leaderboard. Source
A range of interactive tools under this module allows you to:
- Create unique user profiles with learner details such as name, email address and place of residence.
- Create different roles, define access permissions for each role and assign them to users.
- Create or customize pre-built certificates with background images, logos and text, and award them to learners upon course completion.
- Automatically add learners to specific groups based on set criteria.
- Generate course transcripts that include enrollment information and course status, credits earned, achievements and more.
- Set milestones or goals for completing certain activities and bump learners up to the next level once they accomplish a milestone.
- Offer prebuilt badges or create new customized badges for learners.
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Additional Features
Besides the learning management system modules covered above, other LMS capabilities to look for include:
- AI-Based Learning: Advanced machine learning algorithms allow you to recommend courses to learners based on their skill sets, job roles and interests, generate real-time analytical reports, automate daily tasks to save time and effort and more.
- Customization and Branding: You can customize the platform with your organization’s logo, colors and themes to create a consistent and brand-centric learning environment.
Technical Components
While not technically LMS modules, the components below are still critical to consider:
Deployment Model
You can set up the system in different ways, depending on your unique LMS requirements, training preferences and business goals. Some popular software deployment models include:
- Cloud: Hosted on the web and accessed via the internet.
- On-Premise: Installed on the company’s systems and hosted on private servers.
- Open-Source: Comes with a publicly available source code that can be modified by anyone.
- Custom-Built: Designed based on specific requirements and use cases defined by a company.
- Mobile LMS: Accessed via smartphones, iPad, tablets and other similar devices.
Third-Party Integrations
LMS integrations are an effective way to improve the capabilities of your learning platform by leveraging the power of third-party applications. For example, an LMS Salesforce integration connects your company’s sales data with Salesforce CRM. It then provides insights into customer interactions with your business so you can tailor your training content to meet their needs.
You can develop integrations with various internal systems like video conferencing, employee management, eCommerce and content authoring. Popular third-party applications on the LMS integration list include Zoom, Shopify, PayPal, Microsoft Teams and Mailchimp.
Security
Whether you’re using a cloud-based platform or an on-premise system, data security is a primary concern. For this reason, learning management systems come with a robust security infrastructure to protect your customer and company information from unauthorized access.
Some of these features include:
- Two-Factor Authentication
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Data Encryption
- User Roles and Permissions
- System Audit Logs
- GDPR Compliance
Data Updates and Backups
You can pre-schedule backups to avoid losing important data as a result of system failures or other similar mishaps. Besides, regular software updates, carried out by the vendor in the case of cloud-based platforms, rule out the chance of user interface glitches, compatibility issues or system lags.
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Some Popular LMS Options
The LMS market is booming with over 500 solutions that offer a range of feature sets, adaptive user interfaces and customization tools for pocket-friendly prices. However, the real challenge is evaluating so many solutions to find the best fit for your business needs.
To expedite your selection process, here’s a list of the most popular learning management systems that provide the essential capabilities to run a corporate training program:
TalentLMS
TalentLMS provides training solutions to organizations of all sizes, including course creation and management, learner progress tracking, performance reporting, gamification and video conferencing. You can create personalized courses or course packages for different learners, localize the system in multiple languages and automate repetitive tasks to save time and effort.
Tovuti
Tovuti is an eLearning platform that allows you to create online courses, track learner progress, send automated notifications, gamify learning elements and more. You can upload multimedia files using drag-and-drop tools, personalize the platform with a range of customizable themes and templates, and sell your eLearning content on a branded eCommerce website.
AbsorbLMS
Absorb LMS is an enterprise-level learning and training solution that helps organizations streamline their eLearning delivery processes. Its mobile app, Absorb Learning, delivers digital training content in multiple formats, including SCORM, xAPI, PDF, MP4 and Microsoft Office files. It also offers third-party integrations with apps like Salesforce, ADP and Zoom, and connects with any system via API.
Moodle
Moodle is an open-source LMS used by companies, K-12 schools and higher education institutions. It offers features like course creation, calendars, dashboards, text editing, SCORM compatibility, reporting, learning paths and group management. You can download the solution’s mobile app to download course content, track progress, send messages and even work on the go.
Udemy
Udemy is an online learning platform that offers self-paced lessons in subjects including business, development and programming, marketing, music and photography. Key software features include course and content management, online certifications, branding, progress tracking and third-party integrations.
Lessonly
Lessonly provides online teaching and learning solutions to create effective eLearning experiences. It offers features like content management, progress tracking, compliance management, customization, attendance tracking and gamification. Its robust course creation capabilities allow you to insert hyperlinks into lessons, change the text format, underline sections and add multimedia elements, like images and videos.
Chamilo
Chamilo is a cloud-based learning solution that helps businesses develop virtual campuses to facilitate online or semi-online training. It comes with features like course catalogs, certifications, skill management, configuration and SCORM support. It also allows you to sell eLearning courses online to employees and other customers and access the mobile app via Android devices.
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn is a web-based eLearning software that lets you create, share and track training content on a centralized platform. Top software features include user and content management, progress tracking, customizations, data reporting and third-party integrations.
Cornerstone LMS
Cornerstone LMS helps organizations of all sizes manage their training content and activities on an integrated platform. Its native mobile app, Cornerstone Learn, offers many capabilities, including single sign-on, custom roles and access levels, transcript management, course catalogs and data security. You can also upload videos, documents and audio files from popular third-party sources like YouTube and Google Drive.
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Primary Benefits
As more companies shift their focus to upskilling employees and building a strong learning culture at the workplace, it is the perfect tool to conduct high-quality, advanced training programs.
Implementing an LMS can bring several benefits to your training processes.
- Continuous Learning and Development: You can offer a variety of courses, certifications and skill-building initiatives to help employees develop their competencies for different job roles.
- Scalability: No need to buy a new platform to accommodate new users or launch new types of courses — you can do that on your existing platform. Most solutions can be scaled up to handle large amounts of learners and data sets, without compromising system performance.
- Personalization: You can create personalized learning paths based on each learner’s career development needs and unique preferences to improve engagement and participation.
- Data-Driven Decisions: The platform allows you to generate valuable data and analytics on learner performance, course effectiveness and desired vs. actual outcomes. Organizations can use this data to identify knowledge gaps, assess training ROI and make structural changes to improve training content creation and delivery processes.
- Automation: Automation tools fast track and simplify administrative tasks such as user registration and enrollment, lesson grading and data reporting in a few clicks. It saves time spent on performing these tasks manually and reduces instances of inaccuracy or error.
Types of LMS Users
Businesses in various industries deploy an LMS to build training and development programs for their employees. They can deliver, track and analyze training content, monitor learner performance, connect through collaboration tools, generate data insights and more.
Given below are some examples of how various sectors use LMS platforms:
- Hospitals, clinics and other medical organizations employ LMS platforms to provide training on industry best practices, equipment handling, compliance and evolving technology for healthcare professionals.
- LMSs for government agencies and departments help train government personnel on topics such as cybersecurity, compliance, and state policies and procedures.
- Nonprofit organizations often rely on LMS platforms to provide training and educational resources to their staff and volunteers.
- Manufacturing businesses use LMSs to train employees on safety protocols, quality control, equipment operation and other job-specific skills, and streamline and standardize training processes across different facilities.
- Retail and hospitality companies train staff members in fields like customer service, sales, safety and compliance, and IT.
Using Content Management Systems Within an LMS
Integration between an LMS and LCMS provides an all-in-one platform to centrally manage content creation and delivery processes. Here’s how you can use the two systems together to systemize key processes:
- Study the two solutions to identify which features they do and don’t have, both as individual platforms and as a single system.
- You can use the LCMS to develop and organize your learning content in the form of multidisciplinary courses, modules, assessments and more. Some platforms allow multiple authors to work together on content creation and editing.
- You can then organize content with the help of automated tagging and version control features and categorize learning material based on departments and job roles.
- Once you have created and reviewed the learning content in the LCMS, you can publish it in a format compatible with your LMS. You can select the appropriate course structures, assign learners and configure assessment settings before exporting.
- You can use the LMS to manage courses and learners with features such as user enrollment, progress tracking, reporting, real-time communication, and user authentication and access control.
- As your training needs and industry requirements evolve, you can make content updates and improvements in the LCMS. Export the updated content package and import it into the LMS to ensure that learners have access to the most up-to-date content.
- You can collect data on learner engagement and performance, feedback and course effectiveness on the LMS and use this data to adjust your content creation and delivery processes in the LCMS.
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Next Steps
Employee skill development is a major need in today’s competitive business environment. The right LMS modules suit your training model and improve system capabilities with a time and cost-friendly approach. As technology continues to advance, these modules are likely to evolve and incorporate more innovative features that cater to ever-changing training needs.
Ready for the next step? Use our free software comparison report to analyze leading market solutions and see how they compare against each other across more than 100 LMS features.
Which of our top LMS modules are you most interested in? Which other features would you prefer in your LMS? Let us know in the comments below!