Learning and development are extremely important in almost every industry. Employees of a company need to be given opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. Employees with this opportunity are more likely to become upwardly mobile within a company, become more productive in their work, and, crucially, stay at the company that has educated them.
In recent years, digital learning platforms have become popular. In many cases, they have supplemented in-person learning delivery in a model known as blended learning. Blended learning combines classroom teaching with digital teaching and feedback. In order to deliver the digital aspect of a blended learning course, companies have to choose a digital learning platform of some kind.
Digital learning platforms allow companies to provide the resources their workforce needs to engage with an educational program remotely. This remote delivery became a far more important aspect of blended learning during the coronavirus pandemic. This affected most countries around the world; take the UK as an example – a staggering number of people were forced to work remotely in this country (as did those in others), meaning they could not access traditional educational resources and classes.
Digital learning platforms soon became absolutely necessary for the delivery of learning and development. Generally, there are currently two kinds of digital learning platforms that rule the roost. Here is a very brief guide to them both.
LMS
LMS stands for Learning Management System. Learning Management Systems are by far the most popular kind of digital education ecosystem used in business today. They have been around for a while. Although not digital, Sidney L Pressey’s ‘Teaching Machine’ is widely considered to be the first LMS. It was patented in the 1920s!
Learning Management Systems are the most straightforward educational platforms available. They are rather top-heavy and focus on the one-way delivery of educational materials and the facilitation of limited kinds of feedback. This does not make them obsolete, however. If a course is well-written and well-tailored to a particular workforce, it does not need to be delivered in a highly personalized way.
LXP
LXP stands for Learning eXperience Platform. Learning eXperience Platforms are not currently as popular as LMS,’ but they are widely considered to be the future of corporate digital learning. In the ongoing LMS vs LXP debate raging in the corporate world, the LXP is destined for victory.
The reason for this perceived future popularity is personalization. Much like the media streaming sites that customize recommendations for users based on their activity, LXPs deliver fully customized educational experiences to each staff member that is active. They take into account preferences, perceived skill gaps, and a whole lot more to provide the most efficient and effective educational program possible.
They also allow for a more reciprocal relationship between the educator and the student. All sorts of feedback and inputs by students are transformed into useful datasets that can be used to improve educational quality and the resulting business outcomes.
Learning eXperience Platforms are more complex and more algorithm reliant than their more archaic cousins, but they can offer a far more flexible and efficient learning delivery model to business leaders and HR professionals – even those managing remote teams.
Odyssey has been the lead content writer and content marketer. He has vast experience in the field of writing. His SEO strategies help businesses to gain maximum traffic and success.