Learning and development of company staff is one of the most important parts of operations, and at the forefront of it all is the LMS or LXP learning systems. As you can probably tell, there is no one answer to which is best. Both the custom LMS development and the LXP here have their own sets of benefits and disadvantages. It will be up to you to figure out which platform provides you with the kind of functions that you need. However, which one is the best choice? Is one more effective than the other?
What Is LMS?
Learning Management System (LMS) is a specialized application that many companies have been using for more than 20 years. Although the applications of LMS are almost limitless (plenty of colleges and universities use this as a teaching aid), you will find them usually in business settings.
If a company uses an LMS, they can:
- Upload all their educational materials online, and allow employees to access them whenever needed.
- Use it to track the performance of everyone in the company.
- Keep track of the training programs and record specific information.
Set individual goals for every employee for a personalized learning experience.
The biggest reason why many companies turn to using LMS is because it is a viable alternative to, or used to enhance in-person employee training. It is not only the L&D department that can benefit from using an LMS, the Human Resources people would love using it too. Not only does it save on time, a good LMS can allow the HR staff to assess the capabilities of employees and potential hires whenever they want; no need to set schedules, and it will also eliminate redundant tasks.
If there is one thing that you should take away from this explanation on LMS, you need to understand that there are still people who are monitoring and managing the system. These people are responsible for assigning educational materials, tasks, setting deadlines, and then auditing the results afterwards.
Understanding LXP
Learning Experience Platform (LXP), is similar to LMS, but it is more learner-driven, and also places more attention to their experiences. However, unlike an LMS, there is no one who calls themselves the administrator of an LXP. This means that anyone in the organization who has access to their LXP is free to post, share, and use the content of the platform.
The content can take any form, like training courses, articles, and videos; and the best part is that they can come from sources outside the company. Just like an LMS, the users can create their own “learning paths”. This means that they can create custom lists of contents that they can use to learn. The user can start from the very basic concepts, or you can jump to the more advanced topics if you want.
There are lots of people who call LXPs as the “Netflix of learning”, and it is a very accurate description. An LXP is a content aggregator of sorts, and it allows the user to choose any of its contents freely. However, the LXP AI can also provide the user with personalized recommendations. However, that is where the similarities end because LXPs are also social because they also contain various communication tools, like commenting, private messaging, and online public forums.
Which One Is Best?
LMS has been around for more than two decades; is it still necessary in the corporate landscape, or is it already outdated? Although certain industry specialists believe that LXPs are the way of the future, and that it will soon completely replace LMS, it is not necessarily true. Both platforms (LMS and LXP) have their own target audiences because of the varying goals and priorities that different organizations have. This is why, in most cases, an expertly crafted LMS can integrate an LXP (or certain elements of it) to improve it further.
An LXP is a great tool for semi-formal learning, self-improvement, and to help discover a person’s passion, thanks to its huge collection of aggregated content. However, if the company requires something that has structure, administration, and delineation with employee training, then an LMS is more suitable. However, if a certain company needs certain qualities from both sides, you can integrate both into one system that has the functionalities of both LMS and LXP.