Trainers Talk Tech

As an eLearning designer, I pay close attention to the way my content is displayed and contained for my learners. There is quite a bit of research and theory on great eLearning design, but now that I am leading a team where content is delivered via LMS and I've discovered something: LMSs have a long way to go before I would describe them as "user friendly".

My biggest concern used to be whether nor not my eLearning project was SCORM compliant and worked in an LMS. Now, I'm faced with the issue of content working in the LMS, AND the user being able to access the content in the LMS.

I won't talk about any specific vendor - I've been reviewing four major providers in an effort to choose a new system for global implementation - but they all kind of stink. Menus are complicated, accessing and searching the course catalog is hit or miss, and launching courses still rely on pop-ups, hidden windows and confusing on-screen messages.

I know that there is a difference between form and function, but the major vendors still seem to be letting developers run their user interface. This needs to change. These are feature rich applications that take weeks to learn. Each feels as if they are a series of "bolt on" applications, the result of one vendor purchasing another and integrating technology. Why?

Just like what happened in the early 2000s with eLearning content vendors gobbling each other up, LMS vendors seem to be in the same feeding frenzy. I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but it is happening on a grand scale. It may be Darwinian and therefore good for the industry, but I'm not sure if it is good for the average Joe user.

LMS admins have to spend so much time and energy getting their system functional, and still have to fight through an interface they have been forced to learn. Simple tasks like adding classes and users are multi-step process where a simple missed check-box can result in catastrophic error. Why is it so hard?

A start up LMS vendor who focuses on delivering JUST the core competencies necessary to run a training organization, and brings on a group of usability experts to help design their user interface and screens can change the face of the LMS industry. We need a young organization who wants to break some rules and really focus on the learner. It's really time to wake up and start paying attention to the route our learners take to get into our learning programs. I don't care how awesome our eLearning programs are, if the user can't navigate the LMS, we've set them up for failure.

As the big vendors eat each other up, a game changing pure LMS can really change the lives of learners, administrators and organizations world wide. Is 2011 the year when we see something new?