Advantages of Learning Management to Teachers

With the advancement in technology, extensive utilization of digital materials, and the changing needs of modern students, traditional classrooms are becoming less efficient. To deal with this challenge, learning institutions can adopt learning management systems to enable teachers to realize various educational models, connect and engage learners, and deliver personalized learning.

A learning management system is a web-based application or software that is assists in providing a central, integrated space for learning resources, as well as administrative tools, grading tools, assessment tools, and content resources. LMS provide a portal through which learners can access study material and see their grades and homework, and administer tasks – like attendance and tracking grades – easier for teachers. Also, learning management systems make information from evaluation more readily available, and some can offer personalized activities depending on the assessment of learners.

Learning management systems are commonly used by high schools and higher learning institutions and are now integrated into K–12 education system also. There are numerous learning management systems on the market, from robust fee-based applications to free applications, with modern ones developed particularly for K–12 studies. Studies show that almost half of classrooms in the U.S. have some form of learning management system. In this article, we focus on the benefits of learning management systems for teachers.

Consolidating Resources for Learners

The main benefit of an LMS is the capability to store many learning resources in one area and make them accessible with one login. Many public schools in the United States are connected to the internet. Even though this access has opened up the world of learning resources, it comes with challenges.

For example, most of the resources that teachers require learners to access necessitate a login and tracking of numerous logins for all classes of learners. Learning management systems make it possible for teachers to consolidate learning resources for learners, eliminating the requirement of juggling multiple logins. Also, LMS act as portals through which learners can easily see assignments and grades, hence enabling them to manage their academics.

Building Lessons

Learning management systems simplify lesson-building for teachers, especially when learners will be using online resources and files. Additionally, LMS make collaboration easier since resources can be shared easily among colleagues within the district, schools, and teachers.

Likely, districts have the capability of banking researchable lessons as well as other learning resources, and this enables teachers to get quality educational resources on demand. Additionally, a wide range of learning management systems have components such as games or quizzes that teachers can tailor with their content. Moreover, formative evaluations are possible to create in many learning management systems, and data gotten from these evaluations enable teachers to identify learners who require extra practice and instructions. Some learning management systems recommend or provide resources depending on the assessment of the student.

Makes the Administration of Tasks Easier

Learning management systems enable teachers to consolidate assignments in one location. For instance, LMSs eliminate the requirement for teachers to log in to several applications in order to review the work of students, report grades, and track performance. There is the automation of routine tasks like calculating grades hence giving teachers an opportunity to do a lot of crucial work. Also, learning management systems offer tools that help in formative assessment and provide data that assists teachers in identifying learners who require more help in specific areas.

Personalized Approach to Every Learner

It is challenging for instructors to meet the different needs of learners when they are in traditional classrooms. Learning management systems enables educators to change from a “one-size-fits-all” model to a learner-centered one, with the main focus on the needs of learners as well as equal opportunities for all students irrespective of their abilities and backgrounds. With learning management systems and many content formats that are available, educators can offer a unique, personalized learning experience that can’t be attained in face-to-face classrooms.

Easy Tracking of Learner Performance and Progress

Learning management systems provides teachers with the capability to track the progress of learners and make sure that they are meeting the milestones of their performance. For example, if virtual students cannot complete an online learning scenario successfully, you can provide them with additional resources to enhance their performance. Many LMSs feature analytics and reporting tools that enable teachers to identify areas of the online course that are lacking. If teachers find out that their online students are struggling through a particular online lesson, for instance, they can assess the online learning content and make changes where necessary.

Involving Parents

Additionally, learning management systems are developed particularly for K-12 education system have a parent portal which assists parents in viewing the grades and assignments of students, including seeing in real-time whether their learners are having challenges with assignments. This is an improvement on the traditional report card system where parents are not notified about the grades of their students until it’s too late for their effective intervention, like at the end of the term. Providing parents access to the information of their students upfront is crucial as it facilitates teacher-parent partnership and communication.

Providing Access Anywhere

A web-based learning management system may be accessed from any place, enabling teachers to log in outside class hours so as to review the work of students, add assignments, and complete other tasks. Likewise, in the event learners require login IDs in order to have access to a website for assignments, they can utilize a learning management system from home in order to see homework and get the required resources.

Unlimited Tracking Data

Learning management systems grant access to unlimited tracking data like the time spent completing a particular test or assignments, documents completion reports, educational paths statistics, latest course activities, and user grades statistics. With this information, instructors can improve the performance of students by find knowledge gaps as well as shortcomings in the tutoring process so as to maximize instruction effectiveness.

Learning management systems are excellent tools to organize and simplify the technological aspect of school classrooms. They provide a single portal to enable teachers to use lesson-building and administrative tools, learners access educational materials, and parents monitor grades and assignments.

What are the important features of learning management systems?

Learning Management Systems (LMS) is one of the popular and most demanded software in the education sector. It plays a major role in simplifying teachers’ and students’ tasks and reducing their workload. Learning Management System helps to establish an easy, affordable, accessible and convenient source of online learning. It is a complete digital solution for teaching or training and performance management. The important features of learning management systems are:

Course development feature

Course Development Component is one of the important features of LMS software which helps in course creation from scratch to finish. This component enables users to create an online learning environment by providing all the necessary tools to develop their own online courses such as lesson planning, scheduling, quizzes, exams and surveys, etc. with full control over the content.

Content management system

A scalable content management system that allows you to move from basic text and images easily while allowing room for more complex components including audio/video files, PowerPoint Presentations, Spreadsheets, and database-driven Web sites. Such integration augments each individual element into the courses to provide a rich learning experience. With the availability of a content management system, you can easily upload, organize and share your digital assets online through your Learning Management System using web-based tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations. LMS will be much easier for teachers as well as students because they can easily access all the data from any device and it is more convenient than carrying paper-based handouts about different topics.

Performance management system

A performance management system that helps in tracking student activities on one platform makes it easier for teachers to give feedback to students regarding their course assignments and tests. This feature also helps teachers in managing the classroom by maintaining attendance records etc. Test Manager & Question Bank Features It provides creation, management, and delivery of assessments. Teachers can create custom tests and exams with different question types, support drag and drop, multichoice, matching, etc. The software tracks test results for each student. It also provides the answer keys to all questions so that students can check their answers easily. LMS comes with pre-made questions for assessments that teachers can use as it is or modify them according to their requirements.

Features To Consider In A Learning Management System

Integration with learning tools

One thing that can really make your online class successful is having the right LMS integrated with other platforms that are important in students’ learning process, such as social media and email. The ideal one should be able to assist you in releasing timely updates on these essential platforms all throughout the course period.

It makes communication easier and more effective when different things can be consolidated into one platform, such as sending announcements both through email and through Facebook or Twitter accounts. For instance, a good option would be Blackboard Learn where it supports single sign-on which enables users to log into just one application—the LMS—to access a variety of tools, such as Blackboard Collaborate, the LMS’ conferencing tool.

Personalization

A very important aspect of your online class is how you can make it an interactive experience for students, a truly personalized learning process.

An ideal LMS would be flexible enough to accommodate the varying needs of different learners in your group by providing tools that facilitate real-time communications between students and the instructor; easy access to course readings and videos; support for interaction—both guided and unguided; graded discussions that encourage student participation and foster peer learning—among others.

Some popular options are Canvas from Instructure or Moodle platform which offers features like message boards, grade books, discussion forums, etc.

Connectivity

You should also check whether the LMS is compatible with other learning tools in your syllabi, such as videos or software.

Subscription cost

Budgeting for a good LMS may be a big part of searching and choosing one, after all, you will use it for your online class which means great financial investment. Of course, the price varies depending on the number of students enrolled in each class. Some popular options are available at no charge including Google Apps for Education, Moodle, Blackboard Learn.

The rest usually have prices ranging from $5 to $20 per month depending upon various factors like the number of users, media storage capacity, etc. If you opt-out for free ones then remember that you can’t get additional services there such as extended help desk support or premium features.

How easy is it to use

You may also look for an LMS that can be easily used by all students regardless of their learning styles and technical skills. It should be crafted keeping in mind the needs of different types of learners, so the learning process is made enjoyable and effective for everyone.

A good option would be Moodle because it’s designed specifically to meet the needs of distance learners with its configurable design and layout options and fresh course content without time constraints allowing you to arrange your course as scheduled lessons or open forums.

Accessibility

Another important factor to consider in choosing an LMS is accessibility—how many users can interact with each other at any one time; how much training you will need to set up everything on your own; what kind of mobile device support does it offer; etc.

A good option would be Google Apps for Education, which comes free of charge but also offers various premium services such as 24/7 help desk support and individual training sessions from Google experts or custom workshops by third parties.

Security

You also need to be sure that you are dealing with a reliable LMS provider. Check their website for SEO rating and customer reviews, if they offer any. Stay on the secure side by choosing an LMS that offers various security features like encryption (to protect your content from prying eyes), password protection (to prevent unauthorized users from accessing it), etc.

Popular options include Blackboard Learn, which offers data encryption across all applications using multi-layered security services to ensure the privacy of learners’ personal information as well as learning tools, such as grades and exam scores or Google Apps for Education, which comes free of charge but also offers 24/7 help desk support and individual training sessions from Google experts or custom workshops by third parties.

Integration with other tools

Finally, check if the LMS provider offers integration with another tool such as eLearning platforms, discussion forums (such as Moodle, Docebo, or Blackboard Learn), etc. You may want something that will help you design an eLearning platform when creating your own course.

Resources and References:

• K-12 Education System
• Benefits of LMS
• What are the Benefits of LMS?