If you are someone who is connected with the education industry, you should be aware of LMS as it is a very powerful software that can change the way we teach and learn. If you truly want to understand the true potential of LMS, then you need to understand the components that it should contain. 

Now the question might be that I am already using my copies to take notes and watching youtube to learn whatever is necessary, then why do I need this software? This is exactly why this article might be something that will change your conception of online learning.

An LMS has two parts in it which are the user and the admin interface. You can already guess from the interfaces what they mean, right? Admin interface is where the instructors or trainers create their courses and manage the courses the way they think is suitable. And the user interface enables the user to see which courses they are enrolled in and what are their progress.

LMS saves time and money by organizing learning resources, simplifying administration and enabling simple access for learners. It offers mobility in education and training by giving users 24/7 access to learning materials from any place of the world. It encourages interaction among learners and instructors resulting in increasing engagement. An LMS expands educational opportunities worldwide by going beyond the geographical barriers.

There are a lot of LMS in today's world which people are using in their basic lives. But you should know what a basic LMS should contain before choosing one as not every LMS has all the useful tools you as a creator or as a student need for your betterment. Here we are breaking down the important features of an LMS:-

Most LMS platforms have a course management system but they lack the course creation part. Making course creation simple and easier should be an essential part of every LMS. 

Even if some of them might have the course creation option, still you will have to use other tools to create your desired content and then upload it. If the LMS already has the course-building features, such as drag, drop, arranging the courses in place, then you do not have to worry about the third party softwares. 

It must be frustrating when you open an LMS and the dashboard is something that is taking you forever to figure out the whole thing. A learning platform must be something that is user friendly from the learner's and the admin's side. The admin must be able to create, manage the courses and keep record of the progress. 

And the learner must be able to see all the courses they enrolled in and the option of starting from where they left off because as a human not everyone has the patience to finish off everything in one sitting.

The administrative work should be less time-consuming in your LMS. It would be better to make some works automatic like user creation and access, data synchronization, enrollments based on your software's interface. If you want an example then that would be when a student can sign in to one application to connect into the LMS using an easy automated process.

If a learning system has more ways to test yourself then you are more likely to use that specific one. As a learning content creator, you will like to test your student's or trainee's ability as well.

So an LMS will give you the option to create built-in quick and easy assignments and own evaluations or test yourself with exams and assessments will be something that you will look forward to. 

Who doesn't like some academic validation, right? So some sort of certification is always nice for both users and admins. By using an LMS, you get to know how much progress you have made because you get a certificate for your level of progress. The admins can actually measure the performances or the improvements by the certifications and accreditations. That's how you can report on the progress of the learners and also you get to know how much more effort you need to give. 

Sometimes we don't understand which comes after which. By LMS, you do not have to research a lot to expand your knowledge. Basically you will see the courses in bundles and in an organized manner. Most times we struggle to get a very organized playlist on youtube. That is where an LMS comes in. Learning paths offer a more individualized experience. If you get to know which will help you expand your knowledge, you don't have to do useless exploration and get right into work by an LMS.

LMS should have a feedback system. It can't just be give and give with LMS. An instructor can always be benefited with the feedback from the learners. Like a learner can always share how their learning experience was or what was lacking in the course. By seeing this comment, you can improve your work more or can make changes in the course contents wherever necessary. 

Gamification is basically making your learning fun by adding some interesting features which you will get in games such as points, badges, leaderboards etc. Gamification will make your LMS more enticing. This feature won't really make any changes in the learning material itself but it will help increase the engagement and make the LMS more interactive.

Not everyone has access to a laptop or pc but literally everyone owns a smartphone in today's era. So it is important to make your LMS mobile friendly so that anyone can access your LMS anytime, anywhere. 

As you can see, the learning management system is a pretty complex tool and it requires some important features which will benefit your teaching and learning. So, you should choose an LMS that has all the features of creating, delivering, tracking and maintaining your progress. And one of the LMS that checks off all the requirements is Academic LMS. It practically has everything you need as a creator and as a learner. So sign up right away.