Comments on: LMS: Strategy or Tool?

By: Kathleen Cercone

Kathleen Cercone — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:25:47 +0000

I have worked with a company that wanted to train their staff in some new medical technique. The person managing Moodle – which is what they were going to use- did not even know what online learning was. The company that wanted the learning, had no clue how it would work.
I was asked to come in and design the instruction- after the contracts were signed and Moodle was contracted on a managed server – I am also a medical professional, instructional designer and college educator- I had gone into the situation expecting that they knew what they wanted but come to find out, that no one involved understood the whole process. They spent the money, the person managing Moodle had gone for training and did not realize that if the program I design was put on Moodle, that they have to keep managing the server for the company getting trained- like several years and not just 6 months as she thought. It was a nightmare come true.
I was so surprised to discover the mess and I had to figure out how to develop the training that would work within the many major constraints of the 2 companies. They both thought it would be synchronous. The medical company thought that their computers would manage ( they had old computers that could not handle video or sound) and that is what they had wanted.
The people who are “buying” or selling these server managed systems make a lot of money to people who are clueless. Then, the system sits there. I went through months of work and developed the project for them in a way it would work and 2 years later, they have still not used it. Both companies lost over $10,000 each. Neither could afford that as both were not for profit.
So, here, was it the strategy or the tool? Or neither that they bought because they were clueless about distance learning and how it works.
I thought the story would interest you. I look at what I did and I did get paid in the end, but the stress from all parties was impossible. I, as the person who knew about how to do the online learning, was hired after they got all of the contracts in place.
I often think I should hire myself out as a consultant, but am way to busy to even consider it. Although, I bet I would earn more as there are a lot of people doing the same thing out there. Wasting money on the LMS since they think it manages the learning for them.
I teach online as well as face to face right now, but I have a lot of experience with managing online learning and designing it as well.

By: Amit Gautam

Amit Gautam — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:57:54 +0000

@Archana
Thanks for chipping in. You make some valid points there specially on the overall usability of the LMS and how that can be a factor in making it a tool or not. I agree.
I was also looking at it from the perspective when customer starts thinking about an LMS – are they using it just for the purpose of selling online courses or are they looking at it from the angle that the LMS could help them solve their learning and development challenges.
Yes, what features (and more than that the benefits) an LMS offers may be a factor in what kind of value does it add.

By: Sébastien FRAYSSE

Sébastien FRAYSSE — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:46:24 +0000

Hi Amit,
Interesting post! I found the title a bit confusing but I understand that it is a teasing effect. And it works because I read your post and let a comment!
To your question “Should the LMS be sold as a tool or a strategy? », I would answer that « It should be sold as a tool to serve a strategy ». The reason is that I believe that technology should not drive strategic choices. When I help organizations to select an LMS, I try to spit the process into 3 steps:

Define your strategy, I mean the goals you want to achieve, the links with the business, WHY you want to implement e-Learning. Don’t take care about technology and tools at this point.
Define tactics to serve your strategy, I mean instructional scenarios, WHAT to do to achieve your goals. It includes the choice of concepts which are not technologically neutral (blended learning, mobile learning, tutoring, social learning…) but once again, try not to think about tools. For instance, social learning may be implemented with some LMS features or with a social networking system (SNS).
Then, define solutions, I mean HOW to implement tactics. It may includes LMS, LCMS, SNS, virtual classroom, authoring tools, integration issues, methods, management… The choice between SaaS and BTF is made at the step of the process.

Now, the reality is that a lot of buyers don’t think in terms of strategy, maybe because of a lack business and e-Learning culture. They choose an LMS on arbitrary criteria and then experiment tactics with the LMS provides. With some chance, it will enable to achieve business goals…
What is you return on experience? How many clients take the time to define a strategy before deciding to choose your LMS?

By: Archana Narayan

Archana Narayan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:16:03 +0000

A very interesting post! I guess you give the answer away in your post itself. An LMS is what it is based on how you use it.
When do you use it as tool: My answer ( I may be wrong ) to this is when the LMS is unusable. When the tool itself is difficult to use, you use an LMS for basic things that HAVE to be done.
When do you use it as a strategy: When the LMS is a dream to use; when it is designed for the user. When it easy for everyone involved to use, the user can make use several ‘features’ that enhance the learning experience.
But I completely agree that an LMS can be much more than a tool. Thanks for sharing this.