For this month's blog we're focussing on education, and specifically Learning Management Systems (LMS).
The summer sun is waning, the suitcases have been unpacked, and school and university beckons the young. Formal education may be years behind us, but the nostalgic association of September with ‘back to school’ never seems to fade. That’s why, for this month’s blog we’re focussing on education, and specifically Learning Management Systems (LMS).
Remember the days of waiting for eGuides to download, jazzy slide transitions on PowerPoint decks and meeting hosts trying to tackle glitchy ‘breakout rooms’ on Zoom? While these methods are still used for training by some organisations and their employees, many more are deploying LMS as a more efficient and effective tool.
What is a Learning Management System?
An LMS is a software platform designed to manage, deliver, and track educational or training content. LMS play an important role in many organisations and the professional development of their employees. These solutions provide a centralised location for instructors and learners to interact with educational materials, assignments, assessments and more.
LMS feature a range of tools and capabilities including:
- Course creation and management, allowing education providers and organisations to create structured learning paths.
- Assessment and evaluation, including exams and quizzes, automatic grading and personalised dashboards for tracking progress.
- User management features such as enrollment and profile creation, as well as the ability for administrators to define different roles and access rights to different users.
- Communication tools, like discussion forums for student groups, and direct messaging and document sharing to aid communication between students and trainers.
- Reporting and analytics, including detailed reports and graphics on individual or group performance, attendance, course completion rates and engagement.
- Compliance, compatibility and integration, allowing users to upload and share content in different formats and from different devices; ensuring the platform integrates with third party tools for things like HR and video conferencing; and support for e-learning and exam body standards.
What’s the state of the LMS market?
As with much digital transformation, the evolution of education and the adoption of LMS has accelerated due to the pandemic. In summer 2020, research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 54% of employers had used digital and online learning during lockdown, and 80% planned to increase this over the next 12 months.
This prediction seems to have been realised, resulting in today’s healthy LMS market, which was valued at $32 billion in 2023 and is estimated to register a CAGR of over 19% between 2024 and 2032.
The demand for LMS is high among corporate firms, as they provide a means of delivering efficient employee training that can be easily scaled across large enterprises. LMS also appeal to start-ups and SMEs, as they provide cost-effective training and continuous professional development, allowing smaller firms to compete with big players to recruit and retain talent.
With demand from a wide market and with remote working now well established, creating and bringing an LMS to market is an attractive prospect.
What’s the process for bringing an LMS to market?
1. Research and planning
Begin by identifying a target market and existing competitors and their offerings within this space. Look for gaps in the market and pinpoint where you can add value, such as new features or offering new forms of student engagement.
Next define objectives: what are your business goals and how will you market and distribute the product? Outline metrics to determine success and key points on the development journey.
Finally, select a software development agency partner – more on this below.
2. Project scoping
Collaborate with your software developer partner to determine your LMS feature set and capabilities, branding requirements and the technology stack and solutions needed to create the product.
3. Develop a Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
Your chosen partner should use an agile development methodology to build your LMS in sprints. This will allow for regular check-ins to assess development and ongoing communication to ensure your LMS is built and refined to reflect and meet your business goals.
4. Testing
Functional testing will ensure that the features and tools of your LMS work perfectly. This should include user testing for both students and the education provider or organisation that will form your target market.
Security testing should also be undertaken, including audits to identify any vulnerabilities.
5. Launch
Your chosen software development partner should recommend a reliable hosting platform, before carrying out a soft launch to a limited number of users. After this, you can begin to market your LMS and create onboarding content to attract users and ease deployment of your product.
What should I look for in a software developer partner?
Experience in creating educational software is a must. Your partner should understand your target market and have a team of software developers and creators who have experience in developing digital learning systems.
They should also offer flexibility and customisation, to help ensure your LMS presents a unique offering and has features that set it apart from the competition. Experience building bespoke platforms and tailored software solutions is key here.
Communication and support should be offered by your partner at every stage of the LMS build – including bringing the product to market and post-launch. This should include ongoing support for updates, bug fixes, potential feature enhancements and maintenance services.
Appdrawn has more than two decades of experience in software development. Our edtech software development services include and are not limited to:
eLearning Portal Software Development
- Interactive gamification
- Personalised learning pathways
- Progress tracker
Online Testing Software Development
- Plagiarism checks
- Exam invigilation
- Multi‑tenant scheduling
LMS Software Development
- Student data systems
- Documentation creation, distribution and chasing
- Payment management
Get in touch to discover more about how we can help bring your LMS market.