Shifting mindsets: learning technologies beyond the LMS

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of learning technologies? If it's "e-learning" or “LMS”, you're probably not alone. It's true that, considering the breadth of available LMS's, it is tempting to think that most training issues today can be solved with something resembling an LMS.

However, this illusion can be quickly dispelled with a simple question:

"Sure, my organization delivers online courses through our LMS. But we also provide courses face-to-face as well as in virtual classrooms, and a lot of our courses incorporate blended elements. Recently, we've even started using technology within the classroom to improve effectiveness. Which technology should we use to manage all these processes and resources?"

Indeed until recently, most technology has been focused on moving everything online, and the market has become so infused with the equation "learning technology=online=LMS" that it's difficult to realize that the reality for L&D professionals is quite different. Most of them understand that a successful strategy today must integrate different delivery methods – which the LMS was not designed to do. As an example, a recent LinkedIn Learning report provided the following reminders:

• Instructor-led classes are the no 1 delivery method used by L&D professionals (78%), far above e-learning (58%)
• Leadership and soft skills are the most important skills to train for according to L&D professionals. Countless reports, such as Brandon Hall Group’s State of Leadership Development and CMI’s Learning to Lead, the Digital Potential underline that instructor-led training is the most effective way to develop such skills
• The top challenge for L&D professionals is a limited budget (49% of respondents)

Clearly, L&D professionals have to reconcile the imperative of affordable training (generally through e-learning) with effective training (generally through instructor-led training, or "ILT")- this is nothing new. However, while there is an impressive breadth of technology focused on helping organizations better structure and monitor e-learning content distribution - this is the typical LMS mission - technology is rarely applied to helping organizations manage ILT, which is both more widely used and more effective. Returning to our initial question, solutions which help organizations integrate both methods and manage complex scenarios, which should be the ultimate goal, are even harder to find.

Now, you might think that the obvious answer is to find an LMS which offers some tweaks here and there to manage ILT scheduling. But ILT management goes far beyond mere scheduling. What if instructor-led courses represent 60, 70, or 80% of your training hours? If passing on soft skills in person is extremely strategic for your company? If you also sell training and need to manage profitability? There comes a point where the LMS become so divorced from your actual challenges that stretching its features is simply not enough.

Here are 3 misconceptions that can help us reevaluate our definition of learning technologies:

1. "Learning technologies manage online learning". Learning technologies manage... learning. Most learning today takes place in a classroom, and there are tools specifically dedicated to instructor-led training, either to enhance in-class effectiveness or training administration efficiency.
2. "Learning technologies are meant for learners". While this is fairly accurate for an LMS whose main mission is to allow learners to access online content, there are other technology solutions built specifically to help training managers and administrators optimize back-office training activities.
3. "If I want to manage training, I need a LMS". The LMS is not a "does-it-all" software: it is designed to deliver and monitor online courses. If you mostly provide instructor-led courses, or if you sell training to external clients and want to improve profitability, chances are that you would need an entirely different solution.

So where is the technology to manage face-to-face training? It is called a Training Resource Management System, and is dedicated to optimizing all the complex back-office ILT processes - think budgeting, scheduling & administration, cost-tracking, resource management... - in order to increase productivity and reliability of operations and overall improve the financial efficiency of ILT.

If you want to learn more about the Training Resource Management System, take a look at this 5-min guide infographic which answers some of the following questions:

• What particular features does a TRMS include?
• Who typically uses it, and what do they use it for?
• What goals does it help organizations reach?
• How can it complement an LMS?

Associating technology and ILT might seem counterintuitive: indeed it takes a shift away from the "technology=online=LMS" mindset to a more global vision of how technology can be applied to solve training challenges. But creating a successful integrated learning strategy cannot be done without properly managing the 70% of ILT which make up the training ecosystem today.