Is the LMS Dead?

A while ago, I attended a webinar entitled ‘Is the LMS Dead.’ The sponsor was NetDimensions who is a enterprise LMS provider. The four panelist were Charles Jennings, Craig Weiss, David Wilson and Richard Nantel. All industry leaders to be sure. The title of the topic really caught my attention as well as the quality of the panelists. While they all had a different take on the question, which was interesting enough, it got me thinking.

The purpose of an LMS is to manage the learning that is occurring in an organization. A database where we can track and administer learning events, manage data and to report on those events.

I’m not sure the right question to ask, is the LMS dead but more appropriately what will the LMS of the future look like and be able to do? I think we also need to ask what is a learning event and what needs to be administered, tracked and reported?

I could argue that a learning event is any request for information in order to perform your job better. We will know whether transfer of knowledge took place through data and metrics. Think Kirpatrick level 3 and 4. That means that learning will consist of reference materials, social media, communities of practice, coaching, mentoring, informal conversations, on-the-job training and formal learning, both online and classroom. As a manager, I want to be able to administer, track and report on all of these things. I want to know what’s working and being utilized and what isn’t. I also want to be able to make changes quickly and efficiently. The system will provide me with real time data. I can then take that data and decide what’s important to report on, which will also change in real time but that’s a topic for another time.

While I’m sure it can and will evolve, we can’t lose sight that is a software program for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content and we need all the tools we can get to report on meaningful data. So is the LMS dead? It’s just a baby that is growing up fast. How do you think it will evolve and grow?