What Is the Most Commonly Used LMS?

An LMS is Learning Management System designed to facilitate learning. An LMS can be used by individuals as well as institutions. Students also use LMS for online learning and training as well. LMS allows you to create learning plans, create learning materials, and implement that learning material.  

With LMS, instructors can also assess the learners by using features such as quizzes and assignments. In this article, we have discussed in detail the LMS features of some of the most commonly used LMS systems.

Close to half of global Fortune 500 companies now use some form of educational technology or learning management system used to instruct employees during formal learning hours. Learning Management Systems are also used by educational institutions to diversify the learning experience and facilitate distance learning.

With the increasing demand for the LMS, many software companies have made their own LMS systems over the years. There are more than a thousand LMS vendors offering countless different LMS types all competing to outshine the others.

The two examples of the LMS that we will discuss first in the article are EdApp and Schoology.

Moodle is an LMS with a lot of customization options, but since there are many LMS offerings on the market, a side-by-side comparison of LMS features, pricing, and reviews is a worthwhile exercise.

For example, looking at Canvas vs. Google Classroom or Google Classroom vs. Schoology can help you understand the key distinctions between systems you may miss otherwise. There is some debate around whether Google Classroom is an LMS or not, but it's worth a comparison with traditional LMS.

Further in the article, we will discuss more LMS systems but first, let’s dig deeper into the features of the ones mentioned above.

• EdApp

This is an award-winning learning management system. The main features that make EdApp special are:

• Gamification: This feature offered by most commonly used LMS platforms allows the course creators to be creative with the learning process. Course creators can create timed quizzes, badges, and rewards to motivate the learners to perform better and to make the process of learning more fun. 
• Microlearning: This feature facilitates microlearning by giving the course creator the right tools to create focused content.
• Mobile Learning: As EdApp is compatible with both computers and mobile phones, it brings a greater degree of convenience for the learners.
• Spaced Repetition: Spaced repetition is a scientifically tested learning technique that allows learners to retain information in their long-term memory. This is achieved by the repeated exposure of learning material over a period of time. EdApp provides just the right tools to make spaced repetition possible.

EdApp also has a course library from where you can import and edit courses to make them your own. Moreover, EdApp can be integrated with Canva and has a built-in AI translation tool. And like any other good LMS system, it has administrative tools that provide you with analytics and actionable reports.

The basic plan of EdApp is available for free. The growth plan is available for $1.95 per active user per month, while the plus plan is available for $2.95 per active user per month. Both the growth plan and the plus plan have a free trial. To get a quote for the enterprise plan and the content plus plan you will have to contact the vendor.

• Schoology

Schoology has a very easy-to-use interface and it is designed specifically by keeping K-12 education in mind. It is more suitable for educational institutes than for corporate organizations. Schoology offers a variety of assessment methods including timed quizzes. It also has a feature that can be used to send daily reminders to the students. Moreover, you can also use a Rubric to notify the students of their scores.

Schoology also offers third-party software integration and SCORM compliance. The HTML and CSS tools allow the user to control the visual simplicity and complexity of the lessons. The best part about Schoology is the ease of learning it provides through its availability on multiple platforms such as web, Android, iOS, and Kindle.

Schoology offers a free one-month trial for the students and teachers and is otherwise available at a monthly fee of $10.

The purpose of LMS is to provide online training tools and modules for improved learning. There are three many types of LMS systems available in the market today. These are as follows:

• Open-Source LMS
• Proprietary LMS
• SaaS Cloud LMS

Open-Source LMS is software with no licensing fee. Such software make their source code available to the user thus allowing them to modify it according to their own business needs. An example of an open-source LMS is Moodle.

As opposed to open-source LMS, proprietary LMS is closed-source. This means that the software is hosted by a single entity and does not allow the users to change the source code. The copyright license agreement explicitly restricts the user from doing so and going against it is classified as cybercrime. Examples of a proprietary LMS include Blackboard Learn and Schoology.

A SaaS cloud LMS is hosted in the cloud and is centrally operated by the vendor. This means that the updates are done centrally and whenever there is an update, all users benefit from it simultaneously. World Manager, Ethos CE, and Knolyx are some examples of SaaS cloud LMS software.

As mentioned earlier in the article, there are more than 1000 LMS systems that are being currently used by organizations around the world. Some of them are more suited for corporate organizations while others are better for LMS benefits in the academic environment. Following are some of the LMS systems that we consider best for students.

• Blackboard

Blackboard is the most popular LMS with 28 percent of institutions and 37 percent of enrollments. Blackboard is known for its remarkable analytics and reporting features and this LMS is best used for K-12 and higher education. Known for its content creation, better content management, student engagement, and online classroom capabilities.

The advanced features of Blackboard Learn include gamification and e-commerce tools. Blackboard Learn is a great space for students as it allows them to build elaborate portfolios and makes interaction easier by allowing students to schedule meetings and discussions.

Along with an activity stream that organizes content in terms of the required attention, Blackboard Learn also has an in-built calendar thus making planning and organization easier for the students. Blackboard offers a free trial for new customers but otherwise charges an annual fee of $2500.

• Google Classroom

Google Classroom is part of Google’s education apps. This LMS is great for course creation and for creating a virtual classroom and connecting to students in real-time. With Google Classroom you can use Google’s collaborative tools and other Google apps like Google Drive for storage and Google Docs to do and submit assignments. Google Classroom is compatible with all devices including computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

The best part about Google Classroom is that it is free to use with 100 MB of storage. Moreover, there is no limit to the number of users that you can add. However, if you want to increase your storage limit and have access to some additional features you can buy G-Suite for education at $48 per year.

• Moodle

If you are looking for flexibility and affordability in one place, Moodle is the LMS software for you. According to Phil Hill's most recent report (Fall 2017), 87 percent of institutions and 91 percent of student enrollments rely upon either Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, or D2L Brightspace.

Moodle uses predictive analytics to monitor the learning process of the students. Like Blackboard Learn, Moodle also has a built-in calendar. The flexibility of the design and layout allows the organization to create better user experiences with the LMS. Moodle also offers collaboration tools like a messaging feature which makes communication easier.

• Quizlet

Quizlet is a very basic and easy-to-use LMS. The LMS is specifically designed to facilitate language learning. Quizlet is used by the K-12 schools in the USA to aid the students in the process of note-taking and memorization. Quizlet uses blended learning tools to assign online work and to track student progress. The popular features of Quizlet include quizzes and flashcards. Quizlet offers the students the ability to switch between different study modes. 

Quizlet is also considered a great tool for mobile learning as it is compatible with mobiles as well as computers. As far as the pricing is concerned, Quizlet is available for only $35.88 per year. You can have access to the additional features of Quizlet for $47.88 per year. According to a CNBC report, half of all U.S. high school students use Quizlet. In fact, the enormous popularity and rich learning communities associated with the platform have even expanded its use among students pursuing higher education.

• Canvas

Canvas is also a popular LMS software, accounting for 21 percent of institutions (up from 17 the previous year) and 27 percent of enrollments. While Canvas is better suited for academic learning management, it also has a corporate version called Bridge which can be used for employee training. Canvas is most famous for providing tools that make the learning process easier and increase the learner engagement of online learners.

Along with some great course creation tools, Canvas also allows some powerful integrations to take the learning programs to the next level. Talking of the next level, Canvas allows the students to communicate with the instructors via video messages.

Canvas offers a free plan but the problem with that is it only offers up to 500 MB of storage per program. To increase the amount of storage allowed and reap the full benefits of its advanced features you will have to buy a paid subscription at $22.50 per year.

• Mindflash

This LMS can be used to reach students studying anywhere in the world. It offers an intuitive learning system and is great for introducing initial courses. One of the great things about Mindflash is that it also has features that support working-from-home for business employees.

Mindflash lets you create dynamic courses and offers features like SCORM and Perfect Conversion. With the Perfect Conversion feature, you can easily import courses or do new content development. As far as the pricing plan is concerned, Mindflash is considered one of the pricier options when it comes to LMS software.

Just the starting price of Mindflash is $3500 per year, which can be an LMS disadvantage for cost if your team or class is small and you need basic tools. This is the price for the standard plan, the price will increase if you move to premium or enterprise plans.

We have discussed three categories of LMS apps so far namely SaaS cloud LMS, Proprietary LMS, and open-source LMS. Out of these categories, the best LMS app for the needs of the present day is SaaS cloud LMS.

One of the reasons for this is that a SaaS cloud LMS takes up no space on the company’s server. All data is stored in the cloud which means you do not have to worry about creating storage space or the loss of data due to a hardware malfunction or some other related problems.

As compared to the downloaded versions of the LMS, cloud-based LMS can solve problems by being less restricted. Moreover, since a SaaS cloud LMS is centrally managed, all updates to the system are received timely and by all users simultaneously. The updates in the SaaS cloud LMS systems are also more common than are in the downloaded versions.

We have already discussed some of the best LMS systems for students in this article however, it is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all option when it comes to choosing the right LMS. What LMS will work best for your students depends on a number of different factors like the following:

• The type of learning program you are offering
• Whether you are working in a K-12 space or in a university environment
• The learning preferences of your students
• The core features that are the most important to you
• The pricing options allowed by your budget

We advise you to keep all these factors in mind and then compare different available options that are compatible with your needs. Shortlisting a few LMS systems and comparing the features and pricing plans will make it easier for you to find the ideal tool that you are looking for.

Blackboard is the most widely used LMS software. Although Blackboard is widely used by higher education institutes, its use is not limited to the education industry. Blackboard is extremely popular in the business world and is used for the purpose of employee training. Apart from corporate training, Blackboard is also used by the government sector to create training programs for the public.

The different services offered by the Blackboard include the following:

• Course Design Services
• Strategic Services
• Analytic Services
• Educational Services
• Technical Services

Blackboard has also created a Blackboard Academy. If you are new to online teaching, you can make use of the Blackboard Academy by enrolling in their course that teaches the skill of online teaching. These courses are offered both for individuals and for institutions.

Apart from Blackboard, the most famous tools in the past year have been the following:

• Mindflash
• Docebo
• Moodle
• Litmos
• Schoology
• Google Classroom
• SkyPrep
• TalentLMS
• ProProfs LMS

While knowing the most famous tools can give you an idea about what’s best in the market, it should not be the only criteria for selecting a tool. To select the best tool for you it is important that you understand the goals that you are looking to achieve with the tool.

Once you have identified your goals, you should do a little research on the different features offered by the different LMS tools available in the market. This research will help you see which of those features can be most instrumental in helping you achieve your goals. The next step is to shortlist the best LMS tools that provide you with your desired features.

After this stage you can look at things like pricing plans and make an informed decision that guarantees the best return on investment.