School is In for LMSs, LCMSs, and LXPs

How do we navigate the differences among the multitude of learning systems and platforms, and understand and apply what’s best for unique learner needs?

The capabilities of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have been expanding over the last decade, which means—as with most emerging technologies—a corresponding proliferation of acronyms. Even if you have heard of LMS, LXP, LRS, and LCMS, you may only have a vague idea of what they are and how they interrelate. Most importantly, you may not know if or where these services have value for your own professional learning platform needs. This post provides a first step toward that understanding.

Let's start with an analogy that’s not far-removed from the subject. A school facility is specifically built for administering learning, but learning doesn't happen until the school is populated with educators, curriculum, and classes. Traditionally, that learning is prescribed, sequenced, and limited in scope to what's covered in the textbooks, lesson plans, and the educators' areas of expertise. Assignments and assessments allow an educator insight into students' grasp of a subject, which is reflected in feedback and grades.

An LMS fulfills similar functions in the digital realm. It provides an online platform for hosting and delivering learning, which usually takes the form of a discrete set of courses, made up of a series of sequenced content (learning activities). The student's progress and comprehension can be tracked, scored, and reported back to their educator. Popular examples of LMSs include Canvas, Blackboard Learn, Schoology, Google Classroom, and open-source options such as Moodle and Open edX.

Learning Content Management Systems

In a school, physical instructional content is created, stored, and organized in books, binders, files, handouts, and storage bins. In an LMS, that's the role of the Learning Content Management System (LCMS). An LCMS provides the tools for learning experience designers and subject matter experts to author and publish digital content. It allows organizations to standardize on one tool and workflow for developing online learning content. A robust LCMS enables templated design, repurposed course content, interactive elements, and output to multiple formats, such as PDFs, videos, or slides. Courses created and offered by publishers and other third-party providers are often built in LCMS’s; whereas an LMS’s on-board tools are usually satisfactory for educator-created content.

As an aside, you’re likely familiar with the term, Content Management System (CMS). The difference here is that CMS applies to general content authoring, publishing, and delivery, while LMS and LCMSs provide an environment and tools specialized for learning.

Learning Experience Platforms

Educational experiences are not limited to the teachers, textbooks, and classes found within a school. There are other sources: guest speakers, peer mentoring, field trips, afterschool programs, clubs, etc. And as a student matures there are greater opportunities for self-directed learning, broader fields of study to choose from, with multiple instructors and academic counselors for consultation and guidance.

Similarly, an LMS is often limited to the courses that an organization’s platform provides. But what about sources of learning outside its walls? Enter Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs), not a replacement for an LMS but an extension of its capabilities.

Where an LMS pushes content from the organization to the learner, an LXP allows the learner to pull content...

Where an LMS pushes content from the organization to the learner, an LXP allows the learner to pull content, from internal resources, and from a variety of platforms and services that a learner may already be familiar with: social networks, video providers, microlearning and training sites, curated knowledge bases, and user-generated content.

As a result, an LXP can provide a more personalized experience. And much like an academic counselor, the platform can aid learners in finding and exploring content of specific interest. It may do that in several ways, including customized learning paths, collaboration with others through social integration, learning playlists, and AI-driven content recommendations.

One distinction we’re seeing in the K12 education market is that LMS remains a core infrastructure service of the school district to its students. However, for adult learning (e.g., educators) there is a mix of practices, using a combination of LMS and LXPs to provide learning experiences for staff.

Learning Record Stores

Returning one last time to our analogy: as opportunities for student learning expand beyond textbooks and the classroom, an educator must find other ways to document and store this learning--a simple gradebook may not be enough. At the risk of over-simplification, a Learning Record Store (LRS) is to a LMS what a portfolio is to a gradebook. While the gradebook records just the summative grades, the portfolio contains all the work samples and outputs generated and collected across the learning experience. The same is true for LRS and LMS: the LRS has all the data about the learning, while the LMS tracks grades and completion.

Surpassing the abilities of a basic LMS, the LRS can collect and house data about learning experiences from multiple third-party sources. It captures these in xAPI format, which is a digital learning standard like SCORM, but works with a broader range of media and activities made available through the LXP. This repository of data can then be drawn on for later analysis of a learning resource’s efficacy, big picture reports of a learner’s online activities and progress, and to inform adaptive learning experiences.

Beyond the Digital Classroom

The evolution of learning platforms and technologies over the last decade recognizes that learning happens in a variety of environments now, and not simply in the digital equivalent of a classroom. Today’s learners already have a vast range of educational opportunities using tools they’re familiar with. Technologies such as LXPs offer a way to leverage and apply them, providing educators and students greater customization and personalization for their learning journey. And ultimately, greater understanding.

The answer to your professional learning platform may not be a turnkey solution. Existing solutions may offer too little or too much of what you require. Clarity can help you understand what systems and features make sense for your platform and help you craft a specialized solution that meets your needs, and more importantly, the needs of your learners. Contact us today to learn more about how we can navigate through the acronyms to find the best solution that achieves your strategic objectives.