What to Consider When Choosing an Education Platform


Education, training and professional development are key aspects for all professionals to succeed in their careers. New technologies have made it fast and easy for organizations to connect with learners from all over the world. A lot of digital education platforms have been developed to meet this new demand, enabling companies and individuals to complete courses online. Learners today are more tech-savvy than ever before, and they prefer convenient ways to access learning materials, such as by video or email. They also value gamification, collaboration tools and social media integration. Discover how you can choose a digital education platform that meets your organization’s specific needs.


What is an e-learning platform?

An e-learning platform is a software that allows organizations to create online courses. It’s used for online training, content management and collaboration. E-learning platforms can help improve employee productivity, enable knowledge transfer and create a better work environment by helping create a collaborative, supportive and engaging work culture. These platforms typically contain a variety of tools that enable you to design and deliver online courses, including assessments, online coaching sessions and community areas for peer-to-peer learning. Some of the most frequently used digital education platforms include Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, OpenEd, Edmodo and Squiz.


How does an e-learning platform work?

An e-learning platform integrates with your HR and LMS systems, allowing you to deliver courses, manage employee learning and create a social learning environment. Some of these platforms also have built-in collaboration features. The platform can act as a central hub for all your learning content, like videos and documents, as well as learning paths and courses. The platform can also facilitate communication between employees and HR by providing a space for onboarding and offboarding documentation, as well as performance reviews.


5 Steps for Choosing an e-Learning platform

Determine your needs - Before selecting an e-learning platform, it’s important to determine your organization’s specific learning needs. Consider topics that need to be covered, the type of content (video, audio or text), languages, the number of employees who need access to the platform, the type of employees (part-time, remote, etc.) and the type of learning activities that need to take place on the platform. Understand your resources - It’s also important to understand the resources you have available, including budget, staff availability, technology infrastructure and existing content. You may also want to take into account other digital tools that your organization uses, such as your HRIS or LMS system, as some e-learning platforms integrate with these systems. Identify your goals - Before choosing an e-learning platform, it’s important to define your goals, from the type of learning activities you want to enable on the platform to your overall vision for the platform. Identify potential e-learning platform vendors - When selecting an e-learning platform, it’s important to create a shortlist of vendors based on your needs, goals, resources and vendor selection criteria. It’s recommended to interview at least three vendors to find the best e-learning platform for your organization.


3 crucial elements to look for in an e-Learning platform

Scalability - An e-learning platform should be scalable, to meet the needs of your organization as it grows. It should be able to grow with your organization, either by allowing you to add more courses or by allowing you to add more users to each course. Flexibility - An e-learning platform should have the capability to be flexible, so that you can customize it to meet the specific needs of your organization. It should be easy to customize so that you can add or remove content, change the course layout and alter the appearance of the platform. Ease of use - An e-learning platform should be easy for both employees and administrators to use. It should be intuitive, with a user-friendly interface, and it should be easy to navigate. It should also have a good search function, so that employees can easily find the content they’re looking for.


2 key factors to consider when choosing an e-learning platform

Cost - It’s important to consider the cost of the e-learning platform, as well as the cost of integration with other systems.

Integrations - It’s important to select an e-learning platform that integrates with your other systems, like your HRIS or LMS.


Collaboration With Employees and Trainers

Collaboration is a key component of successful e-learning platforms. This means that communication between the learners and the content creators happens in real time. There is no central server involved in the process of sending and receiving the content, but the users can directly exchange information with the content creator. It is not recommended to use an e-learning platform for live instruction, since the instructor and the students will be in different geographical locations. Communication between the learners and their trainers or managers can also be enhanced by the use of a learning management system (LMS) connected with the e-learning platform. This allows real-time communication and collaboration between the parties.


Conclusion

Choosing the right e-learning platform is crucial for the success of your organization. It’s important to take into account your needs, goals, resources and vendor selection criteria. The right platform will enable you to design and deliver online courses, manage employee learning and create a social learning environment. More and more companies are shifting towards online education. This is because online courses are cheaper, more accessible and can be completed at any time. Online education also promotes continuous learning and provides organizations with access to a global talent pool. A successful e-learning platform will allow you to design and deliver online courses, manage employee learning, enable collaboration and create a social learning environment.