Learning Content Management System (LCMS): Benefits, Key Functionality and Examples

How old is the learning content management system? The first year to mention “an electronic teaching device” was 1924. The device was sort of a typewriter with a window. You could see the multiple-choice training content through that window. And the creator of the learning CMS prototype was no one else but Sidney Pressey. He was a psychology professor. This was the beginning of major industry changes. And, it’s automation.

Today, the market demand for a learning content management system is huge. And there are numerous LCMSs trying to meet customer’s e-learning needs. If the tendency stays, then we shall see a market value of $22.4 billion in 2023 at a CAGR of 19.6%. And, a value of $28.1 billion by the end of 2025.

Research.com also suggests that in 2022:

• Europe will generate the top second revenue in the LMS market
• Asia Pacific LMS market size will grow at a CAGR of 34.2%

These research results might be quite right. Unless the numbers will outdo themselves. So, let’s speak about the content management system for e-learning. And, end-to-end LCMS development. Why is there such a global demand? And, what to expect in the nearest future?

What is an LCMS?

What is learning content management system? The definition states that it is

an integrated multi-user administrative, authoring, and delivery platform that allows administrators to host, schedule, manage registrations, assess, test, and track online training activities. – Training Industry

The most known learning content management system (LCMS) in 2021 was Lessonly. It was followed by SAP Litmos, SkyPrep, Talent LMS, and Xyleme.

LMS vs CMS vs LCMS: What’s the Difference?

A comparison of a learning management system vs content management system reveals that they are a part of a combination of tools. These tools belong to the larger system called the LCMS. And, here’s why.

LMS

It is a learning management system for planning, implementing, and assessing any learning process. Its main goal is to track the learners’ progress and manage it. So, the end-users (the main audience) are mostly learners.

Key features of the LMS: storage, creation of the learning content; delivery and management of content; management of in-app events and learners; tracking of progress and results.

CMS

The difference between learning management system and content management system is that the latter creates and manages digital content. The end-user of this educational platform is the author of the content or its manager.

Key features of the CMS: centralized storage of content in data repositories; retrieval, revision, and distribution of small pieces of information; authoring, sequencing, and content assembling tools.

LCMS

It is yet another educational platform designed for the e-learning industry. But its purpose is to create learning content and store it. I.e. content retention. The end-user here is also a content manager or an author.

To sum up, all of these are platforms that in one way or the other deliver e-learning. The main difference that should be remembered is that LCMS and CMS allow producing content. While an LMS is rather for learning and assessment of learning progress.

What are the learning content management system features?

Every learning content management system software has its distinctive features. These features differentiate the platform from the others. And, allow it to pursue its main goal. There are quite a few learning content management system features. To understand what they do and why let’s describe each step by step. Here’s a full list of these features:

• Content delivery
• Security
• Analytics tool
• Authoring tool
• Content management
• Content repository

Content delivery

Delivering content is what LCMS is meant for. It consists of the following features:

• Multi-format export of digital educational content (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, etc.)
• Filtering of content for specific audiences (by languages, roles, regions, etc.)
• Mobile device accessibility

Security

Any learning content and the personalized user profile should be secured. Without the ability for third-party users to enter it easily. And, so as not to allow fraudsters’ information fishing. That’s why any learning content management system software technology requires users to sign in via a password and a backup email. Here, security features might include:

• Email and password sign-in
• Two-factor verification
• Other ways to ensure security

Analytics tool

This tool revolves around analyzing your system’s data. So, it requires three main components: data to track, dashboards, and results reporting. For instance, it may include:

• Dashboards on the
  • learning content page views
  • course activity
  • completion rates
  • session time
  • preferable devices (PC, tablet, mobile phone)
  • users accessing (location, department, or region)
• Course activity tracking
• Content use/reuse reporting
• Engagement and satisfaction with content (users)

Authoring tool

The tool for authors has a lot of possibilities for a content creator. For instance, it allows

• Creating eLearning content with drag-and-drop, fill in the blank, matching, multiple-choice, sequencing, etc.
• Content assembling into courses, lessons, exams
• Using content templates and reusing content
• Supporting multiple types of content, i.e. text, audio, video, images, VR content, etc.
• Being compliant with tech requirements like SCORM
• Collaborating on content in real-time

Content management

Learning management system content should be manageable to promote ease of use. This may include:

• Metadata tagging
• Content review workflows
• Content access (via permission)
• Content versioning and audit trail
• Content translation and localization support

Content repository

Having lots of content stored in the system, it cannot be without a repository to make this storage safer. For this reason, an LCMS should have a:

• Centralized content storage
• Searchable content repository
• Content retention and deletion policies

Five top learning content management system examples

Let’s define 5 learning content management system examples that have made it to top positions on the market.

SkyPrep

Type of solution: for creation, administration, selling, and publishing of content and courses

Purpose: to create materials, manage learners, provide analytics, and reporting of training

Price: medium

Deployment: cloud

Platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows

Business fit: for small and medium-size organizations

With this LCMS it is possible to upload embedded links, HTML, Microsoft Office Suite documents, PDFs, PowerPoints, tests, SCORM files, videos, and other multimedia presentations. Also, there’s an open-source API, which allows for integration with e-commerce systems, Google apps, social sites, and webinars. Including, BigBlueButton, iCalendar, Facebook, G Suite, LinkedIn, OpenSesame, PayPal, Stripe, Windows Live, etc.

To manage users, you can create certifications, generate reports and send emails. And, also, control permissions, upload users by CSV, group learners, set deadline reminders, send automatic email notifications, and set up recurring training.

What concerns analytics, you can create visual charts and print off spreadsheets for audits; enable automatic grading, certificate awards, multi-level reporting, etc. The platform is secure, with SSL-certified and cloud-based by Amazon AWS servers.

Lessonly

Type of solution: a SaaS solution used by HRs, customer service teams, and sales representatives

Purpose: for enterprise training and learning

Price: Pro and Pro + Coaching

Deployment: cloud

Platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows

Business fit: for small, medium, and enterprise organizations

Course creation is done by using audio, images, text, video, etc. Creators, who have created lessons, can export these via PDF. And vice versa, you can convert your content into an online format. To produce more lessons, there are templates, pre-made materials, and guidelines.

Analytics is done by visual reports including user engagement, testing performance, etc. You can sort it as you wish. Seeing visual strengths and weaknesses helps to adjust the learning process. And, it also helps learners concentrate on what they need to learn more.

Xyleme

Type of solution: an LCMS for content authoring, delivery, publishing, and reporting and analytics

Purpose: to collaborate within the organization and enhance training

Price: variable

Deployment: cloud

Platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows

Business fit: for small, and enterprise organizations

Xyleme is like the rest of the LCMS. It also has analytics dashboards to identify areas of risk, opportunities, and educational trends. It is possible to measure learners’ comprehension using interactive simulations and assessments. You can also edit question types. And, arrange bin drops, drag-and-drop, flashcards, matching, image maps, and tabs.

Remote collaboration for employees is possible due to a single repository. Content management is done pretty easily. The library with content has a high-level search function, tagging, and versioning.

What concerns security, admins are able to track activity, carry out legal and audit requests, see a complete history of content changes, and access records of learners.

SAP Litmos

Type of solution: an LCMS for content authoring, delivery, publishing, reporting, and analytics

Purpose: to help with training and web-based courses

Price: LMS Only, LMS + Courses and Training Courses

Deployment: cloud

Platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows

Business fit: for medium, and enterprise organizations

Designed for HR purposes. The platform creates, shares, collaborates on, schedules, and delivers courses. You can access it anywhere due to the app’s responsiveness. And, due to web browser access. The outstanding thing here is that the features of Litmos help learners with disabilities. 

Content creation tools and multiple formats are already embedded. So, content creation becomes faster and more accessible. Youtube videos are an example. Admins can create video content easier.

To add, the platform has video-based courses reviewed by experts. This allows instructors to purchase training programs. Be sure they are compliant and with the latest information. Achievements, badges, points, leaderboards, and other gamified elements help learners engage better.

Learning progress analysis is done via analytics tools. I.e. custom reporting, dashboards, content popularity, course completion, and testing results tracking.

Talent LMS

Type of solution: cloud-based system helps train customers, channel members, partners, and other stakeholders

Purpose: course authoring, education administration, enterprise functions, e-commerce, and testing

Price: Free Plan, Starter Pack, Basic, Plus, Premium

Deployment: cloud

Platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, Windows

Business fit: for small, and medium-sized organizations

For instructors, there is a great possibility to teach in-person, or online. Or, combine both methods using this platform. The LCMS provides instant notifications for teachers and students about the class location and time. There is a portal for students, and the ability to create a public website for everyone.

The platform has a library, where you can reuse content if you are an instructor. Or create assignments, reposit files, paths of learning, surveys, etc. The LCMS is SCORM-compliant. It reports on learners’ personal progress. There’s also an API to track online and offline learning activities.

What are the learning content management system software benefits?

Having a learning content management system in use, you can invest lots of time and effort into the educational sector. For instance,

• Ensure learning anytime and anywhere
• Provide engaging lectures using multimedia features
• Streamline learning processes by engaging learners
• Make learning sessions simple and fun to pass
• Get advanced functions of tracking and report
• Reduce time and cost via digital means vs traditional education

Inoxoft’s end-to-end LCMS development practices

We provide excellent education software development services to help businesses, universities, schools, and other educational institutions. This allows for increasing students’ engagement via more engaging digital learning. Organizations tend to save 60% of their time and costs. Especially, if they decide on building innovative e-learning solutions. For this reason, Inoxoft is the company offering our e-learning software development services. We focus on enterprises and companies that want to engage their employees in specialized learning. And, help them upgrade their careers.

You can also create, implement and improve corporate training. This is done via an intuitive interface, user-friendly aesthetic design, and fast performance to:

• Provide personalized training
• Establish effective learning strategies
• Conduct timely talent analysis
• Offer simulations for better onboarding
• Integrate with HR for personnel management

We are proud of our end-to-end LCMS development. More than seven years of expertise leave our clients happy with their top market-leading solutions. That’s because we are:

• Experts in educational technology
• Up for securing data and deploying with a clear code
• A flexible and responsible team of certified software engineers, designers, PMs, and managers
• Providing excellent delivery with every step being transparent and clearly communicated to the client
• Offering product discovery to ensure your project will be a success
• Practicing individual approaches to clients and projects

To understand how much an LCMS will cost you, consider using our Inoxoft App calculator. As your cost really depends on your business goals, user needs, platform complexity, number of features, additional support, and other factors.

Consider Inoxoft Your Trusted Partner in Education Software Development

Inoxoft is an international company providing educational software development services. Education is our future. Its digitalization has been disrupting the industry for the last fifteen years. So, it is vital to go hand in hand with the new market trends. And, develop software for learning content management. We are the company, that can consult you on benefits of augmented reality in education. Moreover, we will give you the estimated cost of e-learning course development. And, finally, engage in a perfect custom LCMS development.

So far, we have numerous success stories and happy clients that turn to our services more and more. If you’d like to hire professionals for a platform-based robotization via a learning management system content development – Inoxoft is the best choice of provider. Consider Inoxoft’s services for small businesses, a startup, or an enterprise. Our experience and knowledge fit all the business sizes. Our team produces quality solutions per any request. Contact us to find out more details.

Final Thoughts

To conclude, benefit and scale your business by building a learning content management system. Using this system you can engage your employees in corporate training. Or you may build a learning content management system open source and offer it to fellow businesses in the industry. Anything is possible. The main idea here is to enhance learning and training practices. And, to invest in the evolution of digital education. Experience the knowledge and useful information Inoxoft has to share with you. And, maybe, you’ll get inspired and come to us to build the world’s finest e-learning solutions together!