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“The students of the future will demand the learning support that is appropriate for their situation or context. Nothing more, nothing less.” – Marcus Specht

Regardless of the industry or business, you are in, you may face the need to impart a particular type of training to your employees or students. And in the era of e-learning, you will need to choose an online learning platform that best fits your needs to do the necessary and helps deliver effective learning.

The question is, how to proceed with selecting the right online learning platform?

First things first. Each platform differs on grounds of services, features, and usability. Therefore, you must consider the factors listed below when choosing your online learning platform while also paying attention to the features that matter to your business.
Things to Consider When Choosing an Online Learning Platform
Users’ Learning Needs
The first thing to consider when buying or developing your online learning platform is if it has the ability to meet your learning needs. If not, do not hesitate to invest in the features that do fulfill your expectations and satisfy users’ needs.

Your goal should be to deliver through your platform what users expect. Depending on the type of training they need, you may need features ranging from user registration, quiz, timer, file uploading, chat room, push notifications to comment sharing and knowledge assessment.

Besides, you may need to ensure that the platform has a download option that could provide people with offline access to learning assets. In addition, learners might need social media widgets that could enable them to share your platform with their friends.
Mobile Responsiveness

The one thing that we cannot live without in today’s era is our smartphone. No matter if we are listening to our favorite music or reading our favorite book or taking that course online, we prefer doing everything while on the go.

In a mobile-first world, it will be a fool’s errand to limit yourself to desktop screens as it will diminish the number of your platform users already. Therefore, you should begin with identifying your audience and what device they prefer to use.

Choose an online learning platform that is responsive and fits desktop and mobile well at the same time.

Pricing
When researching for your best-suited online learning management platform, don’t forget to take into consideration your budget. Don’t invest in something that you do not need. The pricing model for each eLearning software varies from vendor to vendor. So, choose the one that goes along with your budget, carries no hidden charges, and fits your business needs.
Ease of Use

Keeping in mind your potential platform users, make sure that the platform you choose does not come with an unreasonable and difficult learning environment. It should have a user-friendly, easy-to-use interface, be it for trainers, learners, or administrators.

Also, make sure that the platform is intuitive and provides support options if required.
System Integration
One of the best features any learning management system (LMS) can be equipped with is its ability to integrate with other technologies or tools. Analyze if your chosen platform has a pack of resources that will help deliver the content better and in ways that your target audience wants.
Content Compatibility
Without content, what would your online learning platform look like? The truth is, content is the king even for your LMS. Any feature you are looking for in the platform for your business revolves around the educational material you need to deliver.

You need to ensure that your content is placed at all the right places and users are able to take the course effectively. The platform should be compatible with each type of content such as slideshows, visual course material, and videos. Also, it should support all file types, whether it is PDF, JPG, XML, or PPT.

Security
When you plan to provide training to people through an online learning platform, it is obvious that the platform will contain massive volumes of data that might be sensitive and personal. You are accountable for the same and need to ensure that it’s secure at all times.

Therefore, you must select an eLearning platform that has a powerful security system and guarantees protection from data violation or cyber-attacks.

It is the base of the trust you want users to develop in your platform. Assure them that their data and information are kept confidential and encrypted.

Analysis and Reporting

Now, the hoards of data you have collected should be of some use to you. So, the next thing you should look for in your online learning platform is whether it offers advanced data analytics. It should allow you to track learners’ progress, generate reports, and gauge the impact of the course you provide.

As an administrator, you should be able to track the attendance of learners, the time they spend on taking the course, and how many chances they take at the quizzes you offer.
Scalability

An unavoidable factor to consider is whether your learning platform has the ability to scale in the following years. Look if it will be able to accommodate new admissions down the line and if it will be able to take the load of a large number of people signing in at the same time.

Ask the vendor questions like:

Is the platform capable enough to store the heaps of educational content you want to impart?
Will it fit your needs in the future?
Will it adjust to the features you might add over time?
Will you be able to easily update it from time to time?
Will it continue to support third-party integrations?

If you get a ‘Yes’ as an answer to all your questions, rest assured that you have found the right online learning platform for your business.

If need be, request your vendor to provide you with a demo of the platform or allow you a trial period so that you can have a clear idea of its capabilities and long-term potential.

Adaptability
Test out if the platform you are choosing to provide your educational material will adapt to all your current and future needs. See if it best justifies the expenses and if it will be in sync with the growth you expect for your business in the future.

Wrapping Up
With numerous online learning platforms available in the market today and each one promising feature that will take imparting education to the next level, it is surely a daunting task to choose the right and best platform that meets your needs. Also, given the usability, scalability, and adaptability of the platform, it is crystal clear that it is going to cost you a decent amount of money and time.

Therefore, do not hesitate from taking into account the whole list of things above before you make a final decision on your eLearning platform.