The Functionality Comparison Between LMS And LCMS

By Viswanath Shankar
Expert Author
Article Date: 2007-03-08

An e-learning novice is often fraught with terms such as LMS and LCMS. But, it becomes a matter of concern when LMS vendors reflect this naiveté in more or less the same degree.

Many go to the extent of declaring LCMS as the upcoming trend in the LMS market. Though both LMS and LCMS are used in the e-learning context and are complementary to each other, their functionality reigns disparately different areas of e-learning. Before we embark on a comparison between the two, let us take a look at their individual definitions and meanings.

LMS

A software that supports the planning, delivery and management of organization wide learning initiatives is known as an LMS (Learning Management System). Be it online courses, virtual classrooms, or instructor led courses, an LMS efficiently presides over them all. Basically, an LMS brings all the learning fragments of an organization under one umbrella. It automates administration of learners, tracking their progress, assessing their learning at the end of a program, and shares data with the company's HR and ERP systems. Overall, it performs the functions of :

Identifying learners

Conveying to learners details about how the course will enhance their career, its availability, the means of delivery (classroom, online, CD ROM), and eligibility criteria.

Conducting tests

Reporting test results

Recommending next steps to learners

Catalyzing the strict certification requirements of the organization in highly competitive markets.

LCMS

LCMS, an acronym of Learning Content Management Systems, focuses on the content development for learning initiatives. It enables the efficient creation and development of learning content by providing the necessary tools to authors, instructional designers and subject matter experts. It acts more like a subset of an LMS rather than an individual entity that is directly aligned with business goals and strategies of the organization. Instead of supporting the development of whole courses, it aids instructional designers to create modules or chunks of reusable content, known as learning objects, which is then circulated to course developers. A learning object comprises of three ingredients:

Performance goal - what a learner will be able to accomplish after the completion of the course

Learning content to reach the goal - could be in the form of text, video, audio, slides, simulations, or illustration

Evaluation - assessment of whether the goal was reached.

A learning object also uses metadata, which conveys the essence of the content and its purpose to the LCMS. Metadata comprises of information like the author, version level, language, etc. After each self-sufficient learning object is created thus, the LCMS stores it in a central repository to allow instructional designers to access and pull them together at will to create tailored course modules.

An LCMS allows content developers to deliver enough learning for increased productivity just in time. In contrast with traditional courses full of necessary as well as redundant information about a topic, an LCMS filters only the relevant content for learners by breaking it up into learning objects and giving them out as and when required. Learning objects also allow speedy assemblage of content chunks. The augmented productivity is the consequence of time saved by learners in sifting through extraneous content. Moreover, learning modules eliminate the possibility of duplication of content.

Similarities and differences

From the above briefing, it is amply clear that both an LMS and an LCMS manage course content and administer performances of learners. The basic difference, though, lies in the ability of an LMS to manage blended learning that juxtaposes online content, classroom events , virtual classroom interactions and myriad other learning sources, while an LCMS is incapable of such a task. At the same time, an LCMS cannot be devalued, since its content management abilities at the learning object level are instrumental in restructuring and reusing online content.

Here is a comparison between an LMS and an LCMS

While an LMS is useful to the organization on the whole, an LCMS is limited in its use to instructional designers, content developers, and learners who need personalized content.

An LMS manages learner performance, learning requirements, learning programs and planning, while an LCMS manages learning performance, learning requirements, and learning content.

An LMS can manage all forms of learning including blended learning along with managing learner profiles, whereas an LCMS cannot.

An LMS allows HR and ERP systems to share learner data, apart from scheduling events, and providing registration, prerequisite screening, cancellation notification and competency mapping of learners. An LCMS is incapable of performing these tasks.

An LCMS supports adaptive learning while LMS does not. Similarly, an LCMS creates and manages content with the help of workflow tools, and also develops content navigation controls and user interface, which does not come under the purview of an LMS.

Bottom line

With both LMS and LCMS having their own unique aspects that complement the overall e learning initiative of an organization, it is best to integrate an LMS with an LCMS to get the maximum benefit from the program. Proper integration of the two systems supports information exchange, enriching the learner experience and providing an efficient tool to the administrator, both at the same time.

Viswanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems), He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts to develop user friendly distance learning programs. It takes a professional like him to declare the big time arrival of e learning as a worthy substitute to conventional learning techniques.

About the Author:
Viswanath Shankar has been managing and maintaining various e-learning softwares for the past decade and a half. A storehouse of knowledge about LMS (Learning Management Systems), He has been working in close co-ordination with web development experts to develop user friendly distance learning programs.