When you combine a Learning Management System (LMS) and a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) you get an integrated system that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

While some organisations stick with a traditional LMS, others have branched out and invested in an LXP to promote social learning. In this article, we explore the benefits of integrating those two systems.

Learning for every occasion

Formal learning has its strengths in compliance and mandatory training at scale. But when the only opportunity to learn is through time-intensive formal training, learners might be deterred from picking up new skills.

While there are lots of ways to improve the learning experience within an LMS (like developing learning games or integrating storytelling) formal learning isn’t designed to help employees find information when they need it (and no, neither is Slack).

Here’s where integrating your LMS and LXP can help. Once learners have completed formal training on the LMS, invite them to join a collaborative workspace on the LXP. There, employees can discuss course content and real-life scenarios where they applied the content. Knowledge experts in this area can answer questions from colleagues, and anyone looking for specific information on the job can quickly search the workspace for solutions.

Employees can also share materials related to the course content in workspaces, which might also include other courses they can self-enrol into within the LMS. This creates a virtuous learning loop, where learners complete a formal learning experience, access informal suggestions from peers, and then complete more formal learning on their recommendation.

Deep and broad learner proficiency

Engaged workers are workers that continuously learn. They seek opportunities to grow, develop, and achieve. 

With an LMS, employees gain competency and the knowledge they need to perform frequent or well-known tasks. However, formal training can’t always capture infrequent or one-off problems which can catch employees off guard. 

With social learning, employees can work together to solve problems or share expertise where it is needed. Solutions can be shared between colleagues and fill the knowledge gap that formal learning is not designed to cover, creating a rich knowledge base for future employees to mine.

Employees with access to an LXP have the ability to curate and share resources that helped them. These resources can be added to playlists or shared with collaborators in a dedicated workspace. 

Combining formal learning with social learning (i.e. an LMS with an LXP) means that employees become empowered to develop the subject matter expertise required to excel at their jobs. 

Reporting

When you report on a learner’s performance, just capturing their formal learning behaviour won’t give you the full story. While formal learning is important, your employees are also likely to be contributing and learning in other domains. This could be in conversations with peers, sharing resources, or engaging with microlearning. 

When you have an integrated LMS and LXP, you have the ability to capture engagement with informal learning as well as formal, assigned training. You’re able to gain deeper insight into their habits, such as:

• How often does the employee engage with other employees?
• Do they share relevant, helpful information with others?
• How often do they seek out resources from others?

Integrating your LMS and LXP means that all of the information about informal and social training is accessible from the same interface that information about formal learning is. This reduces the time it takes to analyse the data and assess an employee’s engagement.

The Totara Talent Experience Platform

The Totara Talent Experience Platform combines formal and informal learning experiences on one integrated platform. 

Totara Learn, Totara’s Learning Management System, is used by over 19 million learners worldwide. Its enhanced attention to user experience, used in conjunction with Androgogic’s advanced theming tools, allows learning designers to create engaging formal learning experiences. 

Totara Engage, one component of Totara’s Learning Experience Platform, allows learners to curate and share learning resources, and collaborate in dedicated workspaces. When combined with Totara Learn in one integrated platform, you can reap all the benefits of informal and formal learning all in one place.

Need a hand getting started? Why not talk to a friendly Androgogue today?