Suppose you have been asked to give your opinion on whether your institution or organization should purchase or build a learning management system (LMS). How would you anchor your argument for against either software? There are some specific factors involved in determining the case for whether to buy or use homegrown resources, because e-learning software must meet demanding requirements for performance, flexibility, and connectivity to be effective and efficient.
Custom-built software has the appeal of being designed to fit your particular training needs. One issue you should address early is whether or not it will save you any effort and time, rather than purchasing existing software. Also, you would have to determine the employees in the organization who need to have access to the training software. An additional point to note is that the data management, data processing, and data reporting functions and features should be planned on from the onset of the project to then be implemented and tried out during product testing. Remember also to focus on data quality as you develop the training software. So, if you are planning to incorporate e-learning tools, be sure that data tracking and management is accurate and efficient.
If you make a decision to purchase a learning management system, be sure that the features that you really need are already part of the system. You should not assume that the training platform will meet all your teaching and learning needs. As a matter of fact, it is not a good idea to assume that the training software;s data management and collection system is going to be automatic. Hence look to answer the following questions as you decide what is it that you want for your training needs:
Try and respond to the following questions as you make your decision? What database outputs will be most important? How will you approach usability testing? What levels of access are important to the different users? How will trouble shooting and debugging be done? What are the important user interface features to have?
Because each of these questions typically has a different answer for each organization, a team should work together to come up with an air-tight plan. Testing should also be conducted throughout the process and piloted on a small scale before being distributed to the entire organization.
It is entirely possible for a custom-built learning platform to be more expensive to build and manage. It is turns out that sometimes the programmers who developed the system leave the company and technical support is not readily available. With this sorts of possibilities arising, some organization choose to buy off-the-shelf software where the company provides standard support, regular software updates, and training. It should however be noted that in many cases this extra support comes at an additional cost.
The disadvantage of off-the-shelf training software is that is may not always meet specific training and instructional needs. The technical support can be costly and may not always be readily available. The support that includes licensing requirements and software upgrades should be part of the discussion even before procurement takes place. Where possible, considering off-the-shelf training software that is flexible and customizable should be considered. Many software vendors provide this option, so be sure to check out their terms and conditions.
Regardless of the option decided upon, it is important to keep in mind that there may be additional costs such as training, maintenance, upgrading. At the end of the day, the important thing to determine is the cost-benefit analysis, and of course the value added to the learners, instructors, and teaching and learning process.
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