E-learning and LMS blog articles

If you’re responsible for managing e-learning programmes you’ll know what a Learning Management System (LMS) is. And if you’ve attended any learning and development fairs or events in recent years you may have seen the term LXP popping up.

What is an LXP? LXP stands for Learning Experience Platform and represents a whole new range of possibilities to expand the way your audiences learn through collaborative, social, and informal learning. 

Here are the things made possible with an LXP:

Uniting learners through collaboration

The traditional view of e-learning programmes may involve a system administrator pushing out learning content, perhaps with a deadline for completion. Not dissimilar to a lecturer issuing assignments to their students. Rather than pushing out content, think of an LXP as a tool to pull learners in.

An LXP allows learners themselves to take more control of their own learning.

They are able to create and share custom playlists of blogs, videos, webinars, articles and other learning content from any device. They decide who they want to share their ‘playlists’ with and can create collaborative workspaces where groups can come together for shared learning.

Bouncing ideas, concepts and creative ways of learning off each other. A place not only to listen but also to be part of the conversation in other words social learning.

Make learning personal

Think about the most powerful and enjoyable learning experiences you’ve had we’ll bet that many of them took place outside of formal ‘academic’ settings and perhaps outside of a clearly defined syllabus. It will be the type of learning that chimes with your passions and strengths as well as your professional training needs.

Take the example of TV. We used to have to wait for our favourite programmes to be broadcast at a designated time. Now we are more likely to log into Netflix and see personalised entertainment options based on what we connect with. Thanks to the AI and machine learning that underpins the latest LXP technologies personalised forms of learning are now possible.

Imagine logging into an LXP and finding relevant engaging content right there without the need to spend an age searching a course catalogue. Your learners feel instantly more engaged.

Recognition and feedback

As humans, we need and enjoy affirmation.

Learners who curate and share their own content in an LXP can receive recognition in the form of likes, shares and comments on it.

They can also ask for feedback and opinions in the form of quick surveys for example. The best content therefore finds larger audiences and as a system administrator you can identify individuals who are making the biggest contributions and bring that content to wider audiences. Anyone has the ability to make valuable contributions.

Embed learning in the everyday

Rather than thinking of learning or training programmes as taking place at formally designated times in designated places many LXPs can be integrated with other platforms that are used on a day to day basis.

For example, Totara Engage LXP can be seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams. A notification posted in Totara Engage will appear in Teams without the users needing to manually switch between platforms.

Will the LXP replace the LMS?

So now you understand the possibilities of an LXP you no longer need an LMS right? Not so fast!

Yes giving your audiences greater control and involvement in the way they learn is a great way to deepen their engagement but in most organisations there remains a need to issue formal learning content. Compliance training is a good example. Take the field of health and safety where a clear, demonstrable level of knowledge may be a legal requirement. That’s one where a Learning Management System still has a crucial role to play.

It’s hard to imagine a time when the need for formal learning more associated with an LMS is replaced by the more informal approach possible with an LXP.

For that reason, LXPs are better seen as an extension of your LMS rather than a replacement. Hubken’s Totara Learn Solution, an LMS can be seamlessly integrated with the new Totara Engage LXP as well as a new performance management Platform, Totara Perform.

Combined together they create Hubken's Totara Talent Experience Platform.

The new frontier in e-learning brings formal and informal learning as well-structured performance management together. A powerful toolkit to enhance learning and realise all of the benefits that come from an informed and engaged workforce.

Share your challenges, find solutions...

Now that you've found the answers to 'what is an LXP?', it's time to move your journey forwards. Hubken's mission is to make e-learning accessible to all, so whether you are new to e-learning or experts yourself we can help you take your learning programmes to the next level. Get in touch today!