This post is the second part in a series on the subject of off the shelf courses. If you missed the first part please check out this post on ‘Getting elearning courses off the ground with off the shelf courses”. In this post we would like to answer a common question: in using off the shelf courses is it better to install the course on a private (company) LMS or take it on the vendor website?
First of all we are assuming that if you are facing this question it’s because you’re searching for best practices on behalf of your company (or maybe a customer). The pros and cons of off the shelf courses are very different if you are buying for one (yourself) or for your organization.
So, in using off the shelf courses is it better to install the course on a private (company) LMS or take it on the vendor website? Let’s describe how the two different ways work:
Downloading and installing
Many course libraries, like OpenSesame and Udemy, offer the possibility of buying a set of licenses of a single course with the option of taking it on your LMS. So at the end of the purchasing process you will be able to download the zip package and install it on your LMS.
Taking courses on external vendor websites
When you buy a set of licenses to a course you will have a pre-set and defined number of seats to access the private area of the vendor website where you (and/or your colleagues) will be able to take the course directly.
What’s the difference – how can we decide which way best fits our needs?
Let me say that pricing is not a differentiator because in 95% of the cases that doesn’t change. Even the level of in-house technology skills is not an issue because most course vendors assist you with all the tech problems that could possibly occur while uploading and installing the course package. Whether or not you have an LMS is actually beside the point (you can for example take external courses on a vendor website if you have an LMS, just as you can without one).
The main differentiator is the ‘landscape’ – the broader scenario. I would ask for example, how often are you are planning on using off the shelf courses, and whether you and your colleagues are running other courses on the company LMS at the same time – because from my perspective off the shelf courses are a huge opportunity for companies to increase the number of training hours for each employee and avoid a huge investment. That being said, there is still always the need for a customized learning environment in order to reach high quality training results.
When you take a course directly on the vendor website you just take the course, do your test, get your certificates and then the experience over. This is a good option once or twice, but it’s not a long term option or for multiple courses.
The problem with taking courses on external vendor websites for lengthy periods of time is that you will never experience the benefits of social learning, gamification, or benefit from the connection with internal HR strategies. Off the shelf courses taken over long periods of time do not really cater for these scenarios. It’s important to optimize first the learning environment by using a best in class, customizable LMS and then optimize the learning process by integrating training with HR strategy. In this way training becomes part of employee history – not isolated occurrences (as would be the case with off-the-shelf courses).
It’s best to think of off the shelf courses as part of a puzzle that you as a trainer must complete (other parts of the puzzle include choosing an LMS, building a learning environment, integrating social learning activities etc.). In other words, it’s not the whole puzzle.