Custom-Made VS Off-the-Shelf LMS Solutions: Which is Better For Your Care Organisation?
By Lihini Boteju
Advancements in technology have brought about significant changes and progress in education. Traditional learning and training have transitioned to digital platforms, allowing people to access many learning materials and resources, regardless of location, through their laptops or mobile devices.
In the 2020s, digital learning has emerged as a vital method for teaching and acquiring new skills in the UK. Although the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social distancing measures played a significant role in expediting the growth of digital learning, advancements in technology and increased connectivity have already been fostering widespread adoption among the British population. Between 2007 and 2019, the percentage of individuals who reported taking online courses increased from 4% to 17%. Additionally, 21% of people in the UK disclosed engaging in online learning activities outside of formal coursework.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become crucial tools for training and professional development in the adult social care sector. LMS solutions offer many benefits, including centralised training management, accessibility, and scalability. LMS is a central platform to deliver consistent and up-to-date training to adult social care professionals. It enables the standardisation of training content and methods, ensuring high-quality care and adherence to regulatory requirements. The flexibility and accessibility of an LMS allow staff to access training materials and courses at their convenience and a cost-effective rate, accommodating their irregular schedules. LMS helps staff to create personalised learning paths, addressing individual needs and job responsibilities. These systems also include efficient tracking and reporting capabilities that assist in monitoring progress, identifying areas for improvement, and ensuring compliance. With the incorporation of notifications, live chats for learner-instructor communication, test creation, and file sharing, the platform becomes a very user-centric system that motivates staff to improve their skills and the quality of their service. Ultimately, an LMS optimises cost and time efficiency in care organisations, streamlining training processes and empowering them to provide a better standard of care.
However, care organisations may select between investing in off-the-shelf LMS content or custom-made LMS content development when implementing a learning system for their staff.
Off-the-Shelf LMS Content
Off-the-Shelf or out-of-the-box content refers to pre-packaged courses and learning materials readily available for immediate sale and use. This content is usually pre-formatted for compatibility with popular learning management systems. As a result, you can easily upload or link this content within your courses, enabling learners or trainees to begin using it without delay. A wide range of sources offer off-the-shelf content, and most training or study programmes are available for purchase as single licenses. Off-the-shelf LMS provides many advantages, such as:
1. Cost-Effectiveness
Off-the-shelf LMS content allows adult social care sector organisations to quickly implement training programmes without requiring extensive content development. This cost-effective approach saves both time and money for your organisation without the hassle of investing in the expertise and resources to build your own.
2. Easy Implementation
When opting for an off-the-shelf course, it becomes instantly accessible upon purchase. The only time required is researching and selecting the most suitable content for your requirements. High-quality off-the-shelf systems offer readily-available seamless integration, so you don’t need to wait for its creation. Once you find a plan that suits your preferences, implementation can be carried out with minimal effort.
3. Industry Expertise
Reputable LMS developers collaborate with subject-matter experts to develop high-quality, out-of-the-box courses. Therefore, as more and more systems are available for specific industrial requirements, you simply have to research and find the right one that matches the specifications of your care service. Moreover, these courses cover various topics, ensuring learners/ trainees receive relevant and industry-specific knowledge needed to improve the quality of service.
4. Comprehensive Course Catalogue
Off-the-Shelf content for adult social care typically offers a diverse catalogue of courses, including topics such as person-centred care, dementia care, mental health, safeguarding, and medication management. This variety enables organisations to address multiple training needs efficiently.
However, out-of-the-box LMS offers limited customisation options. It may create restrictions in finding tailor-made modules to fit the case-by-case needs of your staff. Furthermore, as the adult social care sector undergoes regulatory changes frequently, limitations may be present in promptly reflecting those updates in the system.
Custom-Made LMS for Adult Social Care Services
Custom-made LMS refers to training materials developed specifically for an organisation’s unique adult social care needs. A custom LMS pertains to software designed to meet a social care staff’s distinct eLearning requirements, offering tailored course-building tools for seamless integration with HRIS, interactive eLearning content, CRM, and other business systems. Custom LMS may include custom dashboards, reports, gamification features, and other functionalities. As a result, this type of LMS empowers the organisation and their staff with complete tailor-made capabilities, functionalities, and integrations. Benefits of using a custom-designed LMS may include:
1. Tailored to Specific Requirements
Custom-made LMS content enables organisations in the adult social care sector to address their unique training needs, aligning with specific policies, procedures, and regional regulations. By building a one-central LMS platform for care organisations with multiple regional locations, you can cater to each locality’s regulations, communal requirements, and resident requirements of each care service/ home.
2. Flexibility and Scalability
Organisations have complete control over the content, allowing them to update and modify as needed. Custom-made content offers the flexibility to scale the training programmes to accommodate future growth or changing requirements within the adult social care sector.
3. Quality Assurance
Due to its customised nature, the solution offers superior quality assurance compared to the off-the-shelf LMS. Your QA team has the flexibility to conduct functionality tests, enhancing the platform’s reliability, availability, and usability, ensuring that the LMS aligns precisely with your predefined requirements for each learner. Additionally, your development team can select the most suitable tech stack, whether on-premise or cloud hosting, and utilise front-end or back-end programming languages that best fit the custom LMS.
Yet, developing a custom-made LMS requires much time, expertise and resource allocation. Care organisations must allocate resources for content creation, including subject-matter experts, instructional designers, programmers, developers and multimedia specialists. Custom content also requires continuous monitoring and updates to remain current and relevant. In addition, unlike out-of-the-box solutions offering a vast array of courses, custom content may be limited to specific requirements or based on the organisation’s availability of resources and budget.
Choosing the right approach for implementing an LMS solution in the adult social care sector requires careful consideration of the organisation’s unique needs, budget, and resources. On the one hand, off-the-shelf content provides a cost-effective and readily available option, albeit with limited customisation and sector-specific relevance. On the other hand, custom content allows organisations to tailor the training programme to their specific requirements, promoting engagement and addressing unique challenges. A hybrid approach that combines both systems may also be a viable option, leveraging the benefits of each to create a comprehensive and effective training programme for your care staff.
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