How do you evaluate the functionality of a learning solution to make sure it’s the best fit for helping you to monetize your new online learning content? Your assessment needs to cover a shopping list of features that have traditionally required numerous one-off programs.
These features include:
- An authoring system
- A learning object repository
- User and customer management
- Front-end and back-end reporting
- Middleware to hook all these applications together
Thankfully, a best-of-breed solution will consolidate these functions into a single platform, enabling you to start — and run — your learning business far more efficiently.
Along with making sure these features are part of the online learning system, we also advise you to ask three additional questions during your evalution and selection process:
- Will the learning system help you work with your content? Whether that’s videos, audio, multimedia, slideshows, images, diagrams, whitepapers, articles or book content, the platform needs to be able to streamline the conversion of the content into digital learning objects that will make up the body of your courses. Once those resources are generated, the platform should also allow you to mix and reorder them into learning modules to which you can add features like flash cards, on-the-fly assessments and social interaction components.
- Does it allow you to do business the way you want? Look beyond the functions of the standard learning management system and take into consideration other essential features of ecommerce operations. Some of these features include licensing management, bundling options, white labeling and affiliate management — all of which provide the flexibility you’ll want in running a profit-producing learning business.
- Can you get the support you’ll need? Here you’ll want to make sure the vendor has experience helping your size of company in your industry segment to monetize their learning assets. Availability of professional services are useful for accelerating time to market.
