Navigating E-Learning Tech: Platforms, LMSs, and Emerging LXPs Explained (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: As the online education market booms, so do the technology options. Platforms versus learning management systems is usually the first decision point. In this video, I spell out what you need to know about both when working in e-learning. Hi, Bianca Raby here. Long-time educational nerd and in some circles called the digital queen. In my first year of university, we were learning how to use USBs and check emails. By the time I was teaching, I was integrating smart boards into my lessons. Now, my team and I are constantly consulting with clients globally on the best technology to use to create the ultimate learning experience for them. Usually, the first decision point is whether they need a platform or an LMS. But there is a third category getting attention. So stick around to the end of this video to find out about this sneaky category of technology that's coming forward. Let's start with the features of a platform. These are generally out-of-the-box designs, so minimal ability to customise as they are created to be drag-and-drop interfaces. User-friendly. This is their main value proposition, hence the drag-and-drop nature. Cost-effective. Usually a fixed monthly fee with fair tiers to help people scale. Their business model is about volume of users, so they have an incentive to price well. Full of extras. Their market is generally solopreneurs, smaller organisations, coaches, consultants, etc. So they are full of additional tech functions like websites, sales pages, email services, etc. Some of my favourite platforms are Teachable, Thinkific, Podia and Kanjabi. Platforms are great for people or organisations just starting out who don't need sophisticated learning design or those who don't have complex assessments as part of their course. Although in saying this, Thinkific have done a lot of work recently to try and cater for higher education providers. They are seeing where they can improve and open up a whole new market for themselves. Now to learning management systems, or as we educators say, LMSs. These are generally built for scale. Obviously they want a good market share, but they are more about their clients' scaling. These are the systems behind big educational institutions. Hugely customisable, so they allow for lots of custom code elements and changes to just about anything. They provide the base and it's up to the user to make it work for their learners. With localised servers and robust data management, they are generally more secure. Assessment friendly. They are built with higher education in mind, so their assessment functionality is exceptional. The leading LMSs in the market are Canvas, Moodle and Blackboard. At OPTA, our favourite is Canvas as we love to customise everything when we get a chance. So as I mentioned at the start of the video, there is an emerging category of edtech that we need to watch. These are the learning experience platforms, the LXPs. These are what you get when an LMS and Netflix have a baby. They are formally defined as The key here is peer-driven. They are LMSs with a layer of excellent UX and a focus on collaboration and autonomous learning. Having only built in one of the LXPs, I don't really have a favourite. However, my team and I are watching this space closely and assessing these when we are making recommendations to clients. So what are your favourite platforms, LMSs or LXPs? I'd love to hear what people are using in the market, so drop your comments below. If you are interested in a free platform analysis, check out the link in the description as we recently published one for our buildonlinecourses.co brand. If you've enjoyed this video, please be sure to click like, subscribe to this channel and hit the bell to be notified of new videos weekly. If you are interested in online education trends that are causing this massive demand for LMSs and platforms, please check out this video. Thanks for watching and until next time, stay awesome.