The Most Important LMS Features You Need

Because the world of online education has so gained so much momentum, countless course creation platforms have popped up in recent years. If you’re an instructional designer, course creator, or someone thinking of diving into the world of course creation, you will have to sift through countless learning management systems to pick the one that meets your requirements.

While all of the popular LMS platforms out there tout a litany of bells and whistles, it can be difficult to understand which features are actually essential. In the guide below, we’ll outline the most essential LMS features you want your platform to offer so you’re set up for success.

Top LMS Features to Look For

Since LMS platforms are mostly similar, it can be a daunting task to pick the right one. Plus, there is a time and money risk associated with picking the wrong platform. However, if you know what you’re looking for, choosing the best LMS platform could be easy. 

In this article, we cover the top features that your LMS should have. From this list, you can pick the features that suit your requirements and meet your budget. 

Intuitive course builder

The first thing to look for in an LMS is an intuitive course builder. Many LMS systems have great functionalities but require the creator to import video content from a third-party platform.

While this might work for simple courses, or courses consisting of recordings of online classes, it isn’t good for an exclusively online course. 

Native course-building features can help you streamline the course-creation process. Additionally, if you’re not a tech wizard, course-building should be simple and intuitive.

So, an LMS that offers a simple drag-and-drop interface will greatly simplify the course creation process. All the while, you can focus on the content, deliverability, and engagement. 

Built-in reporting and dashboards

Creating a course is just the first step in the field of online education. After creating a course, you need to market it to the right audience.

When you start getting enrollments, you need to assess the learner’s engagement to make sure that your course has potential. There are a few metrics to track participation, course completion, and assignment submissions.

That’s why LMS reporting is so important.

These metrics can help you assess your course’s effectiveness. An LMS should have built-in reporting and dashboards that allow quick views and access.

Learner dashboards

As a course creator, you can view each student’s progress and an overall report regarding each course you create. However, learners should also have access to a dashboard that allows them to view their progress, the points they have scored, and the assignments they need to submit. 

All of this adds to the online learning experience, making your course appealing to the target audience. 

Custom quiz building 

What’s a course without a quiz?

Quizzes and assignments test to see whether the learner is grasping the concepts being taught in the course.

Almost all LMS platforms offer quiz integrations. However, what you should look for is an LMS that offers you versatility in quiz building. 

LearnDash, for instance, offers eight question types, custom messages, flexible question displays, and more for course creators to improve course engagement. They also offer an AI quiz builder to help course creators generate relevant questions and test the learners’ skills effectively. 

Native integrations

Depending on the needs of your target audience, you will need a few or several integrations. This includes integrations with popular payment gateways and a marketplace that helps integrate with communication tools like Slack, Teams, and Zoom to enhance the learning experience. 

These integrations are not only useful for enhancing individual learning experiences but also improving the experience of on-the-job training if you’re creating courses for organizational training. 

Many of the top LMS platforms like LearnDash also offer email integrations which allow course instructors to give assignments and class reminders to students. This encourages accountability and makes sure your course completion metrics are good. 

Allowing dynamic content delivery

A course that only has a couple of video lectures with quizzes in between doesn’t give a holistic learning experience. Content delivery should be dynamic, allowing learners to experience what it is like to study in a classroom setting.

Here are some features to look for to get dynamic content delivery:

• Drip-feed lessons
• Linear progression
• Learning paths with pre-requisites
• Blended learning with live classes and on-demand eLearning
• Cohort-style course with start and end dates

Reviews and ratings

When you initially create your course, your marketing copy is what will attract your target audience. However, as you get learners and improve your course to match exactly what the learners demand, you will get great reviews and ratings. 

An LMS platform should have an add-on for reviews and ratings that allows new visitors to gauge the value that the course offers. This increases your courses’ marketability and enhances their earning potential. 

Memberships and subscriptions

While you’re creating a course, you need to decide how you need to sell it. Do you want learners to get lifetime access to the course, do you want them to subscribe to your website, or do you want them to pay for a membership to gain access to a course?

A good LMS platform has all of these options available. It gives you the freedom to design your course and sell it as you like. These options also allow you to give lifetime access to a select few basic courses and set an expiration date for pro-level courses. You can also offer a few basic courses for free and offer membership for the rest of the content. This is a great way to build audience trust in your website and the value you are offering. 

Certification management

Certification management is an important LMS function for any course creator. LMS platforms should have the option to give certifications only to learners who complete the course or get a score above a certain threshold. 

Certification management is very important to enhance the credibility of your course and to give something to the learners to add to their portfolios. 

Gamification

Awarding badges and creating a leaderboard is a great idea to keep things interesting in an online course. LMS platforms that offer assignment gamification allow course creators to improve their course deliverability and learner engagement. 

Gamification is also quite popular in organization training courses. So, if you’re creating courses for employees, gamification will allow you to keep things interesting while making sure that the learners are upskilling. 

Demonstration

If you’re looking for an LMS platform without any prior experience in course building, you might want to look for a demo. An LMS platform that allows you to get a demo before starting with course building will allow you to be sure of your selection. Platforms like LearnDash allow users to get a demonstration of the LMS before they can get started. 

Final Words

Choosing the right LMS platform isn’t always easy, given that there are dozens of options to choose from, but when you understand which LMS features matter most, you can more easily narrow your search to find something that fits your needs.

LearnDash (review) is one of the top LMS platforms that offers a number of key functionalities for course creators. Its specialized features, demo, and resources can help you set up your first course, or create a course website to enhance your existing courses.

With LearnDash, you’ll get:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop course builder
• AI-powered virtual instructor assistant to help answer students’ questions
• Badges & certifications for students
• Simple assignment management
• Powerful AI tools for creating courses, building quizzes, and more
• Multiple selling options (presell, one-time purchase, subscriptions, memberships, etc.)

LearnDash LMS streamlines the process of creating and selling courses online, making it accessible even for those with no prior experience, simplifying course creation so you can focus on engaging learners and increasing revenue. Seamlessly integrate your courses into a WordPress site and take advantage of all the familiar WordPress functionalities to enrich your educational content.

Click here to try a demo and discover how LearnDash LMS can work for you.