Overview of elearning platforms

Elearning industry will cost $243 billion by 2022. Despite the high demand on elearning platforms for courses and corporate training, to be useful and popular they must comply with a number of requirements. As usual, the main requirements are related to cross-platform, ease of use, and security. In this article you can read about the best elearning platforms for online courses. Also, we will dig deeper into peculiarities of Learning Management Systems, their features, and possibilities of the implementation.

TOP elearning platforms

1. Udemy

This platform is well-known as one of the biggest courses providers. In general, the platform has nearly 40 million users who master new subjects. Udemy consists of 155 000 various courses. The high level of popularity is connected to the wide set of tools for content creation — from video and PowerPoint presentation to PDF. Instructors can use Udemy for free, but the platform charges 50% per each sale of the course. TOP instructors earn millions of dollars. At the same time, the number of Udemy users is steadily increasing. The high level of popularity in the case of Udemy is proved by a large number of users and references appearing in newspapers and magazines like The New York Times or TechCrunch.

The number of courses accessible on Udemy is huge, but the quality differs greatly. It’s the main disadvantage of the platform mentioned by students. Therefore, if you choose the course, look through reviews attentively. Udemy can be a great tool for teachers and tutors at an early stage.

2. Coursera

Coursera is an elearning platform with courses related to different subjects. The total number of users reaches 23 million people. Among partners of Coursera you can find famous businesses and companies. Students who successfully finish the course receive the certification.

The advantages of Coursera are:

· Various activities and options, including video lectures for learning, discussion forums, and individual programs.

· Certificates.

· Convenient tools for instructors.

The main disadvantage of Coursera is that the course development is less flexible than in case of other platforms.

It’s notable that MOOC provider was founded in 2012 by professors who worked in Stanford University. There are famous educational institutions among partners of Coursera: universities from USA, Brazil, Europe, and Asia. Nowadays, Coursera can offer master’s and bachelor’s qualifications in different disciplines.

3. edX

On edX students can find learning materials and courses provided by different universities. So, edX is a kind of marketplace, at the same time Open-edX is the learning management system. These platforms were created by scientists from MIT and Harvard University. In general, edX consists of nearly 8000 courses that are accessible in online format and were prepared by the best universities from all over the world. They help to pursue higher education in various subjects. Most of such courses are related to hard science like math or computer science. Part of them is dedicated to management, businesses, language, and history. Therefore, anybody can find suitable materials on this elearning platform.

It’s notable that edX developed an application that can be used with any mobile device. The main advantage of such an approach is that learning materials are available anytime and anywhere, so students build their own schedules. There are also tests with quizzes in the app that allow students to find out the level of absorption of new information. It’s possible to receive certificates if you successfully complete courses.

4. Teachable

This online platform provides enough freedom for instructors. They can control branding and pricing while using Teachable. Nowadays, there are over 3 million trainees and 20 thousands courses on Teachable. New instructors can create courses here after carefully examining eBook where all nuances of development are described — from slides to video content. Due to information mentioned on the official website, there are 100 000 instructors on Teachable. The total price of sold courses reaches $1 billion. The key message of platform creators is that you can share anything you know and earn money on it.

5. Lynda

Lynda Weinman created an eponymous platform in 1995. It became LinkedIn Learning in 2015. Nowadays, its owner is Microsoft. All users of the platform must have a profile in LinkedIn. More than 500 employees work on the maintenance and development of the platform.

On LinkedIn Learning you can find courses related to business and different technologies. There are nearly 16 000 courses available for those who paid for the premium account. Courses help to invest in your professional skills. Let’s overview the advantages and disadvantages of LinkedIn Learning. The main pros are:

· Certificates received on this platform are quite valuable and appreciated by the B2B community.

· You can use the platform for 1 month for free.

· Users can evaluate their progress with the help of quizzes.

· The elearning platform is available offline.

· After finishing these courses it’s possible to open new career paths.

There are two main cons. The first one is that the quality of courses isn’t the same and depends on the author, so you need to do previous research before making a choice. The second one is that to join as an instructor to LinkedIn Learning can be a challenge.

6. Skillshare

Skillshare is a kind of marketplace with courses where nearly 24000 courses in different disciplines are available. The large number of users proves the popularity of the platform. In total, there are 4 million students here. Each lesson lasts up to 1 hour. Thematic forums allow students to discuss any topic.

All classes on Skillshare are classified in 4 groups. These groups are related to technologies, business, arts, or lifestyle. Students have 2 weeks of free trial. When this period is over, they should pay $15 per each month of the platform usage.

7. Ruzuku

Ruzuku is known as one of the most highly demanded elearning platforms. It’s quite simple for instructors because they do not need any particular knowledge to use the platform. Ruzuku has different features. For example, It accepts PayPal payments. Also, you can create quizzes and add them to any course.

The platform supports webinar and live teleconference and includes discussion forums. In general, Ruzuku fits your needs if you plan to develop a basic course. You don’t have a lot of various options for customization, selling, and promotion. To be a successful instructor here it’s mandatory to build a community that will appreciate the first course. If the instructor achieves this goal, it’s much easier to sell new courses.

According to reviews, Ruzuku is the user-friendly platform, so its popularity can grow in the future.

8. Educadium

The main function of Educadium is to help organizations of different sizes and entrepreneurs in creation and managing of courses. Among instruments of Educadium are tools that allow participants of the system to design and publish the course. The platform users include nonprofits and qualified tutors. It can be safer and easier in using than free LMS — Blackboard or Moodle.

Educadium includes a various set of integrated tools — from quizzes and custom certifications to chat modules, webinars, and gamification elements. Mentioned instruments are only a part of an enormous set. You can add course activity in a few clicks, including needed evaluation. To increase level of user convenience the platform foresees connection with Microsoft office and Google Apps.

LMS site built with Educadium has pre-configured customization.Therefore, you can just download content and add learners.

9. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is the cloud-based platform, which you can use to create a kind of elearning college. It serves as an efficient tool that helps to develop online courses with interactive elements. Also, LearnWorlds includes tools for marketing that help in promotion and selling of courses.

The main advantages of LearnWorlds are:

• Simplicity of course creation.
• No technical knowledge and particular skills are needed to create and sell the course.
• Built-in tools.
• Various features related to marketing.
• Built-in system for communication and discussion.
• Different learning and assessment tools.

The main disadvantages of LearnWorlds are minimum gamification elements, limited capabilities for email marketing. As for the price, there is a 30-day free trial, at the same time, the starter month plan costs $29 (if you choose this option, you should pay an additional $5 in case of course sale).

10. Thinkific

This platform allows you to sell online courses and fits your needs if you want to create your own business on educational courses. Perhaps, the main advantages of Thinkific are simple tools and wide choice of multimedia that can be added in the course. Also, with the help of the platform you can create a landing page. Thinkific includes sales and marketing tools. Support works without day offs and breaks.

The crucial disadvantages of Thinkific are:

• Limited design changes.
• Difficulties with developing any complex course.
• No social features.
• Learning features aren’t main here. The focus is on sales features, so Thinkific doesn’t always meet the needs of students.

Users can take advantage of the free plan here. Basic plan costs $49 per month. In general, Thinkific is optimal for small and medium businesses who want to profit from courses. But for corporate training they can use other elearning LMS of which we will tell you in the following paragraph.

TOP elearning LMS for corporate training

There are a minimum 800 of various learning management systems that are available on the market. These LMS can be corporate and academic, so their features differ from each other. You should take these features into consideration when making a final choice.

Let’s overview the most demanded learning management systems, which are as follows:

1. TalentLMS

TalentLMS is an elearning system that is intuitively clear. It is cost-effective and suitable for employees training, preparing materials for business partners and potential customers. TalentLMS will fit your needs if you plan to sell courses.

2. iSpring Learn LMS

It is a cloud-based learning management system that can fit needs of any small or middle-sized business, iSpring Learn LMS serves for creation and sharing courses related to elearning and different disciplines. Content management system is quite convenient here.

3. Docebo

This learning management system is suitable for conducting both formal and informal learning courses. Docebo can be a good choice if you want to engage employees in the process of social learning. The disadvantage of Docebo is that its interface is quite complicated, so newcomers can have problems with creation of courses. This is especially true for those who don’t have previous experience with learning management systems.

4. Adobe Captivate Prime

Learning management system has mesmerizing capabilities related to social learning and the system of reporting. It can be a great solution for a big company, which needs to provide training for partners. Adobe Captivate Prime is suitable for multilingual courses.

5. SAP Litmos

SAP Litmos is an eLearning platform that is optimal for business needs and combines an LMS with a robust course library. SAP Litmos suits the needs of organizations that integrate their training with CRMs and HR systems, combining off-the-shelf courses with their custom eLearning.

If you need to develop LMS for elearning from scratch, feel free to drop us a line.