LMS – Learning Management Software

There’s no doubt that these are exciting times, where all the big problems can apparently be solved with algorithms. A headteacher is always discovering new and exciting proposals for his or her daily challenges.

Mr Principal, have you ever thought about knowing how many steps students and teachers take each day? What about a chat room with a translator and corrector so you can exchange instant messages with young people in a language they understand? Or a system that informs you which floor of the school is clean, tracking the journey of each mop in real time?

One of the negative consequences of this proliferation of software is the lack of attention paid to solutions that can really have an impact onschool reality. As we shall see, an LMS can profoundly transform daily work and even allow processes to be reorganised as never before.

But there is always the question of the time needed to learn the platform, integrate and standardise practices, which requires careful consideration before choosing the best option for your school.

LMS – SGA

Learning Management System. LMS refers to software (computer system) that enables all activities related with the teaching and learning process to be carried out, shared and monitored. It is a management system, because each teacher manages all their work and interaction with colleagues and students, because headmasters manage the learning process of classes, courses and schools.

For obvious reasons, LMSs began to emerge in the world of distance learning, but although it has taken a while, many have begun to realise that distance is not the only problem that a good LMS can overcome. 

To realise the full potential of an LMS, there’s nothing better than taking a closer look at e-Schooling, a system that began to be developed a few years ago, at a time when everyone was looking at traditional school management systems. And what we have today is a platform that allows you to work, communicate, manage and monitor the primary dimension of a school: teaching and learning.

For teachers, students and parents, it’s an extraordinary new world, with all sources centralised and easily accessible for content, tests, homework and multiple assessments. But it is also an extraordinary source of information for management, providing in-depth knowledge of what is happening in the school and what results are being achieved. The LMS gives management time and information to make decisions, anticipate problems and find solutions.  In e-Schooling it is possible to know what is being taught and worked on at any given time. What activities have been done or are taking place. Which teachers are following the plan, who is behind or ahead and with which pupils. Which tasks, methods or teaching materials are producing the best results. The lessons, subjects or content in which students are performing less well. How many students teachers have observed being inattentive, disruptive, disinterested, engaged, motivated, etc. in recent days, weeks or months.

But all this is too little to say, and there’s no point in listing all the possibilities, because they are almost infinite. A good LMS evolves and grows according to the creativity of its users and will reflect the vision and educational project of each school.

The ultimate goal of the LMS is precisely individualisation, the old dream of making the school focus on each student.

What do you look for in an LMS?

The most important thing is the potential for personalisation and the way in which the platform can be adapted to each type and level of teaching. If the LMS requires you to make compromises and adapt your educational project in order to integrate the platform, then it’s probably not the best solution for your school. It’s only a solution if it offers the flexibility to adjust to your methodologies and educational challenges. 

Of course, the integration of an LMS must involve changes, but they must be changes that optimise procedures and simplify your work, and never result in the loss of practices that are fundamental to each institution’s objectives.

What’s more, an LMS that doesn’t integrate all those involved in the teaching – learning process can never be a good option, because the degree of interaction and participation of everyone will necessarily be limited. This platform must provide solutions for teachers’ daily challenges, but it must also provide solutions for students’ activities, teamwork and increase the potential for parents’ participation. Only in this way will the system become global and assert itself as a powerful tool for school transformation.

Why does traditional management continue to fail to reach the classroom?

Every headteacher knows better than anyone that a school has a lot of paperwork to produce to provide evidence to those who rightly need it. And there are many institutional bodies for whom things are never obvious. That’s why the evidence has to be plentiful and obvious. Inevitably, the headteacher’s focus remains on administrative and educational management. No headteacher wants to see secretarial or accounting staff suffering from depressive symptoms and contagious unhappiness. The side effects are quickly felt in the well-being of the management.

If school management is implemented with a view to the daily life and journey of the student, why do we leave so much of what happens in school (teaching and learning) outside of this system?

Until recently, the main challenge for most schools was to digitising processes and centralising information. Technology was not yet ready to bring management into the classroom, with very rigid systems and no tools for users to create and transform aspects of their daily reality.

Well, if we wait for the Ministry, for reforms, however good the intentions, we’ll have more hours of reading, debating and interpreting. Probably more work and a few more tasks to fulfil, in order to make it obvious that the other tasks are actually done well.

Let’s concentrate on what the principals can do. And, of course, we need to look at the software. A good LMS is a great way to start making the changes you’ve always wanted to make. But the goal isn’t to stop at the LMS, as you’ll discover with e-Schooling. Keep following us to find out more.