Project Report on-

Learning Management

System

- An increase in the workforce

performance

Presented by –

Samrudhi Prakash Nimkar

Acknowledgement

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Firstly, I take this opportunityto express a deep sense of

gratitude to my college , MET Institute of management , to

undertake a project which helped me enhance my knowledge .

Further I thank Kotak Mahindra Bank for giving me such

an opportunity which helped me gain the corporate exposure

and helped understand not just one but different areas in HR.

I also take this opportunity to express my profound

gratitude and deep regards to my guide Mr. Rahul Deshmukh, Manager– HR – Organizational Learning ,Kotak Mahindra

Bankfor his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant

encouragement throughout the course of this thesis. The help and guidance given by him time to time shall carry me a long

way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

Lastly I thank my God, my Parents, my sister and friends for their constant encouragement without which this assignment

would not be possible.

SamrudhiNimkar

Certificate from Company

3

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Index

SR No. Topic Name

Page No.

1 Introduction 6

2 Company background & information 19

3 Data collection & data analysis & interviews 25

4 Processes & procedures 27

5 Problem framing & problem analysis 34

6 Suggestions and recommendations 35

7 Ethical, social, environmental impact of project 36

8 My learning’s 37

9 Conclusion/s 42

10 A peep into the future 43

11 Bibliography 46

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Need & justification for project

As e-learning goes mainstream, today’s educators and

human resources departments are increasingly relying on cloud-

based platforms for managing their online classrooms. In this

tech-bound era there is a tremendous need for the technology to

function smoothly. This project report will help the user’s clarify

all their doubts related to a Learning Management System.

The impact of technological advancements and Internet is

clearly visible in almost all industries. Learning as well as training can now be made more effective and fun. With the new

and innovative customizable Learning Management Systems (LMS), industries can create computer assisted learning

environments. Trainers can take due advantage of high quality

audio, video and multimedia resources to make the learning more interesting.

The need of this project work was to find what problem could hinder the functioning of an LMS and what could be the

suggestions and solution to undo any mistakes which would affect the working of the LMS

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Introduction

History of LMS :

“Management is the art of making problems look so easy and their solutions so

constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them."

The history of the application of computers to education is filled with generic terms such

as computer-based instruction (CBI), computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and computer-assisted

learning (CAL), generally describing drill-and-practice programs, more sophisticated tutorials,

and more individualized instruction, respectively . LMS has its history in another term,

integrated learning system (ILS) which offers additional functionality beyond instructional

content such as management and tracking, more personalized instruction, and integration across

the system. The term ILS was originally coined by Jostens Learning, and LMS was originally

used to describe the management system part of the PLATO K-12 learning system,

Content-free and separate from the courseware (R. Foshay, personal communication, October 24,

2006). The term LMS is currently used to describe a number of different educational computer

applications.LMS was established with the vision of delivering elegant and useful technology

solutions and consulting to companies that are looking to reduce cost, increase employee

productivity, looking to leverage data for more effectively decision making.

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What is an LMS?

LMS is defined as a systematic infrastructure that manages the learning process of an

entire organization and contrasts LMS with related but conceptually different terms often

confused with LMS: Course Management Systems (CMS) and Learning Content Management

Systems (LCMS).Learning Management Systems (LMS) are one of the three components used

to deliver and manage your company's learning programs; Learning Management Systems,

Content Authoring Systems (LMCS) and content or courseware libraries.Learning Objects (LO)

and their relation to LMS are often discussed as is the relationship among these different

technologies. LMS is identified as a necessary technology to effectively implement the new

approaches to instruction suitable for the Information age which are required to break away from

the inefficient approaches of the Industrial Age.

The key to understanding the difference between LMS and other computer education

terms is to understand the systemic nature of LMS. LMS is the framework that handles all

aspects of the learning process. An LMS is the infrastructure that delivers and manages

instructional content, identifies and assesses individual and organizational learning or training

goals, tracks the progress towards meeting those goals, and collects and presents data for

supervising the learning process of organization as a whole. An LMS delivers content but also

handles registering for courses, course administration, skills gap analysis, tracking, and

reporting. Whether your requirements are focused on continuing education, human capital

development, e-learning or certification, Learning Management Systems ensure your company's

defined goals are met and ROI is realized.

Learning Management Systems are designed to enable your company or organization to

properly manage continued learning initiatives, thus allowing results to be measured and

modifications to be made. Although these systems can be used by any sized organization, they

typically fit medium to large sized clients who have many users and diverse learning and e-

learning activities.

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How do Learning Management Systems help in Employee Development?

Learning Management Systems are critical to the employee's development because they

manage and track learning programs with automated tools that greatly enhance the capabilities of

managers. Think of it this way: you could do the accounting for a medium sized business, with

potentially thousands of transactions, using an excel spreadsheet or even by hand in a ledger, but

it would be much easier and infinitely more productive to use QuickBooks or another software

accounting system. Learning Management Systems enable excellent record keeping, which is

paramount to any learning endeavor, as well as providing many automated features such as

notifications, reminders and tracking compliance.

The benefits of Learning Management Systems go beyond employee training. Learning

Management Systems can be used to deliver information to partners, customers, suppliers and

resellers, at any time and any location worldwide. They help with corporate responsibility,

accountability and compliance by automatically documenting important components of a

learning curriculum.

What types of learning can be managed by an LMS?

LMS-managed training is web based and can be delivered anywhere for any purpose:

E-learning (online training)

Classroom / seminars (offline training)

Home study (book, CD-ROM)

Companies use Learning Management Systems to track a variety of training initiatives:

sales courses; educating clients, customers, and partners; continuing education for

managers; computer competency courses; and required certification courses for technical

employees.

Nearly any type of knowledge transfer, training, learning, or education will benefit from

an LMS.

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Features of an LMS:

• Centralize and automate administration

• Use self-service and self-guided services

• Assemble and deliver learning content rapidly

• Consolidate training initiatives on a scalable web-based platform

• Support portability and standards

• Personalize content and enable knowledge reuse.

Benefits of an LMS :

It is easy to use and very effective.

It allows the organization to deliver quality e-Learning to the entire team without any

hurdles.

It is cost effective when compared to traditional training methods.

Tracking, managing and reporting learner’s progress is just keystrokes away with the

Learning Management System.

It is a simple, lightweight, efficient, compatible, low-cost training interface.Site colors,

fonts, and layout may be customized for individual trainees and trainers.

Session listing shows descriptions for every teaching module on the server, including

accessibility to them.

Saving the time of the personnel, as he can access the training from his house, office or

laptop. No rescheduling of program necessary.

Access to customized training i.e. specific training given to a specific individual reduce

time spent on training and gives higher ROI.

Management of users, roles, courses, instructors, facilities and generating reports

becomes easier.

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LMS in BFSI

BFSI, the backbone of any economy, is one of the fastest growing business verticals

across the world. Knowledge of process and policies plays a key role in the business operation

and compliances at various levels. It is thus imperative for organizations in this sector to

continually train their work force and keep it updated with business-critical information.

BFSI Sector has been a pioneer in adopting e-learning for its training needs .

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Training challenges of BFSI industry

BFSI is a service industry and the need for trained staff is the primary concern for all

players, big or small. Due to rapid growth in this industry and churn in workforce, the

number of trainees is always very high and the training process is continuous.

Training also needs to be accomplished in challenging timelines. The sooner that an

organization trains its people on new schemes or products, the sooner can they

accomplish their sales targets.

Market scenarios and trends are always in a flux and training needs to keep in tune with

the current market climate.

Geographic spread of large banks and financial institutes is often wide. Training

employees in a uniform fashion across different offices is also a common concern for

many organizations.

The competition is cut-throat and attrition is rampant across the industry. This requires a

continuous training cycle in place for new recruits, which would ensure that every new

hire is trained for performance.

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LMS in Banks

The training in banking industry revolves largely around three ideas: service, knowledge

and expertise. It is these three factors that allow the companies to compete with other

organizations in the industry and succeed. This also means that training is of equal importance,

because without the proper training, an organization will lack in service (and even overall

morale), knowledge (even the most experienced employees can become rusty over the years),

and expertise (employees should be trained frequently to ensure they have the most up-to-date

knowledge and expertise).

This industry also adopts new regulations and industry standards frequently, and it’s

important to make sure that employees have this new information and meet the necessary

standards. The status of today’s economy causes people to put their trust and confidence in

financial institutions for the most useful information possible. Therefore, companies must have

the best resources possible to serve their loyal customers. If your employees are striving, so will

your business.

So how can a bank improve its employee’s service/ knowledge/ expertise? How can a

bank ensure that it meets industry requirements and standards? An LMS (Learning Management

System) is the answer, and is what will help lead it to continuous success. An LMS can help

provide learning materials to all users in order to develop competence as quickly as possible.

LMS helps companies in the Banking and Finance industry keep employees up-to-date

with current regulations and improve competency management using one centralized, Web-

based system. The Web-based functionality allows for consistent training to take place at any

time, depending on the convenience of the user and the company.

Last, but certainly not the least, an LMS can help track compliance and certification. It

makes it easy for training administrators or Human Resource managers to track compliance

and/or certification of SOX, corporate governance, risk management, policy and procedure

management, and more.

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Return on Investment (ROI) for a Learning Management System

If you are considering adopting a learning management system (LMS) and need to build a

business case, then return on investment (ROI) is top on your list of things to find out. The

question of ROI for an LMS depends on what method your company is currently using for

training. We’ll explore some of the main differences below and in subsequent posts.

The choices for Learning Management Systems (LMS) are wide and complex. To make

the right choice, we suggest doing the following:

1. Identify and articulate your needs

2. Assess your budget

3. Analyze ROI (return-on-investment) numbers

Step One: What are your needs and goals?

What are your business training needs?

What are your goals in implementing this system?

Do you want to increase tracking and reporting of your learners’ progress?

Are your needs mainly administrative?

Are you planning to deliver your training online, will you stick with classroom and/or

CD-ROM and DVD-based training, or will you use a combination of all three?

Are your learners located within one site, or in multiple locations, perhaps all over the

globe?

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Will the system be used only by internal employees, or will external customers, clients

and partners also use and benefit from the system?

Do you want a system that’s customizable to your needs or are you content with a one-

size-fits-all approach?

Do you want to include live learning events delivered via the Internet, or will you focus

on self-paced learning? Do you envision learners collaborating?

One more important point to consider : Is your organization committed to learning and

knowledge transfer? Make sure that key players in your company are committed to the idea that

the continued success of your business is tied to growth in knowledge, learning and

development. This commitment is critical to the successful outcome of your learning programs.

Step Two: What is your budget?

How much money can you realistically spend on a learning management system? What is your

current training budget? How much will you be able to spend within the next five years?

Your budgetary guidelines are going to eliminate many vendors from your list almost

immediately. Most medium-sized companies simply cannot afford to spend upwards of $1

million on an LMS.

Step Three: The ABCs of ROI

When do you declare that your new LMS is a success? When it’s up and running smoothly,

or when X number of learners have used the system, or when your bottom line actually improves

due to employees’ newfound knowledge? Find a “celebration point” to shoot for and

acknowledge. Before implementing an LMS, consider success factors. Naturally, increased

profits are the best indicators of whether your new LMS is a success. Is the LMS saving money,

making money, or contributing in a positive way to your company’s bottom line? To calculate

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that, you’ll need to study return-on-investment carefully. Return on investment is not an exact

science, especially in an intangible field like training. How much is increased employee

knowledge and skill worth, exactly? This is difficult to measure. Yet, when deploying an LMS,

only by assigning monetary value will you realize the true success delivered. How will you

measure the payoff? Here are some key indicators to consider:

Increased knowledge

Decreased administrative costs

Greater access to company-wide knowledge

Increased learner retention and/or interest

Decreased travel time for learners (if implementing Computer Based Training or an

online system)

How soon before the investment pays off? Two years, five years, longer?

ROI for LMS vs. face-to-face training

If your company is not currently using an online method for enrolling, training and tracking

learner progress, the ROI equation is simple to generate and makes LMS-based training look

quite attractive. Here are some of the cost items to take into consideration.

How many people in your organization (new or reoccurring) do you train per year?

What is the average cost of each course?

Do you pay people to travel to courses?

Do they require accommodation?

What is the annual cost for an LMS that will fit your requirements?

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Let’s take a look at these considerations using a scenario. Say you have three job sites in

Mumbai and one site in Nasik.

100 people per year take two, two-day courses Rs. 595 per person = Rs.119,000 (595*2*100)

50 people on average have to travel to a site in order to attend at an average travel cost of Rs.

0.60 per mile and with an average travel distance of 30 miles = Rs.1,800

25 of those 50 travelling require accommodations during the course @ Rs.130 per night =

Rs.6,500.00

The total for 100 people to attend two, two-day courses in person = Rs.127,300

Costs would be higher if air travel was necessary and we’re not including the cost of food in

this calculation. In addition to these costs, the administration costs of keeping track of who has

attended, completed and passed training need to be added. Record keeping may be manual, or

online through a human resource management system.

By way of comparison, an average annual cost for a hosted LMS system based on Totara or

Moodle is around $20,000 to $30,000 – depending on what add-ons you choose. A hosted LMS

will accommodate far more learners than 100

What this does not include is the cost of course development or purchase if you do not own

the content. Most companies however have proprietary systems they need to ensure their

employees are competent with, so many develop their own courses (In house Module

Development), or contract with instructional developers to produce on their behalf. When paid

for on this basis, a course can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 – depending on length

and level of detail involved. When you have paid for course development (External vendor

development), you can use the course any number of times you like reducing the per student

learning fee significantly over time. The cost for the platform does not change no matter how

many courses you run in a year.

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In house Module Development

The first step to developing an in house online course whether it’s for general education

or specific training is to forget that it’s an online course. Technology may dictate the medium by

which educational content is delivered, but it can’t help with the fundamentals. To put it another

way: Before painting a masterpiece, you must first learn how to draw.

Not every online course is going to be a masterpiece, but the spirit of that notion still

applies. There are some choices to be made at the start, just as there would have been under the

old model that will at least partly dictate technological decisions down the line. Let’s walk

through some useful steps for creating a good online course.

It Starts with Questions

Take the time to figure out what you need, and then you can figure out how you want to obtain it.

Ask yourself:

Who is going to be the target audience?

What should they already know, and what should they know after the course is over?

The e-learning industry is rapidly evolving in the direction of even more powerful tools to put

greater flexibility into the hands of instructors and trainers. Use these tools to your advantage,

and while you may not get a masterpiece on your first try, you’ll be well on your way.

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External vendor development

These days many organizations hire instructional designers and content write to develop

an online course but creating interactive e-content quickly on a regular basis can be a daunting

task which may adversely affect the entire learning process. E -Learning content today should be

rich in experience-sharing processes that draw people into the learning environment. Content is

at the core of any learning activity & determines the success or failure of the exercise. Under

such circumstances, e-learning outsourcing to a suitable vendor can have multiple strategic

advantages including but not limited to significant savings in time and cost.

Key Aspects to be considered

Need analysis

Does the project require proficiency in content development, learning behavior, or media

production? Can one vendor handle the project or would it be better to divide it among

multiple parties? Having a clear sense of the e-learning needs will result in a more successful

vendor experience.

Competency Analysis

It is imperative to engage vendors with competency in learning design, development, and

project management to match or exceed the client's expectations. One should check the

vendor's infrastructure to ensure that it supports quality and timely delivery.

Strategy

A careful strategy in outsourcing, from the selection to the development process and the final

delivery of the product and maintenance.

The ideal outsourcing vendor is one that is like-minded with the client. Both should see

the other as a partner rather than seeing things in terms of a client-and-vendor relationship.

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Company background & information

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Kotak Mahindra, established in 1985, is one of India's leading banking and financial

services group, offering a wide range of financial services that encompass every sphere of life. It

was previously known as Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited, a non-banking

financial company.

The symbol of Kotak Mahindra Group is the 'Ka', of distinctly Indian

origin; while its curves form the universal 'infinity' sign, thus reflecting its

uniquely global Indian personality. One of the basic tenets of economists is

that man's needs are unlimited. The infinite Kasymbolizes that it has infinite

number of ways to meet those needs.

In February 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd, the group's flagship company was given

the licence to carry on banking business by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Kotak Mahindra

Finance Ltd. is the first company in the Indian banking history to convert to a bank. As of 2011

to October 2013, it has more than 500 branches, over 1,000 ATMs and a consolidated balance

sheet of approx. US$ 2.9 billion.

Kotak Mahindra views Corporate Social Responsibility as an investment in society and in

its own future. Kotak uses the power of its human and financial capital to help in transforming

communities into vibrant, desirable places for people to live.

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Community investment and development

Sustainability

An integral part of all Kotak Mahindra Group activities is to be consistently responsible to

shareholders, clients, employees, society and the environment.

Economic Development

By helping people achieve their financial goals, Kotak strengthens the fabric of communities

and helps them overcome unemployment and poverty to help them shape their future.

Doing My Bit

A growing number of employees are committed to civic leadership and responsibility with

the support and encouragement of the Kotak Group. A number of employees have been involved

in strengthening communities through voluntary work, payroll giving and management inputs.

Board of Directors

Dr. Shankar Acharya,

(Non-Executive Part-time Chairman)

B.A. (Hons.) from Oxford University .Ph. D. Economics from Harvard

University . Honorary Professor at the Indian Council for Research on

International Economic Relations (ICRIER) . Board Member of ICRIER and

the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.Chief Economic Advisor,

Ministry of Finance.Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Member, Twelfth Finance Commission.He has held several senior positions in

the World Bank, including Director of World Development Report (1979) and

Research Adviser

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Mr. Uday S. Kotak

(Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director)

Mr. UdayKotak, is the Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing

Director of the Bank, and its principal founder and promoter. Among the

many awards to MrKotak's credit are the CNBC TV18 Innovator of the Year

Award in 2006 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in

2003. He was featured as one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow at the

World Economic Forum's annual meet at Davos in 1996. He was also

featured among the Top Financial Leaders for the 21st Century by

Euromoney magazine. He was named as CNBC TV18 India Business Leader

of the Year 2008 and as the most valued CEO by businessworld in 2010.

Mr. C. Jayaram

(Joint Managing Director)

Mr. C. Jayaram, is a Joint Managing Director of the Bank and is

currently in charge of the Wealth Management Business of the Kotak Group.

An alumnus of IIM Kolkata, he has been with the Kotak Group since 1990 and

member of the Kotak board in October 1999. He also oversees the

international subsidiaries and the alternate asset management business of the

group. He is the Director of the Financial Planning Standards Board, India.

He has varied experience of over 25 years in many areas of finance and

business, has built numerousbusinesses for the Group and was CEO of Kotak Securities Ltd.

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Mr. Dipak Gupta

(Joint Managing Director)

An electronics engineer and an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Mr.

Gupta has been with the Kotak Group since 1992 and joined the board in

October 1999.He heads commercial banking, retail asset businesses and

looks after group HR function. Early on, he headed the finance function

and was instrumental in the joint venture between Kotak Mahindra and

Ford Credit International. He was the first CEO of the resulting entity,

Kotak Mahindra Primus Ltd.

All business under the Kotak umbrella

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd is a one stop shop for all banking needs. The bank offers

personal finance solutions of every kind from savings accounts to credit cards, distribution of

mutual funds to life insurance products. Kotak Mahindra Bank offers transaction banking,

operates lending verticals, manages IPOs and provides working capital loans. Kotak has one of

the largest and most respected Wealth Management teams in India, providing the widest range of

solutions to high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, business families and employed

professionals.

Kotak is into a wide range of business activities which are enlisted below :

1. Consumer Bank

2. Corporate Bank

3. Securities

4. Car Finance

5. Life Insurance

6. Mutual Funds

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7. Wealth Management

8. Institutional

Year Milestone

1986 Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited starts the activity of Bill Discounting

1987 Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited enters the Lease and Hire Purchase market

1990 The Auto Finance division is started

1991 The Investment Banking Division is started. Takes over FICOM, one of India's largest

financial retail marketing networks

1992 Enters the Funds Syndication sector

1995 Brokerage and Distribution businesses incorporated into a separate company - Kotak

Securities. Investment Banking division incorporated into a separate company - Kotak

Mahindra Capital Company

1996

The Auto Finance Business is hived off into a separate company -Kotak Mahindra Prime

Limited (formerly known as Kotak Mahindra Primus Limited). Kotak Mahindra takes a

significant stake in Ford Credit Kotak Mahindra Limited, for financing Ford vehicles. The

launch of Matrix Information Services Limited marks the Group's entry into information

distribution.

1998 Enters the mutual fund market with the launch of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management

Company.

2000 Kotak Mahindra ties up with Old Mutual plc. for the Life Insurance business.

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2000 Kotak Securities launches its on-line broking site (now www.kotaksecurities.com).

Commencement of private equity activity through setting up of Kotak Mahindra Venture

Capital Fund.

2001 Matrix sold to Friday Corporation

2001 Launches Insurance Services

2003 Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. converts to a commercial bank - the first Indian company to

do so.

2004 Launches India Growth Fund, a private equity fund.

2005 Kotak Group realigns joint venture in Ford Credit; Buys Kotak Mahindra Prime (formerly

known as Kotak Mahindra Primus Limited) and sells Ford credit Mahindra.

2005 Launches a real estate fund

2006 Bought the 25% stake held by Goldman Sachs in Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and

Securities

2008 Launched a Pension Fund under the New Pension System

2009

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Opened a representative office in Dubai

Entered Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange as anchor investor

2010 Ahmedabad Derivatives and Commodities Exchange, a Kotak anchored enterprise, became

operational as a national commodity exchange.

2011 Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd entered into a Business Cooperation arrangement with CIMB

Group SdnBhd, Malaysia.

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Data collection & data analysis & interviews

LMS at Kotak

The e-learning industry is rapidly evolving in the direction of even more powerful

tools to put greater flexibility into the hands of instructors and trainers. Kotak believes that

developing and fostering a learning culture along with creating professional entrepreneurs is one

of its key value propositions. In this context various interventions have been planned across the

employee life cycle to identify and address the skill/ competency gaps and provide

developmental inputs to individuals

A large training infrastructure with state of the art classrooms has been set up in Mumbai

and similar infrastructure is planned in other Regional hubs as well.

Various training methodologies are used for imparting learning such as instructor led

training, experiential learnings, simulation based learning, activity oriented learning, e-learning,

case study based approach etc.

Systematic role-based learning maps have been defined on the basis of which various

programs related to product, process, skill, competency, behaviora l, and leadership are designed

and mapped to respective individuals.

Kotak’s induction and handholding itself starts with a structured on- the-job Training

(OJT) to acclimatize the individual to the Kotak products/ processes/ culture and ensure a smooth

transition into the organization

The LMS used at Kotak is SMILE which stands for SiMulated and Interactive Learning

Experience. By virtue of this LMS, employees in Kotak can now learn at the click of a mouse,

from their own computer and at their own convenience. Time and Place are no longer a

constraint. It makes available online interactive e-learning courses, tailored to meet their unique

learning needs. Courses have been packaged with many value added features like chat, digital

library, knowledge forum, etc. to meet the knowledge demands in an exciting and easy to learn

way.

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Following are a few courses which are available in SMILE –

SR No. Name of the Course

1 Basics of Investments in Stock Market (419)

2 Face to face customer etiquette

3 Professional Selling in the Knowledge Economy

4 Planning Project Human Resources

5 Experiencing Anger

6 Generating Creative and Innovative Ideas: Maximizing Team Creativity

7 Preparing a Business Case

8 Strategic Approaches to Risk Management (HRCI/SPHR)

9 Conquering Conflict through Communication

10 Introduction to Online Branding

11 Difficult People in the Workplace Environment

12 Views on Organizational Change

13 Financial Statements

14 Finding Your Life Balance

15 Writing the Marketing Plan: Creative Strategy

A graded learning path has been created to help the employees structure theirlearning.

Once they complete the initial list of courses assigned to them,accesstoo many other modules

would be provided to broaden and enrich their knowledge. They would also be awarded on -line

certificates on successful completion of certain courses, which they can print and keep for their

records.

SMILE was procured by Kotak in the year 2010 and its inception dated to September

2010

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Processes &Procedures -

Step 1: There are in all 495 programs and 2790 resources in SMILE . We maintained the record

of all these programs and resources in two excel workbooks . The data maintained for programs

and resources is in the following format –

Programs -

1. SR No.

2. Program name

3. Description

4. Start date and time

5. End date and time

6. Is prerequisite

7. External pre-requisite

8. Enable External Certificate

9. Created by

10. Created on

11. Last modified by

12. Last modified on

13. Resources in program

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Resources-

1. SR No.

2. Resource name

3. Resource code

4. Description

5. Resource creator

6. Resource type

7. Duration [hh:mm]

8. Vendor

9. Version

10. Max score

11. Mastery score

12. Target audience

13. Objectives

14.Prerequesites

15. Special instructions

16. Is feedback

17. Is forum

18. Access type

19. Target window

20. Completion criteria

21. Launch Type

22. Created by

23. Created on

24. Last modified by

25. Last modified on

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Step 2: Out of 495 programs 16 were duplicates and out of 2790 resources 1630 resources were

duplicates . Our task was to find out the redundant ones and delete the same to avoid confusion

for the smooth functioning of SMILE.

Step 3:The next step we took was we found the no. of resources present in each program . Few

programs werecreated with no resources in it , hence making them redundant.

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Step 4:Further a few programs which were created did not have the info of the users who created

them nor the info about their supervisor. So through the database available we found the required

info and added a few extra columns to maintain the data in the same excel .

The login ids of the people whose info was not available had mostly resigned. But we managed

to find the details of their head of dept. with the help of the HR employee database.

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Step 5: There is a start date and end date of each program and resource created. Start date is the

date when the program is ready for the employees to use it and end date is the date when the

program expires and cannot be used by the employees any more for their ref. Then we found out

the programs of which the end date had expired so that we could delete the same as they were no

more effective. We did this with the help of a the pivot table

The one’s which were highlighted were expired and as such there were in all 263 programs

which were expired.

Step 6: As each program consists of certain number of resources, there are different resource

codes for each resource in a particular program

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Step 7: Through V- look up we matched the codes with the resources of which we had

maintained a different excel.

The resources highlighted in green are the ones whose codes match with the resource codes in

the programs and hence they are unique.

Step 8: Further we made a pivot table of the resources and found out the exact number of

resources created by each user

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Step 9 : As we saw in programs we had something known as the start and the end date ,

Similarly in resources we have the ’ last modified on’ column which shows the date and time on

which the changes were made or a particular resource was updated by the respective user. We

made pivot table and found out the number of resources whose last modified date was before

2014 so that we could approach the respective users and ask them about the status of the

resource.

The resources which had the last modified date before 2014 were highlighted.

Step 10:We collected the information of all these resources and programs their user and

supervisor’s so that we could mail them and verify if the resources had to be deleted and if they

approved of deleting those.

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Problem framing & Problem Analysis:

1. Duplication of Modules –

As the users update the module but save it with a similar name there exists more than one

module with exactly thesamecontent. This confuses the employees as to which module they

should actually refer. Sometimes the employees refer to the older version of the module instead

of going through the updated one. Likewise it creates a problem for the LMS administrators as

well as even he might get confused as to which module has to be assigned to the employees. This

leads to wastage of time for both employees as well as the LMS administrator.

2. Expired Modules –

As discussed earlier in ‘Procedure‘, every program consisting of several moduleshas an end

date which shows up to which date the module is available to the employees for reference . In

SMILE there are in all 263 programs, the end dates of which have been expired. This causes a

burden on the LMS due to which the efficiency is affected.

3. Reduction in Efficiency –

Due to the above two problems the bandwidth of the LMS – SMILE has decreased.As there

are too many duplicate modules cluttered, the website will be slow. Remote locations will not be

able to access the modules.

4. Difficulty in Report Generation –

The courses which are assigned to the employees have to be completed by them in a

stipulated time. The LMS makes reports of the completion status of the module. These reports

have to be generated by the administrator and have to be sent to the respective department heads.

When there are duplications report generation becomes very slow rather impossible at times due

to the technical errors such as invisibility of the Modules etc.

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Suggestions and recommendations

Using replace option instead of creating a new module in SMILE with a similar name:

As we discussed this problem above , the users update the module but save it with a

different name . This leads to duplication of modules leaving the employees confused as to

which module they should refer .

The users should be made aware of the ‘replace ‘ option after they update a particular module .

This would avoid duplications and eventually confusions. This would also help the LMS to run

at a good speed and likewise the bandwidth will remain intact.

Restriction on uploading a module before approval of the LMS administrator:

To avoid duplications and confusions regarding the modules , an LMS administrator should

be appointed . It should be strictly known to the users that the module will not be uploaded

without prior permission of the LMS administrator. The administrator’s role would be to check if

the updated or the module created already exists in the LMS and accordingly he or she will give

the approval.

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Ethical, social, environmental impact of project

Online learning encompasses all the areas from ethics , integrity, compliance & product

specific knowledge. User friendly access roped with instructional designing principles creates an

environment of highest standard of learned individuals. The environmental impact is so immense

that the best known schools are adapting to the eLearning way. For instance a module like POSH

(Prevention of Sexual Harassment) aims to make the workplace better for male and female

employees for sensitizing the delicate areas which would have been difficult to explain in a

classroom environment.

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My learning’s

After a considerable amount of study of LMS, I also learned about terms related to the

LMS which I would like to discuss as below –

Content -

Content is a core component of e-learning. While there are a number of means of

achieving a rich and interactive eLearning platform, one option is using a design architecture

composed of the “Five Types of Content in eLearning”

Content normally comes in one of the five forms:

Fact - unique data (e. g., symbols for Excel formula, or the parts that make up a learning

objective)

Concept - a category that includes multiple examples (e. g., Excel formulas, or the

various types/theories of Instructional Design)

Process - a flow of events or activities (e. g., how a spreadsheet works, or the five phases

in ADDIE)

Procedure - step-by-step task (e. g., entering a formula into a spreadsheet, or the steps

that should be followed within a phase in ADDIE)

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Strategic Principle - task performed by adapting guidelines (e. g., doing a financial

projection in a spreadsheet, or using a framework for designing learning environments)

SCORM -

Much effort has been put into the technical reuse of electronically based teaching materials

and in particular creating or re-using learning objects. These are self-contained units that are

properly tagged with keywords, or other metadata, and often stored in an XML file format.

Creating a course requires putting together a sequence of learning objects. There are both

proprietary and open, non-commercial and commercial, peer-reviewed repositories of learning

objects such as the Merlot repository.

Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and

specifications that applies to certain web-based e-learning. Sharable Content Object Reference

Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It

defines communications between client side content and a host system (called "the run-time

environment"), which is commonly supported by a learning management system. SCORM also

defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file called ‘Package Interchange

Format’. SCORM is a specification of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative from

the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense.The standard uses XML, and it is based on

the results of work done by AICC, IMS Global, IEEE, and Ariadne.

ADDIE Model

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The ADDIE Modelis an approach used by instructional designers and content developers

to create instructional course materials. The model has been adopted as the standard method by

many instructional designers because of its flexibility.

The ADDIE Model of instruction systems design (ISD) was first developed for the U.S.

Army during the 1970s by Florida State University’s Center for Educational Technology.

ADDIE is an acronym for the five-phase courseware development program of analysis, design,

development, implementation and evaluation.

ADDIE was later adapted for use by all branches of the U.S.

Armed Forces. It has become a widely used and frequently modified

best practice within the private sector. It is often employed for

compliance training and other learning events that are not time

sensitive.

One of the attractions of the ADDIE Model is its flexibility. For

example, it can be used with both individualized and traditional

instruction.

Here is an explanation of the ADDIE Model’s five phases

Analysis:In the first phase, the instructional challenge of the course is detailed, objectives are

established and issues such as learner skill level are identified.

Design: A variety of concerns are addressed at this phase to achieve optimal courseware design

and systematic development of the training program. They include learning objectives, content,

assessment instruments, exercises, subject matter analysis, and lesson planning and media

selection. Each is pursued under a logical and orderly method of identifying, developing and

evaluating plans for meeting instructional goals.

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Development:Courseware designers and developers create the content following the design

phases blueprinted. That includes design of storyboards and graphics, as well as integration of

any eLearning technologies.

Implementation: This phase focuses on developing procedures for training both facilitators and

learners. Facilitators training should explain the curriculum, learning outcomes, method of

delivery and testing procedures. Student preparation includes training the use of new software

and hardware, and registration. Preparation of learning materials including books, tools, CD-

ROMs and software is conducted, and the website tested.

Evaluation: The evaluation phase is ongoing throughout the design process. Its purpose is to

ensure that all stated goals of the learning process will meet the specified needs. Another

objective of this phase is to identify on-the-job performance following completion of the course,

and to ensure that business needs are met.

Authoring tool

An authoring tool is a software package which developers use to create and package

content deliverable to end users. Though authoring tools have a range of uses, they are

commonly used to create e-learning modules. These modules are generally written to conform to

some international standard, such as SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) or

AICC (CBT) (Aviation Industry CBT Committee).

Distribution of content created with authoring tools also varies. Distribution methods

include: web, kiosk, interactive CD-ROM, and executable file.

Since the term is somewhat general, many programs can be considered authoring tools,

including Flash, and PowerPoint. However, only a small group of programs specifically include

support for e-learning content standards including Elicitus, Macromedia (Adobe) Authorware,

Director, Lectora, and iSpring Suite.

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Services:

o ELearning Courseware Development

o Software Simulation

o Legacy Courseware Conversion

o Webinars

o Quizzes

o Video Captions

Articulate:

Articulate is not just a tool to publish a PowerPoint presentation compatible to a web based

application. Articulate has all the tools to develop highly interactive and engaging courses,

webinars, quizzes, etc. It provides an option to customize the interface (GUI) of Articulate as

per the requirement using Articulate SDK.

Articulate supports various commercial and Open Source LMS.

Adobe Captivate:

Adobe Captivate is no more a tool which is used only for screen captures. With the release of

latest version, it has all the tools to develop a complete elearning course interface (GUI).

Captivate also has the feature to develop engaging slides, interactive quizzes, screen capturing,

captioning, etc.Captivate supports various commercial and Open Source LMS.

Lectora:

Lectora is a great tool to develop HTML based eLearning courses or web pages. Implementing

any design using HTML is a very tough task especially when it has to be done using CSS and

need to have a technical background to do so. But Lectora has made it so simple that any non-

technical person can design any type of GUI or layout without any issues. Along with designing,

Lectora supports interactive slides, engaging assessments, quizzes, etc. Lectora has all the tools

to design and develop and full fledge HTML based eLearning course. Lectora supports various

commercial and Open Source LMS.

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Conclusion

From the above study we can say that an LMS makes learning easy and available. It

involves transfer of learning from Workplace to home. Common experience to everyone will be

living standards experienced at workplace are cascaded to home , society elsewhere for e.g.

Bottle water for majority of Indians was first experienced at workplace and later replicated at

their residences . On an average a person spends more standing hours in the office rather than at

home. This is the tech era where a person orders a lip-smacking pizza online, crucial banking is

done online, activities like social chatting, purchase of groceries to lifestyle shopping is preferred

online. In such a scenario education and training cannot be left untouched by the online

mechanism. LMS is the platform for distributing, tracking learner preferences, competencies and

capabilities

LMS has become the backbone of both online and face-to-face classrooms. Many

universities use LMS as an assistive technology to manage course content and resources. In

addition, they are used to create efficiency while reducing costs due to using less paper in order

to create a “greener” access to course materials [13]. In addition to creatingefficiency and

centralizing course content, the LMS extends outside of the classroom by using tools such

asDiscussion Boards, Gradebooks, Quizzes, E-mail, posting of information and announcements

and Surveys .Many instructors may find the LMS helpful with large class size. This is especially

helpful in administering quizzes since the tool provides the ability to track student performance,

provide feedback on answers, and provide results in a timely manner There are numerous

Learning Management Systems being used, such as, Blackboard, Desire2 Learn (D2L), Angel,

Sakai, and Moodle, to name a few. According to the 2010 Campus Computing Survey by Green,

2010, the ongoing use of Learning Management Systems is increasing with 57.1 percent of

participating campuses using Blackboard,10.1 percent using Desire2Learn, 16.4 percent use

Moodle (open source) , and 4.6 percent using Sakai, another open Source product

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A peep into the future:

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software application for the administration,

documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of e-learning education courses or training

programs.LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software

for distributing online or blended/hybrid college courses over the Internet with features for

online collaboration. Colleges and universities use LMSs to deliver online courses and augment

on-campus courses. Corporate training departments use LMSs to deliver online training, as well

as automate record-keeping and employee registration .This rapid evolution of the LMS has

brought about many changes in the e-learning field.

The question is, how will the LMS of the future look like? We can gauge this by

reviewing some of the possibilities. What have been the trends and growth of LMS and where

are we heading towards.

Cloud Based LMS

Various clouds based LMSs (Schoology, Edmodo, Coursesites) have started flourishing

the pace at which they are coming up, doesn't seem like they’re only for a fortnight. Due to its

flexibility, modernity and not to forget “free” services, LMS is growing in manifolds in just

seconds. Cloud computing is emerging as an inexpensive, quick and efficient way of delivering

training through LMS. Cloud-based LMSs have the capacity to bring down the Total Cost of

Ownership (TCO), something that has being largely overlooked during LMS vendor

comparisons. The future LMS will increasingly be run on cloud for its agile, flexible and

economic characteristics.

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Personal Learning Environment (PLE)

Personal Learning Environments (PLE) in LMS is noticing a growing demand. PLEs are open

systems that provide a structured model for e-learning. It helps the learners to manage their

learning and has become a very popular feature of LMS. The PLE that would know learners’

interests and gaps in knowledge and skills and proactively suggest new information, courses,

social communities and network for consideration.

Facility for user-based content generation, to contribute knowledge and expertise through

conversation and new content.

Gamification

Research has proved that through gamification we have more engaging power and it

enables learner to understand about strategies, management, decision-making, time management

efficiently and in ways audio and reading never can.

While most of the current breeds of LMSs use a proprietary environment to create, run

and track any game-like learning activity, the launch of Project Tin Can has brought in a

common approach to designing, running and tracking games and simulations. The different thing

about Tin Can is that it aims to ‘record’ a learner’s learning experiences (wherever and in

whatever form they happen). A learning experience could happen outside any form of

learning/training event and could be as simple as accessing, say, Facebook or Twitter. So the

learning experience comprising of so called, “monotonous” topics don’t tend to seem that

monotonous anymore. Thanks to gamification.

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Talent Management

HRM consists of the process of employing the right people at the right places. Talent

Management can be called a subset of this where we use HR strategies to evaluate a talent and

put it in its right spot.

Many companies have started integrating TM and LMS. While talent management helps in

identifying key skills of an employee and the gaps in knowledge and skills or expertise required,

an LMS helps in filling those gaps and improve job-oriented skills of the learner.

LMSs have always evolved and changed with time. There is no saying what changes the

LMS will actually endure over the course of years, but the truth remains that today’s LMS is not

what it was 10 years before, and the LMS of tomorrow will be very different than what we can

imagine now.

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Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_management_system http://www.saba.com/us/lms/

http://trainingforce.com/kb/what-is-a-lms http://www.gyrus.com/category/e-learning/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotak_Mahindra_Bank