Recent innovations in learning and the way we deliver it have turned enterprise training on its head. The changes reflect not only the technology we use to create and deliver learning but the tools we use to manage it. But as learning delivery methods advance toward a more effective personalized experience, business leaders question the ability of their traditional LMS to deliver it.
The Rise of Social Learning
The Brandon Hall Group’s 2016 Learning Technology Study indicated that the top priorities in L&D are social 
and collaborative tools and mobile learning delivery. In response to the growing demand, LMS vendors are developing social and collaborative tools for their learning management platforms.
As we get better at measuring the impact of enterprise learning, leading companies are seeing a direct link between social learning and performance. Business leaders tell us that technology-enabled informal learning impacts the business, but few are satisfied with the capabilities of their current learning platform.
Learning Engagement
Learning management systems have historically had a low rate of user adoption. Part of the reason has been a lack of a learning culture, but technology has also been a barrier. Ten years ago, learning portals were the promised solution to learning engagement, but in our experience, they have not been used much. Nor have we seen much adoption of social learning and collaboration tools in LMS deployments.
There is an explanation. Learning portals and social tools in the LMS are separate from work tools. Stopping work to go to a different business software platform is a barrier to learning. It creates an obstacle to the idea that both learning and doing are essential in work.
In an age where we understand that we should embed learning in work, the time has come to change how we position the LMS. A learning management system is just that – technology for administration, delivery, and tracking of learning activities. It does not create knowledge or improve it.
The Learning Technology Stack
Researchers at Bersin by Deloitte recommend L&D leaders consider the whole learning technology stack including the dozens of external enablers we have adapted for learning. What was once two systems, learning creation and learning delivery, is now a complex ecosystem of learning and training, professional networks, experiences, and on-demand learning.
The LMS is no longer the center of learning. It is one enabler of many.
The Rise of Collaboration Tools
We are now seeing a rapid rise in using collaboration tools in day to day work. Dozens of independent innovators like Slack, Jabber, and Jive and enterprise software leaders such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Oracle produce powerful tools that drive team productivity.
These collaboration platforms do much more than allow people to communicate. They can unify multiple communication channels and work directly with online learning tools and knowledge sharing. They bring geographically dispersed people together into tightly knit teams and open opportunities for direct application of new knowledge at the point of need.
The modern workforce is more than a monolithic group of employees. It is a system of employees, contractors, freelancers, contingent workers, partners, and suppliers. Perhaps the right approach to learning in that diverse ecosystem is to embed it in the tools they use to get work done.
Pixentia is a full-service technology company dedicated to helping clients solve business problems, improve the capability of their people, and achieve better results.
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