Professional cyclists have a term — “bumping into the bike”. This means that the athlete can ride faster, but the bike cannot. A new frame is needed, which will allow efforts to turn into speed. Employees of any company sooner or later require advanced training, because they “bumped into the bike”. But we need to move forward, so management is investing in learning management systems. And here the main question for the improvement system arises: how much does it cost to develop an LMS?

Distance learning is the future

The coronavirus epidemic and the war in Ukraine have shifted the developmen of distance learning. Without it, the process of education during this period would have been completely stopped. With great difficulty, the world switched to online conferences, and the most obvious benefits of the format appeared in the educational sphere.

• It doesn’t matter where you are

It does not matter where the teacher and students are located, the main thing is the presence of communication and the same platform for the conference. You can listen to lectures by professors from the world’s leading universities without leaving your apartment.

• No matter what audience

The number of listeners and their competence does not matter — the process is led by the lecturer with the ability to turn off and on the students’ microphones. So, he implements the lesson plan — depending on whether he needs an interactive or not.

• No need to pay school rent

Students do not use the online school’s utilities, so this is not included in the class bill. The recipients of the payment are the lecturer and the owner of the communication platform, plus the services of the provider, of course.

What if you don’t need a math class or a mindfulness intensive, but a special curriculum that’s just for your employees? Then you need to order a learning management system, they are also different — general and individual. And they cost differently. The exact numbers will appear in a specific case, but the common order of prices for the development of LMS can be imagined.

A bit of history

The idea of ​​distance learning was first embodied in the 18th century, when an American scholar organized correspondence courses in shorthand by publishing material in a newspaper. Another hundred years later, the system improved when feedback became possible. Then the teacher sent the theory and tasks by mail, and the student, having studied it, sent the completed task back.

The next step in the development of learning management systems was the possibility of audio and video recording — courses appeared on video and audio cassettes.

After the invention of the computer, local networks of several connected machines began to appear. Initially, they were used in universities and helped teachers to automate learning.

A decisive step in the development of the distance learning system was the creation of the Internet. LMS platforms were invented, which made it possible to teach many people remotely and independently from each other at the same time.

What are learning platforms?

The type of LMS depends on the task that the listeners must eventually achieve, but if generalized by the place where the software is installed, then two main types will turn out.

Server

This method of installation is used in academic education, when a certain set of programs is constantly needed by a changing flow of students. Also, data is usually stored on the server by managers of large companies, since the number of employees makes it advisable to store it offline. Disk storage requires well-protected and well-maintained servers.

Cloudy

The data is stored in the platform itself, to which the owner has access and allows all authenticated clients to enter it through the global network. This is the most popular and accessible type of educational communication. Therefore, both the organizers of training courses and business owners who want to improve the skills of their employees prefer cloud storage.

If the program has an open source, then on its basis a person with minimal training can develop a learning system himself and install it on hard or on the cloud.

Interface development

When using any type of LMS, it will consist of two main parts that developers deal with for greater ease of use.

• Administrator interface — with its help, the training organizer builds, develops and changes the course with maximum clarity of changes for himself and the audience. The development of such software can cost up to $8,000.
• The user interface is what the student sees in the web browser window. The assimilation of the material and a positive user experience depend on its quality and intuitiveness. Developers consider such work in man-hours and the cost can reach up to $150 per hour.

It is possible that an individual training system will be needed to achieve the desired effect. In this case, the customer can add any features. But it will cost more, depending on the specific technical task. Leading IT companies such as Inoxoft have experience in developing platforms of any complexity.

Why is it better with LMS than without it?

Learning systems offer a number of advantages:

• ease of access to materials
• unlimited disk space
• objective knowledge control
• analysis of results
• fast feedback
• simple maintenance
• reduction in the cost of the course

LMS platforms tie conventional online learning methods into a system managed by an administrator. The cost of platform development (according to Inoxsoft) depends on the level of business development: it is cheaper for start-ups, and more expensive for large corporations.

Even taking into account all the individual characteristics of the LMS, it is not a thing in itself or a system for the internal use of a certain group of people. This is a general opportunity for specialists (including those with a narrow profile) to develop their abilities and increase their knowledge base.