Five Reasons Why You Need to Switch Your LMS

Does your learning management system (LMS) make you feel like you’re wasting time staring at a blank canvas instead of pushing the boundaries of teaching? Then it’s probably time for a change. 

In today’s digital learning space, your LMS needs to do more than simply manage content. It needs to be a central part of your learner-centered ecosystem, and it should use best-in-class integrated technology to meet the needs of everyone in your institution and be constantly improving to help you overcome challenges and reach your goals. 

Sound too good to be true? Trust us, it’s not. 

If you need a bit more convincing, here are five reasons it’s time to move on from your current LMS provider. 

1. It’s Not Integration, User or AI Friendly

It’s essential that your LMS integrates easily with other tools, data and file types to make your academic institution adaptive to all learning environments. If your current LMS acts as an independent structure from your other tools, it’s time to consider switching to one that supports and encourages integration. 

It’s also essential that your LMS includes application programming interfaces (APIs). In short, APIs offer a way for different software components to communicate. They’re a must-have if you’d like to integrate with third-party programs such as plagiarism checkers, document readers and course catalogs.

Another consideration is whether or not your LMS offers single sign-on (SSO) capabilities. With SSO, users can access multiple applications with just one login, making it more convenient and secure.

Another crucial factor in deciding which LMS to use is the rapid rise of generative AI. As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, it’s essential to have an LMS that seamlessly integrates with AI tools. 

You may want to consider an LMS with built-in AI capabilities. For instance, D2L Brightspace offers a user-friendly content creation tool (D2L Creator+) and an AI tool (D2L Lumi). Both are add-ons within the familiar ecosystem, designed to enhance workflow efficiencies for course creators and educators. These tools assist in generating practice and quiz questions, significantly improving the content creation process. 

Another simple but powerful user-friendly LMS feature is the ability to see content through multiple roles—instructor, student or admin—in one user profile. Users should be able to easily switch between roles to best access the information they need, when they need it. 

Your LMS should not only check all your requirements but supply them in a way that’s easy to learn and use. Your LMS provider should give options for users to learn the new system—like a community resource, walkthrough documents, videos and responsive options for support—and offer support check-ins to make sure the process is meeting your expectations.

Learn more about how Purdue is delivering excellent learning experiences at scale with the help of Brightspace:

2. You Don’t Get Personalized, Timely Support

Let’s face it: Technology can be tricky. And sometimes small issues result in downtime. But an LMS with constant technical difficulties directly impacts student learning. On top of this, if your provider’s response time is slow and its ability to help with technical issues is too general or doesn’t include a fix, it’s probably time to make the switch.  

Having a reliable LMS should be a top priority for your academic institution. Ideally, your LMS provider should employ a continuous delivery model, pushing releases, fixes, and new features on a recurring monthly schedule with no downtime. This service model not only ensures uninterrupted use of the system but also frees up your internal staff from constant maintenance and troubleshooting. 

When issues do arise, you should be able to easily contact a staff member from your LMS provider for a quick resolution. It’s crucial to have a dedicated contact who understands your institution’s unique needs and can provide personalized support.

D2L prides itself on putting customers first, offering a best-in-class support experience. Vanessa Cox, Director of Online Learning at the University of Dallas, shared her experience working with a D2L employee: 

“She really understands and cares about our needs – not just what the product can do overall, but how it can specifically help us.” 

Learn more about the impact of D2L’s award-winning support at the University of Dallas:  

3. Your LMS Provider Isn’t Innovative

Have you been using the same version of your LMS for years? Or when your provider does innovate, do you feel like you’re stuck learning how to use a completely new LMS with little to no benefit? If you’re being pushed to learn a new LMS, it might make sense to make a change to a provider more suited to your institution’s needs and goals instead. 

Your LMS should be listening to your needs and making innovative updates and changes to meet them. From making sure the platform is accessible to incorporating updates based on trends—artificial intelligence, anyone?—your LMS should be able to keep up with the times. 

Your provider should also share a clear roadmap that outlines the direction the LMS is headed. This shows the provider has a desire to continually improve and innovate. 

D2L exemplifies a culture of continuous improvement across the user interface and accessibility. For instance, Brightspace features a new editor across all content editing fields, streamlining the content creation process for educators. 

Additionally, Brightspace’s design updates make it more mobile-friendly and accessible across various devices. This ensures that learners and educators can access course materials and tools seamlessly, regardless of their device. 

4. Creating Content Is Difficult

Creating personalized, engaging digital course content presents numerous challenges. Faculty members, instructors, course design teams, and instructional designers strive to produce high-quality content, but many LMSs do not support the creation of interactive and multimedia-rich content. Consequently, users must rely on various external tools to develop engaging course materials, making the process cumbersome and time-consuming. 

Sara Portoulas, director of training at South University, knows these challenges well.  

“We’re constantly developing our courses so they are accessible, easy to use, and engaging. In our latest review, we found that some content was very text-heavy and difficult for learners to parse.” South University wanted to solve this, but redesigning course materials was a time-consuming task for the instructional design team—a challenge many higher education institutions face. 

In addition to this, the absence of built-in HTML templates in many LMS platforms makes it nearly impossible to create professional-looking, engaging content without design or coding skills.  

At the administrative level, scalability limitations often restrict an institution’s ability to expand its digital offerings, tailor the LMS to specific program requirements, and remain competitive in the higher education landscape. 

Brightspace offers a variety of course creation tools that enable course creators to deliver quality, engaging content across multiple programs at scale. D2L’s Creator+ is a prime example. Featuring H5P integration, this seamless content creation tool offers over 50 interactive content types, providing a fast and efficient way for course designers and instructors to create and scale their course content. 

Portoulas is a fan. Following a successful pilot, South University expanded the use of Creator+, utilizing it to build online faculty training courses and LinkedIn Learning modules for students, faculty, and staff. The adoption of Creator+ resulted in a 30% reduction in course development time compared to other design tools, and an increase in the proportion of students receiving A and B grades. Creator+ also provides content templates, enabling the quick development of interactive and engaging learning experiences. 

Given the dynamic nature of content today, it’s crucial to have an LMS that facilitates rapid and scalable content creation.

5. It Lacks Secure Data Collection and Reporting

Is your LMS lacking extensive data access for course or admin-level reporting? Your LMS should be providing you with this crucial information to help make your courses and content strong and to better support students who may need help. Not only should this data be provided to you, but it should also be delivered in a secure manner. Student details and information about academic performance can be the target of data leaks and must be properly protected.  

When measuring the effectiveness of an LMS, it’s not enough to know whether students are passing or failing classes. You need a system that provides detailed analytics based on the specifics of your learning programs. Your LMS should offer timely reports to measure instructional effectiveness, such as: 

• Learner performance: Educators should be able to view student performance by examining grades, discussions, activities, and progress toward objectives. 
• Course effectiveness: Instructors need data reporting tools to see what content is being accessed and how learners are progressing. This data enables instructors to tailor course delivery to the needs of learners. 
• Learner outcomes: Admins need data reporting tools to measure overall LMS adoption across courses with course-level views into system activity and usage. These insights help determine what additional tools are required to continue improving learner outcomes. 

D2L’s improved data analytics tool, Data Hub (v 9.0), streamlines quizzing, user logins, awards, grades, and roles. These enhancements provide educators with deeper insights into learner progress and course effectiveness. 

Learn how D2L’s Performance+ reduced the probability of human error:

Get Started With an LMS Evaluation

Your LMS functions as the heart of your academic institution—it not only enables you to host and manage learning material, it also helps students successfully hit learning goals. If your LMS no longer serves your institution’s needs, it’s time to consider switching to a system that does.  

Change can be scary, but with careful planning and the right approach, you can make an efficient and smooth switch. The first step toward understanding your needs is to complete an LMS evaluation. Not sure how to get started? We’ve got you covered. Check out our LMS Evaluation Guide for the steps you need to take to find the best system and provider for your needs. 

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