All you need to know about LMS, LXP and LTP

LMS : Learning Management System

LXP : Learning Experience Platform

LTP : Learning Transfer Platform

Before founding Apprentx, we spent a lot of time analyzing the available training solutions. Our observations:

• A marketing-heavy industry (#buzzwordsocool)
• A world of hard-to-understand acronyms (LMS, LXP, LTP, SCORM, XAPI...)
• Solutions that are complex to implement, built on a series of acquisitions
• Content-oriented solutions (content again and again, #overload)
• E-learning dominated by Storyline and SCORM format
• Two dominant deployment categories: LMS and LXP!
• A third: all other solutions
• Solutions with little interest in training transfer and impact

It's hard for everyone to find their way in this world, which raises many questions:

• Do I still need an LMS (learning management system)?
• Does LXP replace my LMS?
• Are LXPs efficient?
• Can I use several training solutions?
• Which solutions focus on training transfer, evaluation and impact?
• What do I really need?

What is an LMS, an LXP and an LTP?

A word of caution before we begin: there is no absolute distinction. LMSs, LXPs and LTPs all differ within their own category, and some have features that fall within another category. This reflection is based on our experience and the way these solutions are used by our customers.

The LMS

Years ago, LMSs were developed to manage face-to-face training sessions, including registration, instruction sharing and attendance. Today, LMSs are also used to create, distribute and manage online training courses. As their name suggests, LMSs are (and always have been) focused on training "management". Administrators use them to manage and keep a record of all required training, which is important in highly regulated sectors and for the 1% law in Quebec. Although LMSs have come a long way, administration functions remain central. They are used first and foremost to manage course offerings, training formats and requirements, and to produce certification and compliance reports (in addition to distributing online training in SCORM format)*.

The LXP

The LMS was developed to serve a top-down approach to learning. The Learning Experience Platform (LXP), on the other hand, focuses on the learner and his or her choices. The LXP provides personalized learning recommendations based on the learner's objectives, often using artificial intelligence to identify and deliver content to learners. LXPs also enable learners to create, share content and learning experiences. They usually include social and collaborative features, and reports to track progress. Like some of the Netflix titles on which they draw inspiration, LXPs have a strong artificial intelligence component for recommendations.

At the moment, there's a lot of confusion in the market, as many LXP providers also advertise themselves as LMSs, and vice versa. In fact, many LXPs offer features that, for all intents and purposes, "transform" them into LMSs, even though they refuse to accept this label. LMS providers, meanwhile, are adding LXP-specific functionalities. In other words, we are witnessing a strange war between functionalities, and although some suppliers claim to have bridged the gap and offer the best of both solution models, practice shows that this is not actually the case.

The LTP

Yes, the industry is flooded with acronyms. Will that stop us from creating a new category? Of course not! Because the focus of Apprentx is completely different. So welcome to LTPs - applications whose ultimate goal is the transfer of learnings (hence the name Learning Transfer Platform). Learning transfer is the use of new knowledge and skills in the workplace. That's why LTPs promote performance enhancement and track expected and observable behaviors. Think about it: despite the exceptional quality of your training, if there's no transfer plan, if there's no process for applying new skills on the job, there will be little or no results. We invest so much time and money in training...There has to be results, right?

Our LTP, B12, leverages cognitive science, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to reinforce skills, while giving learners, supervisors and management teams real-time visibility into performance. B12 is the perfect complement to LXP and LMS. It integrates easily with learning ecosystems and talent management systems.

Complementary solutions

LXP/LMS + LTP (MS Teams) = Impact

We need to break the paradigm of ONE training solution to gain efficiency and agility. Take, for example, the smartphone analogy. The average user has over 80 applications and uses at least 9 of them a day. We select our applications according to our needs and their relevance. But when we go to the office, this technological agility gives way to the mistaken belief that a single tool can provide us with everything we need to learn to do our jobs. Rather than being limited by a single application, talent management teams need to improve their technological agility and build an integrated learning ecosystem to keep pace with employees' evolving needs.

It's not a question of replacing one type of solution with another, but of combining these solutions to take advantage of their respective strengths. To the power of the LMS for training management, the innovative technology of the LXP for optimal employee learning, we add the power of the LTP for reinforcement and performance monitoring. Impact guaranteed!

Is LTP the future of training solutions?

How can we be more efficient in training, and do more with less? The pace of change is frantic. Employees have to learn new procedures, new regulations, and changes in products and technologies. Supervisors hardly have time to coach their teams. Everyone is short of time! And in this context, training teams must ensure that people have the knowledge and skills they need to perform, but rarely have the time or resources to do so. Learning is no longer about one-time events with no follow-up: it's imperative to be agile and to be able to make more sound decisions. By integrating with learners' tools (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint) and LMS/LXP, LTP is a unique tool for tracking the practical application of each learner. It delivers rapid results in an agile and cost-effective way. With digital transformations and COVID-19 driving accelerated skills development, LTP will be at the heart of your strategic training decisions.

Your LMS/LXP and LTP will need to bring value to your learners, your managers and your organization by demonstrating in real time the strengths and weaknesses on which your learners need to develop.

Regardless of the technological solution you choose, make sure you evaluate the supplier's team. Do they have the pedagogical and technological expertise to help you implement actions that will quickly demonstrate the solution's effectiveness and encourage adoption?

Finally, each of these solutions, when implemented without strategy, quickly becomes another technological distraction.

See LTP in action, take part in a demo!

*Shareable Content Object Reference Model: sharing content using a defined data model.

To find out more about LMS/LXP functionalities, read this article.