LMS vs CMS: What's the Difference?

earning Management Systems and Content Management Systems, although they are often spoken about interchangeably, are actually two completely different types of technology. Knowing the difference between these two systems is important in selecting the right system for your organization.

This post will explain the difference between an LMS and a CMS using a helpful, easy-to-grasp analogy. Let's start with Learning Management Systems: Imagine a sports team’s coach who needs to teach new players how to play the game before he starts to compete on any field. This is what an LMS does ¬ it is like giving someone instructions on how to play football, tennis or chess so that they can become more skilled players over time.

Now compare this sports coach and their learning exercises to a Content Management System: Imagine that there is a large team of people that need to update a website every day. The CMS would, quite literally, be like giving each individual person the instruction book for any new changes they need to make on any page of the website.

You may be asking yourself why we don't just use an LMS and call it good? The answer is that using an LMS alone doesn't seem like it would work very well as a content management system by itself.

How does an LMS work?

A learning management system is designed to help train people on a specific skill. For example, if a company needed to train their new employees on how to use the SAP software, the company could host their training materials online with an LMS. The LMS would be password protected so that only those who are authorized have access. The LMS would allow for pre-scheduled training sessions for employees based on when they need them or what they need to learn.

How does a content management system work?

A content management system keeps and manages the website content for an organization. For example, if a company needs to create or edit the information on their e-commerce website, they wouldn't need to wait for a web designer to update each page individually. Instead, CMS users can make changes themselves on their own as needed. The CMS is also designed so that it is simple for non-technical members of the organization to use; this makes updating pages very easy.

Introducing Hybrid Learning

Hybrid Learning is the combination of an LMS and CMS, which offers the best of both technologies. With Hybrid Learning, your organization can teach their students new skills and make sure they are up to date on all growth changes throughout their learning journey.

What features should I look for?

Easy course design

The course needs to be easy for the organization to design, update and modify. Many LMSs have templates set up that can be used or copied and modified. Potential.ly utilises a no-fuss course creator. Make your course easy-to-follow and save time in instructing students. Playlists are the smart way to delivering your course that features a clear, visual layout for your course that is easy to follow.

Customization Tools

Offer your staff the ability to create their own courses or add content in a non-techie way. The ability to customize is important so that you can keep up with the needs of your organization and its employees. Your institution is unique, and that's why you should choose a flexible hybrid learning platform that can support it. This means integrating your organisation's tools, brand and messaging so your students feel right at home.

Security

Make sure that your hybrid learning learners are kept safe at all times. The content management system must be secure and protected from hackers or other malicious software.

Free trial

A free trial offers your staff the opportunity to try out your LMS/CMS for yourself before committing to a long-term solution. Potential.ly offers a flexible free trial so you can test our system with little effort.

Book a free consultation to learn about how Potential.ly can save you time and improve your organisation's learning experience. We are confident that the Hybrid Learning System would be best suited for your organisation. Schedule a consultation today!

Tags: learning management systems, LMS, content management system, CMS, hybrid learning, potential.ly, LMS vs CMS: What's the Difference?, online training system, online learning system, e-learning classware

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