Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.
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LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com)
Score 8.1 out of 10
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Lynda.com (now offered as part of LinkedIn Learning) is an elearning course library acquired and now supported by LinkedIn in May 2015.
hands down favorite in look, function, cost and service. Others were close but could not meet our external and internal cases. Our current one (we looked at them again) did not have 40% of the functionality or value, despite the bargain cost, it was not worth it to continue. …
Absorb LMS did the best job at meeting our overall list of requirements for a LMS. It was also the top contender when it came to a customer service plan and how the support worked. Absorb was a more affordable option that many of the other apps we evaluated.
It is hard to compare because LinkedIn Learning is not a traditional LMS. My organization needed a traditional LMS to help with creating content as well as needing a comprehensive reporting tool
Our integration experience was very well managed. We launched on-time, and only had to do basic end-user training because the system is very user friendly and intuitive to use. The customer support is exceptional, we have an assigned Customer Success Manager we meet with and talk to regularly. They are very responsive and have helped us optimize our processes to get the most out of the system. Because the system is easy to use, we have very few user issues or tickets we have to support. 90% of user problems are resolved by using the FAQs we provided when we launched the system
I've learned hundreds of software applications over the last several decades, and trained teams in offices and one-on-one. At one point, books and trade magazines were a great way to get up to speed with an application, but they've become less and less effective for getting started. Video lessons have some strengths; you can get a rapid overview of a program's capabilities and watch an experienced user using its tools efficiently. On rare occasions they'll even point out bugs that could trip you up, but I wish instructors shared more of those issues. However, it takes a very self-motivated learner to sit through training sessions. Most people don't fit that category, and a subscription may end up gathering dust like a pandemic gym membership. My account is sometimes dormant for months, but then I'll be watching lessons continually the following month. I've often wondered if it was worth it for that reason. I have some friends that voraciously devoured class after Lynda.com class, and built successful careers on that training. But many others never use their account. It's helpful to consider whether you're a self-motivated learner. If not, it may not be the best format for you. More complicated software often can't be adequately introduced in a several-hour-long series of videos. I found Final Cut Pro (7) hard to learn online, also Logic Pro. Other somewhat complicated programs like DVD Pro were a snap to learn, and I learned a lot about PHP and Actionscript programming from Lynda.com. Some web and graphics software is exceptionally explained by real experts, such as Lynda's Photoshop classes, which are the best I've seen on that subject. Many of her web production courses will take you every step along the way to creating your own website, even if you haven't coded before. Adobe and Apple have both published similar project-based tutorial classes in book form, and I think they're a bit more polished, but the video instructor can help move you along through all the content more easily. Learning software seems to work better from an online video than a book these days; it's helpful to already be sitting at the computer where you're able to try everything out as it's explained. Most people don't seem to retain software principles unless they're trying them while learning. A bad instructor can make it difficult to sit through a video class. Lynda.com and others generally have a large variety of content creators, so you're not as limited with instructors as you might be at a University, where the same instructor may teach several related applications. Departmental faculty may have much more targeted and creative applications for your software though, while paid corporate software training can be mind-numbingly bad. Continuing ed classes that I've taken usually seemed to just focus on learning the tools in a software product. They often don't or even can't show you how to apply the software for your purposes as full time faculty at a University might. Some Lynda.com instructors weren't great, but most seemed a cut above the continuing ed and corporate software trainers I've learned from or contracted. The majority of the classes seemed to apply the software for an impressive final project. Redundancy is a real drawback among the online lessons. Often the advanced classes repeat many of the concepts from the introductory "Essentials" courses. If you know an earlier version of an application and just want to learn new features, a book may be a faster route to your goal. I originally suggested the "New Features" lessons that Lynda began to offer for updated releases, and I think they're especially helpful. It's much harder to skim through a video than a page of text, so I'd anticipate having to complement your Lynda.com lessons with other instructional materials. Lynda.com didn't have as many of the "fluff" courses that LinkedIn is now offering. These titles read like articles from Cosmo. They might be better served to offer "How to respond to a connection request from a recruiter who works in a field completely unrelated to you."
Customer Service - Our CSM, Kirsten Spak, provides friendly, timely and high quality help and has helps us to understand and efficiently use the system.
Course Creation - We have been able to create custom courses with a wide range of features, including branding, audio, video and assessments.
Reporting - Absorb LMS offers a robust reporting function which allows us to understand our users and meet the needs of our partners when user information is required for their projects.
Industry expert authors/instructors - you're learning from people with pedigree.
Breadth and depth of catalog - not only is there a wide range of topics and disciplines, but there are frequently several levels of depth within each (eg. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).
Time needed to complete each course AND each section of a course are included - you know what you're getting into from the first click.
Reporting needs some additional help, especially the Course Activity Report. It would be great to see the description of the course on the header of the report.
The courses on the smart devices look wonky and sometimes the videos don't show up, yet you can hear it.
The Absorb LMS phone application also needs a lot of work. It does not show all the tiles that are available in the browser version.
We love the ability to have a user-friendly system that integrates well with our different HR interfaces (we have 3 systems that feed data/employees into the system). It makes it easy to track course completions and report out on metrics enterprise-wide. In addition, the ability to provide consistent education to staff who are geographically dispersed is a huge incentive for us, and Absorb LMS does this seamlessly.
It can help all employees learn to strengthen current skills or to learn new skills and then can learn to excel in their current department or they learn a new skills in a new department creating interconnection and cross-departmental value in a company.
Absorb LMS is easy to use from both a user experience and admin experience. For users, navigating the site to complete assignments or finding courses to develop new skills is very user-friendly. As an admin, the course creation tools walk you through each step simply, but have a ton of functionality to support any of your training needs.
The platform is very easy to use and navigate, the content is clearly itemised via the Contents section and the video playback speed can be adjusted. It's also useful to have optional captions (I always use them) and a transcript for accessibility purposes.
Absorb LMS's performance is very reliable and consistent. Pages load quickly. Report are generated within a reasonable amount of time (even with significant amounts of data), etc. Nothing seems to slow it down.
Absorb LMS's client service managers have been extremely responsive, efficient, and available. While we pay for a higher level of support, we have found it well worth the investment. We've been less pleased with the accounting side of the organization, but that has little impact on the delivery of training to our clients and employees.
The technical team behind LinkedIn Learning (or Lynda.com) knows their job, and they usually solve problems very quickly. While I haven't had many run-ins with them (thus the low rating), I do find that when we call them, the problem gets resolved in a reasonable amount of time. The flip-side of this comment is that we never have needed to call them with a high-priority issue.
By implementation we are able to achieve 1.Skill improvement 2.Reduced burden on training staff 3.Learning new market leading technologies like Generative AI.
hands down favorite in look, function, cost and service. Others were close but could not meet our external and internal cases. Our current one (we looked at them again) did not have 40% of the functionality or value, despite the bargain cost, it was not worth it to continue. Only new hires used our LMS for onboarding because they had to; no one went back for more training. With Absorb our classes are more dynamic and targeted.
Our organization has used different webinars, including ones on LinkedIn, to provide similar insight. But it's a totally different ballgame. Lynda.com offers in-depth tutorials rather than just a 2-hour video broadcast. With lynda.com there are more information and experts, as well as so many different courses fit for every need/want. There is also a lot more flexibility with lynda. You can take it on the go, watch on mobile and at anytime, rather than being tied to a certain time slot.
This is one of the main reasons we chose Absorb as our LMS. It is a very user-friendly application that is able to be deployed across multiple departments in geographically dispersed locations. It works amazingly well for us.
Absorb LMS's user-friendly interface and interactive learning features contributed to a 150% increase in learner engagement levels. The platform's ability to deliver engaging content and quizzes enhances employee participation and knowledge retention at retail
With Absorb LMS, we are looking to streamline our remote employee onboarding process, and tracking to reduce the time taken for new hires to complete training modules by 30%.
I can't think of a negative impact that Lynda.com has when it relates to the extensive library of training software that is available to subscribers. I'm lucky that my job provides a free subscription for instructors. I use Lynda.com to hone in on my technical skills.
