Instructure is an educational software company based in Sandy, Utah. It is the developer of the Canvas learning management system, which is a comprehensive software package that competes with such systems as Blackboard Learning System, SumTotal and Saba.
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Litmos
Score 7.4 out of 10
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Litmos is a cloud-based Corporate LMS. Core features include a course builder, assessments and quizzes, surveys and feedback, eCommerce, virtual classrooms, certifications, course library, SCORM and TIN CAN support, reporting, and gamification tools.
It is really well suited for school situations like knowing what [assignments] need to be done when, getting feedback, getting points, finding the slides that the teacher used for explaining an [assignment] or theory. I think It would be less suited in business situations because it's [primarily] made to be a [one-way] communication tool for schools. Businesses need more control on individual levels I think[.]
For us, Litmos does what we need it to do. It houses all of our training in one place and allows us to send it out to our entire staff quickly and easily. The only area we really struggle is with eSignatures. We use this feature for memos, but instead of using the actual eSignature, we use an assessment because it gives us the ability to lock it after one attempt so that someone doesn't log back in and show that it's no longer signed.
Creativity options for teachers to create a virtual space that still has fun graphics and accessibility options.
Canvas has versatility in viewing options for assignment due dates such as the calendar built in feature as well as the dashboard options to display upcoming and due assignments.
Allowing teachers to create community with each other and collaborate in each-other's space.
Discussion platforms within classrooms for students to communicate with each-other and with their teachers.
Easy messaging portal within each virtual classroom.
Content Authoring: Litmos has a good content authoring tool that provides options for designing engaging and interactive courses.
Reporting: Litmos reporting tools and reporting engines are clear to understand, the come with useful features that allow for tracking completion, learning and engagement.
Course Library: Litmos has an extensive course library that we can reorganize into learning pathways to accomplish set learning objectives for our team.
Customer Support: We have seen Litmos Customer support improve over the time we have been customers. Not only are there helpful resources within the Litmos University, we also have access to skilled support from our Customer Success Manager and the Litmos Technical Team.
Litmos' email automation leaves a lot to be desired. When using SAML single sign on, a user can forward a reminder email to a colleague and it will include the link for _their_ training, if the recipient completes the training it report as being completed by the sender.
Litmos' functionality around assessments is terrible. It is impossible to give partial or weighted credit for a question during marking. It's impossible to undo a mistake in marking or go back to the question. Hotspot questions are not worth using. Learners entering a test again after completing but before marking is done will erase their attempt's ability to be marked. There is more that is just unacceptable here. We make tests using microsoft forms because it's easier and more accessible.
Many group admins are also learners, and will so infrequently use their admin portals, that they should not default to admin.
We have imports from our HR platform to Litmos, which is convenient. Occasionally someone gets set up twice, which is a problem with the intergration or stuff that helpdesk does. However, merging two learner records should not be a huge hassle of enumerating all of the courses and manually marking them complete. There should be a way to do this in the software.
Reporting in general leaves a great deal to be desired. There should be some more controls for xAPI/tincan modules that allow us to customize the level of tracking there. Articulate Rise uses a manifest that gives the LMS what it needs to integrate, why can't we see interaction data from the eLearning there like we could with LRS statements? If I make a storyline block or have a rise interaction, I should be able to see all the elements folks click and what they get hung up on.
Litmos should support standard Training and L&D measurement frameworks. There's no reason we shouldn't at least be able to have a dashboard for a course that includes survey data, assessments, boosts, and maybe a manual place to put in business impact KPIs. Think kirkpatrick/Phillips ROI.
The other LMS tools have fallen behind. One reason is they are not able to update their systems, features, toolsets in a timely manner. While other LMS providers release bug fixes and new features several times a year, schools struggle to install and implement them in a timely manner. It is not uncommon for a school to take 6 months to a year to fully install and implement new releases on other LMS platforms. With Canvas, those features are released every 3 weeks, and there is nothing for a school to do other than choose to turn them on once released. This has allowed Instructure to innovate faster, and get new features and tools to customers quicker. Other factors include great pricing, customer support, and the innovative way in which LTI is implemented in the tool.
For what we need in the very near future, Litmos does not offer us the required capability. Ideally, we are looking for an integrated LMS, coaching, mobile support and content creation platform. Litmos may have the LMS part covered but there are other platforms that do this better along with providing an integrated all-in-one service or at the very least support API integration with other vendors to meet our requirements.
The functions in Canvas are well integrated and consistent across the application, and mostly intuitive. Overall navigation and setup is streamlined through integrated features and navigation. The feedback we've gotten from our program participants is that it is easy to learn to use. It also integrates well with third party software like Google Docs and Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing software
It's really easy to use. I just search the platform for my requirements, play a demo before downloading it, and then drag and drop it into my LMS. It couldn't be simpler. The only reason it isn't a 10 is that some courses don't have better summary descriptions or additional materials.
I do not personally use Canvas support since we have a central office that helps us. However, our central office always has the answers we need and are always able to solve our issues - so I would assume that get great support from the Canvas team on their end. They also offer great training, which uses materials directly from Canvas
If I could give it a negative rating I would. Worst support from any program I have had. Everything is back and forth in the support ticket. The one time I tried to chat they could not support the question. Their support page is so full of sections and products I can never find anything I need, even with a customized home page. I was hopeful that once they left SAP support might improve but it has not. I don't even know who my account executive is. Nobody has ever reached out to me. I need someone to guide me through best practices for our company and there is nobody to do that.
It was a good overview of the platform, but of course it was more of a basic overview of how to use the platform. The team provided a good training, but I would of liked a better deep dive into some of the features.
Some of the best online training I've taken from any LMS platform. It was well put together and kept me engaged the entire time. It has a good amount of HR Compliance mixed with soft skills training that the team liked. Overall, it has a robust online suite of training that any company can use.
Once you purchase and sign the contract there is nothing to install or hardware to buy. You can almost immediately start using it and have courses up and going within weeks. We signed in December and had pilot courses online ready to go for the start of school in January
We have done two implementations. The first wasn't completed by me, but the second was. I had to do a lot of data migration across from the first system into the new instance. This was really time-consuming, and it would have been great to have had an option for someone else to have completed this for us. Learning about the tool has also been up to us, and whilst the content was good, it was also high level and broad, and then getting into the specifics of our setup was really just left to us to complete on our own and have a go. We got there, but probably could have been faster with some additional support from a consultant.
Canvas is more secure, has a cleaner design, and has more features. For the features, they have in common canvas still stacks up against [Smart school] by going for the extra mile. Besidfor e that, [the] canvas looks a lot more [professional] than [Smart school]. I didn't make the decision myself to get canvas instead of [Smart school] but I'm happy they did.
I made a choice of this tool because of great review message on internet about the advantage of litmos. Also as cost is concerned I saw it to be favourable to me more than other which are Abit expensive. Litmos also have intuitive user interface which made me to fall for it.
Pretty easy to scale this LMS and can be deployed companywide in all departments for us. The team's function allows you build separate teams that can easily be assigned specific courses, so it makes it much easier to deploy
For one of our product lines, what used to require 8-10 onboarding calls now only needs two and we are aiming to get that down to just one or potentially none. Customers can learn on demand using the courses we have constructed for them and continue their learning live with trainers.
By hosting all of our training in one place, we have made onboarding much more straightforward for employees — they can learn the product (same training we give customers) and also get their InfoSec and other training in one place.
