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.
N/A
Litmos
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
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[.]
I am currently using Litmos for customer training, but have also used Litmos with a previous organization to manage internal training. It's so diverse and multi-functional, it is well-suited for both purposes. And it's by far the most user-friendly LMS platform I have ever worked with in my 15 years in corporate Learning & Development. Simple to stand up, fairly easy to administer, with a number of options available to organize data, users, and coursework to best fit your business needs. If you are managing the challenges that come with a lean and mean L&D team, this is absolutely the best platform in the market. The ease of administration combined with the Content Author Tool allows someone with very little LMS or online content development background to successfully create, house and deliver online training to practically any number of learners. The Content Author Tool is, in my mind, likely what truly sets Litmos apart from its competitors. To be able to create engaging and interactive online content without the need for a third-party authoring tool license or training is a game changer.
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.
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
Litmos has been quite direct, easy to use, simple to interact, has offered a ton of courses and has implemented video/web conferencing features that have been vital in our organization. Team creation and gamification has birthed positive competion that was much needed. Course creation has also been made easy for our instructors.
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.
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.
Litmos overwhelms Khan Academy for two main reasons. First, the platform allows more much more customization and integration. This includes the ability to track employee progress and offer employees rewards for completion of tasks. Second, it has more functionality than Khan Academy. Part of this is likely due to the cost of implementation and the excellent development team of Litmos.
