iSpring LMS vs. LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com)

iSpring Learn supports short, engaging courses ideal for corporate training programs, especially in finance-related industries. It pairs well with bite-sized content for compliance training, product knowledge, or soft skills development. For companies that need an LMS up and running quickly, iSpring Learn offers a simple setup process and an intuitive interface that doesn't require extensive technical knowledge. If a company needs extensive customization for branding or workflows, iSpring Learn may not be as flexible as some alternatives.

Incentivized

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."

• Automatically re-enrolling employees when a certificate expires. Set it and forget it!
• If set up properly from the beginning, you don't have to do much, with the roles and groups settings, you can automate a large portion of the course management.
• I can provide visibility to anyone about any employee necessary, allowing me to put more responsibility on my managers, instead of doing it all myself.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Permissions are not clear enough. There have been issues when new features are released. Perfect example is when the review system came online, no one thought to partition departments to prevent other managers from seeing reviews of employees in other departments. Gross oversights such as this rendered time we put into developing this as staple at the company caused a lot of headaches and never should have been released without more consideration.
• Courses and catalog should not be hidden in the Additional Options under settings; it is counterintuitive for it not to be in the actual menu of the learning creation area.
• Context sensitive rollovers would be nice as they would add a level of explanation as to what process may need to be completed for a task to be complete.

Incentivized

• LinkedIn Learning provides learning paths, but it's left much to be desired. Not enough direction about the why, or learning outcomes.
• Some courses provide exercises/quizzes. Others do not. There's definitely a missing piece to test comprehension.
• The library is so large, it's difficult to really build your own learning. I find it better for just-in-time learning.

Incentivized

In the past I could not encourage my students to take online training. The results and the questions were hard to be given. When I used the iSpring Suite along with iSpring Learn, my dreams came through and most of the time my students are online and take good training with my programme.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Sometimes, things just aren't intuitive enough. For example, burying the catalog in the settings area makes no sense at all. The same goes for permissions and year reviews. It was a massive oversight that really caused a lot of confusion for all of our managers. It caused distrust in the LMS simply because someone who designed and developed it did not think that an employee review should be private to them, their direct supervisor, or the supervisor above. Instead, ANY manager could read ANY employee review. I have mentioned this several times throughout these questionnaires, and as you can see, I still find it incomprehensible that a company that wants to promote its software as a multifaceted solution could be so blind to something so critical, especially in terms of privacy.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I have to say ALWAYS.

Incentivized

Our account rep Katie Connor is fantastic. She is very responsive to our requests. She does not try to over sell. She has setup training sessions for us any time we asked. Finally, she is a very nice person we like working with. She also has been patient with us as we figure out our renewal

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We can say that most of my students attend my classes twice a week and that's not enough for someone to learn. I put some training for them to do at home and they really enjoy doing them. The kind of progress they make is really satisfying for them and they are always learning.

Incentivized

As a teacher, I used to spend a lot of time correcting my students' papers. Now with iSpring Learn, my time has been saved and everything is done automatically. All the time I can check my students' progress and I know which exams they have taken or they should take. On the whole, online training has really helped a lot of teachers

Incentivized

When I talked to my colleagues or informed them to search for a programme before iSpring Learn, they were not successful in designing and implementing a programme like this. I am sure they have done a lot to implement it in the best and educational way. That was not that easy as we thought.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I reviewed a few different LMSs before deciding on iSpring Learn. I can't remember the names, but I chose iSpring Learn primarily because I liked that it was just a PowerPoint add-on, which made it easy to use, and I liked the price!

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

Really perfect.

Incentivized

• iSpring has enabled me to deliver professional education to very high-level learners.
• Due to the reviews of my users, many more learners have purchased my courses.
• Several professional colleagues have inquired about my experience setting up online courses on iSpring Learn. I told them it was easy, logical, and no hassle; they will love the level of support.

• 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.

Incentivized