We're a Baker Tilly network member
About Baker Tilly
Back to top
A new way of learning: Choosing a system that meets the needs of Vocational students
Article

A new way of learning: Choosing a system that meets the needs of Vocational students

The current environment has placed limitations on face-to-face learning, forcing Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers to rapidly adapt to online and virtual learning environments. For many VET providers, this presents a raft of new challenges and opportunities.

Some providers are considering online learning for the first time, while other providers face the need to review and expand their current online learning systems. The future viability of many training providers will be reliant on quickly shifting their business model and services to adapt to a new way of course delivery. COVID-19 is going to accelerate this shift in the education sector and acting fast may be a key differentiator for your organisation.

While tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, WebEx (and others) offer an easy way to interact with students and hold meetings and webinars remotely, a Learning Management System (LMS) is crucial to effectively administer online courses, deliver content, track student progress, administer online assessment and complete reporting. An LMS is also an effective compliance and reporting measure to ensure students are learning all the knowledge and skills necessary to receive their qualifications. An investment in an LMS will help mobilise online learning quickly and pay dividends in the long term, giving organisations the platform to recover from the current environment and provide students with a blended training delivery model into the future.

Key considerations and how to choose an LMS

When looking for an LMS, there are some key factors that organisations should consider to guide their decision making. Organisations should work through the key considerations below to clearly define the purpose of the LMS and where it fits into your organisation’s value proposition to students and teachers. Additionally, it’s important to undertake a structured comparison of providers to thoroughly consider different features, ease of use for students and faculty members and the required skills within your IT team to support the integration of your LMS. For example, open-source solutions, while ‘free’ in terms of licensing costs, require in-house skills to develop and maintain the product on an ongoing basis. This means the total cost of ownership for an open-source provider can be quite high.

The key steps to choosing and deploying an LMS in your organisation are:

1. Identify the business drivers: Identify strategic business and commercial drivers.

2. Define the scope:

a. identify the business need (short-term and long-term plans for the LMS);

b. identify the desired customer experience your organisation is looking to provide;

c. review your internal IT capability and determine whether an open-source or proprietary platform suits your organisation; and

d. address any existing pain points.

3. Undertake research: Complete thorough market research and take advantage of product demonstrations where available.

a. Determine whether you will require a cloud based or on-premise LMS to meet your needs.

4. Obtain vendor proposal: Agree on product scope and pricing.

5. Deployment: Set up your project team and deploy your chosen LMS. Consider the change management (communications and training) required to ensure adoption of the new solution.

6. Maintain and enhance: Undertake continual system maintenance, identify and deploy custom functionality requirements and complete a detailed review after six months.

LMS features VET providers should consider

At its core, an LMS enables organisations to deploy and track online training for remote learners. LMS solutions typically include the following features:

  • Course setup: Enables courses to be setup for student enrolment and development of learning paths.
  • eLearning delivery: Enables a variety of course content formats (e.g. PDFs, videos etc.) to be delivered via their solutions. A number of vendors enable personalised learning and learning paths.
  • Online assessments: A range of quizzes and assessments with several solutions introducing gamification to provide a more engaging learning experience.
  • RTO compliance: Some solutions are focussed on RTO’s and short course providers of accredited and non-accredited courses, and have features to enable the required tracking, certificate generation and reporting.

Some LMS providers may also have additional features that will be valuable to your organisation. These features include:

  • Course content authoring: Some LMS providers enable users to develop course content within the LMS without the need for additional third-party software. Some LMS vendors have libraries of course content that you can access for additional fees or integrate with other third-party providers.
  • Mobile learning support: It is important to understand what mobile capabilities the LMS offers to cater for students using any device (e.g. mobile phone, tablet).
  • Video conferencing: Check which LMS providers include video conferencing and communications capabilities, which removes the need for additional software subscriptions.

Some LMS providers have developed their solutions with the VET sector in mind, including aXcelerate, Canvas, Moodle and JW Gecko.

Given the current environment, LMS vendors are offering rapid deployment to organisations to help them quickly move to online delivery. When you’re completing market research, discuss the options for rapid deployment in your organisation.

Pitcher Partners has experience working with organisations in the procurement and deployment of technology solutions including providing change management support. Contact your Pitcher Partners specialist below to discuss your LMS needs.

This content is general commentary only and does not constitute advice. Before making any decision or taking any action in relation to the content, you should consult your professional advisor. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither Pitcher Partners or its affiliated entities, nor any of our employees will be liable for any loss, damage, liability or claim whatsoever suffered or incurred arising directly or indirectly out of the use or reliance on the material contained in this content. Pitcher Partners is an association of independent firms. Pitcher Partners is a member of the global network of Baker Tilly International Limited, the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.

Pitcher Partners insights

Get the latest Pitcher Partners updates direct to your inbox

Thank you for you interest

How can we help you?

Business or personal advice
General information
Career information
Media enquiries
Contact expert
Become a member
Specialist query
Please provide as much detail to ensure appropriate allocation of your query
Please highlight a realistic time frame that will enable us to provide advice within a suitable and timely manner. Please note given conflicting demands with our senior personnel, we will endeavour to respond to you within the nominated time frame. If you require an urgent response, please contact us on 03 8610 5477.
Responses to queries submitted via this form (“Response”) are produced by Pitcher Partners Advisors Proprietary Limited and are prepared for the exclusive use and benefit of those who are invited, and agree, to participate in the CRITICAL POINT NETWORK service. Responses provided, or any part thereof, must not be distributed, copied, used, or relied on by any other person, without our prior written consent. Any information provided is intended to be of a general nature and prepared without taking into account your objectives, circumstances, financial situation or particular needs. Any information provided does not constitute personal advice. If you act on anything contained in a Response without seeking personal advice you do so at your own risk. In providing this information, we are not purporting to act as solicitors or provide legal advice. Any information provided by us is prepared in the ordinary course of our profession and is based on the relevant law and its interpretations by relevant authorities as it stands at the time the information is provided. Any changes or modifications to the law and/or its interpretation after this time could affect the information we provide. It is not possible to guarantee that the tax authorities will not challenge a transaction or to guarantee the outcome of such a challenge if one is raised on the basis of the information we provide. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Pitcher Partners will not be liable for any loss, damage, liability or claim whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person arising directly or indirectly out of the use or reliance on the information contained within a Response. We recommend you seek a formal engagement of our professional services to consider the appropriateness of the information in a Response having regard to your objectives, circumstances, financial situation or needs before proceeding with any financial decisions. Pitcher Partners is an association of independent firms. Pitcher Partners is a member of the global network of Baker Tilly International Limited, the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.
CPN Enquiry
Business Radar 2025
Dealmakers 2025
Federal Budget 2025-26
Search by industry