LMS vs LXP: What learning platform do you need?

Explore the options and see which learning platform is best for your organisation as we compare LMS vs LXP.

If you’re looking for an engaging platform to deliver and manage engaging workplace learning for your organisation, there are two main options available to you: an LMS or LXP.

In this article, we’re going to compare LMS vs LXP to give you a full understanding of the benefits of both options. We’ll explore both learning platform types in detail, discuss their similarities and differences and help guide you towards choosing the best platform for your needs.

Let’s start by looking at the two options.

What is an LMS?

A learning management system (LMS) is a platform that manages every aspect of your learning and development programme.

An LMS gives you the infrastructure to create a library for all of your organisation’s learning content and resources. But it also provides the delivery method for sharing that content with your learners. 

You can use an LMS to create, upload, manage and deliver courses. It also serves as the user interface for learners to engage in learning discussions and complete assessments. You can then also track learner engagement and performance using your LMS.

See more in our article ‘What Is A Learning Management System?’ for more information on how an LMS can be used.

What is the purpose of an LMS?

The main purpose of an LMS is to deliver in-depth, structured courses to learners to develop skills or achieve compliance targets.

Main LMS features

• Course creation and management 
• Learning delivery
• Enrolment tools 
• Certification and compliance 
• Analytics and reporting tools

What is an LXP?

A learning experience platform (LXP) is a learning platform that focuses on improving learning experiences. This is usually achieved through better user experience, greater personalisation and more seamless interactions than are typically available in other learning platforms.

An LXP will draw on sources such as artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning, user-generated content and social learning tools to deliver highly relevant, customised learning content to each of your organisation’s learners. There is a strong focus on peer-led learning.

Just like an LMS, an LXP will also provide analytics to help you gauge engagement levels among your learners.

Main LXP features

• Curated, topic-focused content 
• User-generated content 
• Gamification features 
• Social learning

What is the purpose of an LXP?

The main purpose of an LXP is to encourage collaboration, knowledge-sharing and social learning between the individual learners within an organisation.

Key differences: LMS vs LXP

While an LMS and LXP are both learning platforms, there are a few key differences between them. This impacts how they are best deployed and which best meets the needs of your organisation. Some of the differences between an LMS and LXP include:

L&D-led vs learner-led

While we’re painting with very broad strokes, an LMS is typically the means of delivering an entire L&D programme. As such, the courses and content available are usually decided by the L&D team. Learners will follow learning pathways that are generally also set by the L&D team, even if those pathways are automated or personalised.

An LXP is more likely to be led by the input and interests of individual learners. It will include opportunities to both share and engage with learning content that matters to them. This may or may not be in line with the organisation’s wider L&D programme and the type of learning they would ordinarily undertake.

Formal learning vs informal learning

As we mentioned above, an LMS is usually the main method of delivering an L&D programme. It is largely built around formal learning pathways and infrastructure.

An LXP, on the other hand, is a hub of informal learning. It relies on user-generated and curated resources to help learners build their knowledge on a particular subject.

Traditional courses vs micro-learning

A modern LMS will be a highly interactive and versatile platform that often incorporates a wide range of multimedia. Nonetheless, the learning content is still usually structured and delivered in the form of courses compromising multiple activities.

LXP content is likely to be less rigid and less rigorous. It’s typically broken down into smaller chunks of micro-learning. It might include things like videos, podcasts and blog posts on a particular topic rather than a structured course to follow from beginning to end.

Encouraging collaboration and social learning

There are obvious benefits when workplace learning can be delivered in a team environment, including greater knowledge-sharing, reduced training costs and better morale.

In an LMS, collaboration usually takes the form of discussion forums and messaging functionality that allow users to communicate and collaborate. An LMS may also provide an infrastructure to support offline meetings, seminars and other events, allowing people to work together in person.

An LXP typically places a far greater emphasis on social learning. Many LXP features are specifically geared towards encouraging knowledge-sharing or replicating water cooler moments in which team members might exchange chit-chat about their work.

Skills acquisition 

Upskilling team members using an LMS is usually achieved through creating a learning pathway that guides them towards the skills they need. This could be based on a preference they’ve expressed, a skills gap that has been identified or automated based on their existing skills, experience or role.

Skills acquisition using an LXP will usually entail both the L&D team and users curating learning content that focuses on a particular skill or specialism. Learners can work through these content playlists in self-directed learning. There may be a greater emphasis on building knowledge that can be put to practical use rather than proving knowledge retention through assessment.

Assessment

An LMS course will usually culminate in an assessment to check that the subject has been understood and the knowledge retained. Assessment is a fundamental aspect of being able to pass a course and progress to new learning opportunities. The assessment process is supported by the grading, analytics and reporting tools provided by an LMS.

With an LXP, the assessment element tends to be less important or perhaps even non-existent. Since the focus is on learner-centric experiences and informal learning, this isn’t usually tested in formal assessments. It’s more about learners being able to absorb information that is useful or interesting to them in the context of their role.

Choosing between an LMS and LXP

An LMS and LXP both bring many great features to the learning process. If you’re weighing up LMS vs LXP because you’re choosing between the two, there are some key considerations. We will explore those now to help with your decision-making process.

How an LMS is better than an LXP

Any organisation with a relatively large number of employees and any compliance obligations will benefit considerably from an LMS. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that any sizeable organisation without an LMS will suffer as a result.

An LMS provides a level of accountability that simply isn’t a key component of an LXP. It also offers savings in time, money and resources in the logistics of managing and delivering learning. 

If you’re delivering a formal L&D programme, with an expectation to help learners progress through courses to build skills that will benefit them and the organisation, you almost certainly need an LMS.

How an LXP is better than an LMS

The ‘X’ in LXP stands for experience — and that’s the crux of the matter. An LXP makes it easier to create engaging learning experiences because it’s built around snippets of highly relevant, curated content.

An LXP is better at encouraging knowledge sharing and breaking down the information silos that can build up inside any organisation. Introducing an LXP empowers in-house subject matter experts to educate their colleagues via social learning. This creates a cost-effective way to upskill team members and create engaging, informal learning experiences.

LMS vs LXP… or LMS and LXP

Any organisation with more than a handful of employees to train is making extra work for itself by not having an LMS. At the outset of this article, we asked: “What learning platform do you need?”

The short answer is that the vast majority of organisations need an LMS. Too much time and money is wasted when attempting to deliver learning at scale without an LMS.

That said, those same larger organisations that need an LMS are also the ones most likely to benefit from sharing knowledge widely throughout their workforce via social learning. An LXP promotes a different type of learning. It offers greater independence to individuals within the organisation to shape the learning they share and consume.

The best-of-both-worlds option in this scenario is a platform like Totara Learn, which is an LMS with LXP components built in and available as standard for no extra cost.

Totara offers limitless customisation to create a platform that delivers learning and compliance at scale in the way you want to deliver it. But it also contains key LXP functionality. This means users can build curated playlists of useful resources and engage in collaboration spaces for specific topics or interests. Take a closer look at how Totara works.

Talk to us about your new LMS or LXP

Have you reached the conclusion that your organisation needs a new LMS, LXP or a combination of the two? Our team of e-learning experts will guide you on the best platform to support your learning technology needs. Book a meeting today to discuss your options.

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