Is learning management system Moodle + F4S right for you?

As people leaders battle a shrinking L&D budget, investing in an LMS is more important. Now, more than ever, companies are delivering content in remote learning environments. And, they need the right tools to deliver teaching methods suited to a variety of learning styles.

To leverage the power of distance education, people leaders are also investing in AI tools such as F4S, to complement their LMS with evidence-based people analytics that teach soft skills and enhance their team's performance.

In fact, AI-powered learning is one of the top predicted trends of 2023.² Don't get left behind! Read on to learn the pros and cons of Moodle. Then determine if it's a good fit for your organization. Plus, find out how free AI-powered tools from F4S can enhance your LMS and learning outcomes.

The future of learning management systems

• The LMS market is growing rapidly; in 2022, it was valued at USD $17.36 billion and is projected to reach more than USD $69 billion by 2030.³
• During the pandemic, nearly 73% of companies had to find tools that accommodated e-learning.⁴
• Nearly 60% of L&D leaders say their companies will be putting money into e-learning content development in 2023; which is more than what was reported for coaching and mentoring as well as on-the-job training.⁴
• At 75%, an LMS is the number one way companies deliver their online learning, beating desktop platform/app and authoring tool.⁴
• When asked what new features they'd like to see in their e-learning software in the next five years, L&D leaders identified these as the top three: personalized learning, strong data analytics and better feedback collection.⁴
• In the future, we'll likely see more AI used in LMS. As the 2022 State of eLearning report says, "Early AI adoption in the field of L&D could be key to e-learning success".⁴

What are the benefits of learning management systems?

• Make learning more accessible for remote distributed teams. An LMS becomes the central hub for your employees to find onboarding materials, online courses, manuals and more. So no matter where your team is located, they can always find the answer they need.
• Measure and track progress. Through various assessment processes, an LMS empowers L&D teams to measure student performance to be able to truly assess learning outcomes and prove program efficacy to leadership.
• Facilitate learning even in a busy schedule. With an LMS, learning can be self-paced, allowing students to complete courses whenever their schedule allows. Plus, many learning management systems have mobile apps to make learning on the go easier.
• Improve productivity. By using an LMS to teach your students necessary skills and train them properly, you can see a big boost in productivity. For example, according to the Whatfix website, Experian invested in Salesforce CRM but its sales team struggled to actually use the tool. By using Whatfix to drive Salesforce adoption, Experian saw a 72% increase in productivity.

Who uses learning management systems?

Educational institutions, such as universities, use learning management systems to deliver their content virtually to students. In addition, corporations, government agencies, and nonprofits use e-learning systems to deliver the following content to employees:

• Compliance training
• Professional development
• Upskilling/reskilling
• Data and tracking

Is learning management system Moodle right for your business?

Moodle is an open-source learning management system that was founded in 1999, making it one of the most established and well-known learning management systems on the market. It has more than 368 million users across 240 countries. Its major customers include KLM, Allianz and Mazda. Moodle Workplace is its enterprise solution and is available through certified Moodle Partners. Moodle HQ is in West Perth, Western Australia.

Moodle Workplace LMS features

• Integrations: This allows you to connect Moodle Workplace with your existing external tools, HR systems and content libraries. Connect it to Google Drive, for example, to upload and share files, or connect it to LinkedIn Learning to leverage existing content. Moodle also has more than 2,000 open-source plugins that help expand its features.
• Enhanced security: This is what really separates Moodle Workplace from regular Moodle LMS as a corporate e-learning system. You can configure Moodle Workplace to comply with local privacy and GDPR requirements, plus manage privacy policies and more. Because all of Moodle LMS is open source, the global community is constantly monitoring the code for vulnerabilities, which helps issues get fixed sooner. This is different from proprietary code (not open source), which means it is 'hidden' from users.
• Customization: Add your brand colors and logo and create custom LMS platforms for specific teams in your organization.
• Mobile app: Create a branded Moodle app to help employees access learning content on-the-go, no matter where they are.
• Data insights: Track learning outcomes, measure student progress with grades in Gradebook, reward employees with badges and diplomas and prove the effectiveness of your learning program. To show effectiveness and earn buy-in, you can create custom reports that can be scheduled for delivery to chosen audiences.
• Learning pathways: Guide learners to a specific destination by grouping relevant trainings and online courses together.
• Online assessments: Measure learning progress through quizzes and other methods of evaluation, such as peer assessments, or even a formative assessment or summative assessment.
• Discussion forums: Encourage learners to participate in conversations on relevant topics and help boost student engagement.
• Single sign-on: Available through a plug-in.

Moodle learning management system pricing

Moodle offers many different solutions, so to clarify, we'll list them below:

Moodle LMS: Open-source software that is completely free to use — as long as you host it on your own server.

MoodleCloud: If you want Moodle to host your site for you, then you need to purchase MoodleCloud.

‍Off-the-shelf hosting plans:

• Starter: USD $110/year 50 users, 250 MB storage
• Mini: USD $200/year 100 users, 500 MB storage
• Small: USD $370/year 200 users, 1 GB storage
• USD $860/year 500 users, 2.5GB storage
• Standard: USD $1,650/year 1,000 users, 5GB storage

Premium hosting solutions: For enterprise features and the ability to accommodate millions of users, you'll need to contact Moodle for pricing of its premium hosting solutions.

Moodle Workplace: In terms of Moodle's offerings, Workplace is likely to be the best fit for your organization, as it's specifically made for corporate learning. Moodle Workplace prices are not published online, so contact its sales team for exact costs.

Moodle learning management system reviews

Users of Moodle LMS appreciate it for its affordability, user-friendliness and supportive community. However, Moodle's cons are that the user interface looks outdated and customization requires sufficient knowledge of PHP and MySQL (so check with your IT team if you're planning to do this in-house).

On software review site G2, Moodle has a 4.0 out of 5 stars rating from 348 reviews. Here are a select few reviews that might be useful as you make your decision:

• Ease of use: "Moodle was used for creating a better e-learning website for the business I was working at. It made the business look much more professional and it was much more user-friendly." ⁵
• Affordability: "Moodle allows a medium sized or a small business to track and manage training. I use the software in the nonprofit area, because it is low cost." ⁶
• Using regular Moodle for business: "Whilst Moodle is aimed at educational use, it is a very good LMS for business applications. I have deployed it to ... offer a dedicated staff candidate portal with competency tests from pools of questions, CV upload and interviewee notes on each candidate." ⁷
• If you're looking for a real-life success story, a case study on the Moodle website shares that Dutch airline KLM collaborated with Avetica, a Moodle Premium Certified Service Provider, to create a central LMS platform through Moodle Workplace¹¹. Now, KLM delivers 235 courses to 20,000 learners.
  
  “With Moodle Workplace, KLM can serve multiple target groups through multi-tenancy, which meant that they were able to say goodbye to all their separate Moodle sites," said Arnout Vree, Avetica CEO and Founder. "Consequently, their long wish to arrive at one central LMS could be realised.”
  

4 Moodle alternatives to consider

Canvas LMS

Like Moodle, Canvas LMS has an enterprise version called Canvas for Corporate Education. While Canvas does not reveal its pricing on its website, it does have a Free-for-Teacher tier that provides basic features to educators at no cost.

Key features

• Personalized learning: Craft learning paths cater to each person's unique needs and goals.
• Analytics: View data on usage and learner progress.
• Integrations: Hundreds of integrations help you connect to your favorite tools, such as Microsoft Teams and G Suite.
• Mobile apps.
• Single sign-on.

Whatfix

Whatfix doesn't bill itself as an LMS, but calls itself a Digital Adoption Platform. That's because Whatfix is specifically designed for corporate use rather than for educational institutions. It offers features for providing training and delivering learning content to employees, and boasts a 84% decrease in training content creation costs and a 1.25X improvement in employee productivity.

Key features

• Self-service: 24/7 employee self-support ensures your staff know exactly where to find relevant answers.
• Task lists: Monitor progress and help employees manage onboarding and training tasks with checklists.
• Flows: Interactive walk-throughs and in-app guides make it easy for users to navigate the content.
• Single sign-on.

Totara Learn

Totara Learn is an open-source LMS that is Moodle-based, which means if you plan to switch from Moodle to Totara, it should be relatively simple to do. As its website states: "Because the current version of Totara Learn is based on v2.9 of Moodle, we provide subscribers an upgrade script and step-by-step instructions on updating your Moodle site".

Totara Learn's strength over Moodle LMS may lie in the fact that it is more enterprise-focused.

Key features

• Integrations: Connect to existing business tools such as your HCM. Link Totara Learn to Google Drive, Shibboleth, YouTube, PayPal, and more.
• Customization.
• Mobile app.
• Learning paths.
• Analytics.
• Single sign-on.

TalentLMS

TalentLMS is a business-focused e-learning system used by more than 70,000 teams from Oracle to eBay to Amazon. It prides itself on being quick to deploy due to its library of pre-made courses.

Key features

• Learning paths.
• Custom roles and permissions.
• Customization.
• Localization: Support for 30+ languages.
• Analytics: Create real-time, scheduled and custom reports.
• Integrations with tools such as Salesforce, Zoom, and Zapier.

Fingerprint for Success (F4S): How F4S can enhance any LMS you choose

F4S is a performance- and talent-development platform that elevates enterprise learning with an evidence-based assessment and personalized coaching that teaches employees critical soft skills. The F4S assessment is completely free and pinpoints 48 traits that affect how a person works and communicates.

F4S dashboard

One of the main reasons that employers aren't investing in upskilling and reskilling their employees is that they struggle with identifying and understanding what skills gaps exist. Through the F4S assessment and dashboard, employers now have a way to identify gaps and provide personalized coaching through AI-powered Coach Marlee to close those gaps.⁸

Within the F4S dashboard, you can actually track and watch progress as an individual or team moves closer to a specific trait. For these reasons, F4S is the perfect complement to Moodle, or any LMS you choose.

How to choose the right learning management system

Choosing new software for your company is no small feat, especially when you've got to get buy-in from multiple stakeholders. We can help you to make a wise decision by helping you to answer the following questions:

Does this LMS integrate with my existing tools?

A huge barrier to adopting new technology in any organization is how seamlessly it can be implemented. That's why looking into whether the LMS integrates with your existing tools is crucial. Moodle has more than 2,000 plugins. Search its plugins directory to see if it has the ones you need.

Does this LMS meet the security and compliance requirements for my organization and location?

Enterprise software must meet certain standards in order for organizations to adopt it, including cybersecurity features and local/regional compliance requirements. You might need to collaborate with your IT team to ensure the LMS meets these needs.

Does my IT team prefer open source or proprietary software?

Again, talk to your IT team to see if they're comfortable with Moodle being open source. Some IT teams love open-source software because of the global community that can monitor its public code and quickly fix vulnerabilities. Others might dislike it for that same reason, as it's also possible that hackers can spot vulnerabilities and take advantage.

Can my L&D budget accommodate the cost of this LMS?

Cost is a huge factor for any L&D team, especially in the current economy. Open-source software is great because it's affordable (usually free!). Moodle LMS is completely free to use, but Moodle Workplace does come with a fee. However, it's more affordable than most proprietary LMS software.

Should you invest in learning management system Moodle?

With more than 368 million users, Moodle LMS is no doubt a powerful tool beloved by many educational institutions and corporations alike. For your organization, Moodle Workplace is the wiser choice as it's made specifically for enterprise use, which means it has features that meet the rigorous security and technical standards that corporations require. Remember that you'll have to go through a certified Moodle partner to access Moodle Workplace.

Moodle LMS is definitely affordable compared to other LMS options, and if you're a fan of open source, it's got that going for it too. It's customizable, allowing it to fit many different e-learning styles and create online environments your staff will thrive in.

The Great Resignation may be slowing down, but it's still among us. A PwC survey shows that a quarter of workers plan to quit in the next year.⁹ As the job market continues to tip in favor of candidates, employees know they have options. When they're not getting their L&D needs met, they'll start looking for roles at companies that invest in their personal growth.

But it's not just about technical skills — employees need soft skills now more than ever.

"Knowing how to code may be critical if you’re a software developer, but those skills won’t matter if you can’t do the soft things: work well on a team, lead a project, communicate clearly, and think critically," writes Patrick Mullane, the Executive Director of Harvard Business School Online and Executive Education, in a Forbes article.¹⁰

Whatever LMS you choose, complement it with soft skills training; we offer programs for free at F4S. Our AI-powered Coach Marlee guides people through team building, strategic thinking and effective leadership — all necessary soft skills for individuals, teams and companies to remain innovative, no matter how tough the economy gets.