Learning Platform Administration

Before features, decide which KIND of learning platform you need. Five choices shape everything else.

• Size: a small organisation values fast set-up and ease; an enterprise (for example a few hundred staff or more, possibly customers and partners too) needs automation, segmenting of users and links to other systems.
• Open source or paid: open source has no licence fee, but you must install, host, secure and upgrade it, which can cost more than a subscription. Count the staff time.
• Cloud or installed: cloud is the norm; installed is chosen only when a law or network rule requires it.
• Integrated or standalone: can it exchange data with HR, CRM, payment and meeting tools?
• Course builder or not: some platforms only play ready-made packages; most also let you build courses from slides, documents, video and audio.

Activity. Write a one-page needs brief for a real organisation: size, five choices, three must-haves, three nice-to-haves.

Standard to meet. Name a decision on all five choices in the brief with one reason each, and make the must-haves testable.

Covers course management and learning-package standards.

• Course management: drag, drop and order content; mix PDFs, slides, video, audio and live sessions.
• Package standards: SCORM and xAPI are the common formats that let a course made in one tool run on another platform and report results. Test an upload before you promise a date.
• Learning paths: sequenced (one after another) when order matters; learner choice (finish any 3 of 5) when it does not.
• Blended learning: pair online study with a live session; schedule it inside the platform so records stay in one place.

Activity. Build a three-step learning path in a practice platform with one uploaded package, one live session and one exam.

Standard to meet. Run the path end to end, have a test learner complete it, and show the completion record in the report.

Covers learning portals, roles and permissions, and groups.

• Portals: a top-level portal controls several sub-portals, one per audience (staff, customers, partners). Copy a course between portals instead of rebuilding.
• Roles: give each person only the rights they need: view, edit, create, delete. Mirror your real structure: director, manager, trainer, learner.
• Groups: collect people by team, role or place. Use filter rules so people move in and out automatically, for example 'joined in the last 30 days' feeds the onboarding group.
• Report by group so each manager sees only their own people.

Activity. Design the portal, role and group map for a real organisation on one page; write three group filter rules.

Standard to meet. Give every audience a portal or group, give no role more rights than its tasks need, and make the rules testable.

Covers integrations, automation, dynamic rules and notifications.

• Integrations: link HR, CRM, meeting tools and payment. Single sign-in lets people use one login. An open data interface lets other systems add users and pull results.
• Automation: add and remove users from the HR list, enrol by role, send due-date reminders.
• Dynamic rules are 'if this, then that': if onboarding is complete then award the certificate and enrol in the next course.
• Notifications: personal, timely, not endless. Use the person's name, one clear action and one date.

Activity. Write five automation rules for your brief, each with trigger, action and a test case.

Standard to meet. Give each rule a trigger, an action and a way to check it fired, and ensure no rule can send more than one message a day to a person.

Covers exams, surveys, reporting, skills and certificate tracking, and selling courses.

• Exams: several question types; auto-marking gives fast feedback. Match the question verb to the course outcome verb.
• Surveys inside a course show what to fix. Ask one question per idea.
• Reports: progress, results, survey answers; schedule and export them. Look for patterns (for example, written lessons pass better than video).
• Certificates: auto-issue on completion; set expiry dates and automatic re-enrolment for renewals; keep records audit-ready.
• Selling: a built-in store or payment link, bundles of courses, plans for groups, member discounts.

Activity. Choose three measures for your brief (for example completion rate, first-attempt pass rate, time to certificate) and sketch the report that shows them.

Standard to meet. Define each measure, set a target, and state an action to take if it is missed.

People finish courses when the experience is social, clear and rewarding. Learn simple engagement tools and how to check they help.

• Points, badges and progress bars show effort; keep rules public and fair.
• Forums, groups and shared projects make learners talk to each other; assign a moderator and house rules.
• Leaderboards can discourage some people; make them optional and show personal progress too.
• Measure the effect: compare completion before and after a change, with the same kind of learners.

Activity. Choose two engagement tools for your brief, write the rule for each and a way to measure whether it works.

Standard to meet. Give each tool a fair public rule, a measure and a stop condition, and base the claim of benefit on a comparison.

Test with a small group first, then roll out in steps, then review with data.

• Pilot with a small group of real learners and one friendly manager.
• Write success measures before the pilot: completion, first-attempt pass, learner score, support requests.
• Roll out in steps by group; keep a rollback plan and a support rota.
• Review at 30 and 90 days and update the brief.

Activity. Write a one-page pilot and roll-out plan for your brief with measures, dates and a rollback step.

Standard to meet. Plan has at least three measures with targets, three dates and a rollback step.

Covers learner experience, branding, language, mobile, security, reliability and migration.

• Learner experience: easy to find, works on any device, offers extra optional courses so learners steer their own learning. Social tools (forums, sharing) keep people engaged.
• Branding: your colours and logo; white-labelling also removes the supplier's marks and sets your own web address.
• Languages and mobile: the interface in learners' own languages, and a design that works on phones and weak connections.
• Security: ask about independent security audits, data-protection law compliance, staff training and encryption. Keep personal data to what you need.
• Reliability: ask for the uptime record and maintenance windows; plan what happens when the platform is down.
• Migration: moving platforms is like moving house; list what must move (users, records, courses), test with a sample first.

Activity. Complete a 15-line due-diligence checklist for a platform you could choose and score it.

Standard to meet. Give each line evidence, a score and a reason, and name two risks with a mitigation.

On the slide: L1 Basic · What a learning platform is

Notes: Say what a learning platform does and who uses it. Notes: show a demo and name three screens.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Basic set-up

Notes: Create a course and enrol one test learner. Notes: use a free trial or demo platform.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Build a learning path

Notes: Build a three-step path with a package, a live session and an exam. Notes: a test learner completes it and the record shows in the report.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Portals, roles and groups

Notes: Set roles and groups with filter rules. Notes: give each role only the rights its tasks need; test a new-joiner rule.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Automate and report

Notes: Write five rules and a report with three measures. Notes: no rule may send a person more than one message a day.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Run the platform

Notes: Run an upgrade, a backup check and a support rota. Notes: test a restore on a sample before a real change.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Choose and govern a platform

Notes: Score a platform against a due-diligence checklist and plan a migration. Notes: every line has evidence and a score; two risks have a mitigation.