Modern technological advances make education more accessible than ever before. A report from the University of Potomac shows that offline learning in the traditional classroom loses ground. Nearly 70% of students surveyed believe online learning is as good or even better than traditional learning, and 77% of educators surveyed agree.
E-learning platforms for corporate, educational, and personal use are increasingly in demand. Hybrid work models are prevalent today, so companies strive to support remote learning and employee skill development. These companies need to create learning management system (LMS) solutions and they turn to custom LMS developers.
According to Grand View Research, the size of the global LMS market in 2024 was more than 24 billion dollars and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of almost 20 percent from 2025 to 2030.
As an expert in Drupal LMS development, I consider comparing online learning with traditional methods is important to understanding how the educational landscape changes.
In this article, you will learn about the pros and cons of both educational strategies to make an informed decision about the educational journey for yourself or your employees.
Traditional learning: advantages and disadvantages
Traditional learning is a familiar format of education — face-to-face, in a classroom. It has the advantages that online education cannot offer. For example, not all specialties can be taught online — students need practice and access to specialized equipment and materials. In addition, traditional education benefits from:
Higher level of interaction. Students can schedule face-to-face offline meetings with instructors and professors to discuss new projects, progress, or classes.
Building interpersonal relationships. Traditional learning involves students meeting in and out of class and creating meaningful relationships that can become long-term. They also bond through extra-curricular activities such as club meetings or organized excursions.
However, traditional education also has its drawbacks:
High expenses. You need to spend time not only on travel, food, and supplies but also on the training itself, which is usually more expensive than the online format.
No flexibility. In addition, face-to-face classes usually cannot be scheduled according to a schedule convenient for all students: they are held at a strictly set time, and it will not be possible to attend them after missing them.
Time-consuming. Another disadvantage of traditional learning is the time cost. It may take some students a lot of time to physically get to the training location.
For employees to undergo traditional learning, a company needs to organize an instructor, a curriculum, a location, and coordinate the schedules of all participants. Online learning via a learning management system unites representatives not only from different office departments but also from different countries and time zones.
What is a learning management system?
An LMS is a software that allows businesses and educational institutions to provide their employees or students with various learning materials and monitor their progress in learning. These systems are more intuitive and interactive than the standard e-learning platform.
The LMS contains contact tools for engaging students, monitoring their attendance, analyzing their skills, and selecting individual learning materials for them.
What are LMSs used for?
Businesses and educational institutions use LMSs to meet their learning goals and strategies, such as employee onboarding, training, development, sales training, or blended learning. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
Onboarding and training new employees
The organization provides new employees with access to training programs on different devices. They share their experiences and provide feedback, which allows the employer to evaluate how effective the training materials are and identify areas where new employees need to be strengthened.
In addition, LMSs can be used for extended corporate training purposes, such as partner and customer training. For example, companies that create software can offer their customers not only the product but also comprehensive training so that the customer can use the product confidently.
Employee development
The company’s specialists need to take courses that support the development of their competencies. So, they can keep their finger on the pulse of product changes, have compliance knowledge, and develop their professional skills.
Sales training
Companies that provide goods and services for clients strive to improve the sales skills of their employees. With the help of LMSs, they create product knowledge seminars, during which “students” receive training materials with practical examples of the company’s real past experience with customers.
Blended learning
In cases where traditional classroom learning is mandatory such as surgery or engineering, students can use Classroom365 a smart board for teaching lessons and an online LMS tools to augment face-to-face learning with digital learning content tailored to each student.
They can practice with virtual simulations and test their knowledge with progress-tracking quizzes.
Advantages of learning management systems
Availability. With the internet now available to most people, LMS platforms unite students from all over the world.
Moreover, there is no lack of educational materials for students. They are stored in one place and are accessible from any device. Students can return to the content they need at any time.
Economic benefit. The company does not need to spend money on renting and maintaining a training facility, the instructor’s salary, transportation, and accommodation, as well as printing physical copies.
Scalability. An online learning organization can expand and provide training to many more people than a typical classroom can accommodate. It is also easy to track the attendance of all the students with an LMS.
Customization. Each organization can order the development and customization of the learning management system according to its needs and requirements. Reporting methods, assessment, as well as content and branding can be customized as soon as the need arises.
Updates. If a company releases a new product, updates safety standards, or revises work processes, it doesn’t need to revamp the entire course; it’s enough to make changes to specifications, forms, and requirements. All students have immediate access to these changes.
Disadvantages of a learning management system
Setup and integration. For an organization to effectively use the LMS, it needs specialists with expertise in setting up the system according to its training needs and subsequently integrating the LMS with the organization’s existing technical infrastructure.
Lack of features. Certain LMSs use a “freemium” model with fewer features — a limited number of students, simple statistics without deep analytics, and one type of assessment (only completion tracking, or only testing). The user is forced to pay a subscription fee to gain full access to the system.
Difficult shifting period. Implementing an LMS and shifting staff to e-learning may take longer than expected. There is a risk that problems may arise at the initial stages of adaptation, when an instructor may prefer the familiar “blackboard and chalk” style to a fully functioning LMS and be uncertain about working with the system’s interface.
On a final note
An organization that chooses LMS learning applies a modern approach to training. If the development and implementation of the system are carried out by specialists with a good reputation and high expertise, this simplifies not only the adaptation to the new training format, but also the training process itself for employees.
However, it is not enough to implement the first LMS you choose. It is essential to find an advanced and reliable e-learning system that can be flexible, scalable, and customizable to the needs of the client.
This is what Drupal-based LMSs are. But before developing an individual learning management system considering the needs of the company’s employees, you can contact the Drupal consulting company to define a clear strategy, plan the architecture, and make a migration roadmap.
Specialists are able to help you identify unclear requirements and give professional recommendations.
Author: Vladimir Kukarekin
Vladimir is an LMS expert at Attico, specializing in Drupal backend development. With extensive experience in the field, he excels at tackling complex challenges and leads a team of skilled professionals.
