There are many ways to train your employees. You could organize live seminars and deliver lengthy lectures in classrooms or hotel ballrooms. You can bring in industry experts and influencers and organize workshops. More often than not, industry influencers charge a bomb for sharing their knowledge. Not only that, seminars and lectures are not always the best way for most people to learn, and they take people off the job (lost opportunity, and unproductive use of time).  Live seminars and classroom-based training may not be viable and cost-effective options for small and midsize businesses. And of course, you may give your employees challenging assignments and tasks and impart OJT (0n-the-job training) skills, but there are problems with both approaches too. Online eLearning platforms may be the answer you should consider.

One of the most effective ways to train is to use an online learning platform, or LMS (learning management system), to put together a series of courses prepared by experienced personnel. The same platform can also be used to deliver online lectures, organize eLearning, conduct employee tests, and assess employee performance. There are many of these online learning platforms and choosing the best one is undoubtedly overwhelming.

Here are 10 platforms that will bring down your training cost. To learn more about the features and pricing for any of these platforms, readers should refer to the respective platform websites—products, fees, and features change from time to time.

  1. MindFlash
  2. This platform will let you customize all your course content. Right from creating and designing PowerPoint presentations, videos, and MS Word documents, to tracking the performance of trainees, you can create different types of content that adheres to SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards. For all intents and purposes, this platform is scalable. In other words, by using this eLearning platform, you can train not only your employees but also external stakeholders such as contractors, partners, etc.

    Social integration features are good and third-party services are decent. There’s a 14-day trial plan so you can get a true feel of the platform. MindFlash currently offers three variants—Basic, Advanced, and Pro.

  3. Latitude Learning LMS
  4. This learning management system has a vast array of impressive features such as HTML widgets, multi-language support, custom web pages, provisions for logo and image branding etc. Organizations can track their employees’ performance by using different types of reports such as standard reports, ad hoc reports, etc. This platform can be used in different sectors such as retail, franchise, consumer durables, pharmaceuticals, etc. It’s an extendable eLearning platform. In other words, you can use this LMS to train your partners, affiliates, franchises etc.

    Pricing is dynamic. There is an enrollment-based pricing plan and there’s a contract option as well.

  5. Litmos

    This is a cloud-based online learning platform that learners can access on desktops and mobiles. It currently claims more than one million users. Its built-in dashboard is simple, straightforward, and profoundly powerful. You can monitor your sales activity by integrating the Salesforce app into this platform. You can create innumerable courses and modules.

    There’s a 14-day trial plan. You can use this trial plan to your advantage. There are three price variants—Enterprise, Silver, and Gold.

  6. CourseMill

    As the name suggests, CourseMill lets you create innumerable courses. It has advanced tracking and reporting functionalities. For instance, you may access visual reports that are replete with charts and graphs. CourseMill can notify learners about upcoming courses and other important updates. Notifications take the form of emails, which often have links that direct users to new courses or projects.

    CourseMill’s instant messaging feature is worth mentioning. Users can chat with each other and share subject knowledge.

  7. TalentLMS
  8. This platform makes learning absolutely fun. It has a plethora of gamification features such as rewards, badges, points, leaderboard scores, etc. Thanks to TalentLMS, course creation boils down to a few minutes. This LMS has a dedicated marketplace for buying and selling courses. More importantly, there’s a provision for instructors to share their courses with non-registered users.

    There’s a free account option and functionality is top-notch. Advanced features such as automation of courses, user management, etc., are available in the Plus and Premium plans.

  9. iSpring Learn LMS
  10. iSpring Learn lets you create comprehensive, interactive, and engaging course content by using effective tools such as PowerPoint, SCORM packages, audio and video support, reference documents, Flash, and HTML 5. Customization options are many. As a matter of fact, you can change different visual entities such as logo, color, language, etc., of your courses.

    Upon completion of a course(s), learners automatically receive certificates through email. Trainers can conduct quizzes and content security mechanisms are pretty advanced. This platform can be accessed on iPad and Android tablets. Learners can save courses and complete them offline. And yes, there’s also a free 30-day trial plan available s0 you can test its capabilities. This learning platform offers three plans—Starter, Pro, and Enterprise.

  11. eFront
  12. eFront is a new-age online platform that is scalable, customizable, efficient, and reliable. The user-interface is clean and pretty much straightforward. It’s completely user-intuitive. It’s power-packed with many gamification features. There are many provisions in eFront that help trainers identify and reward quick and hardworking learners.

    As far as content operability is concerned, eFront adheres to industry standards. Right from basic courses on computer skills to advanced courses on ethics in the workplace, this content-friendly platform lets you create every kind of learning content. Reporting features are extensive. Other noteworthy features include video conferencing, discussion forums, offline learning support, multi-lingual support, etc.

  13. 8. Absorb LMS
  14. This is an intelligent and multi-purpose online learning platform that is highly scalable and configurable. It’s available as both a hosted and an on-premise installation solution. It’s easy to create and distribute training courses and there are many automation features. This platform houses many course assembly tools such as quizzes, exams, assignments, etc. By the way, it’s optimized for as many as 20 languages.

    There are many provisions to embed YouTube videos into different courses. There is little information available on plans and pricing so you will need to contact the company for the price list.

  15. WizIQ
    If you are looking to offer self-paced training programs to your employees, WizIQ is an affordable enterprise learning option. It’s effortlessly easy to use and mobile-ready. Its three-step assessment creation wizard is definitely worth your attention. There are many ready-to-use and deploy templates which make massive open online course (MOOC) creation a rosy job.

    It offers four premium plans—Plus, Pro, Premium, and Enterprise. This platform is ideal for freelancers, small and midsize businesses, large enterprises, etc.

  16. Digital Chalk
    Digital Chalk lets you use existing content from different video websites and convert them into PowerPoint slideshows. There’s a comprehensive built-in online editing suite. Right from uploading and synchronizing your presentations to adding checkpoints in quizzes, this eLearning platform lets you play with its content management features. Its HD video streaming feature is noteworthy. There isn’t any information available about social learning features such as discussion forums, live chats, blogs, etc. Gamification features are absent.

    Found this article useful? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments. If you have any queries or concerns, shoot them in the comments. I shall reply in a day or two. Keep watching this space for insights and emerging trends on eLearning. Happy eLearning!