My name is a little bit complicated. It’s weird, genderless, and very Danish.
People have been trying to give me a nickname all my life, but nothing quite sticks.
Hally? Nope, the long A sounds weird. Holly? Right sound, wrong letter, and way too Christmas-y. Hal? I’m sorry, Dave, but I can’t do that.
I don’t even have a manageable middle name people could use, since mine has eight letters and a silent D.
So I sympathize with Tin Can API, or at least with the standard’s designers. ‘Tin Can’ was never meant to be the final name; it was just the working title of the project before it got to marketing to put the polish and labels on it.
Unfortunately, Tin Can API stuck in a way that ‘Experience’ or ‘xAPI’ never has. It’s been three years since Tin Can launched, and people are still calling it Tin Can.
But what you’ll find is that Tin Can’s name (much like my own name) matters less than what it does.
Tin Can is a series of system specifications that helps to standardize learning objectives and designs across eLearning. It’s a way of writing code that makes the code readable across different eLearning platforms. It makes sharing content cheaper and easier, and makes transporting courses and scores from one platform to another simple instead of a struggle.
In short, readiness for standards like SCORM, and its intended successor Tin Can, is awesome, and it makes your life easier.
If your LMS doesn’t support Tin Can, it’s behind the times. Even if it’s technically SCORM-compliant, your LMS needs to be Tin Can-ready to keep up. Here’s the short list of what’s ready for Tin Can out of the most popular LMS options today.
All of these software options are fully SCORM compliant and also support Tin Can API. The following vendors were chosen because they are fully SCORM compliant as well as xAPI optimized. These vendors are also the most popularly reviewed learning management systems in those categories, straight from our list of the most popular learning management software on the market. They’re presented in alphabetical order for your ease of reading.
1. Blackboard for business
A popular choice for schools, Blackboard LMS for Business opens up the same great software to the corporate world. Reviewers love its mobile functionality, support for vast numbers of learners, and the mass learner notifications. Reviewers love the bugs a lot less, and find that admins have an easier time navigating the system than their learners, since the organization isn’t intuitive.
2. Cornerstone
Extremely popular and packed with features, Cornerstone is a do-anything LMS that has great use in business settings. It’s highly flexible and customizable, according to reviewers. The LMS migration and implementation is fluid and seamless, but it’s definitely something that first-time LMS users may struggle with. It’s growing fast, and some users have reported bugs as an expected growing pain, especially on mobile.
3. Docebo
A highly globalized LMS with 32 different languages and a library of pre-built course offerings. According to reviews, Docebo smoothly handles huge amounts of data, and they love the large built-in course library and all of the third-party add-on options. Sadly, updates take a while, it lacks mobile options, and reviewers aren’t glowing about the customer service.
4. eFront
eFront is a strong LMS with lots of variety. Reviewers rave about how responsive the developers are to feedback, which carries over into the excellent tech support. The design is straightforward and easy to navigate, though reviewers mention that it lacks many of the features found in an older, more robust LMS. Reviews offer a word of caution: to fully customize, you’re going to need some programming knowledge.
5. Litmos
It’s been ranked the most user-friendly learning management system in the world, and with as many features as it has, it’s no wonder that Litmos is an award winning option. The gorgeous layout it super responsive, something our reviewers are crazy for. They also tout it’s affordability, given its size. A favorite feature is that Litmos has a customer learning system as well as an employee learning system, making it super-flexible. Still, reviewers note that the reporting lacks depth, learning pathways can be confusing and rigid, and if you have over 1,000 learners, your system is going to suffer a noticeable slowdown.
6. Moodle
Ah, Moodle. The software so popular that, rather than trying to be it, everyone just tries to be its best alternative. Moodle is the do-it-all eLearning workhorse LMS, and I’d be remiss not to include it here. What makes Moodle so special? According to reviews, it’s how many plugins and add-ons it offers for deep customization, the huge community of support and development, and how undeniably robust and comprehensive Moodle really is. Still, there’s a lot to handle at once, and all those options can be overwhelming to some reviewers. It’s tricky to manage without in-house IT, and it’s certainly not the sleekest or prettiest LMS on the market.
7. TOPYX LMS
With a flat-rate for everything, TOPYX is a straightforward but comprehensive LMS favored by several large corporations, including Intel and CSX, as their homepage is happy to tell you. TOPYX is ridiculously comprehensive, reviewers say, if you want a feature, they’ve got it. It’s perfect for huge companies with lots of learners to manage at once, and has deep customization and design options. The pricing is flat-rate, and reviewers from less-massive companies really dislike that, since it’s simply not flexible enough for small businesses. Reviewers note that customer support is slow, too.
More?
So what did I miss? Is there an LMS that you adore that didn’t make the list? Please note that all Pros and Cons were pulled from our product reviews, so make sure to review your favorite (or least favorite) LMS as well as commenting below!