How a Bad LMS Made Me Drop Out of Grad School

(and Advice for Universities)

I’ve always been organized. I love spontaneity and the thrill of the unknown, but when it comes to staying on top of my “life” to do list, I’ve got it covered. Planned. Scheduled. Politely requesting a reminder from Siri. And maybe even written on the calendar in my kitchen for good measure.

Staying organized as a K-12 student and then as an undergrad had its challenges. Multiple courses and assignments, shifting due dates and agile syllabi were a lot to juggle. But, I got by like most of my peers. We were used to the paper-shuffle hustle because we hadn’t yet experienced how mobile technology would make staying organized and connected easier. We were accustomed to physically sitting in a classroom with our classmates and a teacher instructing, interacting and reminding us of upcoming assignments.

Following college, I worked as a journalist and public relations professional. My career path shifted to a marketing and business focus after I began working at a digital marketing agency in 2007.

At this point, you may have deduced that I’m an older millennial. Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook during my junior year of college in 2004. Three years later, the iPhone hit the market. :)

In 2008, I began working at a large corporation as a digital marketing manager. I knew that in order for me to have a better shot at a leadership position in the future, a master’s degree was in order. I thought having a marketing-focused MBA coupled with a bachelor’s in journalism would be a solid combination — especially for the content marketing path I wanted to eventually explore.

Thinking about going back to school felt overwhelming. I was working well over 40 hours a week at the time, and the thought of driving to a campus and having to be somewhere at a certain time wasn’t appealing. After some research, online graduate school sounded easier to manage — even though I never experienced an online learning environment.

Back to School

I enrolled in an online university (that shall go unnamed). During the admissions process, I received a high-level overview of the learning management system (LMS) or “virtual classroom” environment that I would be working in. The user interface seemed old school, but I was determined to get started on my master’s program.

Oh, how I wished I would have asked the admissions representative to do a “deeper dive” on the LMS. Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say.

My first class was Business Accounting. I had to purchase a book for the class, but it wasn’t a physical paper or hardback. It was an e-Book — and a terrible one at that. It was clunky, didn’t allow you to highlight, copy or paste text and the bookmarking feature didn’t work. Now math has always been something I’ve had to work especially hard at, and I was already feeling anxiety about this course. But then layer on top of that a clunky book that took more time trying to navigate than actually read, and an online learning environment that looked like it was straight out of 1993. Not to mention never meeting or even seeing a photo online of my classmates or my professor. I felt totally alone and disengaged.

I hung in there, though. Over the next two months, I logged into the archaic LMS during the assigned times for group discussions and assignment submissions. Staying organized was difficult. Nothing flowed. Nothing was easy. I felt bad emailing my professor if I didn’t understand something or couldn’t locate a document I was supposed to read or reference. I didn’t want my professor to feel like a customer service agent.

If only the LMS were mobile friendly and mimicked the experience of a social media platform. Things would have been so much better…

Peace Out

I gave it the ol’ college try, but online learning wasn’t for me. After some self reflection, I decided I needed some time to reevaluate my pursuit of a graduate degree.

My time management skills were solid, but I just couldn’t get over how terrible the LMS was. I probably spent nearly as much time trying to navigate that platform as I did actually reading and working on assignments. I dropped out of the Business Accounting course, and completely withdrew from the university.

A Few Years Later

Skip ahead a few years, and I found myself working on the marketing and communications team at an online graduate school. One of the perks in the benefits package was employees could earn a degree from the university tuition free! I still wanted to go back to school for my MBA, but my previous online learning experience scarred me. But, FREE.

I thought it would be silly to pass up an opportunity to get a free master’s degree (though I still had to pay for books and taxes). So I decided to give it the ol’ college try again. Surely LMS technology would’ve advanced by 2013 considering Facebook and other social media had gone mainstream. Um, yeah. Nope.

I found myself back in the 90s. I had to check to make sure my iPhone hadn’t turned into a Zack Morris-style-Saved By the Bell phone. “How were colleges so behind the times?” I thought. But, this time, I was determined to finish my degree. Because, FREE. And because, future leadership role.

The unfriendly LMS didn’t make it easy, though. I begrudgingly logged into that clunky LMS each week, each time mentally noting recommendations on how to improve the experience for students and faculty.

I’m happy to say I persisted. I received a conferred master’s in business administration degree November 2014 (and a new appreciation for beautiful customer-focused design). Because of both of these experiences, I have several recommendations on how an LMS can go from dreadful to delightful.

Advice for University Administrators, CIOs and Other LMS Decision Makers

Get With the Times

It’s 2017. If your LMS even remotely brings back memories of Windows 95, you better check yo self before you wreck yo self. Not only does an archaic LMS negatively impact student success and satisfaction, it also poorly reflects on your university’s brand.

Make the Investment

EBITDA, profits and revenues, oh my! If you’re a university administrator or CIO, you’ve got financial goals and KPIs you need to hit each year. While a large upfront investment (depending on your model) could potentially hinder you from hitting your financial targets for a fiscal year, don’t think short term. Make the case for change and the investment now with a long-term vision for student success, satisfaction, retention and completion rates.

Explore Outside of the LMS Industry Vets

There are no doubt a few gorillas in the learning management world with a large share of the market and brand recognition. But before you narrow your next RFP to these “big names,” explore some of the new solutions on the market today. Many of the newer LMS platforms are disrupting the old regime with user-friendly interfaces that feel more like social media than a learning management system.

Engage Students and Faculty in the Decision Making Process

Talk to the people who are actually using your learning technology. Set up focus groups and survey current students, ask your alumni and do user testing. It can be easy for administrators to make decisions in a vacuum when time is of the essence, but slow down and poll the people who are or were actual users. Having your own primary research data on your LMS will be even more compelling to make your case for change.

Get Social

Sure there are discussion forums on most LMS platforms. But don’t confuse that as being social. Today, students demand modern, simplistic and interactive social learning platforms that feel like the social channels they’ve been using for more than a decade.

University administrators should hop on Insta and Facebook. Explore the social media sites students (and faculty) are using. A social learning platform with customizable features, personalized photos and a Facebook-like experience is what students demand today. Especially in a 100 percent online program, it’s important for students to feel a sense of community. “Seeing” their peers and faculty connects them and facilitates engagement.

Email is Old School

If you’re a faculty member and feel like it’s pulling teeth getting your students to respond to emails, don’t worry. It’s not you; it’s them. Students barely check email! Today, they retrieve information from social news feeds, push notifications and messenger platforms.

Reduce email communication when possible, and check with your IT team to see what technology may exist to help you transform how you communicate with students.

Mobile First

Mobile is life as the Gen Z’ers and Millennials would say. If your LMS isn’t mobile responsive or you don’t have an app your students and faculty can log into, you are falling behind. Students want the ability to check assignment due dates, respond to an email, engage in a discussion and get push notification reminders whether they’re on the go or on the couch. Mobile first is the mantra for technology providers today, and it should be yours, too.

It Doesn’t Have to Be as Daunting as You May Think

Change is tough. We get used to things being a certain way and resist change even if we know the payoff will be worth it in the end. Thinking about implementing a new LMS for one course let alone an entire university can seem daunting. But, good news! There are several solutions on the market today with implementation that can be as simple as flipping on a switch. And, because many new platforms have fresh, intuitive interfaces, learning a new system doesn’t have to be scary.

The old LMS platform is being disrupted. With the proliferation of online universities and more traditional schools offering 100 percent online programs, it’s imperative to have a social learning platform that aligns with the technology trends and advancements of today. Those who invest in the student experience now will reap the rewards of increased student engagement, better student outcomes and a happy alumni community ripe for referrals.