Course-building platforms are often referred to as learning management systems (LMS), but the two platforms operate in different ways and are designed for different audiences.
Let’s take a look to see if Teachable has the features to be considered an LMS.
Key Takeaways:
- Teachable is not an LMS; it is a course-creation platform
- An LMS is designed for organizations to use with their staff
- Teachable is for building and selling online courses and coaching
Is Teachable an LMS?
Teachable is not an LMS although it does share some characteristics of an LMS. Teachable is what’s considered a “course-creation platform” and is designed specifically for people who want to design, build, and sell online courses or coaching programs.
LMS vs Course Creation Platform: The Differences
The biggest difference between an LMS and a course creation platform is the number of features you get and who each platform is designed for.
As we’ve already described, a platform like Teachable is designed for course creators who want all the features and tools to build an online course or coaching product that can then be sold or offered online.
In contrast, an LMS is designed for organizations that want a complete online learning and development solution for their staff. These platforms typically offer tools such as skills gap analysis, monitoring and evaluation tools, performance metrics, SCORM compliance, and more.
What LMS Features Does Teachable Have
LMS platforms and Teachable do share some features, such as:
- Course Creation Tools: Both types of platforms will provide you with the ability to create lessons and modules for your courses.
- Content Upload: To support learning, you can also upload files, documents, video, and audio files.
- Quizzes: To enforce learning, you can add quizzes to your courses.
- Certificates: To reward learning, you can create and send certificates of completion.
- Student Management: Enroll/remove students and manage their access rights.
- Student Communication: Message your students directly via email.
What LMS Features Teachable Lacks
As we have said, an LMS goes deeper than course creation. It is an entire learning ecosystem specifically for organizations that want to consolidate and manage all their training and development from a single platform.
Here are some common LMS features that Teachable lacks:
- Skills Gap Analysis: Used to understand how much and what type of training each student requires in order to progress in their role.
- Evaluation Tools: This goes beyond quizzes and includes features such as exams, coursework, assessments, and on-the-job evaluations.
- Performance Metrics: Tools to understand how each individual is performing in their role and where they need to improve .
- Onboarding Features: Organizations with an onboarding process for new hires can use the LMS for this purpose.
- Training Calendars and Rosters Management: For live or in-house training sessions.
- SCORM Compliance: This is the industry standard for educational technology and allows data to be transferred from one LMS platform to another.
- Student Communication: As well as email, an LMS will have direct messaging and live chat.
- Community Spaces: Features for group chats and discussion boards.
- Integration with Third-Party Training: Organizations often need to run certified training with third parties. An LMS will link to these third parties to enable students to access them.
- Automation: Modern LMS platforms will have the ability to automate many of the administrative and repetitive tasks.
In conclusion, it is clear that Teachable lacks many important features that are expected on an LMS platform, but this is because it is not designed for this purpose. Teachable is there for people who want an easy way to create online courses or coaching products.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Teachable as an LMS?
While Teachable shares some features found on an LMS, Teachable does not have the infrastructure or tools available for it to be used as an LMS. Teachable is simply a platform for creating and selling courses.
Is Teachable Considered an LMS?
Although it is often called as such, Teachable cannot be considered an LMS. Aside from course creation, the platform does not have many of the features required to function as an LMS.
