How to Implement an LMS in 8 Simple Steps!

Before we begin our lessons let me make three things clear: 

First, you don't need sophisticated ICT skills to implement an LMS solution; if you are able to hold a mouse and can type on the keyboard, and have time to concentrate on what I am about to show you, then you are the right person to learn this.

Second, most of the people reading this could be doing it out of desperation of the pandemic which has befallen the world and so the solutions I propose will be simple and easy-to-follow instructions. The proposed solutions will only respond to the basic needs of providing electronic lessons, tests and assignments to students. This is something that will at least keep learning going on as our men and women in white coats battle out to find the COVID-19 vaccine.

Third, be warned that there are many entrepreneurs who see COVID-19 as an opportunity to turn the panic of colleges and universities into a business opportunity. They will take free open source software like Moodle, give it a little tweak and then sell it at an exorbitant price to you! However, there are other well known commercial LMS solutions such as Blackboard and Astria on the market. Even so, the solution I suggest to you on this blog is the most used around the world by leading universities and  a good number of renowned global brands. The system has extensive capabilities to help you manage various training and assessment needs. It is used by over 60% of higher learning institutions around the world!

Yesterday I was invited at the Ministry of Higher Education to present my ideas on how learning management systems can help colleges switch to e-campus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was triggered by the last blog-post on the e-learning vaccine. I am thankful to a senior officer at the Ministry who called on heads of distance learning departments in the various colleges in Lusaka for a meeting. I was also thankful for the opportunity to share ideas with the Permanent Secretary. It was a fruitful  discourse and I can only hope that out of this crisis, Zambia's higher-learning institutions can act on the need to utilise e-learning systems. Like someone said, COVID-19 is leap-frogging us into the future of how work ought to be done! 

Now, during the meeting at the Ministry three important questions were asked 1) How can a college implement an LMS? 2) What tools will students use to access learning materials, and 3) How will students who lack computing skills be able to use the system. This series of blog posts endeavour to answer these questions.

What I am about to present in the next series of blog posts  require you to have two resources: a computer (laptop or desktop computer) and an Internet connection. Here is an outline of what you will do in this series of learning how to implement a Learning Management System in less than 15 minutes: 

Step 1

Set up your Moodle LMS in less than 15 Minutes.

Step 2

Configure your LMS for lecturers to start using it.

Step 3

Prepare your LMS for students to start using it.

Step 4

Prepare a simple policy to guide the usage of the Learning Management System.

Step 5

Upload notes onto the LMS.

Step 6

Create and schedule a test. Note that the test will be embbeded with a marking key so that immediately a student finishes attempting the test his or her score results will display on the screen.

Step 7

Create an assignment on the LMS.

Step 8

Create a forum where students can engage in discussion assignments.

You must follow the lessons in the provided sequence of steps. All these lessons are made available to you free of charge. In times of calamity we can all help each other in our own humble little ways . See you in my next series of video posts!

Audio file of blog post