What to Look for in a Learning Record Store (And Why Your LMS Choice Matters)

Your training strategy won’t be effective if your organization doesn’t have clear benchmarks to meet or data to measure training success. As companies increase their investments in learning programs for their employees, partners, sales teams, and customers, training data is an essential component. With the rise of Experience API (xAPI), learning record stores (LRSs) have gained popularity and are now at the top of many learning organizations’ must-have lists of LMS features.

By now, most organizational leaders and training managers understand the importance of an LRS. And you understand the importance of capturing learning experiences to understand your L&D program at a deeper level. However, determining the best LRS and corresponding LMS can be challenging because learners’ needs have evolved rapidly in the last few years.

In the modern training landscape, every company needs a digital LMS with an integrated learning record store that is xAPI compliant so that training data can be easily tracked, stored, managed, and assessed for a more effective learning experience.

If you’re looking for an LRS but aren’t sure what to look for to ensure optimal success, we’ve got you covered. Read on to learn why learning record stores matter and the key features you should look for.

The Learning Record Store (LRS) Defined

An LRS can capture every part of the learning experience. It collects learning data from multiple content sources, including LMSs, content platforms, and even other LRSs. Then it stores all learning interactions (from eLearning, web pages, games, videos, simulators, etc.) in one consistent format as xAPI statements.

A learning record store is a central repository for all training data and, for enterprise companies with thousands upon thousands of learners, the best and most efficient way to manage large amounts of learning info. An LRS can pull data from multiple formats of training content like MP4, gaming content, virtual reality (VR), and YouTube, ensuring that every component of your training program is captured.

Benefits of a Learning Record Store (LRS)

A learning record store helps companies make training programs more effective by streamlining data collection and fast-tracking reports. And all of this data comes together to help companies truly and fully understand the impact of their training programs and adapt where needed. Training constantly evolves, and new learning needs may arise as an organization scales and grows. This is where an LRS is crucial.

The benefits of a learning record store include:

• Capturing learning information as xAPI statements
• Standardizing all learning information into a single format and location
• Simplifying compliance tracking and reporting
• Creating real-time dashboards

Why Learning Record Stores (LRSs) Matter

Okay, so here is why capturing learning data and storing it all in one format, xAPI, matters big time!

1. All learning data is held in one consolidated repository in an LRS.
2. All learning activities become part of each user’s recorded training history.

This provides a complete picture of their entire learning experience, including real-world activities, mobile app interactions, learning achievements, and more. This means no training data gets left behind.

Training is becoming more flexible and more interactive — with features like YouTube videos, gaming, sharing, etc. — and an LRS provides an easy, uniform way to track it. And then, more importantly, use its data to continually improve learning program effectiveness.

Having one location for all learning data simplifies how you measure the return and impact of your learning investment. It’s an easy way to raise your LMS platform’s value.

What to Look for in a Learning Record Store (LRS)

The first big question you should consider when adopting an LRS is whether it is standalone or native. Even if your LMS has an LRS built-in, if your LMS software doesn’t have advanced analytics and data visualization capabilities, you won’t reap the system’s benefits.

Here are the top three things to look for in an LRS.

LRS Reports

Real-time LRS reporting dashboard views enable companies to identify and act on the latest learning trends. With the ExpertusONE LRS, training managers can run real-time reports to determine which courses and activities are possible, which learners are most active in the training program, and which content is accessed the most.

And the LRS reporting process is simple when using the dashboard feature. In just a few clicks, you can generate a meaningful report.

Drill-Down Functionality Within the Learning Record Store

The purpose of an LRS is to provide actionable, valuable information about your learning program—and it will. Drill-down functionality is an essential LRS feature that makes it quick and easy to perform deeper analysis on specific learning activities by content, user, and activity type.

Detailed xAPI Statements Provided by the LRS

xAPI statements ensure you can accurately analyze how learners are consuming content and how to improve your training’s effectiveness and value. These are essential for modern learning and correspond with a digital LMS platform’s ability to provide multiple types of learning content (videos, audio, polls, and quizzes).

Here’s an example of ExpertusONE’s Learning Record Store statement:

From this report, training managers and corporate leaders can infer where their teams are spending the most time when training and which training has been most effective. Learning gaps (and, therefore, skills gaps) can also be identified by looking at which courses are least popular. From there, managers can adjust course content, add interactive elements using our rapid-authoring tool, or revise assignments to ensure that team members get the content they need.

Effective LRS Design

The design of your LRS is essential and must correspond to your enterprise LMS platform so that you can win engagement and improve the program’s efficiency.

Consider the LRS’s design from every end user’s perspective — your internal teams, channel partners, and customer network — to understand how the user experience affects your entire L&D program. Ask whether your customers can intuitively understand uploading and managing their xAPI content. If the answer’s no, look for a different LMS. People are embracing personalized digital learning because of its convenience—speed, access, and simplicity. So, if the tools you give them to use and manage learning aren’t convenient (even if you offer to train them), your customers won’t put them to use.

Ensuring L&D Success With a Learning Record Store

Investing in an LMS platform with a learning record store sets your company up for training success that will extend the impact of learning and benefit your entire network. And, no, before you ask, this isn’t too good to be true. The whole purpose of a learning record store is to show you the measurable impact of an effective learning strategy. With clear data insights about every piece of the learner’s journey, you can understand how your organization uses training resources and whether they are impactful.

Read this LRS data sheet if you’d like to learn more about our solution.

And if you’d like to continue the discussion, contact us today for a free demo.