What is Learning Experience Platform (LXP)? What it is not?

The "Learning Experience Platform" (LXP) is defined as the platform that is said to replace LMS. In this article, we will examine the features that define LXP.

What is Learning Experience Platform (LXP)? What it is not?

What Does LXP Do?

The "Learning Experience Platform" (LXP) is defined as a promising product category that rivals the LMS market. So what exactly is LXP? A new type of mystery LMS? Will it replace LMS? Can it work with LMS?

The first LXP products appeared about ten years ago, but widespread discussion began about four or five years ago. Unlike the mature LMS market with hundreds of providers, the LXP market currently has very few providers. Many of the leading LXP products are created by independent companies, not by LMS developers. Like many relatively emerging learning technologies, LXP can be confusing at times. LXP's recognition in the field of educational technologies is increasing as its features and advantages begin to be understood.

Differences Between LMS and LXP

The LMS is basically a tool for providers who need to manage the way their training is delivered. It allows administrators to schedule and process enrollment for learning events, distribute learning materials to users, install digital courseware, track users, and manage compliance training. LXP usually does neither of these. Unlike LMS, LXP acts as a personal learning portal. Learning opportunities and content from multiple sources are selected for users, identified to them, and indexed in LXP. LXP recognizes each user and identifies content related to their job roles, skills and interests individually.

Unlike LMS's traditional and limited training approach, LXP promotes a flexible and self-directed approach by putting employees at the helm of their own learning and professional development. In fact, both approaches are important. The LMS allows companies to ensure that their employees receive regulatory compliance and other necessary training. LXP, on the other hand, helps employees find information to help with the tasks at hand and to plan and develop longer-term career skills.

What Are the 4 Key Trends Increasing the Need for LXP?

1. The Drive to View Learning from a Broader Perspective

Learning is becoming more and more informal, micro, social, multidimensional, experiential and adaptive. While LMS excels at managing lectures and classrooms, it also supports knowledge bases, e-books, performance support solutions, expert blogs, tutorial games, social networks, Augmented Reality business aids, Virtual Reality simulations, etc. weak in management. Companies need better ways to connect the right people with the right deals and content.

2. A Shift Towards Self-Managed Learning

Companies and their training departments have over the years been seen as the primary custodians of in-house training and development. Now, many companies expect their employees to be responsible for their own learning and professional development. The transition from prescriptive education to self-directed learning requires the creation of a support model that fits well with LXP's principles.

3. More Focus on User Experience

Students often get bored quickly with the encrypted clients, extra clicks, long course catalogs, poor search capabilities, and the relatively outdated look and feel of LMSs. LXP also uses many of these techniques, but the difference is that LXP uses these techniques to deliver more meaningful and better content to us in less time.

4. Advances in Machine Learning

Machine learning is making improvements to various software applications. Primitive recommendation engines required Big Data, but they are now able to more accurately predict users' needs with smaller datasets. Better search results and relevant recommendations for what is being searched are essential for users with little time.

So What Does An LXP Do?

The defining features of the LXP can sometimes be difficult to find. Some LMS providers that are gamified, social learning, and video-centric describe their products as LXP, although it looks more like LMS. In recent years, LXP products have matured to the point where their common core characteristics have been established. These key features also help define the LXP's category. Let us remind you that the features we will talk about below are not available in every LXP, and different combinations of these features are used in each LXP. We recommend taking a more formal approach to LXP evaluation and selection to ensure you find the product that best fits your company's needs. The defining features of LXP are:

  • Content Collection

LXP acts as a portal to content available on other systems. Unlike LMS hosting digital courseware and other course materials, many LXP software contain no content in the first place. Instead, they index and link to content found in your company's LMS, knowledge database, electronic libraries, document management systems, expert blogs, social networking sites.

  • Predictive User Experience

Most LXP software uses predictive logic to determine what content might be important to an individual. Estimates are based on the user's profile information (such as job role, department, and workplace), search and content usage history, self-assessed skill gaps, selected interests, and similarities with other users. LXP applies this prediction AI to focus on search results and make recommendations. As you use LXP, it begins to bring you content that is highly relevant to your personal business context, skill level, and professional development goals.

  • User-Controlled

LXP offers a host of features that enable users to take on their own learning goals and activities. Skill-based self-assessments help users discover their strengths and opportunities for improvement. Topic checklists allow users to indicate their interests. Users can create and follow their own personal learning plans.

Conclusion

LXP opens up new possibilities for companies with multiple sources of formal and informal content to support performance, training and development. It allows them to select all these contents with a common metadata schema. For users, it provides a business- and skills-centered approach to content with personalized recommendations and superior search results. It provides tools for users to define, plan and monitor their professional development.

LXP has quickly become an essential tool in the way a company implements learning technologies. But LXP will not replace LMS. Instead, it will act as a portal for users to access content of interest in the company LMS, other media outlets, documents and social resources.