Thousands of businesses all over the world use employee training, spending thousands of dollars on highly qualified trainers, expensive software, webinars and tutorials. According to ASTD’s (American Society of Training & Development) 2013 State of The Industry Report, an average spending on employee training in American companies accounted 1,195$ per  employee. More and more attention is paid to the eLearning field. As ASTD reports, eLearning investments account for approximately 86% of all costs. However, some companies found the way to reduce the amount of money spent by combining Social Media with eLearning (so called Social Learning).

Social Networks gained public’s favor quite a long time ago and today many businesses, instead of prohibiting employees’ access to social networks, turn them into company’s benefits. How? The trend nowadays is working and learning together which means implementing social Media into eLearning Software.

For example, let’s have a look at such an eLearning component for training as LMS (Learning Management System):

Learning Management System (LMS) is one of the 21st century software applications designed for administration, testing and reporting the process of eLearning. To explain simply, LMS is like a framework that handles all the learning procedures. Within LMS platform a user can easily manage content, set users’ access, track progress of learners and present data with a handy report. Examples are Moodle, JoomlaLMS, eFront, Dokeos, Guru and others.

Often, training is considered by employees a forced procedure and doesn’t bring any excitement.  Implementing social plugins into LMS, on the opposite side, allows business to improve collaboration between the employees and their engagement in the learning process. Social collaboration is intended for building communities where members can share knowledge with each other, giving recommendations and participating in discussions.  Socially integrated LMS combines forums, conferences, chats, whiteboards and file exchanges. As a result, eLearning training is simplified; employee satisfaction and productivity are enhanced.

Success of any organization depends on its ability to adapt to changes and find new ways of problem solving. Today’s employee generation is social that is why to gain success it is necessary to be with them on the same wavelength.