We surveyed users of learning management systems (LMSs) at K-12 and higher ed institutions to better understand how they’re buying and using this tech.
Educators are used to dealing with the unexpected every day. That being said, even the most experienced teachers and administrators couldn’t have predicted at the beginning of 2020 that a pandemic would shut down schools, force students home, and leave everyone scrambling for solutions.
Enter the learning management system (LMS).
Part of education since the early 1990s, LMSs have suddenly transitioned from classroom instruction's digital partner to one of its only viable alternatives in the age of COVID-19 by enabling online learning and allowing educational institutions to safely continue with their curriculum.
With LMSs back in the spotlight, we thought this was a good time to survey LMS users at K-12 and higher ed institutions to get a more complete picture of how they are finding, buying, and using LMS software.
Whether you’re a potential buyer, a current user, or even an LMS vendor, we hope these learning management system statistics will provide valuable data to inform your decisions.
/ Key takeaways
1. K-12 schools lag on LMS experience: 64% of K-12 LMS users say their current LMS is their first, compared to only 38% of college and university users. Nearly 40% of K-12 users say their school has had their LMS for less than a year.
2. Functionality takes top priority in LMS purchases: Purchasers most often said functionality was the top factor in their LMS purchase decision (39%), beating out factors like reliability (20%), training support (17%), and even price (12%).
3. Gamification is the most requested feature: More than one in four users (26%) wish their LMS had gamification features. Currently, only 18% of users have access to and use gamification features.
4. LMS satisfaction is overwhelmingly positive: 92% of LMS users say they’re very or somewhat satisfied with their school’s current system. Only three percent say they are dissatisfied.
5. LMSs have been vital in the COVID-19 era: Close to three in four users (74%) say their LMS has had a positive impact in areas such as student satisfaction, teacher/admin productivity, and teaching in the era of COVID-19.
Those are just some of the highlights. We've packed this report on the LMS market full of helpful information, such as how much schools are spending on systems, what they’re using them for, and even what sources they found most helpful when researching different LMS options.
Let’s dive in.
Who uses LMS software?
Once the primary LMS user, colleges and universities are taking a back seat to immense growth in the K-12 sector.
Though businesses make up the largest segment of LMS buyers and users today for purposes of corporate training, schools and universities still represent a sizable chunk of the market. When we ran this report five years ago on all LMS users (corporate and academic), education represented a full 21% of our sample.
Looking at the breakdown in K-12 vs. higher ed users, one finding sticks out: K-12 LMS usage has skyrocketed. Representing nearly two-thirds of our sample (64%), K-12 schools have made up for the lead higher ed institutions had in being the first adopters of LMS software, and then some.
What happened? Look no further than the arrival free and affordable LMSs for K-12 institutions. According to Gartner, “in five short years, the number of K-12 educators choosing to use a free and lightweight LMS tool, such as Google Classroom, has seen explosive growth” (full research available to Gartner clients).
As we’ll show, the rise of these free learning management systems has had major implications on the market.
Overall, higher ed institutions have slightly more employees (teachers, administrators, and IT) using their LMS on average than K-12 schools. Given the size of most colleges and universities compared to K-12 schools, and the divide between individual K-12 schools using a single system vs. an entire school district, this isn’t entirely surprising.
Higher ed also must accommodate more students with their LMSs than their K-12 counterparts. College and university users in our sample were more than twice as likely as K-12 users to say they were teaching more than 10,000 students using their LMS (18% vs. 7%).
As educators lean more on their LMSs to support blended and distance learning initiatives, a significant challenge awaits larger institutions wanting to give learners the individual attention they need to succeed.
How are schools selecting their LMS?
LMS articles and reviews are proving crucial as buyers de-prioritize cost to find a system with needed functionality.
Overall, 55% of users who had a role in an LMS purchase decision say their organization was a first-time buyer. This doesn’t tell the full story, though. Breaking it up by sector, a majority of higher ed institutions are already on their second or third LMS, while K-12 schools largely remain on their first.
Though K-12 schools are taking the LMS reins in a big way, they still lack experience buying and using these systems relative to their higher ed counterparts.
Of those institutions that moved on from a previous LMS, useability and cost were the most significant factors in the decision.
LMSs being difficult or clumsy to use is a complaint that has plagued the industry for years (search “LMS” on social media and you’ll find numerous posts from students with such complaints). In response, many software vendors have pivoted to prioritize ease-of-use. As our user satisfaction results show (see Key Takeaways above), the shift appears to be working.
Though it varies somewhat from market to market, functionality and price are almost always the one-two punch at the top of software purchase decision factors. So, it’s interesting to learn that price hasn't been as big of a factor in recent LMS purchases, which we can tie back to the growing availability of free and affordable offerings.
Another interesting finding: Higher ed colleges and universities were almost three times more likely to make training their top purchase factor compared to K-12 schools (29% vs. 10%). In fact, training was nearly the top factor for higher ed overall. As useability becomes more critical, colleges and universities are relying on LMS vendors to provide robust training options.
Users involved in researching or purchasing systems say reading articles about LMS software and LMS reviews were the most helpful resources when arriving at a final purchase decision. These results did not differ significantly between K-12 schools and higher ed institutions.
Demos are one of the best ways that LMS buyers can become familiar with a potential purchase. Though it’s great to see that 97% of buyers are demoing at least one system before they purchase, ideally every buyer should demo at least three or four given the far-reaching effects these tools have at educational institutions.
That being said, the emergence of more free and affordable LMS systems has decreased the consequences of a bad purchase decision, which may explain the demo numbers we’re seeing here.
How are schools purchasing and implementing their LMS?
Spending as much as a year purchasing and implementing their learning management system, some schools struggle setting realistic deadlines.
Overall, 62% of educational LMS buyers are spending anywhere from one to six months researching options and making a purchase decision.
Our results also tell us some buyers are having trouble setting realistic expectations for their purchase timeline; 69% of buyers say their purchase timeline matched what they expected, 17% say it took less time than expected, and 15% say it took longer than expected.
Schools are doing an even better job at setting somewhat better expectations when it comes to cost. Seventy-three percent say their LMS cost matched what they expected, 17% say it cost more than expected, and 10% say it cost less than expected.
Doing the math (and using the midpoints of each price range as a reference point), LMS users in our survey are spending slightly more than $10,000 a year ($10,243) on their LMS, on average.
Similar to their purchase timeline, 71% of education LMS buyers also spent one to six months implementing their software after purchase (including setup, customization, and user training).
Sadly, it’s here where schools are also having the most trouble hitting established deadlines as only 61% had an implementation timeline that matched expectations. For nearly a quarter of users (23%), their implementation took more time than expected, while 15% say it took less time than expected.
If you’re worried about your implementation, stay on schedule with these three tips.
How are schools using their LMS?
Quizzing and testing has become critical, while reporting and analytics features remain underutilized.
Again, we see that K-12 schools are slightly lagging behind colleges and universities with their LMS, as nearly 40% of K-12 schools have had their current LMS for less than a year. It’s also noteworthy that 94% of users who have had their LMS for less than six months say their purchase was in response to COVID-19, indicating the pandemic has had a major influence on recent LMS adoption.
Overall, users in our sample have had their current LMS for two-and-a-half years, on average—a relatively small time frame when you consider how many features need to be customized, rolled out, and optimized after purchase.
Schools are most often using their LMS for needs such as teaching students virtually (eLearning) and assigning homework. K-12 users are more likely to assign quizzes or tests in their LMS, while higher ed users are more likely to record grades within their system.
What’s interesting to note here is how different schools are leveraging their LMS within their overall tech stack. Some schools are using their LMS for video conferencing with students, while others are relying on dedicated tools like Zoom. The same thing goes for a need like grading, which can be done in an LMS or a student information system (SIS).
Because there’s some functionality overlap with other systems, buyers should be careful to avoid overpaying for a system with features they already have in other platforms and apps. Integration between these systems is also critical (e.g., porting quiz results from an LMS to a gradebook in an SIS).
It’s no surprise that educators are making good use out of their LMS’ quizzing and testing features to administer assessments. What is a surprise is how many aren’t using reporting and analytics features, as they can be incredibly beneficial in diagnosing areas of improvement now and in the future.
Look for LMS vendors to emphasize gamification features as more users request them, and more studies like this one show that applying game-like mechanics such as points systems and leaderboards to educational activities improves knowledge retention and the digital learning experience overall.
Do schools find LMSs effective?
Bucking recent trends, LMS users at schools are overwhelmingly satisfied with their system and the positive effects of LMSs on education.
Overall, 92% of users say they are satisfied with their school’s current LMS—a staggeringly positive approval rating that barely wavered between K-12 schools (91%) and higher ed institutions (94%).
To put this number in context, when we asked LMS users from businesses and schools this question five years ago, only 63% were satisfied with their organization’s current system. A 2018 study by Educause adds that student LMS satisfaction is only at 75%.
Seeing satisfaction numbers from teachers and administrators this high—for a type of software that has been downright loathed at points during its history—is a good sign that vendors are better adapting to end-user needs and preferences.
Nearly three in four users report that their organization’s LMS has had a positive impact on factors such as student satisfaction, teacher/admin productivity, and being able to teach during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The only factor we asked about where a majority said their LMS wasn’t having a positive impact was the cost of teaching. Given the five-figure cost schools are investing into these systems every year, that’s not too surprising. Pairing these results with the overwhelming satisfaction numbers above hopefully means these LMS platforms are well worth the price of admission.
Final thoughts
OK class, what did we learn today? Let’s recap:
K-12 schools are increasingly investing in LMS software as systems become more affordable to address distance learning needs. Eagerness doesn’t make up for experience though. If you’re a K-12 LMS buyer, talk to veteran higher ed LMS users to (hopefully) avoid the mistakes they made.
Functionality and useability are taking priority over price in the LMS search. In addition to demoing potential systems, buyers should read LMS articles and reviews to make a more informed purchase decision.
Roughly one in four buyers are experiencing an LMS timeline or purchase cost that doesn’t match expectations. Have a conversation with your LMS vendor to set realistic expectations in order to avoid exceeding your budget or blowing past your go-live date.
Helpful features like reporting/analytics are going unused and desired features like gamification are going unimplemented. Incorporate teacher and learner feature preferences in your LMS purchase decision, as their experience will ultimately determine the success or failure of your chosen system.
More than 90% of users are satisfied with their organization’s current LMS and its positive impact. As LMS vendors continue to prioritize useability and incorporate more user feedback, these systems are getting better and better. There’s a high likelihood you’ll end up with an LMS platform that works for your needs, as long as you do your due diligence.