Do we need trainers with an AI Driven LMS?

Firstly, what is an AI (artificial intelligence) driven learning management system (LMS)? Well, it’s an LMS that incorporates AI technologies to improve the learner experience through personalisation, and adaptive online learning. It also offers intelligent insights into learner behaviour and performance. Think of it as a super-charged version of a traditional LMS. The key difference between an AI driven LMS and a standard LMS is that the AI LMS analyses learner data and uses the insights to personalise and optimise the overall learning process. The aim being to make online training more engaging, efficient, and effective by adapting to the needs and preferences of individual learners. The main features of an AI driven LMS are:

Personalised Learning Paths

AI can analyse a learner’s strengths, weaknesses and preferences to create tailored learning plans and recommend relevant training resources. It does this in a number of ways by tracking:

1. How much time a learner spends on a particular section of the course, which can indicate difficulty or a lack of engagement.
2. How the learner performs in scenarios, quizzes and assessments, which can reveal the learner’s grasp of concepts, with consistent high scores suggesting mastery of the topic. Alternatively, the learner’s performance may indicate areas needing improvement.  
3. How the learner interacts with the content, for instance what they click on and how they answer questions, which can indicate confidence or a lack of confidence in the topic
4. Self-reported data submitted by the learner, such as surveys or questionnaires where they indicate their preferred learning styles, prior knowledge, and areas of interest, which can help to recommend suitable training.

This might involve skipping mastered sections, offering additional practice for struggling areas, or suggesting alternative content formats that might be preferred by the learner. The modelling enables AI to create adaptive learning experiences for the learner, where the difficulty and pace of the learning content dynamically adjusts, based on the learner’s performance. If the learner consistently answers well, the platform might introduce more challenging material. Conversely, if they struggle, the system might offer additional explanations or provide remedial exercises. Tailored and adaptive learning paths help to motivate and challenge the learner, solidifying information leading to better long-term retention.

Based on AI’s data analysis of the learner tracking, it can make intelligent content recommendations for new courses, additional study material or practice exercises based on a learner’s progress. This can help to keep the learner engaged and foster deeper understanding.

Note: An AI driven LMS can offer powerful tools for personalising learning experiences, however the role of trainers in creating and facilitating these experiences remains significant. Trainers still play a crucial role in understanding their learners’ learning needs, preferences, and progress. They may need to interpret the data provided by the LMS, make informed decisions about instructional strategies, and provide additional support and guidance as needed.

Accessibility

AI can recognise images and diagrams, and describe them for visually impaired learners, enhancing their understanding of complex concepts. Language barriers are minimised with AI-powered translation tools, enabling learners to learn in their preferred language and collaborate with their peers. AI can generate captions and transcripts for videos and audio, making content accessible to deaf or hard-of-hearing learners. It can help those with reading difficulties by breaking down complex texts into easier-to-understand language.

Note: Trainers play a crucial role in adapting online training resources and online courses, offering individualised support to meet the diverse needs of their learners, including those with disabilities. An AI driven LMS can supplement these efforts by providing additional adaptive content, and assistive technologies, but it cannot fully replace the human aspect of training and support.

Content Creation

Based on learner modelling, some AI LMS can help to create basic courses and training materials based on a learner’s modelling. AI doesn’t generally create entirely new learning content from scratch. Instead, it can:

1. Perform dynamic content curation and assembly by breaking existing content into smaller chunks of learning, more focused on specific concepts. AI can tag this smaller content with metadata about difficulty level, associated skills, required prerequisites, and the learning styles it caters to. So, when a learner model is established, AI can assemble a learning path by selecting and sequencing these content modules, matching them to the individual’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning preferences.
2. Generate adaptive question and exercise templates for different question types (multiple-choice, open-ended, scenario-based) for a particular subject area. Adjust the difficulty of these by analysing the learner model and adapting the difficulty level. It might modify the complexity of vocabulary, change numerical values, or provide hints for struggling learners.
3. Generate targeted practice questions or problems to focus on skills where the learner needs extra support, ensuring they master the concepts.
4. With AI driven LMS with integrated authoring tool the AI can assist in taking existing content, such as a PowerPoint presentation and transforming it into a more interactive online course. Alternatively, there are other AI tools that can do this. Here’s how it works:
   • AI analyses the slides to identify key concepts, structure, and potential learning objectives
   • It can make recommendations to embed quizzes, simulations, videos, or branching scenarios to promote learner engagement.
   • It can generate realistic voiceovers from the text on the slides
   • AI might identify gaps in the PowerPoint and suggest pulling in supplementary resources like articles, images, or videos to enhance the learning experience.

Note: AI can streamline parts of the course creation process, but the trainers expertise in instructional design is still crucial to creating a truly effective course.

Tailored Feedback

For lower-level skills like grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and specific right and wrong answers, AI can provide immediate, specific, and consistent feedback around the clock. But it can also provide more complex feedback analysing large bodies of learner work, such as an assignment, to identify trends, common misconceptions, and areas where further guidance is required. Based on analysing learner progress and skill gaps, AI can make recommendations to the learner for learning resources that address weaknesses, suggesting alternative learning strategies or delivering practice problems at the right difficulty level.

Note: Trainers have the contextual understanding of learners’ backgrounds, emotions, and individual needs, which AI systems may not fully grasp. This understanding enables trainers to provide feedback that is meaningful to each learner’s unique situation, providing encouragement, support, and guidance to navigate challenges, overcome obstacles, and build confidence in their abilities. Trainers can use their professional judgment to analyse learner performance data and provide feedback that fosters growth and improvement.

Scalability

AI helps LMS solutions scale by automating tasks, personalising the experience, heightening engagement, providing data-backed insights, and utilising a flexible cloud infrastructure. This combination allows for serving more learners effectively, without a proportional increase in instructor or administrative workload.

To Conclude

The AI driven LMS brings many benefits and these are likely to increase as AI becomes more sophisticated and more LMS providers integrate AI tools into their LMS. However, it is vital to address safety and trust concerns to ensure responsible and ethical use. It is very important that there is transparency about what role AI plays and the types of learner data collected and how it’s used.

AI might change the role of instructors and trainers who use the LMS, but human judgment and expertise remain essential components.

Author: Carolyn Lewis, Head of Business Development

Sources:
https://www.thoughtindustries.com/blog/a-new-approach-to-ai-integration-in-learning-technology/
https://elearningindustry.com/ai-powered-and-standard-lms-which-one-to-choose