Today’s digital landscape evolves at a rapid speed, and the education industry is one of the most affected by new technologies and the latest trends. The demand for e-learning solutions is higher than ever, and more and more companies worldwide feel the need to create, manage, and deliver online courses to a broad audience. Learning Management Systems are rightfully considered the best solution for this task, but newcomers can experience some problems with changing the right option in an ever-growing market. In this post, we will talk about the Drupal Content Management System, its advantages as a foundation for modern LMS platforms, valuable tips for creating an online global academy in a short time, and some real-life examples of successful Drupal-based LMS.
The Rise of Drupal-based LMS
Drupal is an open-source Content Management System, or simply CMS, that is used for almost 15 percent of top websites around the world. Due to this platform’s numerous advantages, such as cost-effectiveness, impressive community support, unmatched customization options, multilingual capabilities, and modular ecosystem, many organizations choose it for creating their applications and other software. According to Drupal.org, about one-tenth of all websites created with this CMS are related to education. The professional community around Drupal counts almost 1.5 million people and continues to grow. All of this makes Drupal a go-to option for a majority of LMS development services, regardless of the platform’s nature and goals.
Case Studies and Success Stories
To illustrate Drupal’s overwhelming popularity in the e-learning industry, let’s talk about some well-known examples of its implementation in various LMS.
IUCN Academy. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is one of the best examples of the tailored LMS platform that can revolutionize an organization’s educational initiatives. After more than 60 years of great work and environmental activism, IUCN started the process of creating a global academy in 2021. They needed a proper platform to teach more people all around the world about biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and other pressing issues. Drupal-based Opigno LMS was a great choice, allowing them to create and manage a great variety of courses and other elements, such as video lectures, quizzes, and interactive assignments. The IUCN Academy quickly gained popularity and is now considered one of the most effective LMS, with an unmatched ability to engage a global community of learners for the greater good.
National Academy of Sciences. This educational insulation from the United States used Drupal CMS to create its own Learning Management System called NAS Online Learning. The platform features an impressive variety of courses and materials that can be useful for students and working scientists. Drupal enables organizations to provide not only traditional course materials but also a wide range of multimedia and interactive elements.
Open University. A renowned UK-based institution also chose Drupal as a basis for its LMS OpenLearn. This platform is known for providing an excellent range of entirely free courses to learners from all over the world, significantly democratizing education in the process. Drupal CMS allows developers and administrators to work with a massive amount of user data and content without compromising user experience, thanks to the system’s impressive scalability and flexibility.
World Bank Group. The World Bank E-Institute LMS is designed for the training and ongoing education of professionals working in the development sector. Drupal provides LMS administrators to create, manage, and deliver a wide range of courses and multimedia content tailored to the specific needs and goals of different students. Impressive scalability allows the World Bank Group to continue adding new materials and modules.
Useful tips
Define Your Audience. Before starting the development process, define your target audience and clearly outline your academy’s objectives and goals. Pay close attention to your potential users’ language preferences, cultural considerations, and other demographic metrics. This information will seriously help down the road and help to ensure that your LMS utilizes Drupal capabilities to the full.
Leverage Multilingual Capabilities. Drupal provides some awe-inspiring language capabilities, allowing you to create a localized learning environment for students from all over the world. Take advantage of these features and translate course materials, navigation system, and user interface. Don’t neglect hiring professional translators or seeking help from online communities around Drupal to ensure that the translation is correct.
Design User-Friendly Interface. User experience plays a vital role in the success of your global academy. Drupal CMS provides fantastic tools and features for creating engaging and unique interfaces. A flexible theming system allows developers to easily design visually appealing and responsive layouts that are able to adapt to different screen sizes and devices.
Utilize Drupal Modules and Plugins. Drupal’s library of modules and plugins provides some excellent capabilities for enhancing any LMS. Interactive and media modules are beneficial for creating more engaging and effective learning experiences without significant investments. Social media and other third-party services integration are also great for user experience.
Ongoing Maintenance and Support. When you successfully launch your global academy, it is crucial to invest in ongoing maintenance and support. Of course, there is an extremely impressive online community around Drupal, and any product based on this CMS can benefit from its contributions. However, you still will need someone to constantly update Drupal and its modules to receive the latest security patches, bug fixes, and new features. Implementing a backup and disaster recovery system is also crucial for any new LMS platform.
Final Thoughts
Building a successful global academy in a short amount of time is not an easy task that requires a lot of the right tools and strategies. Drupal CMS offers just that and is rightfully considered a powerful solution for e-learning platforms. Many successful examples can assure you that Drupal is perfect for this task and provide you with some inspiration for creating a global academy that offers personalized learning experiences. Drupal’s numerous technical advantages, unique ecosystem, and open-source nature will ensure that you will be able to create a compelling and engaging environment for users from all around the world.