In David’s review of the latest iteration of the Looop LMS, he found a powerful platform that leverages automation, 3rd party integrations, personalised learning and analytics to make L&D so much easier. With a “sparkling UI / UX” it’s enjoyable to use as well…
We have long been fans of Looop and it has been fascinating to watch how a simple but profound understanding of how the modern learner approaches learning has led to Looop becoming one of the most impactful of LMS’s in organisational learning today.
That understanding of modern learning and learners recognises that learners learn on their terms, when they need to learn and that resources are in many situations more useful than courses.
Looop can clearly evidence the highest level of learner engagement we have come across. So, let’s find out how this LMS delivers spectacular levels of learner engagement and why it works so well in the modern organisation.
There are several intertwining themes at work in Looop that go to build what best can be described as a virtuous circle. Some of it is the technology provided and some of it is the philosophy of the Looop approach to learning. I guess they would call my virtuous circle description a Looop.
Let’s start our review by looking at the technology that is applied by Looop to deliver over 95% proven learner uptake.
Marketing automation
Looop has learnt from the success of marketing automation and uses it wisely, without overwhelming, to very good effect. Learners can jump straight into their learning from e-mails, texts and deep link URLs in the organisation’s tech stack including Microsoft Teams, Slack and Google Workspace.
The Looop philosophy is one of frictionless access to learning at a moment of need. The Looop team have long understood the attitude of the modern learner to finding what they want or need to know on their terms. The use of marketing automation allows learners to have a more personalised experience and this is another principle of Looop that really does deliver the virtuous circle of learner engagement.
Marketing automation means truly personalised engagement
The Looop team take a very, very hands on approach to integrating your LMS and they work closely with you to configure your LMS deployment. (The Looop approach to technical integrations is impressive and something we will come back to presently). The Looop team will work with you to understand your learner’s requirements and build out the personalised learning experience.
It is important to understand that the Looop learning approach is highly personalised and is a journey of gathering insight and fine tuning the LMS to deliver the right message and the right time with the right content. There is some machine learning going on in the background, but the Looop philosophy to learning is paramount.
The application of personalisation is really exciting. Looop brings together the creation of “action workflows” around surfacing the content consumed by learners and the communication channel they chose to react to.
The Looop UI and UX is sparkling clean, evidencing a commitment to engagement by being totally free from clutter and distraction.
Understanding what works
Was it an e-mail campaign that worked? was it the Slack channel that made the difference to learner engagement metrics? We are entering the world of nudge marketing and as the Looop deployment moves beyond MVP and the data flows become more sizable a new layer of sophistication from Looop is unlocked.
Looop really can measure the impact of that e-mail using Pixel Marketing techniques. Did learners click through directly into the SCORM e-learning or into the requisite application as per the e-mail request?
Nudge marketing
Looop has the capability to deliver some nice nudges, e-mails and other comms can be configured to come from senior colleagues…..nice, neat and no doubt very effective.
e-mails that can be timed to arrive into the learner’s inbox based on evidence of when they have previously undertaken training or learning activities; another nice nudge. These nudges can be setup in learning pathways, but are highly personalised and quite easily automated.
Learning aligned to business performance
Looop however takes this approach further in that the platform can quite easily align learning to business performance in a surprisingly easy and effective way. In essence business data (sales performance or service delivery metrics) can be used to drive learning campaigns with dashboards giving real time data as to how the campaign in progressing.
While the Looop team are really hands on at set up and configuration, the LMS makes all this alignment and automation quite easy. Research by Looop indicates that about 5 hours of training with the LMS admin team will ensure that this type of activity can be configured in-house. Looop comes with plenty of support included.
Just in case you were wondering many of those LMS like features such as assigning courses are available on the Looop platform for induction or compliance purposes.
Integrations… oh so easy
The Looop approach to integrations is interesting and well worth taking a moment to understand. Looop are using the SCIM approach and this keeps integrations truly out of the box.
There is a Looop SCIM 2.0 API supporting custom applications that support SCIM provisioning and documentation for file sharing with Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint, Google Drive, Slack integrations, Microsoft Teams integrations, Hotjar integration, SCIM Okta and SCIM Azure and a LinkedIn Learning integration. Out of the box means free and comes with support as well.
Resources and courses
Looop makes building out learning really quite easy. It always had the philosophy of creating or curating content quickly and in context and this has not gone away. For the record Looop handles courses (SCORM and xAPI) very well indeed and a lovely mix can be easily made as Looop really allows subject matter experts to express themselves very effectively.
The deep integrations with Google Drive, OneDrive and SharePoint all facilitate easy resource (and course) creation. Interestingly Looop, in adopting this approach allows L&D to act increasingly as performance consultants in the organisation by harnessing expertise. Another virtuous circle, or indeed a Looop!
Video based assessment
Saving the best for almost the last, Looop has developed a very capable video assessment tool set. I am particularly taken with the “Hot Seat” that allow scenarios to be built in video and a series of integrated test questions delivered. Another exciting innovation is the AI mediated auto-analysis of the video assessments.
Video based branching pathways can also be quickly produced. Looop being fully mobile enabled is really leveraging the capability of interactive video to deliver an excellent learner experience.
The video assessment comes with a marking rubric, a bit of a rarity in corporate LMS, but one that is hugely valuable in assessing a learner’s performance and taking assessment to a much more interesting dimension: beyond the pass or fail and with meaningful feedback designed to help a learner improve in a scenario or a sales situation for example.
As we mentioned earlier, Looop can really deliver learning campaigns aligned to sales with purposeful and performance changing learning delivery.
A modern take on analytics
Perhaps I was not too surprised to learn that Looop leveraged a marketing perspective in providing analytics. Firstly, analytics operate and report in real time. Secondly there is a real focus on the effectiveness of the message and the materials: how are the learning materials performing?
The analytics look at the materials in the amount consumed, assessments and who built the materials. This is wholistic analytics, but all presented in one highly visual dashboard making it easy for an organisation to see what is going on in real time and of course react.
Search is also tracked by the Looop LMS, no matter where the search takes place, it could be taking place in Microsoft Teams and that can be reported. This really reflects the understanding Looop has of how the modern learner learns and goes a long way to ensuring an organisation understands its learners needs.
Naturally there are the standard reporting features that come with an LMS as well.
Commercials
I am always a little reluctant to comment unduly on pricing, but it is worthy of note that Looop is totally transparent on price with no charges for APIs and a commitment to fair archiving so licences can be re-used if an employee leaves.
Looop offers a sensible approach to help get a workable price model if you are unsure as to how many learners your company may grow to need. No hidden penalties to punish success in growing your learner numbers.
In summary
The Looop LMS always was a little different. The founders were reluctant to even call Looop an LMS, but in the 4 years or so since we last wrote about Looop the evolution has been amazing, setting a new standard for LMS.
The principles that led to Looop have not changed: However now the focus on the learning needs of organisation and their employees is thoroughly evolved, tightly focused and with a proven track record of engagement at 95% or more.
In parallel, the application of technology including marketing automation, video- based assessment, SCIM integrations and analytics all wrapped into a mobile enabled LMS with a sparkling UI/UX is just great. Looop delivers learning and then some.
To learn more about this excellent, easy and enjoyable to use LMS, visit the Looop website at www.looop.co
