NiUG International: TopClass LMS Case Study

TopClass LMS powers the online learning platform for NiUG International, the largest independent user group for the iMIS engagement management system, with over 45,850 enrolments.

“The flexibility of TopClass LMS has provided a detailed level of administration and control over our content and user groups, which has enabled us to reduce our costs, and to provide online access to educational material that both complements and preserves the value of conference attendance for our members and iMIS users.” - Michele Morgan, Executive Director

eLearning Challenge

NiUG wanted to create an online learning center for iMIS users that would enable them to share  educational resources and training materials with their members. NiUG wanted to make available online recorded sessions from their regional and national conferences, to:

• Enable attendees to refresh, review and apply what they had learned at the event.
• Sell recorded sessions to members and non-members who could not attend the event.

NiUG also wanted the ability to be self-sufficient in creating, uploading, and maintaining their educational offerings with the capability to expand these in the future.

LMS Requirements

An essential requirement was that the learning management system would integrate seamlessly with iMIS, enabling detailed audience segmentation and control over the administration of the platform. NiUG needed an LMS which would enable them to offer recorded sessions at different price points to conference attendees, members and non-members, and to facilitate the purchase of study materials and viewing of sessions attendees had missed at past conferences.

From an administrator’s perspective, the successful LMS had to enable the NiUG team to efficiently manage hundreds of recorded sessions and member enrollments, and provide a testing engine that could easily and efficiently cater for hundreds of questions organized in multiple question banks, without intervention from the LMS vendor.

The Solution

NiUG completed a comprehensive review of three LMS candidates, developing a matrix for a detailed comparison of the features of each system, and meeting each vendor at least once during the evaluation process. WBT Systems TopClass LMS provided the most comprehensive package to meet NiUG’s immediate requirements, and included additional functionality that could be leveraged in the future to provide extended benefits to NiUG’s members. 

TopClass LMS provides a standard, proven, two-way integration bridge with iMIS, which automatically synchronizes member and learner history information between the two systems. The flexibility of this integration was key for NiUG as it would allow them to easily configure which users to synchronize, hence keeping control over their licensing costs. The power of TopClass’ bulk operations ensured that NiUG administrators also had the necessary level of control to efficiently upload recorded sessions from each conference and manage automatic enrolment of the attendees into these sessions based on their registration levels, while also publishing these sessions in their catalog of educational offerings for purchase by other members. 

Finally, TopClass’ testing capabilities were unmatched amongst NiUG’s shortlist of finalists. TopClass LMS was the only offering that would allow NiUG staff to create and maintain their banks of questions, without requiring assistance from the LMS vendor.

TopClass Results

The two-way integration between TopClass LMS and iMIS has streamlined administration for NiUG, providing a granularity of control which has enabled them to reduce their costs and preserve the value of conference attendance for iMIS users, both members and non-members alike, by regulating access to post-conference educational materials through the LMS for different users. 

There are now 5,000 active users, with over 48,500 enrolments, accessing over 970 courses through the NiUG Learning Center. WBT Systems’ services team were very responsive to the needs of NiUG administrators, providing assistance in developing detailed documentation which guided the process of
implementation and acts as a reference when on-boarding new staff members.

For the learners, TopClass LMS provides a seamless and engaging experience thanks to a clean user interface that was configured to simplify navigation between NiUG’s website and TopClass LMS and to provide a consistent branding. It also offers single-sign-on to allow members to access conference sessions and training directly from the NiUG website, without having to log in twice.

Looking to the Future

In the future NiUG plans to leverage more of the available features of TopClass LMS and move into areas such as personalized learning, providing courses on ‘Recommended Topics’ and quick-start packages for new iMIS users, tailored to their individual needs. There are also plans to support local chapters that
wish to offer incentives for continuation of training.

NiUG International is the largest independent, not-for-profit, user group for the iMIS engagement management system, which is developed by Advanced Solutions International (ASI). Starting as a volunteer-led regional effort in the mid-1990s, NiUG has grown into an international organization. The mission of NiUG International is to provide a forum to advocate for, educate and connect users and vendors in the iMIS community. NiUG aims to save its members time, money and stress by providing proven answers to their iMIS questions from other experienced users.