#sociallms #lmssoftware #onlinelearning #heartbeat #circlelms
For more than two decades, Learning Management Systems have transformed the way organisations deliver training. They have enabled us to manage courses, track learner progress, automate compliance and scale digital learning to millions of users worldwide. The delivery model of this online learning has been built around a simple assumption:
But while the LMS has become increasingly sophisticated, the way people learn has continued to evolve too.
Today’s learners expect more than a library of courses. They expect opportunities to ask questions, share ideas, collaborate with peers, attend live events and become part of a learning community. In many organisations, the most valuable learning no longer happens inside a course—it happens through conversations before, during and after the formal learning experience.
This is driving a significant shift in the learning technology landscape. Platforms such as Circle exemplify this new direction. Rather than asking how courses can support a community, they ask how a community can become the environment in which learning naturally takes place.
And the organisations that recognise this shift earliest will be the ones that create learning experiences people don’t just complete—but genuinely want to return to.
The next generation of learning platforms is no longer built solely around content. Instead, it combines structured learning with community, coaching, events, collaboration and ongoing engagement. Community is no longer an optional feature bolted onto an LMS; it is becoming a core part of the learning experience itself.
Traditional LMS thinking is centred on content – Social LMS thinking is centred on people.
When I began experimenting with Heartbeat and, more recently, Circle I realised I was trying to use them like every LMS I’d worked with over the last twenty years. I was looking for pages, courses and navigation menus.
Social LMS’s don’t encourage you to think that way.
Instead, they ask you to create Spaces.
That single design decision reveals a completely different philosophy.
A Space isn’t simply a page. It is a place where people gather around a common purpose.
A Space might contain discussions, images, events, resources, chat, courses or live sessions. It isn’t defined by the content it contains; it is defined by the conversations it enables.
That’s a very different way of designing learning.
The more I worked with Circle, the more I realised I wasn’t simply building a course – I was building an environment.
That may sound like a subtle distinction, but it changes almost every design decision.
When we build a traditional LMS, we naturally begin by asking questions such as:
Those are all valid questions because the course sits at the centre of the learning experience.
A Social LMS starts somewhere else.
It begins with questions such as:
The community becomes the starting point, with courses forming just one part of a much broader
That’s a significant mindset shift for instructional designers. We’re no longer designing content journeys; we’re designing learning environments.
learning ecosystem.
This doesn’t mean courses disappear. Far from it.
Courses remain one of the most effective ways to introduce new concepts, explain techniques and provide a structured learning pathway.
What changes is their role.
Instead of becoming the destination, the course becomes the catalyst.
The community then extends and enriches that learning through discussion, feedback and shared experience.
Learning continues long after the final lesson has been completed.
The course hasn’t become less important—it has simply acquired a different role. Rather than representing the complete learning experience, it becomes one element within a wider learning ecosystem that also includes discussion, coaching, collaboration, events and peer feedback. Learning doesn’t stop when the final lesson is completed; in many ways, that’s when the most valuable conversations begin.
This doesn’t mean every organisation should abandon its existing LMS.
Compliance training, regulated industries, certification programmes and formal qualifications will continue to rely on structured learning management.
Traditional LMS platforms remain exceptionally good at delivering these kinds of programmes.
However, where organisations want to encourage innovation, collaboration, peer learning or professional development, community-first platforms deserve serious consideration.
The question is no longer:
“Which LMS has the most features?”
It is increasingly becoming:
“What kind of learning experience are we trying to create?”
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be documenting my experience of building a working Social LMS community using platforms such as Heartbeat and Circle.
Rather than comparing feature lists, I’ll be exploring the different design philosophies behind these platforms and asking a more important question:
The most successful learning platforms of the next decade may not be those that contain the most content. They may be those that create the strongest communities.
That is a very different way of thinking about learning—and I suspect we’re only just beginning to explore what it makes possible.
Choosing a platform becomes significantly easier when the delivery model, commercial structure, and operational capacity are clearly defined.
If you are currently comparing platforms and would benefit from a structured, independent evaluation before committing time or budget, you can learn more about our LMS Consultancy Services here:
Heartbeat Circle
Thinkific LearnWorlds LearnDash Kajabi
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