Reporting is often a headache for learning management system administrators. As soon as admins depart from using their system's pre-built report templates, they can sometimes find themselves in an alternate universe of SQL queries and database tables.
Reporting poses a challenge to LMS vendors as well. In designing their software, they need to find the right balance between ease-of-use and ability to create highly customized reports.
In creating the reports you'll use regularly, you should first consider what you need to get out of the LMS. One of the key learning management system requirements for most organizations is the ability to track learner progress. To meet this fundamental need, there's one report that really shines, the learning matrix. The learning matrix report provides, at a glance, a summary of where all or a subgroup of learners are in regards to their course activities.
In the screen capture of a portion of a learning matrix above, we can quickly see that Usain Bolt, even while busy training to be the world's fastest human, was able to complete one—or 12.5 per cent—of the eight courses in which he's enrolled. Well done Usain! Even in the midst of busy touring schedules, singer/songwriters Neko Case, Amelia Curran, Céline Dion, Kathleen Edwards, and Leonard Cohen have completed two of their eight courses and are well on their way to being certified in their management curriculum.
One of the benefits of a learning matrix report is that it can provide a great snapshot of learners' progress in a curriculum or course bundle. Rather than creating multiple reports for individual courses, you can, at a glance, get a global view of how learners are progressing.
