The LMS Lie: Why Your Learning Management System is Actually Making Learning Harder

The Great LMS Deception

Welcome to the very first episode of Ed Tech Hates You! We’re starting with a bang by tackling one of the biggest lies in education technology: that Learning Management Systems actually help students learn.

The Problem with Digital Filing Cabinets

Most LMS platforms like Canvas, Blackboard, and Google Classroom were designed as administrative tools first, educational tools second. Here’s what we discovered:

• Navigation Nightmare: Students spend more time finding assignments than completing them
• Feature Bloat: 80% of LMS features are used by less than 20% of teachers
• Mobile Misery: Despite promises of “mobile-first” design, most LMS platforms are barely functional on phones

“I spent three hours trying to figure out where my professor posted the reading list. Turns out it was in the ‘Modules’ section, under ‘Week 3,’ in a folder called ‘Supplementary Materials.’ I gave up and emailed five classmates instead.” - Anonymous student

What Teachers Actually Need

Through our interviews with dozens of educators, we identified what teachers really want from their tech stack:

1. Quick Content Publishing - Upload a PDF, share a link, done
2. Simple Communication - Announce changes, answer questions, provide feedback
3. Basic Analytics - Who turned in what, when, and how are they doing overall
4. Reliable Access - Works every time, loads fast, doesn’t crash during finals week

The Vendor Problem

Here’s the dirty secret: LMS companies make money from licensing deals with institutions, not from improving student outcomes. This creates a perverse incentive structure where:

• Features are designed to impress procurement committees, not end users
• User feedback is filtered through IT departments who rarely use the product
• Success metrics focus on “adoption” (logins) rather than learning

Better Alternatives

We’re not just here to complain. Here are some alternatives we’ve seen work:

For Small Schools:

• Simple WordPress sites with protected content areas
• Notion workspaces with student access
• Google Sites + Google Drive combinations

For Larger Institutions:

• Open-source solutions like Moodle with heavy customization
• Hybrid approaches using Slack/Discord for communication + file sharing tools
• Custom-built solutions focused on specific institutional needs

The Real Solution

The best “LMS” we’ve encountered was actually a teacher who used:

• A simple website for posting materials
• Email for announcements
• In-person conversations for feedback
• A paper gradebook (yes, really)

Her students had the highest engagement scores in the department. Sometimes the best technology is less technology.

Action Items for Educators

If you’re stuck with an LMS, here’s how to make it suck less:

1. Simplify Navigation - Use only 2-3 main sections, ignore the rest
2. Consistent Naming - Same structure every week/unit
3. Student Onboarding - Spend class time teaching navigation, not assuming they’ll figure it out
4. Backup Plans - Always have a way to share materials when (not if) the LMS goes down

What’s Next

In upcoming episodes, we’ll be diving into:

• Why “personalized learning” algorithms are anything but personal
• The accessibility nightmare hiding in plain sight
• How procurement processes are destroying educational innovation

Got horror stories to share? Questions about alternatives? Email us at edtechhatesyou@example.com

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Special thanks to the 47 teachers who shared their LMS horror stories with us. Your pain was not in vain.