What is the first thing you do when you get a cell phone, choose a homepage, or move into an apartment? You pick wallpaper, links, decorations—you personalize, or customize, it. It makes you feel like there’s a connection; it makes you drawn to it. And if an LMS allows for personalization, learners are bound to return to it more often.

Imagine what it would be like if you could customize your LMS homepage: right away you would be able to learn about relevant new articles and posts via your RSS feed; your notes would be right where you wanted them, organized as best fits your style; you could position your courses in order of importance, chronology, etc.

These alterations might sound tangential, but they do aid in self-directed learning and help connect the learner to the LMS, making the learning experience more enjoyable.