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About Acorn
Acorn PLMS is the dynamic AI-powered platform for learning experiences synchronized to business performance at every step.
The integration of the learning management system was an overnight success with staff having the functionality to self register for multiple face to face courses and complete online learning.
The other issue is the inability to change the home page to feature the elements we want to have eg a blog.
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Amazing tool and support!
Comments: Amazing tool & service! It was difficult sifting through the seemingly dozens of LMS platforms out there - we must have done a demo with at least 6 or 7. Acorn impressed us with how easy-to-use it appeared, and we've not been disappointed in our decision. Their support is incredible, and helps being in the same timezone (lots of others were either US or UK office hours which wasn't very convenient for us).
Pros:
Onboarding was as painless as could be expected. Reporting is simple but comprehensive, and the local support has been amazing at answering any of our questions.
Cons:
No real negatives from my side except maybe a larger content library, but I know this is on the roadmap and being built currently. Plus integrations with content providers mean there's lots available.
Alternatives Considered: Absorb LMS, Simplify LMS, Docebo and Litmos
Reasons for Switching to Acorn: Ease of use, responsive local support
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hi Adrian, thanks for taking the time to write the review. Much appreciated! We've built out a deeper content library since the review (especially on the compliance front) and we've also gone a best of breed route by integrating with the likes of LinkedIn Learning, Go1, SkillSoft (Percipio), MindTools for Business and more. Final thing we've been working on his the concept that 'less learning is more', so we're getting super targeted and optimised with content based on learner impact.
Set up of new Acorn system
Comments: We needed a system that could have multiple tenancies which we have achieved that function in different ways. This has allowed us to have our internal training for staff and contractors separate from our external training that is a revenue line for the business.
Pros:
The platform has been easy to set up with the support of the Pursuit Technology developer. The course set up structure is also easy to use.
Cons:
There is no option to have a course changed from self-enrolment to admin enrolment only. There is limited functionality to choose different selections in setting up cohorts to use fields not equal to. The set up of new users is clunky with having to upload the whole user dataset again as we don't have a HR system to draw the data from. The other issue is the inability to change the home page to feature the elements we want to have eg a blog.
Alternatives Considered: iSpring Learn, Thinkific and Litmos
Reasons for Choosing Acorn: Many reasons including cost of the platform, functionality, multiple tenancies.
Switched From: Totara Learn
Reasons for Switching to Acorn: The ability to have multiple tenancies, the look and feel of the system and the cost.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hi Melinda, having been with us 3 years and going strong we value your public input on top of the private support you give us. We took on-board the priority areas you mentioned for us to improve and are proud to share the progress to-date (thanks for all your patience!). The homepage overhaul brought with it the completely configurable widget functionality, with a plethora of widgets to choose from ensuring the homepage that you create is not just branded but also to the design of your exact needs. Cohorts is done and fixed up now, and an area we continue to invest in and the dataset upload is a rare use case for us without a HRIS, but we still intend to put more support resources (yes, real humans!) so we can help in anyway so it doesn't become the admin headache none of us need!
Thanks [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]
Pros:
[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is very responsive and clearly communicates how easy this product is to use.
Cons:
People with admin access cannot view the learning profile/history of users.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thanks for the review Bec, support to this day remains important to us.
Acorn LMS
Comments: Having used many LMS systems, Acorn is the easiest and most intuitive LMS I have come across.
Pros:
Acorn is easy to implement and administer, and intuitive for users.
Cons:
The Acorn workflow system is relatively new and still needs more work.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Thank you so much Emma, we appreciate your thoughtful response. Re the workflow builder, this is a high priority for us right now and is in active development sprints to get it to a 10/10, so we look forward to sharing these improvements with you.
Enjoying it so far.
Pros:
We have really enjoyed transitioning to Acorn as our LMS, and are finding that the software is particularly pleasing from a learner's perspective. We have had positive feedback from students and trainers when it comes to navigating course content. There are a host of useful features and functions including flexible enrolments, resources and activities, plus a great range of reports. I have been most impressed with the technical support received from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and regular updates from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], which has made the experience much less stressful.
Cons:
Due to the size of our RTO and the number of courses we need to create, the system can run slowly at times - this is being improved gradually. We are looking forward to seeing a user profile feature become available soon.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hey Erika, Thank you so much for your review! Your terrific feedback is really insightful for us and is great for us to keep in mind as we move forward with the product. We're on Acorn 2.0 now, have built out the new infrastructure which is fully live and the final step is as we are a SaaS company to ensure we work with all customers to help them have their own speed issues quickly resolved. Teams win together after all! The user profile feature is on it's second release since the review, if you have any further feedback we're all ears as ever.
Highly recommended Learning Management System for all agencies big small and in between.
Comments: We have been using this learning management system for 6 years now and will continue to do so. We could not have operated without it and the technical support is second to none.
Pros:
This learning management system has really provided us with a one stop shop for all learning and development requirements for our staff. The product is user friendly, visually pleasing, modern and upbeat in style. The integration of the learning management system was an overnight success with staff having the functionality to self register for multiple face to face courses and complete online learning. The great part about the learning management system is that you can print off attendance sheets for facilitators to reconcile records. The system also provides a range of reports that are 100% accurate because a staff member cannot register twice for the same program. We have also been able to design other online learning and development forms specific to staff's requirements and have recently added annual refresher modules for all staff so we are customizing the system to suit our needs as we go.
Cons:
We have only had a few glitches over the last six years but on each occasion the issue was rectified within a couple of hours.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thank you for the detailed review Janette. 8 years in to our partnership now, and we really appreciate your ongoing support of Acorn. We've doubled our support headcount recently, and that 2 hour turnaround now on glitches is well on it's way to being more than halved.
Clean and easy to use
Comments:
Trainisiting over to Acorn has been great as we have been able to significantly cut down on administration activities which acorn now do automatically for us. Having Acorn integrate and connect with other systems that we use is amazing.
Our end-users (our students) have found it easy to use.
As administrators in the system we have always been supported by technical and support staff.
Overall a fantastic product.
Pros:
As an RTO organisation this product is easy to navigate for both the administrators and the learners. It is clean and offers a fresh look to e-learning. There a number of excellent features that have been developed with e-learning in mind, for example, the live learning function where learners can book for live learning events and see their calender of up coming events. Reporting functions also help us keep us update with what are learners are up to and where extra support might be needed. Intergarition with other systems is a massive advantage
Cons:
At this stage, inability to customise some sections of the platefore eg change fonts and colours of text.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hi Sally, Thanks for the in-depth review! It is always awesome to hear that you've enjoyed a number of features we''re particularly proud of... it puts a smile on my face! We hear you on the changing of fonts and text colours, we've invested heavily in even more configuration of widgets, and the platform is now fully branded on all elements but the ones you raise. We wish this was a simple as putting in a font and colour chooser, but to go this route would take away our focus on R&D in improving the overall learner experience.
Acorn
Pros:
This platform was intuitive, easy to setup and even easier to use. The fact that I could easily customise the branding to match our existing style guide ensured that the system fit seamlessly into our existing ecosystem.
Cons:
This software platform suited our organisation extremely well, it would be nice for some small stage startup pricing to be available. However with that said the team were extremely flexible with our options while we were setting up the system.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thank you for your great review Joel. We hear you on pricing, and we do our best. Our mission is centred on the LMS being impactful and much more than a compliance tick box, hence the pricing, and are glad we could make it work for you in the scale up phase. Get in touch if you have any suggestions on how we can make our LMS even better for the software industry.
Auscare Support review
Comments: Great customer service with [sensitive content hidden], always available to answer any queries
Pros:
course creation and onboarding, uploading files, videos and sub-course management.
Cons:
would be good if the onboarding course could have sub-course capability.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Thanks Michelle, appreciate your time and we hear you - feedback like yours is what drives our continuous feature development. We're working on this in active development sprints, so really looking forward to sharing updates with you!
Effortless Training History Access
Pros:
It's easy to find training that i'm required to complete. The system sends automatic reminders when my mandatory training is due to be refreshed.
Cons:
The default dashboard is very basic and could do with an overhaul, but I believe this can be customised by system adminstrators.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Thanks so much for the feedback Bronwyn, we really appreciate you sharing your experience with us. We hear you on the default dashboard front, it can indeed be fully customised by your admin including not just colours and text, but all widgets and information you need to see and can be done across every type of tenancy your employer has. Our action here is to spread the word further on how easy to do this is - you've shone a light on this for us which we really appreciate.
Acorn review
Pros:
Customer support is incredible, [sensitive content] is an amazing help and always goes above and beyond. [sensitive content] is very responsive and always makes time for meetings and assisting in any way possible. [sensitive content] has been essential for us getting courses and tenancies set up. Massive thankyou for all of [sensitive content] efforts. Acorn is easy to use and has great features.
Cons:
A feature that would be a huge benefit will be bulk enrolments. At this stage we must rely on Acorn support team so will be great to be able to facilitate that function ourselves. There are some reoccurring issues with video size/ length.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Hey Liv, we appreciate your words. We truly place a lot of internal focus on top tier support, and it's great to hear that you experience that too. I'll get Sally to get in touch with you re the bulk enrolments, I just want to be doubly sure we haven't got our wires crossed as you can do bulk enrolments across various functionality such as courses and collaborative learning, and we also have workflows that can be done in Momentum. And if that doesn't meet your needs, will take a full brief from you and look at our development sprints and where we can prioritise. Thanks, Ben
Visually appealing and functional
Pros:
Training history, capability and active development plans, ability to create a mandatory training program, attendance features and reporting functions are most useful and used daily.
Cons:
The Career Pathway although necessary for people to navigate their different career development journeys is not easy to use. It's difficult updating the job roles and its capabilities, difficulty navigating between the job roles list and individual roles, it's really not user friendly.
Acorn Response
9 months ago
Thanks for the review Cynthia. Feedback from customers like you is what continues to drive our feature development. We hear you on the career pathway feature. Given that this is item is specific to your account, let's partner on pushing this one forward together.
Learnhub (Acorn) Review
Comments: My overall experience with Acorn is good and the support staff are responsive.
Pros:
I like that it is easy to navigate with a variety of functions available.
Cons:
There is no spell check available and it is not integrated with the APS Academy's APSLearn platform.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Thanks Molly, we really appreciate you taking the time to share how you find Acorn. I plan to come back to you on spellcheck as we have it in our proprietary technology so just want to be doubly sure we have provided all context and made it as easy as possible for you - thanks for raising this with us!
Acorn Review
Comments: We are unique as a Recruitment company that also offers industry training. Acorn allows us to get our point of difference out into the market and also helped us "pivot" through Covid by enabling us to offer customised learning packages for our client companies.
Pros:
Easy to use, affordable and great service and support. I recommend this product to anyone I know looking for a LMS.
Cons:
Self-registration of users would make life easier for us as we scale
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thank you for the review Casey! Self-registration is in the system now, and great to see you and many others taking advantage of the functionality. Know that we are all eyes and ears over here and open to your continued feedback. It really helps us improve Acorn and provide value to our customers.
Review on LMS
Comments: I've been pleased overall. It allowed us to develop something quickly and efficiently. The product is currently in use and is being received well.
Pros:
I am trainer / policy person and have not used LMS before. I liked that I could get into it and use the system easily (with support staff such as [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]) to get things up and running.
Cons:
The quiz functions are limited and the lay out is pretty basic.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hi Jane, thanks so much for the kind review. We appreciate you took time out of your day. Since the review we've had a complete overhaul of our quiz and assessments functionality, and are now proud it is one of the core features that we get the most positive feedback on (thanks for your patience as we got there!). We saw it as an opportunity to not just do same-old same-old, and whilst our design team focused on the UI/UX the entire product team started with the focus on 3 core questions: 1. What will motivate learners? 2. What will deliver knowledge transfer? 3. What will improve learner experience?
Acron
Comments: My overall experience with the product was very enjoyable
Pros:
The easy upside of the product and the use can be described as being simple as a walk in the park
Cons:
You really have to read every detail on the upstarting page to understand the product
Acorn Response
10 months ago
G'Day Keke, we feel super proud you are a 10/10 on likelihood to recommend. Thank you for that. We think we're getting there on the onboarding, since the review we've launched new onboarding courses, in-person training and a help centre geared at everyone's individually preferences to consume information. Any more feedback on this front, don't hesitate to get in touch :)
Learnhub Review
Comments: We have just developed and launched our Performance and Development form using momentum in Learnhub. The Acorn team in particular [sensitive content hidden] were super helpful and supportive with the build and testing process.
Pros:
The support is really helpful and effective.
Cons:
More templates would be useful and sharing across how other Agencies and Companies are using the LMS.
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Hi Danielle, we really appreciate your utilisation of learning, performance and development together, and thank you so much for the great feedback. Regarding templates, our next phase is to release 'Dispatch', this will allow administrators to share access of their SCORM content to other sites, so re your mention of Agencies - this will be possible.
Great LMS
Comments: Saved me a lot of time and allowed my business to scale more quickly.
Pros:
Integration was smooth and easy to customise.
Cons:
Can't think of anything that was missing!
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thanks for the review of Acorn Felix. We shared this review internally and there was a lot of pride that we enabled not just the saving of time for your professional services business but also the ability to scale quicker. We believe that a LMS can be much more than just a compliance tick box and you prove this out for us.
Fine for my limited needs
Pros:
A simpler version of something I was using before, for my very small business Acorn is fine for when I sometimes need it. Larger businesses no doubt use features I've never opened or needed.
Cons:
Never had a problem with it, from my purposes.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Hi John, Thank you very much for the excellent review. If you have any feedback about the Customer Success team or about the system, please let us know. We are always happy to learn from our customer.
Very easy to use and good interface
Pros:
Easy to use, good interface, user friendly
Cons:
Maybe a navigation menu on left with all the features
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Hi Prem, Thank you so much for the awesome review! We're pleased to hear the ease of use is a big pro for you, we know how painstaking it can be when a software doesn't invest here. We appreciate the idea for the nav menu, will take that into our customer feedback discussions. Regards, Ben
Easy to use and easy to implement
Pros:
It’s so easy to use, it’s very affordable and the support is awesome. Reporting is pretty comprehensive and it’s just a great LMS.
Cons:
It’s still pretty new so it has limited customization and features.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
That is some great feedback Lissa, thank you! We're always looking for feedback on how to improve, and we need to own this one from a communication point of view. I've mentioned it to the support and success team to make sure we let you know all the configuration options available and to ensure all the features for your use cases are properly presented to you. Some one will be in touch!
You’ll go nuts over this system!
Comments: Always a little nervous investing money into things like this. However was very happy with what we paid for and has improved our business!
Pros:
Easy to use and navigate. The team at Acorn we’re also very helpful and made it easy for us if we needed any help.
Cons:
The fact that I didn’t find this system sooner...I am yet to fault it.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
We appreciate the review Jack, and totally understand the hesitancy on any new investment so we're glad it paid off. Also hat tip to the fact that Acorn delivers business impact - the LMS is designed to deliver this, but also your commitment super charges the effort.
I'd recommend Acorn
Comments: Very pleased. It has had an impact on our business already - just after 6 months.
Pros:
Training catalogue, setting cohorts and training themes, recording completed training and workflow functionality are very impactful. Fuss free in setting up - we were starting from scratch and had limited expertise in setting in an LMS.
Cons:
Integration with our business was great. I'd like to see this product further developed into a Knowledge Management System. Would be happy to discuss.
Acorn Response
9 months ago
Hey Allan! Thanks for the great feedback. We are constantly looking for ways to improve the platform and appreciate the opportunity to discuss crossover with KMS. We're looking forward to continuing working with you. Thank you.
Pursuite service
Comments: Positive
Pros:
The great, prompt and professional service
Cons:
NA, loved Acorn and Pursuite Technology, everything has been positive
Acorn Response
3 months ago
Horang, we thank you for your kinds words and we are looking forward to the relationship continuing to flourish and help you link learning and performance.
Great technology
Comments: It's been great using Acorn.
Pros:
It's easy to use and visually pleasing.
Cons:
Occasional bugs. Can't complain about anything in particular.
Acorn Response
10 months ago
Thanks so much for the review Sarah, and your ongoing support for Acorn. We're still super focused on the UI and the UX at the moment, especially with our administrator view matching the quality of the learner view. Since the review we've ramped up to two week releases, as well as prioritising levels of support if something comes up on the bug front.
