Learning Conversations

One of the comments I made in my previous post, was about the Android Marketplace being a mess.

I've since had a conversation with a colleague who has far greater experience of Android than I have.

It's not that the Marketplace is a mess, it's more a case that it's a true open-market. Anyone can submit applications, and then the rest of the community rates those applications and can flag up ones that are dodgy or malicious.

It's a case of buyer beware - either don't download something that hasn't been rated positively by a number of people, or be prepared to do your own testing.

Hopefully that clarifies things.

This is a follow up to an earlier post on Mobile Content Delivery, where I looked at the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods available.

I've been digging a bit further into what's available to help you get your content into mobile devices. What follows is a brain dump of my current state of knowledge... I'll be focussing on iOS devices (as that's all I've got to experiment with), but there are significant downsides to this, as you'll see below.

PDF

PDF files are probably the easiest way to distribute content that is purely static (ie. no animations) text and graphics. On an iPad you can save them into your iBooks collection. They can be read offline; are searchable; easy to browse and can contain internal and external hyperlinks.

They're also really easy to deploy; either as a download, or attached to an email.

Creating them can be as simple, or as complex as you wish. At its simplest, you can print to a pdf from any application that allows printing, including Word, Powerpoint, Keynote etc. Or you can do high-end work using desktop-publishing software in combination with tools like Adobe Acrobat.

The downside with a pdf, at least with the default iPad reader, is that you can't copy any of the text or images, nor use any of iBook's note-taking, highlighting or dictionary functions. Also, the only way to enlarge text is to zoom in on the pages - as opposed to eBooks which reflow text when you enlarge it.

eBooks

eBooks are as simple as PDF's to deploy. They have a couple of advantages over pdf's though:

• Ability to incorporate DRM (eg. as used by Derbyshire libraries - I use Bluefire Reader on my iPad to read the book, as it has some sort of integration with the AdobeID which the libraries use for authentication and DRM).
• Able to use a wider range of functions than is available in the PDF reader - eg. notes, copy, highlighting, change text size

On the DRM front, it's worth noting that O'Reilly (one of the world's largest technical publishers) does not use DRM on its eBooks, yet has still seen massive growth on sales of eBooks. From the end-user's perspective, they run the risk of losing DRM-protected eBooks they've paid for at the whim of the supplier.

eBooks are not as easy to create as PDF's. However they are not difficult, if you have a reasonable understanding of HTML and CSS.

eBooks have a standard format, known as ePub. An ePub file is basically a zip file but with a .epub extension to the filename. If you rename the file so it has a .zip extension, you'll be able to unzip it and take a look inside, where you'll find:

• A set of html or xhtml pages - these are the pages of your book. Each page is completely separate, although you can have links between them. The eBook software will handle creating the table of contents
• Any associated CSS files and images, often inside sub-folders
• A couple of XML files that contain: 1) A list of all the files in the eBook, and 2) the table of contents

It's slightly more complicated than that. For a really good introduction to ePub files, and how to build them by hand, look at http://www.jedisaber.com/eBooks/

You can be quite creative with eBooks, as shown by the ePub Zen Garden site, but you don't have total control of the layout, particularly where images are concerned, as the eBook software will shift things around to get the best fit on the page.

There are two main (free) tools around to help you create ePub files:

• Sigil - which describes itself as a WYSIWYG eBook editor
• Calibre - which is an eBook management programme, which can also create eBooks from other formats

If your starting point is a Word doc or similar, and the pages are quite simple, then look at Calibre. As long as your Word doc is nicely formatted (using styles - see Working Efficiently: Word Processing) then Calibre should have no problem turning it into an ePub file which can go straight into your eBook reader.

You'll have limited control over the output, but it's a simple process.

If you are starting from scratch, then I'd recommend Sigil. It lets you write each page in turn and builds the XML files for you. And, if you know some HTML and CSS, you can have quite a bit of control over the look and feel. You can even have floating divs (if that's what rocks your boat!)

It's best to keep eBooks as simple as possible, because not all eBook readers will support every HTML and CSS element. The more complex you make it, eg. with embedded media and imported CSS, the more testing you're going to have to do on your target devices and reader applications.

Pure native applications

By pure native application, I mean one that is crafted using the native coding system required by the device. For iOS devices, this is Objective-C. It may be built by hand, or using some sort of automated tool.

The problem I've had with this approach is that I can get so far, but no further.

For one thing, not having been brought up with Object Oriented programming, I've got an incredibly steep learning curve before I can do anything remotely useful.

For another, even though I've now upgraded my Mac from OSX 10.4 (thanks to Apple store: Meadowhall for all their help with this), and have now got XCode (the development environment) installed, I can't deploy even the tiniest test app to my iPad or any other device without paying $99 per year for the privilege, and going through incredibly convoluted deployment processes.

I'm not sure I understand the philosophy behind this, apart from Apple's desire to control the flow of apps. It creates a barrier to entry that only allows through those who are really serious about app development, with no room for those who are trying it out for size.

Yes, the Android Marketplace is a mess, with no quality control whatsoever more of an open market, with market-drive controls [updated following conversations with someone who's got more experience here than I have]. But, it does mean that the new generation of developers are going to get their formative experiences (when they've got no money) with Android devices.

Anyhow, assuming you have a paid-up Apple Developer account, you've got a number of options to create content-based apps:

• Handcode using Xcode - but this is not for the faint-hearted!
• Use an online tool like Buzztouch or Google's App Inventor - which provide a building-block approach to app building. Buzztouch is multi-platform (although the most recent version is currently iOS only), whilst App Inventor is Android only. They help you to create the code, and then allow you to download it to tweak offline and then deploy.
• Use a high end toolset like the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to build highly interactive, content-based apps, like the Guardian iPad Edition - which certainly is extremely good-looking, and highly usable - but very expensive to produce unless that's all you do...

Web applications compiled as native applications

The alternative to learning native code is to build your content using HTML, CSS & Javascript - just like a website - and then package it in such a way so it can be deployed as an app.

Building the content then becomes the easy bit (as long as you follow good design practice, often using grid-based CSS which can adapt to the available screen size, eg. Less Framework, Frameless Grid, or Magazine Grid). You can even add a lot of interactivity using Javascript such as the Sencha Touch framework - although this can get complex quite quickly - it's best if you're reasonably happy with tweaking Javascript.

You then need to wrap it in some code which the mobile device will recognise as pure app code.

This has already been done for you.

PhoneGap lets you deploy to multiple platforms, and lets developers make use of the specific features of those platforms, eg. accelerometers or GPS. Deployment can be simple (eg. to Nokia S60 platforms) or complex (eg. to iOS devices - as described above). You will need to know a little bit about your target platform's native code to get the best out of PhoneGap.

Alternatively, if you're using iOS, and you're just deploying content, then look at the Baker eBook Framework. It's similar to ePub, in that you create all your content using multiple html files in a single folder. But the Baker Framework then provides the Objective-C code which transforms the pages into apps that can be sold through the App Store, with built-in navigation and page turn effects.

The Laker Compendium takes things to the next stage, by combing the Less Framework (for design), the Baker Framework V2 (for deployment), JQuery (for interactions like double-taps and swipes), and JPlayer (for playing rich media). It really is very simple to use, and quite beautiful to work with. It's a great way of creating magazine-type apps. But, again, it relies on you having an Apple Developer Account if you want to actually have people using it.

Pure web applications

If you don't want to use any of the device-specific App Stores you can just use the tools above, like Magazine Grid and Sencha Touch to create what are essentially, mobile friendly web-sites. But, with the right bits of code, these display as applications within the device.

The key thing to remember, is that, unless the site has been programmed to save all the content to the device, your users will need to be online to view the content.

The other thing to think about is whether you want payment for access to the content. If you do, then you'll need to build some sort of back-end system that has a user management and authentication process. That's not at all trivial. The OpenAppMkt provides an optional payment mechanism, although it's difficult to know quite how that works, since the developer just provides a link to their mobile-website - which is on the open internet anyway. I'd welcome some enlightenment on that one...

If you don't want payment, then you can put web-apps on the open internet. For a great example of what's possible, see: http://www.asidemag.com/ - best viewed on an iPad.

Content creation services

The final option for creating content, particularly when it's geared around learning, is to use an existing service that already has an approved app in the App Store. Examples include Xyleme's Pastiche, Epic's GoMo, and Upside Learning's Upside2Go.

All of these offer tools to help you create content, quizzes and other interactions, and then to deploy them through an existing app.

Although these services provide a lot of capability, they do also limit what you can do. You'll end up with quite a templated approach, which may become frustrating if your target audience develops faster than the service provider - a situation that is increasingly common with the rapid pace of technology adoption.

@CraigTaylor74 suggested I write this article, following a brief twitter conversation, during which I stated that I was unlikely to join the ELearning Network or any other paid-for membership organisation.
 
What I'm going to say below may be based on a complete misunderstanding of the true situation, so I'd really appreciate any feedback. I'm prepared to have my mind changed! 
 
In the field of learning & development there are a multitude of professional organisations you could join: ASTD, Learning and Performance Institute, Elearning Network, Association for Learning Technology, Chartered Institute for Performance and Development, British Institute for Learning & Development.
 
Pre-Internet, there was definitely a place for such organisations, but I would question their relevance in a world where we can all easily build up professional networks and trusted sources of information.
 
What do these membership organisations offer in return for your cash?
 

 
• Access to knowledge and new ideas
 
• Recognition of your skills and experience
 
• Collective access to senior policy makers
  (although that is only the stated aim of one or two of the organisations)

 
I'll look at each of these in turn:
 

Access to knowledge and new ideas

 
I follow 888 people or organisations on Twitter, and track 413 blogs and other sites via Google Reader. Why do I need to pay to be part of a group of people, when they are already sharing their knowledge quite readily for free?
 
We're in what is known as a "gift economy", where people give away services for free. The expectation is that, even if you are initially solely a consumer, you may eventually be in a position to give away your knowledge too.
 
I agree, however, that there is a place for events where you can get direct access to individuals with knowledge. But I don't want to just be on the receiving end of a presentation - I'm looking for conversation. The presentation could have been done in advance through technology. I want to be in a group that is discussing ideas, not just consuming them. These events cost money to run, I know. But they don't have to be expensive - just look at the wave of Teachmeets going across the UK - even now into teacher training. With a bit of careful sponsorship, they could even be free.  
 

Recognition of your skills and experience

 
When you're starting off in a career, qualifications are what counts. You've got nothing else to prove that you know what you're about.
 
As you progress, it's your reputation that becomes more important than your qualifications. I try not to keep track of how many followers I have, or who's reading my blog (given the stats engine on my blog software, that's pretty difficult anyway...), but my gut feel is that, amongst my peers, I've got a reasonable reputation. I hope someone would tell me if otherwise!
 
The problem comes when your employer, or potential employer, knows nothing about blogs, Twitter et al. And then it becomes a case of pieces of paper, backed up with tales of how well you've done at your previous jobs. That's where my LinkedIn profile comes in handy, as it's where I keep an up-to-date account of my jobs and achievements.
 
I did go for the CMALT (Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology) qualification, and held that for a year. But I've let my ALT membership lapse now, so can't use those letters after my name any more. Not that it was important though, since, in corporate L&D, very few people really know about ALT anyway.
 
And that's the problem. There is no real, recognised qualification scheme that I fit into. There's no way I'd go down the CIPD route, as that would push me into HR and generic training manager roles - even though I do small bits of that. Similarly with the Learning & Performance Institute, as their qualifications are all about trainers and facilitators, even though I do some of that too.
 
For people like me, at the cross-over between IT, L&D and management consultancy, there is no professional body to join. And that's unlikely to change, since we're not a homogenous group of people. We all have different needs and experiences. Just like I don't fit into our competency framework, I'm not going to fit a certification scheme.
 

Collective access to senior policy makers

 
To be honest, I think ALT is the only learning technology related organisation that has a need to change public policies - given their roots in Further and Higher Education. If I was working in those sectors, then I'd definitely be an ALT member - mainly for that reason. The equivalent organisation in the primary & secondary sectors is NAACE - which I was also a member of for a while. But, working in the private sector, you feel very removed from government policy. Which is probably why none of the professional bodies seem to be at all worried about lobbying for policy changes. (At least, as far as I can see).
 
This is where the real strength of a membership organisation can be found. Just like unions, which exist to support each individual member when in need and to promote the needs of the entire membership, there is strength in numbers. It means you have the finances to provide support when needed, and it means people will listen to you.
 
Our professional membership bodies, however, don't seem to have any form of mutual support built into them (that's not what they're there for), and no clear idea of who needs to listen to them. They just become organisations for sharing ideas - which, as I said earlier - I can get elsewhere.  
 

Great video from Nigel Paine, produced by GoodPractice, focussing on how learning will become central to organisational effectiveness.

But, for that to happen, our whole thinking about the "learning" function needs to change. It's not about knowledge, or even competencies. It's about how people really behave.

Corporate IT in many organisations is in a difficult position at the moment; squeezed between its users with ever-increasing expectations, and between shareholders who want even more value for money.

And then along come the Software As A Service (SAAS) companies offering to meet user expectations and at a better price.

It's just not fair!

In this article, I will take a look at how the SAAS providers are able to do so much, so cheaply; why it's almost impossible for internal IT departments to compete on equal terms; and some possible routes forward for corporate IT.

SAAS providers put their application onto an Internet-facing server (or, more likely, servers) and make that single application available to multiple clients. This is known as the multi-tenanted model, and is one of the most common form of SAAS operation.

What this means is that SAAS software is highly commoditised, you buy as little or as much of it as you want. That's where corporate IT, with their bespoke implementations each time, just cannot compete.

By having a single instance of their software, SAAS providers significantly reduce the cost of deployment and maintainance. They only have to do things once. Of course, they have to do it right first time, but that's why most SAAS providers have extremely rigorous testing and deployment procedures to prevent any mistakes. Corporate IT has to do the same thing, but without the size of organisation behind them.

With SAAS providers talking about having millions of users, not thousands, like most corporate IT departments, they are able to make use of massive economies of scale. Their server farms will be designed from the ground up to be reliable, and, if a component does fail, there'll be robust systems that kick in to prevent the whole service falling over. It has to be like this; when you've got millions of users globally, you can't afford the PR disaster that would result from a wholesale system failure. Again, corporate IT should be doing the same thing, but 100% service levels are extremely expensive to achieve.

SAAS software has to be easy to use and highly configurable, especially in a competitive marketplace. So SAAS providers generally invest vast sums in creating highly configurable and intuitive user interfaces. They know they are competing in a consumer market; not just for the enterprise spend, but also for the individual. That sort of investment is something you rarely see in corporate software which is usually designed around the needs of the organisation rather than the end user.

You see this especially in the area of integration. SAAS providers of different, inter-related applications often work together in partnerships to make sure their applications work together seamlessly, using published data transfer protocols. With web services, data can be brought in in real time. Again, this level of investment often isn't available to our corporate systems, and so we end up with kludged joins between applications, and impenetrable users interfaces that wouldn't survive a minute in the open market.

So, what's the future for corporate IT, when much of what they offer has been commoditised?

Work with the SAAS providers

If you can't compete, then join with them. Build partnerships so that you can recommend cost-effective solutions to your business. Your job will be to carry out all the necessary due diligence to make sure the service you'll get is as good, and as secure, as anything you could have provided internally.

Why would you want to manage systems like email, CRM, finance, collaboration etc, when these are now no longer specialist systems? Instead, find a trusted partner who can just pull you into their existing infrastructure.

Focus on the difficult bits to make them easier

There will be some corporate systems that don't have an equivalent in the SAAS world. They're so specialised that no-one's going to commoditise them. Focus on these and, in particular, on where they will join up with other systems. Standardise on the data interfaces to make it easier to join them up to other systems. Consider designing those systems so they could themselves become multi-tenanted. You never know, what you're building might be a SAAS system of the future!

Become a trusted partner

If you're seen to have the best interests of the business and its users at heart, regardless of whether you provide the solution or not, then you will be the people the business turns to to solve their problems. Instead of being a blocker to the business, the IT department becomes an enabler.

I'm really pleased to see what's happening amongst the teaching community in the UK and around the world.

Teachers are starting to take control of their own professional development.

This is a great step forward for a profession that has been systematically de-professionalised over the past 23 years. Successive government dictats and draconian inspection regimes have forced teachers into standardised practices that allow little room for flexibility and creativity. Thankfully, this now appears to be receding, but, like a wave leaving ripples on a beach, it's left a teaching profession not sure how to pick up the reins.

Gradually though, this is changing.

A few years ago, what started with a handful of teachers blogging about their work - reflecting on what went well and what didn't, has now become a powerful movement.

Closing down the local teacher centres and advisory services did put a stop to many of the face-to-face information sharing sessions that had been organised centrally. But, instead, teachers are now organising their own gatherings (known as TeachMeets), that are focussing on specific topics such as behaviour and cross-phase planning.

Teachers have become some of the most proficient users of social media, as shown by the recent report from Pearson Education: Tweeting for Teachers.

They are learning from each other, and being open about their own professional practice. And this learning is having an impact in the classroom.

For a long time, I've been hoping that the teacher training institutions would realise the importance of building sustainable professional development practices. It looks like that has started. Certainly it has at Plymouth University. The newly qualified teachers that leave Plymouth will have an existing professional network, and a really good idea of how to maintain those connections to get the best out of them.

Hopefully, as these teachers move through the system, we'll start to see the end of the expectation that CPD is someone reading bullet points to you for an hour!

Effective CPD is about conversations that challenge and support. Those who set themselves up as experts, though, need to realise that they are just one source of those conversations. If they don't play their part in the networks then they will quickly lose their role as a trusted source. People will just say "I don't know you".

More information

For more on the idea of self-directed learning, in the context of work, see Joitske Hulsebosch's post on "Serial Mastery and Social Media"

I've been looking at options for creating and delivering content to mobile devices (phones, tablets etc).

There are a number of possibilities:

1. via a website, formatted for mobile viewing
2. as a downloadable pdf
3. as an ebook
4. as a native app

There are plus and minus points for each of the options. Here they are as I see them at the moment. I'd welcome any feedback though, as I'm working on limited knowledge here ...

Much depends on where you're starting from (eg. do you have existing materials you want to push out), what your plans are (eg. will you be wanting to keep these materials up-to-date), and how much you will be deploying (eg. will this be a one-off, or part of a major publishing operation).

There are products that can help you, if you're going to be deploying lots of content. Eg. Xyleme's Pastiche (See marketing video below - I'm not linked with the company - but I think they've got the right idea.)

Or you can use tools like Calibre to convert and deploy eBooks.

But don't expect it to be easy if you've got materials already published - particularly if they're only available as PDF's.

Via a website

Advantages

• Able to be easily updated
• Can be built on a normal content management system (eg. Wordpress)
• Uses CSS and Javascript for styling
• One central copy of the content that's always up-to-date for all users
• Able to use multi-media and collaborative features of the web
• Searchable - if a search engine is built into the website

Disadvantages

• Very difficult to make the content available offline
• Requires an internet connection to be used
• Requires authentication and user management if access needs to be controlled
• Styling can become complex if multiple device types require access

As a downloadable pdf

Advantages

• Access easily controllable
• Easy to create and deploy - ubiquitous format
• Able to embed links, table of contents etc
• Simple search interface
• Easy to deploy existing materials

Disadvantages

• Does not reformat well for different sized devices
• Little ability for users to annotate and bookmark documents
• Difficult to embed multimedia
• Impossible to update automatically with new versions

As an ebook

Advantages

• Easy to deploy to multiple device platforms
• Automatic reformatting to fit different sized devices
• Possible to embed multimedia
• Possible to update with new versions
• Takes advantages of eBook functionality on the device - eg. Notes, bookmarks, search
• Able to control access

Disadvantages

• Requires new production processes to be adopted
• Requires designers to use semantic styles (in Word or HTML) rigorously - see Working Efficiently: Word Processing for why this is a good idea anyway.
• Difficult to convert existing materials if they are not already well structured (with semantic tags or styles)

As a native app

Advantages

• Can take full advantage of the mobile device's capabilities
• Able to take advantage of deployment options offered by device OS - especially with regard to automatic updates
• Able to control access

Disadvantages

• Difficult to create - requires specialist knowledge - especially for iOS
• Difficult to deploy across multiple platforms

I often get people asking me for support as they begin to develop some sort of online learning capability.

As with all aspects of teaching and learning - it's more an art than a science, but there are a number of key starting points:

Know your brain science

This applies to all forms of teaching, whether online or offline, but it's vital that we build our interventions on what research (not anecdote!) tells us about how the brain works.

I'd recommend every teacher/tutor/learning designer take a look at Brain Rules. You can start with the videos, but to get most value, it's probably better to get the book.

The most important from our perspective are:

• Rule #4: We don't pay attention to boring things
• Rule #5: Repeat to remember
• Rule #6: Remember to repeat
• Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses
• Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses

Don't go too quickly

The online environment, as a space for formal learning, is new and strange to many people. It has different rules & conventions ( aka Netiquette). It also is potentially a very isolating space. These factors combined mean that many learners will choose to drop out before you've even begun to get them involved in learning anything.

If you follow Gilly Salmon's 5 stage model for supporting learners, you will be more likely to achieve some form of success. It's designed for Higher Education, but still applies in corporate learning & development. Stage 1 (Access & Motivation), in particular, cannot be ignored - whether you're designed self-study materials, or trying to build a community of practice. If your learners cannot easily get to where you want them to be, or have nothing to motivate them to get there, then you might as well give up now.

Consider what you're trying to achieve

If all you're doing is wanting to make information available, then don't hide it away inside a SCORM elearning package. Put it somewhere where it can be easily found.

If you're wanting to change behaviours or develop skills, then build your learning design around practise and making mistakes.

Cathy Moore is the person I turn to for advice on learning design. Her practical Action Mapping planning process makes far more sense than just focussing on transferring knowledge (which is nigh-on impossible in your time frames anyway (see Brain Rules above).

And, if you're looking for where this works for real, look at her extensive list of examples.

Become an expert

Whatever tools you are using, whether Moodle, Wordpress, Articulate, Captivate, Webex etc - or any combination of them - you need to spend time learning how to get the best out of them.

Don't be satisfied with how you're doing things - as there's always room for improvement. And there are plenty of people out there sharing their knowledge of what worked for them.

It's up to you to build your network of trusted advisors, and even begin to share your own learning journey, so other people can learn from your mistakes.

A few places to start:

The Rapid eLearning Blog - written by Tom Kuhlmann from Articulate - but it's not about Articulate per se. What he writes applies to anyone creating self-study learning materials.
Onlignment - a collection of UK-based experts in online communication. Get hold of their eBooks. They're free!
Internet Time Alliance - an international team of experts in social and informal learning
Stephen Downes - an amazing curator of useful information around learning technologies
Elearning Learning - an actively curated collection of ideas and information from across the online learning world

I’m a big fan of Moodle, and have been since it was first released. At the time, I was working as a consultant, going into schools and supporting their implementation of a particular “learning platform”. When Moodle was released it became increasingly difficult to highlight the benefits of the software I was advocating - when I knew there was a far better alternative...

Moodle offered many advantages to schools:

• Low cost of entry - it was easy and cheap to try it out
• Simple, consistent interface, with workflows built around the needs of the teacher
• Highly flexible course design, with the ability to mix and match many different types of resources (files of all types) and activities (where the student has to do something, eg. forums, wikis, quizzes etc)
• Well thought out philosophy of learning

Over time, Moodle’s foothold in the formal education sector has increased massively. Alongside that, many organisations in the corporate sector have begun to use it as the system of choice. The advantages for this sector are similar in many ways to schools and colleges:

• Tried and tested technology - with many examples of high volume Moodle sites
• No license fees - so easy to pilot and to scale up (not forgetting that scaling up will need significant investment in technology, integration services and support)
• Robust and secure software underpinned by rigorous development processes (of the core code)

However, very few corporate users of Moodle are making use of its most powerful features, which are designed to support tutors and teachers as they work with students.

Instead, they are using a very small subset of the available functionality, and trying to lever a system designed for formal, teacher-supported education into the self-service corporate learning & development environment. This raises some significant problems:

Content delivery

Most corporate L&D departments simply focus on delivering content (usually SCORM packages). This is a shame, because they’re missing out on some great tools, but it also means that users have to get to grips with the course interfaces, just to access content.

It starts with the course container, into which all resources and activities are placed. That’s fine if you want to build a “curriculum” or “course” with multiple things for the learner to access. But most organisations just want to deliver single SCORM packages. The best LMS’s make it really easy for learners to quickly get to where they need by providing links on their home page, or even automatically emailing deep links to them. That’s only possible with Moodle if you create some extra code to expose those links on the home page.

Student record system

Moodle is designed to work alongside a student record system which makes sure the right students have access to the right courses, with the right permissions and in the right groups.

If you don’t have access to such a system with that sort of data, then you’ll need to create one or build processes (eg. with Excel) that mirror its functionality. The alternative is to use the powerful self-service registration and enrolment functions built into Moodle, but that often means relinquishing some control, with an associated increase in risk.

Face-to-face events

There is a face-to-face events module that can be added to Moodle, but this is really designed to manage events within the course paradigm. There is no concept of the course being the event itself.

So, if you’re going to need some way of managing many events across different courses, along with joining instructions and trainers’ diaries, then you’ll need something else in addition to Moodle.

Site-wide reporting

Most of the reporting available within Moodle is designed to help teachers manage their individual courses. There is little out-of-the-box functionality to help L&D administrators understand how much usage the courses and their resources/activities are getting across all the users.

It’s possible to build additional reports, but it’s all at a cost.

Hierarchical relationships

Within Moodle there is no concept of a manager who looks after a team of people and needs to see their activity across a number of different courses.

In fact there is no hierarchy at all. There are different roles within courses, or within the whole site, but no way to model a management structure.

Summary

As I said, I think Moodle’s a great product ... in the right context.

If you’re going to use it within a corporate environment you really need to go into it with your eyes open, and understand how you are going to work within the limitations of the software.

It may mean some compromises in how you and your learners use Moodle, or it may mean investing in additional code to make it do what you want. (That’s exactly what Kineo have done with their Totara version of Moodle, which has a number of corporate-focussed functions added, although there's less focus on the face-to-face element than many of the high-end learning management systems, like Saba and Cornerstone, offer)

There's a move currently to pull everything a manager or employee might need for HR, recruitment, training, talent management etc into a single, integrated system.

Yet, at the same time, there are providers (eg. Sonar6) who are providing specialist, niche products within this space.

So, which is the right direction? Should you go for a one-supplier solution, or opt for a combination of best-of-breed solutions?

I can't give you the answer, but I can take you through some of the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. Over time, you'll probably end up with a combination of both. That's fine, as long as you go into it with your eyes open.

Integrated system

Advantages

• One supplier to deal with
• A unified interface, with consistent operation across the whole application (that's the ideal!)
• Data flows between system modules are seamless. Modules use each other's data such that users don't realise they are using separate modules.
• Simple to implement, with no systems integration work to do (again, that's the ideal
• Often robust implementation programmes
• Often sophisticated and well-documented security processes and practices
• Understand the enterprise market and how to deal with large organisations

Disadvantages

• Many suppliers have bought in other systems to fill gaps. You'll need to check how well integrated these are, in terms of user interface and data flows between modules. For example, if each module has its own search function, then the system is not integrated!
• Can be cumbersome and complex to use and to understand
• Difficult for the supplier to keep up with the best-of-breed offerings
• You will still find gaps in the offering
• Implementation will often require large change management and training programmes
• Moving to a new supplier may be very complex and painful

Best-of-breed systems

Advantages

• Agile - able to respond to changes in the market very rapidly
• Specialist - you'll be buying into their specific knowledge of this specific function
• Each building block can be rolled out separately, without affecting the other systems

Disadvantages

• Multiplicity of interfaces can become confusing, especially when there is duplication of functionality
• Can become complex to integrate, particularly when there is duplication of functionality across multiple systems
• Difficult to make best of use data across the systems
• Suppliers are often small and do not understand large organisation's needs