Social eLearning Software Blog

Over the last year, many people have asked me why we used components of Moodle to build a distinct eLearning product / service rather than just using Moodle in its native mode and offering a hosting and implementation service.

It’s a fair question, as Moodle offers a great deal of facility for those that have the ability, time, and / or funds to build out the platform to its fullest, to create a true social learning environment for their use. We really love a lot of the features, and have embraced many of them in our service.

However, we have also found many organizations, both academic and corporate, would prefer to have their staff work on their core competencies around training and education rather than spend the time necessary to do the wide variety of ancillary tasks and integrations many organizations require for an advanced eLearning / social learning platform.

As social learning becomes more prevalent, many organizations would like to integrate their platforms with both internal, in some cases external social networks like Facebook, or LinkedIn. Others would like connections with Twitter.

Some organisations would like to have a fully integrated eCommerce system. Others would like to have Single Sign On and integration with their authentication system.

All of this requires time and effort by your staff, or yourself to achieve. Sometimes its only a little, but in many cases, its a great deal of time and expense. The true cost, the opportunity cost, and time to market can be quite high in some instances.

This is why we’ve done what we’ve created TOPYX®, our social eLearning software solution.

We’ve created a platform that essentially offers all of this in a single, complete solution and you as an organization can simply enable or disable the components you see fit through simple administrative settings.

You can create course communities, enable whichever external social networks you see fit, or have a completely internal integrated social network, somewhat like a Facebook site for any or all of your courses, programs, content, and more. It’s all available in tandem with the course offerings you load into the system.

There’s no programming required, and no searching and mashing together various components. It is fully hosted, supported and customized to your brand.

Let’s face it, piecing together all of these components for a single organization could be a daunting and very expensive task whether you start with Moodle, or any of a number of proprietary commercial learning management systems.

Imagine integrating this at your institution.

It’s a little intimidating.

But that’s what we’ve done, and we’ve made it clean, easy and fast to implement.

You can establish any communities and community tools you wish to enable around your course content.   Communities can effectively become their own integrated social network for your students or community members. As well, if you wish to enable  integration with external social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn or even Twitter, as an example, you can do so by simply selecting  whichever you choose in the administrative settings .

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do with a TOPYX site. The options are limitless, and many who are under tight timeframes or budgetary restrictions are finding it a very prudent approach.

In a nutshell, it’s about delivering the most flexible, affordable, quick and easy to implement eLearning system we can possibly provide.

Learn more about TOPYX as a complete, affordable eLearning software solution.

Also, feel free to attend our free, live webinars covering important topics for today's online learning environment:

Extending Moodle with Social Learning
Tuesday, Mar. 9, 2010
2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Register Here - Space is Limited

Social Learning for Executive Education
Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010
2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Register Here - Space is Limited


Patrick Batty
Vice President, Academic Solutions
Interactyx Limited

patrick.batty@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com

Each quarter, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) publishes the Learning Executive Confidence Index reflects a “modest sense of optimism among learning organizations” in Q4 2009.

Of the top 11 areas measured by the survey, the top six impact areas within learning organizations measured by the survey:

· Reduced travel for learners and trainers – 57% and 44%, respectively

· Greater shift to eLearning – 49%

· Greater reliance on informal learning – 34%

· Greater reuse of existing content – 33%

· Greater usage of Web 2.0 technologies – 27%

All of these points are areas where TOPYX® can assist any organization.

As you consider ways to keep your learning organization competitive in an increasingly competitive environment, where your current team must become more productive and new hires time to productivity must be shortened, incorporating these techniques and an affordable, easy to implement eLearning platform can help you accomplish your goals.

TOPYX liberates learners and their educators through collaboration with peers and engagement in knowledge sharing activities. Through social learning tools such as blogs, wikis and RSS feeds, learning becomes a communal, rather than autonomous, activity. Many sources of course content are combined into a rich, interactive and engaging learning experience. TOPYX eLearning solutions have been inspired and enabled by the emergence of Web 2.0, resulting in an increased emphasis on a social learning model. Educators and trainers finally have a user-friendly and highly effective tool to affordably provide learning wherever and whenever it is needed

To find out more about Interactyx and its social eLearning solutions, visit www.interactyx.com or email information@interactyx.com.

About Interactyx Limited:

Interactyx Limited is a global eLearning company providing engaging and interactive learning experiences to learners and organizations whenever and wherever they want it.

Since 1995, Interactyx has worked with learning providers, including prestigious educational institutions, to develop engaging learning solutions. Interactyx, the developer of TOPYX®, is at the forefront of developing eLearning and social networking solutions that engage and communicate knowledge-sharing activities with learners. Our eLearning 2.0 education distribution technologies are paving the way in creating innovative tools to meet the needs of today’s learner.

Alfred R. Novas
Chief Executive Officer

+1.888.575.2266 x205 or +44.020.7084.6244 x205
al.novas@interactyx.com

Do you want to increase employee and company capability while also being strategically positioned for future success?

The three MUST DO's for 2010 include:

1.       Developing leaders as teachers,

2.       Driving company profitability through learning excellence; and

3.       Evolving from "training- provider" to "learning enabler".

On Thursday, February 18th at 11 am - 12 pm EST, the Corporate University Exchange is hosting a webinar entitled "3 Things You MUST Master in 2010" (Here is the guest registration link - http://corpu.com/events/learning-leader-top-3-priorities-for-2010/join-as-guest/). The esteemed panel will be presenting their research and strategic frameworks for these three topics.

I look forward to their presentation, however, the third MUST DO can easily be addressed by forward thinking Chief Learning Officers and Leadership Development professionals today in order to Evolve from "Training Provider" to "Learning Enabler". While many organizations utilize their monolithic learning management infrastructure and dabbled in social networking tools to enable conversations, these efforts will not enable your organization to learn from your leaders or improve profitability through learning excellence. It is truly time for a solution that spurs Leadership Development that can engage all employees (local and remote), provide relevant context to solving business problems, and build a sense of community excellence.

For Leadership Development professionals, please join for me for a discussion on this important topic entitled "Can Collaboration Enhance Leadership Development?" on Wednesday, 2/10 at 1 PM EST as we focus on solving this MUST DO in 2010. 

Can Collaboration Enhance Leadership Development?
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010
1:00pm - 2:00pm ET
Register Here - Space is Limited

Bob Brogan
Vice President, Corporate Solutions
Interactyx Limited

bob.brogan@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com

You are invited to make your content available for sale on the TOPYX® Online Learning Center (the "OLC") free of charge. TOPYX is known for the social eLearning software solutions for businesses, academic institutions, associations and for eCommerce opportunities.  Now, we are making the same great tools available for anyone to participate and reap the benefits of our software... with no capital outlay, no programming, and no long wait to get started.

TOPYXolc™ will accept content providers looking to sell their content online and reach their market better by incorporating the latest social learning tools. http://www.interactyx.com/eLearning/Request-OLC.html

The TOPYX platform, which is a social eLearning software solution for businesses, academic institutions, and associations, is now accessible by the learner directly. The content owner sets the price and can start selling almost immediately. The TOPYXolc creates a new online selling channel for content owners around the world, and provides the benefits social eLearning software available to enhance market reach, improve customer retention and open up lines of communication and collaboration.

The TOPYXolc is a very exciting opportunity for anyone to better position their materials online to increase the ability to sell to and directly communicate with their market.  Learn more at two exciting sessions:

Jodi Harrison
Vice President, Business Development and Affiliate Partners
Interactyx Limited

jodi.harrison@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com

At Interactyx, we're always looking to enhance eLearning and mobile learning.  So, today I thought would be an appropriate time to review the newly announced iPad to see if we think it will become a significant tool in the corporate and academic eLearning world.

The iPad upon first blush certainly appears to be a compelling device. Like a bright, shiny new toy, it looks like something you like to grab hold of and play with a while.  I'm sure the lines on release day will be long and extensively covered in the press.

Before I go over thoughts about applicability to the eLearning and mLearning world, let's quickly review some facts from the iPad announcement.

• There will be multiple models of iPad with 16, 32, or 64 GB of memory (flash).
• The iPad has a 9.7 inch backlit LED multi-touch display.
• It is ½ inch thick and weighs in at 1.5 lbs.
• The base 16 GB basic model, available in US near the end of March 2010 and Europe in June.
• The base model will be priced at $499 in the US and has built in support of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
• The base 3G version will be priced at $629 with a monthly $15 for 250 MB or $50 for unlimited data and naturally will also support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There are no contracts for the service. It's month by month with no long term commitments.
• Similar to the iPhone, all models have built in accelerometers.
• 3G models have locational awareness.
• Built in applications include Safari, iBooks, YouTube, email.
• Other applications are available such as Keynote, Pages, and Numbers as well as the approximate 130,000 different apps in the app store.

Its OS is based upon the iPhone OS, and naturally is using Safari as its browser. Safari, combined with the reasonably sized multi-touch display could open up new areas of applicability and utilization independent of one's industry.

Material and apps built for iPhone will apparently function just fine on the iPad, however the IPad SDK will also take advantage of additional features, so there may be a reason to modify existing apps.

So what about iPad for eLearning

The iPad is clearly being promoted as a media device with what appear to be elegant interfaces to save and review media including books, magazines, newspapers, and downloaded audio and video content.

Users will easily be able to view or listen to that material to their hearts content, and I expect that's probably the sweet spot for the device. Naturally, they'll be able to engage others with social networking tools and sites in a relatively portable platform, compared to a laptop or desktop. Not so portable compared to a smartphone.

As well, for eLearning purposes, clearly, based upon screen size alone the iPad appears to be a better choice than the iPhone or other smartphones such as Google's Android or RIM's various Blackberries. As much as those technologies were improvements over the past, who truly wants to watch course material on a 3 1/2 inch or smaller display. In a pinch, OK, but if I had my choice, I'd certainly prefer the larger display to avoid either reviewing material shrunk so small it's illegible, or to avoid nonstop scrolling to review a single page.

However the iPad does not support Flash. Whether purely a current limitation of Flash itself, or a strategic decision by Apple, Flash content will not play, nor has it been announced at this point. The blogosphere is abuzz about this lack of support, in a few cases positive, but in most cases negative. It was also a source of a few chuckles at the iPad launch when a section of the New York Times site being demonstrated did not load.

I won't enter the fray on whether I would prefer Flash or the pending HTML5. However I will say that a great deal of eLearning content as well as many eLearning tools are currently written in Flash or are fully dependent on Flash at this point. This certainly could slow down implementation in the eLearning world.

Another missing feature is an integrated camera. Naturally this would be important for asynchronous classroom discussions / meetings. However, I'm not too concerned about this. I believe there will either Apple or 3^rd party add-ons that will rectify this quickly. For that matter I assume you could connect a webcam via USB.

However,  another nit is the lack of built in USB or an SD card slot. You'll need one of a few adapters or the dock connector to use these features or attach devices like a webcam via USB.  Is the brief case or purse getting a little heavier now?  Do you still have your cell phone with you too?

Another drawback for eLearning and purely from my viewing the initial demonstration, was the appearance of a lack of multi-tasking capability. This may also be a hindrance. Quite often someone wants to working on a document or some other material as they are reviewing eLearning content or sessions.

Summary

I believe that the iPad is progress, however not the panacea for eLearning. Did we expect a perfect tool? Probably not. Maybe just hoped.

It appears  Apple has struck a significant blow to Amazon's Kindle with an aggressive pricing structure that matches that of the Kindle DX, yet with a full colour screen and functionality that significantly exceeds that of an e-reader. I also expect Amazon to respond shortly with new pricing structures and a color version. A little competition is always good.

The iPad's reasonably large, vibrant display certainly are a step up from smartphones for visual content, and for me personally, a step up from a Kindle as well.

Whereas I see the applicability of the iPad for some eLearning situations, I believe the lack of Flash support at this point will keep it as somewhat of a niche player. It doesn't appear to be able to fully replace a pc, laptop, or Mac a number of scenarios, however, if remote viewing and reviewing of (non Flash) content is the key it certainly looks like a capable tool in that respect.

That said, I respect what Apple has done and remain hopeful that the iPad deficiencies are rectified soon.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

Also, you are welcome to attend one of our free, live webinars below discussing the benefits of social learning:

Social Learning for Executive Education
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010
2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Register Here - Space is Limited

Patrick Batty
Vice President, Academic Solutions
Interactyx Limited

patrick.batty@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com

Clearly this has been a tremendous year of growth for Twitter.

Current valuation estimates of the company are in the order of $1 billion, and users are expected to reach 250 million over the next few years.

As an eLearning provider, on a daily basis, we are talking to schools that looking at using it both for themselves as well as possibly having their students use it in some fashion.

Campus Technology recently reported, http://www.campustechnology.com/Home.aspx from a recent Faculty Focus http://www.facultyfocus.com/ survey that of 1,958 higher education professionals 30.7% are using twitter currently and another 20.6% reported that there was a reasonable chance they’d start using it in the coming year.

Of those that currently use it, 7.2 percent use it as a part of instruction frequently, and an additional 9.4 percent use it in instruction occasionally. I believe that is a relatively high adoption rate given the time that twitter has been in the market.

Depending on your particular academic sector you may also see appropriate uses for your students. I have opinions, but this week rather than taking the platform, I’d to see what everyone else thinks.

As well as Twitter, sites like Facebook often are used for school sites, events and groups. Possibly even course specific groups could be established and offer additional value.

In my blog this week, I’d like to pose three questions:

1) Does Twitter have a place in Education? If so, where and how do you think it could be used for maximum benefit.

2) What other social networking tools / sites do you feel most relevant in an academic environment?

3) Do you see value in blending Social Networking with eLearning?

To establish context, please indicate which area of education you are referring to. i.e. Higher ED, K-12, Corporate etc.

I very much look forward to your thoughts.

Also, you are welcome to attend our free, live webinar to learn more about how the classroom is being redefined:

Social Learning Around the Classroom
Thursday, Jan. 28, 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Register Here - Space is Limited

Moodle has been a tremendous boon for schools and associations looking to pull away from the grips of enterprise LMS vendors over the last few years.

It’s also been a nice entry point for those wishing to dabble in elearning for the first time.

While it has both is fans as well as its detractors, it clearly has its place.

That said, we feel there is significant room for improvement in a number of areas especially in the Social or Informal Learning side.

Clearly, Moodle Forums Wikis, Projects and Chat are good avenues for collaboration or discussion.

We decided to extend that however, to make a much more contemporary experience for the students both in functionality as well as in the general user interface.

We’ve integrated a number of external social networks into the platform, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and even Twitter. Our clients can enable / disable whichever ones they chose, and the students can use any of the enabled sites to extend discussions with authorized peers.

Very shortly we’ll be significantly extending this functionality even further by establishing fully integrated social networks around a course. They’ll be somewhat similar to LinkedIn or Facebook itself however be completely internal and limited to the students and instructors of a particular course.

Moodle Themes are fine for some, but we’ve significantly modified the user interface. We’ve made it much cleaner and easier to navigate using a mac-like like format and even integrated an optional iphone like cover-flow for catalogues and course material.

We feel we’ve made tremendous progress so far, and in the next few months a great deal more.

Clearly, not everyone can invest the time and effort to do this with their Moodle site. Unless everyone works for free at your organisation, you’d probably have to invest many hundreds of thousands of dollars to do what we’ve done. (We know this one from experience.)

If you’d like to see what we’ve done, feel free to join our upcoming, free webinar.

Whether you are looking for a solution, or simply looking for ideas about what you can do with your own site, you’re most welcome to attend.

We’d also love to hear from you about what other extensions you feel world enhance your learners experience. See more about what TOPYX has to offer at www.interactyx.com.

Patrick Batty
Vice President, Academic Solutions
Interactyx Limited

patrick.batty@interactyx.com
www.interactyx.com

The web is spoiling us when it comes to learning.  If we want to know the exact words to an obscure song or quote a search engine will deliver the answer in seconds.  There are video tutorials on YouTube for just about anything you can dream or think up.  And if you have question that can’t be answered through search, you can drop your question on Twitter or Facebook and sure enough a few of your followers or friends will have ideas.

Given the instant-gratification nature this kind of “informal learning” in which the teachers are your peers, perhaps it’s not surprising that corporate learning is trending away from structure courses delivered by traditional learning management systems.   Bersin’s Corporate Learning Factbook 2009 found that across all companies surveyed the total number of formal training hours consumed per learner in 2008 was down more than 45 percent from 2006.  What’s more his Learning Management Systems 2009 study reported that at least 70 percent of learning occurs through interactions with peers, managers and experts.  “This is huge” says Bersin.  “… (the) LMS is not going to go away, but how it’s use is going to become very different.”

This is not to say that all training is going to become casual education the key will be in finding the tools that allow you to marry informal and formal learning.  The key will be integration – integration of learning has to fit into an employee’s workflow, it has to be a natural feel meaning it looks and works like the tools they are already using.  There isn’t just one way to approach learning it has to be flexible for all parties to gather, interact and learn.  From a business perspective learning also needs to be easy-to-use, efficient and engaging.

To learn more about an LMS that is already doing this, visit us at www.interactyx.com and see TOPYX!

Jodi Harrison