The definition of learning in Google dictionary is “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught.”.  Even under the three basic headings of study, experience and being taught we can group most events in any given hour, on any given day, week, month or year and call them learning events.

Humans are learning machines, everything we experience is a learning event that either confirms and re-enforces previous learning or provides us with new knowledge, perspectives, skills, experiences and expectations.

Learning is something we do naturally, and we do it all the time.

So, what is learning is in the sphere of L&D or Training departments?

In this context, learning is an event that can be reported on! Which means that the learning event must be one which the Department has control over. This means controlling the access, delivery media, timeframe and the success criteria for that event. Just look at the standard training delivery formats of eLearning or face to face training. Both formats are all about control of the training delivery down to the time and location and they also look at learning at a more macro/broad topic level.

Outside of eLearning and face to face training, people are still learning and acquiring skills and knowledge all the time. But there is a gap in our ability to acknowledge and report on these uncontrolled micro learning activities.

It’s this gap between defined learning courses and more learner driven learning experiences that xAPI has been developed to fill.  xAPI is a method we can use to report on learning experiences that happen within our existing delivery structures and also through any other networked device, application, media or object.

So xAPI is really about learning related data. Getting more data, getting better data, getting constant data and being able to report on this data.

To make this happen xAPI needs 3 things:

1. A standard data statement being generated by the experience of the learner – this statement structure effectively states “I did this” for any learning experience
2. A method to transfer the data from the experience to a database – this is coding that is either already embedded within the experience or needs to be added by you (or a company who can create this code or who provides a connection to experiences that pre-coded)
3. A place to store the data being generated by the learners – this is called a Learning Record Store or LRS

But before we get to those concepts one quick home truth. We are dealing with electronic data here, so as some point the details of the learning training experience needs to travel to the LRS, so connectivity will be required at some point in this process, but it does not need to be constant. For instance data captured on a tablet device whilst the device is off-line can be downloaded to the LRS once the connection is re-established, but a connection will be required at some point.

Let’s touch on each of the 3 xAPI components in a little more detail.

Standard data statements

In order for the learning records to all make sense a standardised structure has been created around the “I did this” concept, since each leaning event being tracked means that the learner has done something. When a learner does something a “statement” is sent to the LRS that contains three components:

• The Actor is an individual or group being tracked in the Statements. (The I in “I did this”)he Actor
• The Verb is the action being done by the Actor within a Statement. (The did in “I did this”)
• The Activity is the something with which an Actor interacted. It can be a unit of instruction, experience, or performance that is to be tracked. (The this in “I did this”). Interpretation of Activity is broad, meaning that Activities can even be tangible objects such as a pump or motor. Other examples of Activities include a book, an e-learning course, a calendar event (such as a meeting) and a physical event (like walking to specified destination).

The method of transfer

Depending on your technical know-how this part of the xAPI story may lead you to work more closely with a content vendor, such as B Online Learning, that understands coding. To get your xAPI statement (I did this) to your LRS you will need to have computer coding, embedded in the device or program or object that the Actor is working on or with, that will pick up the details of the learning event and transfer those details via a web link to the LRS.

There are several different coding languages that xAPI can work on such as Java, PHP, Python or .NET to name only a few, but this is really the critical aspect of XAPI as it is a properly formatted code that mean the difference between being able to track and report on learning events and getting no tracking and reporting at all.

We will cover some different examples of where this coding can be applied to get a practical outcome in an upcoming blog.

Learning Record Store (LRS)

This is basically a computer server that is responsible for receiving, storing, and providing access to Learning Records. The LRS differs from a Learning Management System (LMS) in that the LRS is all about accumulating data records and LMS authenticates learners, registers them in courses and assessments then completes those courses and assessments.

An LRS can part of a larger Learning Platform like Birch or it can stand alone. We will cover how Birch works with xAPI data and why having an LRS embedded within your learning platform makes a great deal of sense in an another blog soon.

Want to learn more about xAPI? Register to watch our recorded webinar here.

When transitioning to new a learning platform or even getting ready for a complete transformation of your learning program and embracing learning technology for the first time; there are a few different perspectives that should be considered to ensure the goals of your organisation are met and you’re getting real value out of this effort.

A learning system touches so many different facets of your business and understanding these areas and how they are interconnected will help guide you on not only selecting the best platform for your business, but also how to best implement it for your employees, contractors or learners. There are many areas that we could discuss, but there are three areas that I’m going to touch on:

• The goals of the business – why change, why now?
• How do we work within the existing ecoSystem?
• How do I know if the new platform will work for me?

The goals of the business – why change, why now?

First off, you need to have a good understanding of why you are looking to make a change. It may sound obvious, but I’ve talked with many clients over the years and in many cases they were looking to make a change just for the sake of it or simply because they were frustrated with what they had and just wanted to try something different. The problem here is, unless you take the time to review and understand your current situation and what a change will actually accomplish, you could end up going through the entire process of change only to end up wasting money, wasting time, and having the same problems you started with – but with a new system to blame them on.

It’s important to talk with different business areas using the current system or process to learn about what they actually need and what will truly make their lives easier. Only after this can you be sure that when looking at a new platform, you are on the lookout for solutions that have the features the business actually needs and will be useful to them and not just something that ends up being a replacement with a list of features that can be found on the “Top Features in Learning” list.

How do we work within the existing ecosystem

Next up is ensuring that you have a good understanding of your business’ technological ecosystem. An ecosystem is made up of multiple platforms or systems that have some sort of relationship with each other and how they operate or connect. An example of this could be how a learning platform is typically connected to an HRIS system for the synchronisation of people or user data.

Learning platforms are no longer an island unto themselves and must be able to work within an existing ecosystem. Knowing what systems will need to communicate or interact with the new learning platform will help guide your evaluation to ensure you aren’t disrupting key technology that has already been invested in and relied upon by the business already. Be sure you’re on the lookout for a platform that will thrive in and even enhance the already existing business and technical ecosystem.

Take a look at this diagram of Birch Learning Platform that can help you look at our platform and help understand how you could align it with your business objectives and how it may fit within your ecosystem.

How do I know if the new platform will work for me?

Now that you have identified the goals of the business and have the knowledge of how the new platform is going to connect into your ecosystem, it’s time to evaluate your options and select the right platform for you and your business. Be sure you are looking for something that meets the needs of today but can also grow along with you as your business and learning programs grow.

Do yourself a favour and don’t just look at feature sheets or sales presentations.  Talk with the vendors to be sure their goals and values align with the goals and objectives you uncovered earlier in this process. You’ve put all this work into finding a solution to a real business goal or problem, be sure you’re working with a vendor who can partner with you along this learning journey and not just sell you some software and services.

I encourage anyone reading this to reach out to talk through things together. I firmly believe in working with someone who you can align your goals and ambitions with and I am here to have that conversation and see if B Online Learning and Birch Learning Platform can be that for you. Please contact me directly – bryan@bonlinelearning.com and we can talk through your situation and see how we can help!

An organisation’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.  Jack Welch

The world we live in is in a state of constant flux in so many ways and one of the primary candidates for this constant change is the seemingly perpetual momentum of technological advancement.  By the time we come to understand and appreciate the application of current technologies, those same technologies are out of date and have been replaced by something new and less understood.

One of the trends we’ve seen lately in the digital learning world is the increasing prevalence of LMS providers merging with large software providers, generally Accounts or HR software to create ERP solutions for business that include a learning delivery component.

SAP merging with SuccessFactors LMS is an excellent example of this trend. The idea is that by combining multiple business relevant products under one banner, the client is able to purchase a one-off product that solves their every need. That might seem logical on the outside looking in, until real world economics, flexibilities of scale and business priorities take over.

For the vast majority of these systems, the leading application within the ERP suite is not the LMS. Most of these systems are put in to manage the company accounts or the HR function within the company and the learning management features are viewed by the people making the purchasing decision as a nice to have or “Value Add” in the deal, rather than a business critical component.

More often than not, its the professionals in L&D not being consulted about their requirements for the LMS before the new ERP system is signed off and installed, much less letting them have an active say in the appropriateness of the solution for themselves and the learners. This lack of consultation with L&D, much less an understanding of the growing importance of continual knowledge and skills improvement, often driven directly by learning, in peoples professional and personal lives, results in an LMS that at best detracts from the personalised provisioning of information and at worst just simply don’t work.

The other factor is the learning functionality is being compromised for the feature set of an ERP.  They simply are not capable of performing at the same level as an enterprise digital learning platform.

Recently I was talking to some contacts about how they moved from their own bespoke LMS solution to an LMS that was part of a larger ERP package and their feedback was unequivocally negative.  For instance:

• The new system couldn’t link to their payroll system in order to create and manage user accounts
• The new system cant deal with both internal and our external contractors
• The new system uses old technology, they are not nimble enough to adapt to the way learning will be delivered in the future
• The new system couldn’t manage competency management
• To access courses the learners had to move through up to 6 screens before they could launch the course they wanted to complete
• The reporting in the new system was inadequate and customisations were expensive (not to mention that they will probably need to pay for the customisations to be updated should an upgrade to the LMS come about)
• The user and course structures in the new system are cumbersome and rigid
• The performance of existing digital learning modules is compromised as the new system doesn’t fully support HTML5 or the latest browsers.

What these solutions fail to take into account is that the world is changing at a ridiculously rapid rate.  A 2016 World Economics Forum report state that 65% of kids starting school today will leave school to work in jobs that do not exist today. There have also been studies done that state, with current technologies, around 51% of the work-related tasks we perform on a daily basis, its technically feasible to replace these tasks with automation.

These figures alone suggest a very large section of the workforce, their current skills and knowledge will shortly be obsolete or no longer required. If that is the case then the only way for those same people to stay relevant is to be able to continuously re-educate themselves. But if the systems we use to manage the delivery of skills on knowledge on a large scale are there not because of their own merit and only because they come as an optional extra on the latest corporate abacus, then the future may be starting to look bleak. This is where specialisation in learning delivery, using a Bespoke Digital Learning Platform, should be viewed as more than just a compliance generator, but rather as an investment in the future.

Certainly, the view of B Online Learning is that learning development and delivery will need to grow to service these new needs and more importantly that the tools used to support these needs should emulate the general direction of technology. They should be:

• Flexible
• Modular
• Easily Integrated
• Fluid
• Learner Focused
• Mean more than just compliance

A truly bespoke digital learning platform is born from a partnership of trust between the client and the provider, one in which the specific and often dynamic needs of the client are understood, acknowledged and support by the provider. B Online Learning is one of the industry leaders in providing such partnerships, in fact it is our preferred business model for all our client relationships. In combination, this partnership of trust coupled with the best technological solutions, produces a unique innovative, flexible and eventually a business-critical differentiator.

After all your people are your most valuable assets and as the world around us changes and accelerates, supporting and nurturing their intellectual growth will be far more important to them than the accountants getting a value add on their system.

Does your organisation have any or all of the following characteristics?

• Distinct learning groups such as different divisions within an organisation which have their own unique identity and very distinct learning activities and business rules.
• The need to provide training to external contractors for compliance requirements.
• Clients that you provide training to as a ‘value add’ or even sell training to.
• Pre-employment on-boarding activities.

Some organisations may have these characteristics but their LMS is ‘one size fits all’. You could be restricted in how you can expand the services of your LMS to other parts of your organisation or outside your organisation, as it will affect how you facilitate the learning of your internal employees. Besides you cannot have those training reports ‘polluted’ with other data.

• Different business rules are required; for example approval is required for training internal employees but is not needed for external contractors.
• Different branding may be required for different divisions within the organisation.
• Different learning activities may be targeted to different groups of learners.
• Training is managed by different departments within the organisation.

In Birch we call these groups of learners ‘communities’. A community is the top-level category for grouping users. Birch supports multiple communities. Each community can have different banners, colours, navigation, course catalogues, learning paths, language libraries and business rules.

By using Birch’s communities, we can configure within one instance of the LMS a very different look and feel, as well as different business rules for these distinct learning groups. So let’s explore this by looking at three different scenarios.

Scenario 1 – Internal Employees

This is traditionally what your LMS has been implemented for. This implementation may involve employees having their own learning paths based on their job roles, a skill/capability framework, and a self service facility that allows learners to register into courses with or without approval workflow. It may also allow employees to request external training and add their own personal achievements such as licenses or other qualifications. Participation in a collaboration platform supports that invaluable exchange of knowledge. Employees have single sign on from their intranet.

So within our LMS we could create a community for internal employees that would contain the following:

• Branding based on the organisation’s intranet
• A learner portal with menus renamed to reflect the learning development processes of the organisation.
• The enabling of manager approval

Scenario 2 – External Contractors

The external contractor scenario is common in a number of organisations. For an external contractor to commence work, they usually have to complete some form of induction such as Workplace Health and Safety training or other information that may be pertinent to the organisation and site. This may be required from a compliance point of view.

So within the LMS we could create a community for external contractors that would contain the following:

• Branding based on the website.
• A learner portal with menus renamed to reflect what an external contractor is doing versus what an internal employee would be doing.
• The inclusion of a self-account creation form with a defined URL and defined rules
• A feature to make the account automatically inactive after a certain period of time.

An external contractor can create their own account within the LMS via the URL provided,  log into your LMS, complete their induction and if successful, print off a completion certificate to hand to the site representative upon commencement. Optionally you may have them upload their various licenses if required.

All this could be done prior to commencement, saving work time and improving the efficiency of the on-boarding process.

Scenario 3 – Your Clients

Your organisation may have some great eLearning resources you have developed.  Why not make these available for your clients?  This could be a great ‘value-add’ for your clients, or you may even wish to turn this into another revenue stream with your clients.

For example where you have product knowledge eLearning modules for your sales force, why not make them available for your clients? Not only would you be providing online content to upskill their staff, you would also be providing them with a portal that allows them to report and track those learning activities. In addition you are building a stronger relationship with your client.

So within our LMS we could create a community for clients, that would contain the following;

• Branding based on your client’s website
• A learner portal in your client’s context
• No automatic deactivation of accounts
• Possible restriction of 200 accounts at one time

By providing  this to your clients, you are turning your LMS into a multi-tenanted LMS.  So taking this a little further, if you are already providing training to your client, why not get the clients to manage their own training requests in their community?

Traditionally these groups of learners may have been excluded from a LMS implementation, so by including them, you really are making your LMS earn its keep.

Getting your LMS to earn its keep can not only be rewarding to a Learning and Development group, it can also generate potential revenue for your organisation.

Explore B Online Learning’s LMS, LXP and LRS solution here.