New era dawns in learning personalisation technology

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Bob

At this year’s Learning Technologies exhibition (in London, 29/30 January), the learning content management solutions provider, eXact learning solutions, will be outlining how recent technology advances are enabling the personalisation and contextualisation of learning materials. In particular, it will be revealing key aspects of the latest version of its award-winning eXact learning content management system (LCMS).

In future, LCMS architectures must be able to sit at the cornerstone of an enterprise’s content strategy – interoperating with the HR, L&D and ERP systems that are already there – to personalise learning content on demand. In so doing, they’ll develop a more effective and efficient learning content ecosystem.

The recently released version 10 of the eXact LCMS enables contents to adapt, in real time, to learners’ perspectives and learning preferences – along with their skills and competency gaps, their location and the available device to deliver the learning and/or support. It uses an open framework which allows users to develop and integrate their own learning authoring template sets.

To improve the productivity of learning content production scenarios, eXact learning solutions has enriched its LCMS suite with a real-time rendering engine that, attached to the template framework, enables adaptive learning. In addition, the new version supports the management of learning content creation and delivery for organisations that require a scalable, extendable modular system to meet high-volume, professional and consistent learning output demand.

For those requiring integration with a third party learning management system (LMS) or delivery portal, version 10 renders adaptive learning content on the fly and consolidates the same content objects in different standalone packages – such as a SCORM, offline HTML, iPhone and/or Android versions, PDF printout and so on – for further download, handover to an LMS or other use.

eXact learning LCMS’s templating approach and its embedded authoring tools – eXact learning Packager and Online Editor – combine the power of XML-based content modelling with the ease of use of semantic structuring and the flexibility of responsive web design (RWD) technologies such as HTML5. It also provides both rapid authoring capabilities and model-based automation of content production in different languages that can be delivered on different channels and platforms.

Comment: It’s a new era in the LCMS world in more senses than one. Not only does the exact LCMS offer some radical steps forward in personalising and contextualising online learning – the goal of many learning technologists this century – but exact learning solutions itself was acquired, earlier this month, by Lattanzio Group a leading international management consulting group, Although the Group is based in Italy, over 50% of its turnover comes from international activities. The Group’s range of expertise aims to grow the performance of businesses and public administration organizations.

This acquisition continues the trend of moving learning technology companies away from control by learning technologists. Not only might this provide the learning technology industry with a broader, more strategic and less tactical vision but it might also help the sector move more into the consciousness of ‘mainstream business’ (rather than merely those in the HR and training function).

The eTernity initiative for Educational Textbooks Standards

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Bob

At this year’s Online Educa Berlin event, Fabrizio Cardinali, Chair of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) and Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at the online and mobile learning solutions provider, eXact learning solutions, will be announcing his company’s engagement in a new initiative from the Workshop Learning Technologies (CEN WS-LT) sub-group of CEN, Europe’s Committee for Standardisation. This new initiative defines open interoperability standards for the European digital textbooks marketplace.

The initiative, named eTernity (European Textbooks Reusability, Networking & Interoperability), aims to provide a common reference framework based on a selection of existing and newly developed interoperability specifications based on Europe’s educational needs and formats, to support European public policy makers, academic bodies, private publishers and technology developers. The initiative aims to reshape the digital educational content marketplace towards more open and interoperable architectures and formats – to increase access, affordability and the quality of learning in Europe.

Professor Jan M. Pawlowski of the University of Jyväskylä, Chair of the CEN WS-LT, commented: “The development of standards for digital educational content in Asia, especially in South Korea and China – with a corresponding weaker emphasis in Europe on digital educational content publishing – is putting pressure on European stakeholders to act. There’s a need to develop a European position on ‘eTextbooks for education’ and ‘digital learning content’ along with similar initiatives – and, potentially, agree a standard or a profile using European best practices in this field.”

Tore Hoel, Vice Chair of CEN’s WS-LT and Head Advisor at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, added: “The creation, inter-mediation – or ‘curation’, distribution and varied use of textbooks must be based on open architectural and technical standards which will make the marketplace more interoperable and scalable. The CEN WS-LT will work with other international standard bodies to achieve a global consensus about educational requirements for digital textbooks.”

Fabrizio Cardinali, announcing eXact learning solutions’ engagement in the initiative, explained: “We welcome any initiative that wants to move the European market from a world based on siloed and closed proprietary architecture to an ecosystem where smart, collaborative and innovative vendors can interoperate across different distribution channels and devices, delivering the right learning experience where and when the learner needs it. Europe needs new means for accelerating our kids’ education and our workforce re-skilling and up-skilling – and textbook distributers must adapt in a more global and ever-evolving market. First priority for any smart policy maker is to see new opportunities – do it first and do it right, before others do it better.”

Fabrizio Cardinali.

Comment: The project’s technical activities will be formally inaugurated by the CEN WS-LT at its January meeting, scheduled for 17th January 2013 in Brussels. The day before, a full day workshop will explore all technical issues related to this project. Anyone who’s interested in the eTernity initiative may join by contacting the CEN WS-LT at http://etextbookseurope.eu/ or by contacting the WS-LT officers – via http://www.cen.eu/CEN/sectors/sectors/isss/activity/Pages/wslt.aspx

A step forward in LCMS technology

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Bob

Unveiled at the end of October, the latest major release – version 10 – of the eXact learning LCMS, and of its client desktop application eXact learning Packager 5.0, aims to add unique dynamic learning content publishing and personalisation features to the enterprise learning ecosystem.

According to Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of eXact Learning Solutions’ North America and Senior Vice President of the company’s Global Business Development: “In future, LCMS architectures must be able to sit at the cornerstone of an enterprise’s content strategy, interoperating with the HR, L&D and ERP systems already there, to personalise learning content on demand. In so doing, they will develop a new learning content ecosystem which is much more effective and efficient than that in use today. Our new version enables contents to adapt, in real time, to the learner’s perspective and learning preferences – along with her/his skills and competency gaps, the learner’s location and the available device to deliver the learning and/or support. Version 10 is the start of our development agenda towards next generation learning content ecosystems.”

The new LCMS version uses an open framework which allows users to develop and integrate their own learning authoring template sets.

“Adopting a template-based authoring approach and flexible publishing and delivery solutions, allows organisations to achieve their goals, keeping the overall costs of e-learning under control,” explained Andrea Bocchio, Director of Software Development at eXact learning solutions. “A careful analysis of an organisation’s needs and the adoption of a template-based content production process and toolset is the first step towards ensuring the appropriate level of ROI for a learning organisation. Indeed, this makes the whole learning content production process simpler, easier and quicker – and therefore, in most cases, cheaper. It also significantly improves the organisation’s ability to repurpose its own existing catalogue of learning resources with limited effort.”

The new version supports the management of learning content creation and delivery for organisations that require a scalable, extendable modular system to meet high-volume, professional and consistent learning output demand. eXact learning solutions believes that he combination of rapid authoring capabilities and model-based automation of content production enables high-volume, professional and consistent learning output.

In addition, eXact learning LCMS 10 introduces XML based Processing Run time Engine (XPRE) technology supporting real-time learning object rendering – with the ability to attach multiple rendering engines, content format, layout style and device coverage at the end of the publishing process.

For those requiring integration with a third party learning management system (LMS) or delivery portal, eXact learning LCMS 10 renders adaptive learning content on the fly and consolidates the same content objects in different standalone packages – such as a SCORM, offline HTML, iPhone and/or Android versions, PDF printout and so on – for further download, handover to an LMS or other use.

eXact learning solutions will be revealing further details of its ground-breaking LCMS via two webinars – scheduled for 14th November and 5th December 2012. For further details of these webinars, visit: http://gnstx.gr/kpN

Successful end to research project on sharing learning content

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Bob

The R&D department of eXact learning solutions has announced that it has successfully concluded a project to develop tools and facilities to access a critical mass of management education and training open educational resources.

Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of eXact Learning Solutions’ North America and Australia operations and Senior Vice President of the company’s Global Business Development, said: “In terms of social networks, the project’s members have integrated OpenScout search services with iGoogle, Facebook and Elgg. Furthermore, OpenScout RSS feeds can be shared to the social networks Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to alert users to the most popular learning resources and the most used search term each day – as well as newly uploaded contents.”

The breakthrough came as a result of the OpenScout project, an EU-funded eContentplus project which concluded at the end of August. The project aims to promote the use, improvement and distribution of open contents about management education and training.

OpenScout provides skills-based search and retrieval web services within learning content management systems (LCMSs) and social network platforms to end users, increasing the use of open content within LCMSs as well as enabling access to web 2.0 social network platforms. It also supports user-improved content, integrating a number of content management and use models with the potential for cross-cultural/national transferability to build an open community of providers. In this community, users are enabled and supported to localise, adapt and improve existing materials and also re-publish them.

This has been achieved via:

Inter-connection of a large pool of open content repositories via a Content Federation, which provides integrated access to all learning resources from the consortium and to external management-related resources.
Access and publishing service integration which integrates services for the publishing process.
Services that enable users to adapt contents to their context, requirements and needs. This includes web authoring tools as well as metadata tools to make contents accessible to the public.
Support for accessing contents from LMSs/LCMSs, other systems and social networks, via mash-ups, plug-ins, extensions and integrations into learning and social platforms.
Large scale implementation and community building, via a cooperative design and validation of the proposed solutions.

Fabrizio Giorgini, Head of eXact learning solutions’ R&D department explained: “eXact learning solutions has led the integration of high level services within the target groups’ existing learning solutions. This has involved us in developing a ‘connector’ to gather, orchestrate and promote the OpenScout services.

“The project integrated OpenScout services with LMSs/LCMSs such as CLIX and Moodle LMSs, eXact learning’s LCMS, Liferay and ROLE – as well as other systems,” he continued.

“In addition, an iOS application was also developed to make OpenScout attractive to more potential users. There’s even the potential to develop mobile apps for Android as well as an iPhone version of the OpenScout Search Widget.”

Comment: This has the potential to make learning materials easily available via social media networks delivered to ‘static’ or mobile devices. As and when this comes to market, it could revolutionise the already fast-developing corporate learning technology world.

Professionals vote eXact learning LCMS champion

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Bob

The learning content management system, eXact learning LCMS – produced by the online and mobile learning solutions provider, eXact learning solutions, has been named as the Best Learning Content Management System at the Best of Elearning! 2012 Awards.

The Awards, which took place at the Enterprise Learning! Conference & Expo, at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, California, USA, are based on the votes of learning professionals and executives in an open-ended online ballot conducted over the summer. Some 3,881 nominations were collected over the three month balloting period and, in all, 72 products across 21 categories were named best-in-class in 2012.

In winning the Best Learning Content Management System category, eXact learning LCMS beat runners-up SumTotal Systems LCMS, Xyleme and Inc LCMS.

“Given the number of nominations, to earn an Award of Excellence is quite an honour – and, to be named a category winner is a true testament to the vendor’s product and service excellence,” said Catherine Upton, Elearning! Media Group’s publisher.

Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of eXact Learning Solutions’ North America and Australia operations and Senior Vice President of the company’s Global Business Development, said: “This prize adds to many analysts and technology reviewers’ awards, but it is particularly significant for us since it comes from those who use and experience learning solutions on a daily basis. And it comes just before the launch of our new Version 10 in October [on 17^th October] which will add unique learning content personalisation and integration features with third party LMSs.”

According to Cardinali, it’s increasingly important to develop and store learning content in such a way that it is conducive to it being used – not just in a static, blended approach to learning but also in a dynamic way that is able to repackage itself, interoperating with media and skills based personalisation systems within the enterprise. This will allow it to adapt, in real time, to the learner’s personality, perspective and learning preferences; as well as her/his skills and competency gaps, the learner’s location and the available device to deliver the learning and/or support. Moreover, the content must be easily delivered from the central enterprise repository or a federated network of corporate repositories.

Comment: The new version of exact learning LCMS should interest the world’s learning technologists.

Shortlisted for a more objective Award

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Bob

The global vendor of online and mobile learning content management and digital repository solutions, eXact learning solutions, has been shortlisted for the ‘Best Learning Content Management System’ at this year’s Best of Elearning! Awards.

The Awards, which are organised by Elearning! Media Group and decided via readers’ industry professionals’ votes, are being presented at the ‘Enterprise Learning! Conference & Expo’ on 26th September, which are taking place at the Hyatt Regency, in Irvine, CA, USA. This year, there are 73 product finalists named – an increase of 15 on last year’s figure – in 21 categories.

In this year’s learning content management system (LCMS) category, eXact learning solutions’ eXact LCMS is one of the three shortlisted systems and is the only one from Europe. Each finalist will be honoured for excellence and the top vote-getter in the category will be named the winner.

Readers, practitioners and community members nominated and voted for products and solutions via Elearning! Media Group’s online ballot. All ballots were cast between 15th May and 1st August 2012. Each ballot was reviewed and validated by the editorial team. All vendor ballots were voided.

“Every finalist is a winner in the Best of Elearning! Awards,” commented Catherine Upton, group publisher of the Elearning! Media Group. “Given the high volume of votes and the number of nominated products, every one of these solution providers should be proud to be honoured for excellence. The Best of Elearning! Awards programme formalises the informal ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals practised in our industry.

“According to our survey, 85 per cent of professionals have personally recommended a learning solution to a colleague over the past 12 months. And 61 per cent agreed that award recognition impacted their buying decision,” she said.

“Our industry is experiencing a period of innovation and transformation,” commented Jerry Roche, editorial director of the Elearning! Magazine Group. “The introduction of new social, mobile solutions and learning and talent software is reflected in the number of honorees in this year’s Awards.”

Comment: Industry awards can be two-edged swords. On the one hand, the recognition that these bring are important – for market positioning and brand recognition as well as for staff morale. However, more often than not, the award winners are self-nominated – which may blunt the cutting edge of the award’s ‘objectivity’.

Thankfully, the Best of Elearning! Awards are based on the nominations and votes of ‘readers, practitioners and community members’ rather than the vendors themselves. Under these circumstances, an award is a definite accolade – and even to make the shortlist is a worthwhile achievement.

Tribal choses eXact learning solutions’ LCMS platform

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Bob

Carin Martell, of eXact learning solutions.

Tribal, the UK-headquartered worldwide education technology and services provider, has chosen eXact learning solutions (www.exact-learning.com) to produce online and mobile content for its training publications as well as customised learning content for its clients – which include large organisations in the healthcare, food and beverage as well as education sectors.

“Tribal manages large content production projects with different requirements. We need a highly flexible and powerful solution, which adapts to different content production projects,” said Krysti Hamilton, Production Manager at Tribal. “We chose eXact LCMS, because it’s an open system, which enables us to extend the technology to meet our clients’ specific content production needs.”

“Being able to deliver content seamlessly to iPads and other tablets, as well as mobile devices, is extremely important in today’s world,” explained Carin Martell, Alliance Manager at exact learning solutions. “It needs authoring tools which the creation of content which can then be used for different output formats – which is a key feature of eXact LCMS.”
Tribal (www.tribalgroup.com), which has more than 1m learners currently using its e-learning solutions around the world, builds software, supports adult learning and careers development and also provides school inspections and improvement services. It works collaboratively with its clients to help deliver high quality education services – which is why it wants to use the best learning technologies available to produce and deliver them.

Comment: In recent months there have been relatively few large contracts signed in the learning technologies world – certainly compared with the boom days of the mid-2000s. So it’s encouraging for the whole sector to see a global organisation opt for an LCMS platform; be prepared to talk about doing so, and praise the technology as meeting both the buying organisation’s and the learners’ needs.

Corporate learning world urged to co-operate and collaborate creatively

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Bob

The western learning and publishing industries are being urged to experience their own ‘Sputnik effect’ – 50 years after President Kennedy committed the US to win the Space Race after being surprised by the initial success of the USSR’s ‘Sputniks’.

This call comes in a whitepaper published by the online and mobile learning solutions provider, eXact learning solutions. The whitepaper – available from http://gnstx.gr/fDI – argues that western corporate learning industry leaders need similar vision and commitment if they are to help their organisations continue to survive global competition effectively from the emerging world’s labour and educational markets. It draws parallels between the world’s historic industry challenges – such as the one faced by the US aerospace industry during the Cold War – and the peculiar challenges and opportunities currently facing the West’s publishers and learning technologies developers as they try to help the West survive increasing competition, both for appropriately skilled workers and for business in global markets.

The USSR launching the Sputnik in 1957 – becoming the first nation into space – gave the American aerospace industry a wake-up call. According to the whitepaper, the West’s corporate learning and publishing industries today face a similar challenge since countries with emerging economies – including India and China – are doing ‘learning-related things’ faster than they are.

It argues that the West must reduce its corporate learning ‘missile gap’ – and this means understanding the nature of creativity and genius; then using this knowledge to detect and encourage excellence in performance. The corporate learning industry needs to re-engage in lateral thinking – still competing but taking risks together.

When it comes to being successful at surviving the increasingly challenging issues surrounding global competition, Charles Darwin’s writings teach us that it’s not the smartest, the ‘best’ or the wisest who’ll survive the current economic challenges. Nor will it be the best trained trainee or the best taught student. Rather, those who survive are the most adaptive – in other words, the digital content that will survive will be designed to adapt to new learning delivery technologies and devices.
For further discussions on this topic, visit: http://gnstx.gr/fyv

DITA XML content standard update

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Bob

For those who’re not too sure of their acronyms, ‘DITA’ stands for the Darwin Information Typing Architecture, Learning & Training specialization. It’s a relatively new structured content XML format for producing online and instructor-led training and documentation materials.

The standard is issued by OASIS, the US-headquartered global consortium for open standards in the Information Society. OASIS aims to encourage the convergence of technical and training documentation within engineering and process orientated industries, such as the machine plants, semiconductor, automotive, financial, pharmaceutical, translation and defence industries.

Today’s instructional authors, designing technical training sessions within large engineering, manufacturing and process based industries, need to cope with some 90% of their input materials coming from disparate sources within their organisations. Typically, these include the product and plant engineering, design and marketing departments – all of which use different content packaging and exchange standards (for example, DocBook, ePub, IETM and/or S1000D).

All of these differ from those standards commonly used within learning/ training tools and platforms – such as SCORM, IMS and AICC content packaging and tracking interchange formats. Up to now, the lack of a common interoperability format across the technical documentation, training platforms and tools has limited the type of documents that training departments could receive as input from their technical counterparts to Word, PDF and HTML, for example.

Yet – to compete successfully in contemporary markets, reaching their workforce where and when they need field training and performance support – there is a need to create compelling training materials able to deal with the increasing complexity and blending of technical training formats, from instructor-led sessions to web-based training, mobile learning and so on.

The ‘cut and paste’ approach has been the most commonly used approach to producing technical documentation for online training delivery. This has resulted in high levels of content replication, low levels of content re-use and extremely high costs in engaging subject matter experts (SMEs) within never-ending proof-reading cycles.

All those engaged in designing training for new products and processes around the world have experienced high levels of inefficiency in online training design. So they’ve been looking for an improved interoperability format to allow them to exchange contents among the diverse and dispersed knowledge hubs within their organisations more easily.

The DITA Learning & Training specialization addresses this gap and brings new life to content interoperability across and within large organisations dealing with massive and rapid technical documentation and training materials production flows.

To help to draw attention to the DITA standard, exact learning solutions is running a series of webinars, workshops and closed DITA seminars for content strategists within large organisations. The next workshop is scheduled to be held in Utrecht, in The Netherlands, on 7^th June, and is connected with the DITA Information Energy 2012 conference.

The most recent webinar – scheduled for 23^rd May at 11am US Eastern Time, 10am US Central Time, 8am Pacific Time, 4pm BST and 5pm Central European Time – will explain the need for new generation structured content management standards and the benefit of adopting DITA. Delegates will also learn how DITA compares, and can be integrated with, other existing learning content formats such as SCORM Content Packaging and IMS Common Cartridge.

Places at the webinar are free but limited and granted on a ‘first come first served’ basis. To request a seat at the webinar, visit: http://gnstx.gr/eEX

For further details of eXact learning solutions’ DITA-related events,, send an email to m.leikas@exactls.com

Further details of DITA can be obtained from www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/

Webinars and workshops to explain the DITA XML standard

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Bob

Fabrizio Cardinali, of eXact learning solutions.

The global vendor of online and mobile learning content management and digital repository solutions, eXact learning solutions, is running a series of open webinars and workshops at venues throughout Europe and the USA. The webinars and workshops explain the new learning and training documentation standard from the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) group at OASIS, which is driving XML content formats convergence in technical training and documentation fields.

The series begins with two workshops – one being held in Italy, at the University of Genoa, on 23^rd April and the other being held in Utrecht, in The Netherlands, on 7^th June. This latter event is connected to the DITA Information Energy 2012 conference, which takes place on 8^th June.

eXact learning solutions is also running a series of webinars outlining the DITA standard. The first webinar is scheduled for 16^th May.

The webinars and workshops aim to help delegates to understand how DITA benchmarks with SCORM, DocBook and other standards known to the instructor-led training (ILT) and web-based training (WBT) communities – and learn how these communities can benefit from DITA’s adoption and master its limitation.

“In planning the contents of their technical training materials, for example, instructional designers need to cope with the fact that 90% of the input materials come from different sources – typically their organisations’ product engineering and design departments,” explained Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of eXact learning solutions North America. “These sources use different content authoring and exchange standards from those understood by their learning and publishing colleagues. To date, ’cut and paste’ and content re-creation has been the only way to cope with this misalignment. This introduces high levels of errors, low levels of content re-use and high costs for content re-production.

“The DITA standard is an interoperability strategy which attempts to reduce the complexity of this multiple source, multiple outputs scenario,” he said. “In recent years, OASIS - the US-based, not-for-profit consortium for the advancement of structured information standards for the global Information Society – has been addressing this issue and has made a great step forward with the release of the new DITA learning and training documentation .

“Many corporate CIOs and CLOs are now asking for DITA compliancy from suppliers in addition to AICC and SCORM,” he continued. “This explains the increasing need to support the wider re-use and sharing of technical documentation sources within and across organisations’ design, engineering and training departments.

“After years of helping to define and write the AICC, SCORM and IMS standards, we now support the OASIS efforts in this field – and so, as part of our commitment to inform and educate the learning technology marketplace throughout Europe and the USA, we’re organising this series of free webinars and workshops. Hopefully, anyone and everyone whose professional life will be affected by DITA – either as a supplier or buyer of these materials – will be able to attend one of these events.”

All workshops and webinars are free and open to anyone, but seats will be assigned on a ‘first come first served’ basis. To attend, send an email to m.leikas@exactls.com stating your interest in the Italian, Dutch or online DITA seminars and webinar events.

Further details of DITA can be obtained from www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/

For further details on eXact learning solutions visit http://www.exact-learning.com/

Comment: DITA has the ‘feel’ of a standard and acronym that will become as much a part of the learning technology world as ‘SCORM’. AS such, these webinars and workshops offer a great opportunity for the learning technology faithful to be brought up to speed on this new standard quickly.

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