Canadian Companies
Rock At Online Learning 2002: September
27th, 2002
By Paul
Stacey
In
these tumultuous times Canadian companies are rising to the
top in the highly competitive e-learning space. Its exciting
to see Canada emerge as a major knowledge services player and
source of e-learning innovation and talent.
The
chaos and change of the past year has put the U.S. market in
a state of mental and emotional catharsis. Corporate e-learning
has been pummeled by the downturn in the economy. Stock prices
of publicly traded corporate e-learning companies are dramatically
down.
For
a glimpse of publicly traded e-learning company performance
see the portfolio of companies Bryan Chapman has been tracking
since Jan-2002 at: http://www.brandonhall.com/public/ticker/index.htm.
On
the up side Canadian supplier presence at Online
Learning 2002 was at an all time high. New Brunswick, Quebec
and British Columbia all had provincial booths. Thirty percent
of exhibiting companies were Canadian.
If
you are pursuing e-learning or considering making e-learning
purchases, I urge you explore what's available here in Canada.
To
find out more about BC's seventy e-learning companies check
out http://www.elearningbc.ca.
Exhibiting
in the BC booth at Online Learning were nine organizations including:
Serebra
http://www.serebra.com
Odyssey
Learning http://www.odysseylearn.com
Trimeritus
http://www.trimeritus.com
Ingenia
Training http://www.ingenia-training.com
TAP
Ventures http://www.tap.ca
Now
International http://www.nowinternational.com
Fluid
Perception Media http://www.fluidperception.com
Justice
Institute http://www.jibc.bc.ca
Open
School http://www.openschool.bc.ca
To
find out more about Quebec's forty or so e-learning companies
go to http://www.numeriqc.ca/elearning.
Companies
exhibiting in the Quebec booth at Online Learning were:
Arinso
http://www.arinso.com
Big
Knowledge http://www.bigknowledge.com
BMG
Multimedia http://www.bmgmultimedia.com
Cadmian
http://www.cadmian.com
Eduglobe
http://www.eduglobe.ca
Info-Kit
Technologies http://www.info-kit.com
Humeng
International http://www.humeng.ca
ilasalle
http://www.ilasalle.com
J.E.D.
New Media http://www.jednm.com
Mentor
http://www.grmentor.com
NAD
Centre http://www.nadcentre.com
Novasys
http://www.novasys-corp.com
Strategia
http://www.strategia.ca
Technomedia
http://www.technomedia.ca
New
Brunswick was the first province in Canada to really go after
e-learning as a sector of the economy and has been a longtime
exhibitor at Online Learning. Organizations exhibiting in the
New Brunswick booth at Online Learning were:
CGS
Learning Services http://www.cgsinc.com
Engage
Interactive http://www.engageinteractive.com
Lansbridge
University http://www.lansbridge.com
LearnStream
http://www.learnstream.com
MCA
International http://www.mcainternationalcorp.com
Vital
Knowledge Software http://www.vitalknowledge.com
NRC
http://www.iit.nrc.ca/e-learning.html
Theorix
http://www.theorix.com
Mosaic
Technologies http://www.mosaictechnologies.com
In
addition to the provincial pavilions several Canadian companies
kicked butt at Online Learning 2002.
Vancouver based company i3Dimensions won Gold in the Innovative
Technology Category at the Sixth Annual Excellence in E-Learning
Awards. i3Dimension's product NGrain is a breakthrough graphics
technology capable of rendering complex, highly interactive
3D visualizations and simulations in real-time. See http://www.ngrain.com.
Calgary
based Elluminate http://www.elluminate.com
won second place in the Synchronous Shoot-Out beating out Centra,
WebEx, Interwise, and Placeware.
For
me the highlight of Online Learning was the dialogue between
and among Canadian companies. I'm biased but I spent more time
talking to and looking at Canadian solutions than anything else.
Its
clear to me the Canadian e-learning sector is reaching critical
mass. Companies are already successfully generating business
independently. An exciting new opportunity exists for them to
band together and pursue opportunities collectively that are
too large for any one company to go after on their own. With
representation from B.C., Quebec and N.B. we have the framework
for a national e-learning entity.
All
companies are looking for the federal government to establish
a single point of contact and champion for e-learning business
development. The current fragmented distribution of e-learning
responsibility between Industry Canada, Human Resources Development
Canada, and DFAIT is frustrating to the extreme.
Having
said that the enthusiasm for Canadian e-learning of people like
Jane Pak from the Canadian Consulate Trade Office in Silicon
Valley, Victor Landry of Industry Canada in New Brunswick and
Lisa McPhail of the Office of International Partnerships is
providing a great infusion of energy and point of interface
for the companies.
The
companies themselves are already rocking and it is clear that
a little support of the right kind could be extremely beneficial.
Provincially support is coming from Glen Scobie of BC's Trade
and Investment, France Forget
of the Ministere de l'Industrie et du Commerce in Quebec, and
Stephen Kelly of Business New Brunswick.
The
challenge now is how to bring all this energy to bear on a common
goal.
Pursuit
of this goal must be in a business context. The e-learning market
is evolving. My view on the top ten e-learning market trends
coming out of Online Learning 2002 is as follows:
1. Higher Education
In contrast to the poor performance
of publicly traded e-learning companies in the corporate sector
those in the higher education e-learning space are having
a good year, up over 20%. Higher education has a proven business
model and strong cash flow based on solid enrollment growth
due to growing demand for e-learning academic programs. In
hard times many turn to professional development as a way
to reposition and advance their career. The University
of Phoenix Online has about 45,000 students. eArmyU
expects to increase post-secondary participation of their
staff from 25% to 50%.
2. Custom E-Learning
With massive libraries of off-the-shelf
content available from providers like Serebra,
SkillSoft,
NetG, KnowledgeNet
and others, companies are now seeking custom e-learning developed
for their particular need. Off-the-shelf content represents
only about a third of the content market with custom and customized
content representing the remaining two-thirds. Many Canadian
companies have capitalized on this need, establishing themselves
as providers of choice for custom e-learning instructional
design, development, and evaluation.
3. E-Learning Content Verticals
I expect the focus to shift from
e-learning technologies to e-learning content. While Information
Technology and Soft Skills represent early e-learning content
domains many suppliers are now specializing in a particular
vertical niche. Sales training, finance, healthcare, ERP and
other content areas unique to the product or processes of
a particular company are increasingly being developed but
remain relatively wide open with opportunity. Integrating
multi-vendor and custom content into a single LMS will be
an imperative as will exporting content from one e-learning
platform to another. Standards and learning object models
for interoperability and reusability will be key enablers.
4. Human Capital Management - An
Enterprise Application
Many corporations have, over
the past few years, implemented a series of enterprise applications
ranging from technologies for Supply Chain Management (SCM),
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP). Human Capital Management (HCM) is emerging
as a new enterprise application for the knowledge economy
with e-learning as an essential component, along with knowledge
management and e-HR. Interestingly SAP and PeopleSoft have
extended their product offerings into the e-learning arena.
As a side note many e-learning providers report being frustrated
at having to deal with HR and Training departments who often
lack the organizational clout and experience in dealing with
purchases of an enterprise nature. As e-learning becomes more
mission critical I expect the decision to move up from HR/Training
to C-level executives.
5. Extended Access to Experts
The early days of e-learning
adoption were, for the most part, driven by a top down push
from management. A great deal of corporate e-learning content
has focused on cost-savings by removing the human from the
learning equation. Many off-the-shelf elearning experiences
are self-paced and autonomous without access to a teacher
or mentor. The next phase of e-learning will be driven by
end user pull as learners seek out the human interaction and
access to experts e-learning enables. I expect this to have
a whole host of spin-off transactions as people like to buy
from their teachers.
6. Extended Communities - Peer-to-Peer
Learning
Peer-to-Peer learning within
an extended online learning community is to me the killer
app of e-learning. Threaded discussion, instant messaging,
searching, polling, application sharing and other dynamic
exchanges enable peers to explore, discuss, and access experiences
with others who share a common interest or background. The
resulting learning goes far deeper than anything we ever experienced
in a classroom or lecture hall. Look for the increasing proliferation
of online communities that hold people over time drawing them
back over and over by blending new nontraditional learning
events into a constantly evolving and engaging community.
7. Realization vs. Implementation
The early days of e-learning
were flush with the excitement of selecting and implementing
e-learning technologies, tools, and content. In this post-wow
phase there is a growing realization that e-learning success
does not equal technology installation. E-learnings' promise
is transformative and hinges as much on addressing human factors
and change management as technology implementation. As organizations
move forward with their e-learning initiative they are looking
for suppliers to ban marketing hype and help with strategies
that result in the full realization of e-learning's potential.
8. E-Learning Performance Support
Formal learning in the form of
classes, courses, or other structured events make up approximately
thirty percent of our learning experience. The remaining seventy
percent of learning is informal. Informal learning needs are
encountered in the context of working on the job. E-learning
performance support embeds e-learning opportunities into work
practices and processes providing just-in-time, just-what-I
need learning, that is immediately applied. I look for e-learning
to be increasingly focused on performance support rather than
courses.
9. Synchronous E-learning
In my view this is the best new
e-learning technology area. Synchronous learning tools offer
voice over IP, one or two way video, application sharing,
and instant messaging capabilities among many features. While
use of this technology for traditional lectures or PowerPoint
presentations is widespread I look for new pedagogical models
to emerge that emphasize collaboration and interaction over
one way communication. I am particularly excited by the potential
to use television, film, and reality TV camera practises in
video use for e-learning.
10. Business & Individual ROI
In these times of fiscal restraint
there is increasing pressure on e-learning to show a Return
on Investment (ROI). The cost-saving efficiencies of Learning
Management Systems are essential but not sufficient. Companies
want e-learning deployment to show outcomes in terms of increased
employee productivity or increased company revenue. A great
deal of energy has gone into ensuring that e-learning meets
standards. We need to put even more energy into ensuring e-learning
meets educational objectives. I increasingly expect individuals
to be looking for their own individual ROI for time spent
engaged in e-learning. Toward that end I expect e-learning
content to become more intellectually challenging and engaging.
As evidenced at Online Learning
2002 Canada is uniquely positioned as a source of e-learning
innovation and talent. For the full potential of this position
to be realized we must move from fragmented regional economic
clusters to a more national approach.
Driving this need are international
and national e-learning RFP's and contract opportunities. Many
of these are too big for any one company to go after on their
own. Intra and inter-provincial company teaming to integrate
solutions and collaborate is the way to go. Now is the time
to make this move. The next eighteen months are critical.
Steps in this direction were taken
at Online Learning 2002 where, at a roundtable dinner with all
three provinces, it was agreed to work at pulling together a
joint strategic plan. I volunteered to coordinate this effort
and welcome input from all concerned.
Paul
Stacey, an e-learning specialist in corporate and higher education,
is responsible for business development at Simon
Fraser University's eLearning Innovation Centre (eLINC).
A frequent e-learning speaker and workshop leader Paul is interested
in the use of e-learning to support lifelong learning and the
development of e-learning as an economic sector locally, nationally,
and internationally. Contact: Paul
Stacey
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E-Learning: An
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and commercial value of e-learning in BC’s high tech sector.
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