Learning, Technology & Change

Some interesting insight on consolidation by lrnr . This was sparked by the acquisition of Learn.com by Taleo. It seems like a a natural progression given the rest of the market. An interesting point Ani makes is that enterprise consolidation seems diametrically opposed to the web's social software which takes a more plug and play stance (read: open social ). I think this all comes down to the almighty dollar. Enterprise consolidation is all about fully branding customers with a complete "solution". Not leaving an inch in related verticals where a competitor could unseat them. With Many of the social apps are small startups, looking to join a bustling ecosystem. The best way to do that is to play well with others. In an enterprise license what should small niche players do? Integrate with a big guy and hope they acquire you? or stay open and adaptable to the entire system? which leaves you vulnerable if the established players decided to build or buy. Working with p...

Your LMS will not cause cardiovascular disease. Each time you use your LMS is will not shorten your life by 11 minutes. Still, I believe a traditional LMS is similar to cigarette. A Learning Management System is supposed to be about tracking a user’s learning. What progress have they made, what courses have they taken what are their scores? In reality I think this is not quite true. An LMS is about pushing information. Let me elaborate. Cigarettes are a means of delivering nicotine. Big Tobacco has fought this, but that’s the truth of it. There’s a certain image perpetuated, but that’s just the sales pitch. Cigarettes deliver nicotine and all of its “benefits” to your body. It’s a somewhat acceptable means to get a fix (versus chewing tobacco). Learning Management Systems deliver content to users. What about all the other new functionality? Those are how vendors stay relevant and sell new versions. It’s similar to how Microsoft has to keep “improving” the word processor (read: extra f...