Low-cost LMSs with e-commerce

August 25, 2010

Can you help this small training group find a solution?

I had someone contact for advice on finding (really) low-cost LMSs with e-commerce capability. Initially I mentioned Moodle for this small training group of three people but they had already determined it wasn’t going to fit their needs.

Here are their needs:

  • Hosted solution
  • Merchant interface
  • Easy administration
  • Ability to launch e-learning courses only (video)
  • Basic reports on sales data
  • Ability to create quizzes
  • Crazy cheap

Here’s what they DO NOT need:

  • Integration with another system
  • Support for standards (SCORM)
  • Classroom functionality

Here are some systems I thought they might want to take a look at. If you think of others, please put the info in comments so I can pass it along to them. And, if you’ve got feedback on any of those I’ve listed (or if I missed the mark) I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

(P.S. This isn’t a client, just someone looking for advice.)

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Just a sec…

August 18, 2010

Think in terms of m-learning in 2010. Potential vs. what is actually happening. What is happening RIGHT NOW as in, “I’m doing it” and not just “planning on doing it” or “hoping I’ll be able to do it.”

If you selected 100 employees randomly and asked them to find the answers to two or three job-related questions on their mobile device, how many could find relevant information in a reasonable (before someone says ‘never mind’) amount of time?

Dilbert.com

This comic reminded me of a talk E-Learning is what? (jump to slide 5) by Allison Rossett I heard early in the year in Australia. She talked about what IS actually happening in e-learning vs. what MIGHT happen with e-learning in the future. (Her study has limitations – which she outlines – but still..)

Allison Rossett: eLearning Is Not What You Think It Is – Presented by Training Magazine Network

Do we have ten employees who have already looked up the answers and are using The Idiot Test app on their iPhone while the other 90 are looking for their glasses/browser/mobile device/favorite geek/exit? Take “just a sec” and let me know how big the skill gap is from your vantage point.

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Technology Editor at Elearning! Magazine

August 5, 2010

I’ve been settling into a new way of work – busy collaborating with awesome folks like David Mallon at Bersin & Associates, doing some technology stuff in my community (our pool has a blog!), joining alliances with other consultants and  consulting groups, and doing occasional workshops. Other than the work for my community pool, all [...]

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Getting established in the new world of work.: Coworking

August 3, 2010

For the better part of two years my office was 10 feet from my bed. It’s a large room and a portion was partitioned off as an office. (Yes, I’m aware that sounds like a cubicle.) I could easily spend 15 hours a day in that one room. Hermit-like. I imagined myself as eventually [...]

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The basics

July 27, 2010

Earlier this year I did a presentation on e-learning where I showed a bunch of course examples. When I asked how many people were creating e-learning solutions I saw about twenty percent of the people in the audience (of three hundred) raise their hands. That may be generous. It may have been as few as [...]

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Scuba Training: Week 2

July 24, 2010

Week 2 of the family scuba certification and training progressed along nicely. My 11 yr-old continued to study independently and did very well in the pool and on his tests. He seems to have a really good grasp on doing everything ‘by the book’ and is very attentive and mature about things. He re-trained [...]

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Week 1: Scuba training

July 17, 2010

I’ve got two, five-picture frames hanging on the wall that leads into my kitchen. Each one has  a picture of our family at the same place on the same lake we go to every July. So I’ve got ten years of tradition which is a continual source of comments. “Look how much we looked alike [...]

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Getting established in the new world of work: The edges

July 15, 2010

“There’s something deeply human and therapeutic in getting all the crap out. We also feel a whole lot better. Manure, once it’s spread around, smells less offensive and actually helps things grow.“

The manure quote above is from a three-part post (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) on Losing your Job? Psychological, Spiritual, and Practical [...]

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Cooking, quilting, and blended learning

July 7, 2010

Cooking analogies have been used to describe blended learning. Instructional designers looking at blended learning through a chef’s eyes might see  a “recipe” of sorts where you put ingredients together using a process. Or, you could look at blended learning from the learner’s point of view as buffet where you pick out what you [...]

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Tony Bates on epistemology, course design and e-learning

June 28, 2010

Defined narrowly, epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief. – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
So there you go.
I mispronounced epistemology several times during a class last year. This is probably why: from Greek ἐπιστήμη. It’s like the symbol formerly known as Prince. My professor pronounced it so it sounded nearly sensual: \i-ˌpis-tə-ˈmä-lə-jē\. [...]

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