The Company of Thought is the first international think tank for the e-learning market. This is our debut "sample" report. The structure and approach will remain the same in future reports (quarterly and available by subscription), but this sample is "not polished". Company of Thought is the brainchild of Craig Weiss, of E-Learning 247/7. Whether you are a vendor, foundation, VC or someone who wants to "know" what is really going on in the market, subscribing to the Company of Thought reports is a must. If you like the report and want to know more about us and our other services OR you would like to subscribe to our quarterly reports (only $1,200 USD per year), please contact me. TCoT aims to help identify, analyze and generally shed light on developments in the corporate online learning industry worldwide – and discuss their implications for business. Its Mission is ‘to report and comment on trends within the corporate online learning technologies industry worldwide, independent of any vested interests’

1. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
The Company of Thought (TCoT) Report, June 2015
This Report looks at what’s interesting, new and/or significant in the corporate online
learning technologies industry. The topics covered in this report are:
 Innovation/ leading edge e-learning - notably, MOOCs
 Developments in learning management systems (LMS)
 Augmented reality, virtual reality and other potentially immersive learning tools
 Gamification
 Personalized e-learning and big data analytics
 UK and Continental European e-learning trends
1. Leading edge e-learning
Market news and issues
 While demand for information and communication technology (ICT) practitioners
is growing by some three per cent a year, the supply of ICT graduates and skilled
ICT workers is not keeping pace with this level of demand. By 2020, Europe
could face a shortage of almost 900,000 ICT professionals. Education through
massive open online courses (MOOCs) could be a solution for this problem.
 Connecting MOOCs with cloud solutions. Here, software-as-a-service (SaaS) is
playing a major role. According to Gartner, SaaS will continue to experience
healthy growth through 2014 and 2015, when worldwide revenues are projected to
reach some $22bn.
 Entities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan
Dell Foundation are investing unprecedented amounts in education technology.
 Interestingly – and contrary to marketing hype about MOOCs - MOOC students
tend to be drawn from the already privileged in society. Those signing up for
MOOCs tend to be confident, top achievers; not the poor, and certainly not those
who’re unable, for whatever reason, to access the internet. For example, surveys
have found that 79 per cent to 86 per cent of MOOC students already have a
college degree.
Applications
 Udemy, a company based in California, USA, now has some 6m students and 20m
course enrolments on some 25,000 courses, containing over 5m minutes of video
content. It’s running MOOC initiatives via its website, enabling anyone to teach
and learn online.
TCoT’s view
 MOOCs continue to generate huge interest and some controversy - particularly in
the higher education sector but increasingly, too, in the corporate world. There are
now for-profit and not-for-profit MOOCs. Examples include Udacity or Coursera
(for-profits) and university MOOCs such as edX (non-profits).
 Key issues for MOOC providers are:
o Do you try to make money – or at least not lose money – from a MOOC?
o If so, how can this be done?
o Do you use the MOOC as part of your marketing activities – to raise
awareness of your products/ services and/or brand?

2. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 And, for those in the higher education sector, if MOOC students tend to be drawn
from the already privileged in society, why do universities invest so much in
MOOC-based free courses for well qualified professionals when undergraduates
pay such high fees?
 MOOCs can be useful for providing high quality online continuing professional
development (CPD) for fee-paying professionals, using collaborative learning,
user-created content, and peer evaluation but with minimal accreditation.
Universities could then use the income, resources and experience from the
MOOCs to invest in online teaching and assessment for higher quality and lower
cost undergraduate courses – as well as for free, open courses for schools and the
wider public.
 From a corporate perspective, MOOC providers need to link their software with
learning management systems (LMSs) if they’re to penetrate the business-to-
business (B2B) market. Some LMS vendors, for example, Docebo, already have
capacity for administrators to use their LMS to build MOOCs.
 You can discover more views about MOOCs from, among others, articles written
by a TCoT member, Bob Little, at:
http://www.mindtools.com/blog/corporate/2014/11/21/moocs-money-marketing-
and-mystery/ and http://www.mindtools.com/blog/corporate/2015/03/20/moocs-
update/
TCoT’s predictions for the future
 2015: MOOCs gain greater footfall in the B2B market – notably with an
‘Extended Enterprise’ model as more companies start to offer MOOCs to provide
training for their current or potential customers
 2016: MOOCs will be focused on storytelling learning (analyze, understand,
contextualize, create)
 2017: Employers will equate MOOC completion certificates with a university
degree
And finally…
A tribute to entrepreneurialism, start-ups and persistence: Udemy’s chairman and co-
founder, Eren Bali, has been quoted as saying, “We created a product with Udemy’s
vision six years ago in Turkey. We failed. So we packed our bags and moved to
Silicon Valley to give it another shot. We were rejected by more than 50 investors
before we launched the company in the Valley. But through it all, we didn’t give up
because we believed in the power of the internet to change how people learn. We
learned from the challenges we faced and eventually our hard work paid off.”
2. Learning Management Systems
Technology issues
 Security is tied to cloud-based platforms, even though most vendors use Amazon
or Rackspace.
 Mobile bandwidth, data plans, connectivity whether WiFi or 3G/4G
 Internet infrastructure - it’s not just specific continents (for example, Australia has
big issues in some areas)

3. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 Adopting future technology such as virtual reality (VR) - and will it truly take off
for e-learning consumers?
 Video streaming for content into platforms – bandwidth impact
 Legacy (on premise) being pushed towards SaaS
Market news and issues
 Adobe Captivate Prime LMS is scheduled for release in August. Expect buyers to
buy it, especially 10,000+ users LMS targeting business. At a later date, Adobe
plans to release a system targeting Education - most likely the main focus will be
on Higher Education (HE).
 Legacy to SaaS is being pushed throughout the LMS space – especially by Saba
and SumTotal to their customers. Additionally, more vendors are going SaaS only
– including Adobe, Cornerstone OnDemand Learning Cloud, Growth Engineering
and Docebo. Saba wants it to be the same way. Cloud-only vendors in the US
who’re seeking growth outside of the US are eyeing the UK first, then Western
Europe.
 Vendors in the UK who’re seeking growth outside of the UK are eyeing the
United States (first), then Asia-Pacific and, third, Western Europe.
 Many LMS vendors shy away from Australia due to the employee size of many
companies. That’s a big mistake.
 Instructure launches Bridge, its corporate targeted LMS.
 Cornerstone OnDemand numbers are shrinking, compared year-to-year (Y2Y) for
this quarter.
 A limited number of authoring tools are cloud based.
 Blackboard dominates the Middle East HE market. Moodle is second.
TCoT’s view
 SaaS rules, although many of the systems are actually PaaS, but consumers can’t
figure that out - so SaaS it is.
 Multi-tenant growing (vendors still like to use the word “enterprise”).
 There’s huge growth in the LMS market. We’re seeing more vendors entering the
market than leaving. How many of them are truly generating real revenue is open
for interpretation.
 Social learning and gamification are growing - especially gamification.
 More consumers (buyers) are entering the market. However, they have limited
knowledge.
 In the authoring tool industry, the gap continues, with most vendors still staying
desktop.
 M-learning content only – that is, it’s best seen on a mobile device and not
laptop/desktop (where m-learning is non-existent).
 Social learning platforms (marketing spin) are growing.
 The LMS market is splitting into LMS and learning platforms. The difference is in
the reports/analytics.

4. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
TCoT’s predictions for the future (six months)
 Adobe Captivate Prime could create a ripple effect, causing some vendors to
change design. The biggest impact hit will be Docebo, since Prime seems similar
in many ways and its target market is similar.
 Predictive analysis will increase among LMS vendors.
 On/Off synch with mobile in learning platforms.
 Growth Engineering’s Genie authoring tool takes off as standalone. It comes with
the LMS too, but standalone will be strong.
 Continuation of modern UI across the e-learning industry on various offerings.
 Moodle continues its domination of the HE/Edu market.
 More vendors entering e-learning – but their focus is LMS/learning platforms, not
any other sector.
 Ecosystems continue growth. Some vendors to add performance management
feature sets.
 Increase in venture capitalist funding/Angel investors in the market, especially for
LMSs.
3. Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and other potentially
immersive learning tools
Technology issues
 For AR, the key technological question will be security and ease of roll-out with
multiple devices. Technology is still being improved, so the final product offering
isn’t yet at the point where solid solutions are on the market. Here and there,
companies are testing out elements as part of e-learning, but full integrations are
rare.
 AR platforms include HP’s Aurasma, Layar, Daqri’s 4D Studio and Zappar. They
allow you to create an object (image, text, video, game), which can be shared in
other media, such as e-learning or print. It requires the user to download an AR
reader app before experiencing what’s been created. Zooburst allows you to create
3D interactive pop-up books - a fun addition to more traditional e-learning.
 Avaya Live Engage provides an option, intended for the corporate sector, where
an office environment can be modeled and course participants attend with their
avatar. Learners can have side conversations and ask questions, as if they were
live at an event.
Market news and issues
 AR entered the market around the same time as smart phones but is yet to find a
stronghold in mainstream e-learning. Uncertainty about how and where to apply
AR is stopping decision makers from investing in AR-based solutions.
 Many companies worried about security aren’t keen on using smart phones,
tablets and bring your own device (BYOD). Until this changes, AR will be
hampered as an enabler of learning.
 AR platform providers are focusing on the marketing field. Only a few have
identified e-learning as an opportunity.
 Solution pricing is a major issue. Prices for customized developments start at five

5. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
figure sums and usually end up in six figures to tailor the solution.
 Google Glass came and went. Facebook put up $2bn to buy Oculus. Google has
invested $542m into Magic Leap and Microsoft won’t be left behind with its
development of HoloLens.
 Global market research firm Markets and Markets’ March 2014 report
‘Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Market’ predicts the compound annual
growth rate of AR to be some 15 per cent – making AR a $1bn market by 2018.
 AR gives the option to blend holographic reality and sensor devices to reality to
intensify the experience of reality. Aurasma, the AR development arm of Hewlett
Packard, identifies 20 per cent of its users as educators or students. This suggests
we can expect to see more AR applications enriching students’ education in the
years to come.
 Digital Capital predicts the market for AR and VR globally could reach $150bn
by 2020.
 Research firm Kzero has looked at VR market penetration. It has found:
Innovators / Hardcore Gamers: 2.5 per cent of the general population. It’s
the youngest age group of all adopters and the highest social class. Innovators
are the gatekeepers of promoting new ideas.
Early Adopters / Light Gamers: 13.5 per cent of the general population.
They have a closer social structure than Innovators - so they’re ‘locals’ – with
the ability to act as opinion formers across all other adoption types.
Early Majority / Kids, Teens & Tweens: 34 per cent of the general
population. They interact frequently with their peers (locally and globally), so
they’re an important link in the diffusion process.
 In VR, game design engines such as Unity and Unreel are offering free-to-use
options, thus allowing designers to learn the craft.
 Authoring software Ity Studio now allows you to create a 3D setting, with
characters based on pre-defined templates, and structured to design role-playing
scenario-based training. Its pricing model has been improved and the product now
integrates with Captivate, Articulate and Lectora.
 Major software houses, including Microsoft, HP and Google, along with social
media giants LinkedIn and Facebook seem to want a piece of the AR/ VR/
immersive experience pie. What exactly they want to do with it isn’t yet clear.
Applications
 Healthcare: Every month there are new start-ups looking at integrating sensor-
based smart wearables with elements of AR and, in some cases, VR. Samsung
Gear has entered the market. Oculus VR is still being improved, but more
applications are being created to use on these immersive devices. Their
application is seen as useful in healthcare, where benefits of first-hand experience
are being found to calm patients with autism and dementia by revisiting known
environments. In learning, some companies are exploring how abstract concepts
can be experienced through first-hand experience, such as the effect of a particular
cream or lotion in beautician and dermatological training. Medical training is also
looking at the potential to use these technologies to teach surgery skills.
 Healthcare: VR solutions for onboarding are under development in some of the
UK’s NHS hospitals to help speed up locum staff’s familiarity with hospital wards
and their procedures. Through a virtual replica of the hospital, staff can complete
the necessary compliance training while discovering essential services’ locations.

6. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 Business Recruitment: PWC in Hungary took their recruitment online through a
VR experience which tested candidates’ competency and taught them about
regular working life in various teams in the company.
 Retail: Norwegian virtual world designers Attensi Simulations said that the
improvement in behavior in real life from a number of their clients is ‘becoming
too embarrassing to quote’ – showing that compliance and customer focused
behavior has improved by over 300 per cent. They designed solutions for retail
stores to train staff on issues including customer engagement and store
cleanliness.
 Hotel and Leisure: The American Hotel and Lodging Education Institute created
a 3D hotel environment for staff to learn essential hospitality skills. Players move
around to find keys lying around, broken or hazardous items, wet floors, blocked
fire exits, non-compliance with ADA regulations, suspicious activity, or signs of
child trafficking. A guest experience score shows how well the players are
improving guest satisfaction and safety. The game also uses a timer to raise the
stress level and motivate action. Social media (including Facebook and Trip
Advisor comments) is integrated into the game experience, providing clues to
solve the guest experience challenges.
 Insurance: Zurich Insurance has invested in an initial pilot with mobile AR
application provider, Aurasma. It’s now rolling out leadership training to 10,000
managers in 170 countries through AR where their project management, people
skills and coaching are the core topics of training challenges.
 Manufacturing: IBM has been a long-time adopter of VR technology, using a
number of combinations of platforms: Active Worlds, Forterra Olive, Second
Life, OpenSims, Unity 3D and Torque. It has also used AR for an internal
communications event and has employees across the world engage in a challenge
of uncovering code through collaboration.
TCoT’s view
 Both VR and AR technologies were developed for the gaming and movies
industries, where they work well. They’re being adapted for other uses in daily
life and work. There are amazing early-stage platforms and apps – as well as
lots of start-ups but, at present, VR/AR still feels a bit premature. Corporate
applications of this technology globally are only starting out.
 The AR world expo is in its sixth edition in the US and, this year, has teamed
up with VR providers and smart wearable technology companies. It’s the
success and potential of smart devices - whether wearable or handheld – that’s
driving the development of both AR and VR for learning purposes.
 From an e-learning perspective, virtual worlds aren’t new. Typically, the
design and application of these tools requires significant investment, which
makes multiple applications less attractive to corporate buyers. VR’s
popularity waned with the demise of the hyped Second Life from Linden
Labs. The emergence of gamification and the potential of immersive
technologies such as Oculus RV, Sony and Samsung devices is driving this
trend back towards virtual experiences.
 AR should be bigger than VR but both will have a place in e-learning. Watch
out for the development of a holographic screen and keyboard, sensory and
neurological trackers to follow what our responses are, along with other
gadgets to measure performance. This is what established software houses and

7. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
new start-ups around the world are testing.
 VR is currently more popular because it facilitates the creation of a safe
environment for learning. Over the past two years, creating virtual worlds and
replicas of a customer’s building are back in vogue, with more 2D and 3D
learning experiences being developed - mainly with game design companies.
Recent VR applications include on-boarding, recruitment and simulations,
with future growth for role-playing-based training.
 Expect to see more examples of VR applications in corporate e-learning, such
as virtual worlds, especially those focusing on office-based and customer-
facing related soft skills. Industries using this form of learning will also
expand - and newer generations of workers will drive this evolution towards
trying it out in a game-like virtual world with instant feedback on
performance.
 Implementing holographics is coming – and offers exciting opportunities.
4. Gamification
A definition of gamification: The application of game mechanics, game dynamics and
game theory to non-game situations, such as e-learning.
Technology issues
 E-learning organizations are adding game designers to their teams to offer more
game-like solutions but in-house development teams often don’t have the
headcount to bring these resources into the team and therefore continue with
traditional methods of e-learning - with mixed results and outcomes.
 LMSs and authoring tools are still linear and template-driven in their approach,
which isn’t always suitable for impactful gamification. However, most
gamification platform providers will integrate seamlessly, or with some
modification, to Moodle and other LMSs.
 The only open source technology on the market to date is Mambo.io, which only
entered the market this year and requires some technical ability to make it work on
internal systems. BadgeOS has been around for longer, but only provides a
badging-related reward system. This can be useful for short-term reward but not
necessarily for long-term engagement.
 Instructional designers and e-learning companies don’t always support content
gamification because it delays the speed to create solutions.
 Many e-learning developers are unfamiliar with the authoring tools for
gamification. So, they’re reluctant to move to Unity, Unreal and other similar
tools. Growth Engineering, the gamified LMS platform provider, has published a
gamified authoring tool. It’s available as a standalone tool and within the LMS.
 Security and linking to external sources is often seen as an objection to rolling out
gamification platforms - but most platform providers will work within the
constraints of the IT requirements.
 Compliance with the SCORM standards isn’t always achievable in gamification
due to the nature of the files - but they’d fit well in an xAPI or Tin Can approach.
 Gamification to drive behavior change and collecting big data/ analytics on
workforce behavior is raising some questions from workers’ councils in some
European countries. To date, no organizations have stopped an initiative for this,
but some projects and agreements about data have been adapted in some cases.

8. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
Market news and issues
 Many large organizations in the post-recession era are still operating with a small
set of resources - and the impression is that gamification will require a big budget.
 The first open source platform was launched this year (Mambo.io). Enterprise
application giant, SAP, is also entering the industry with its platform. This will
give corporate decision makers choices and, for those already using the SAP
system, an easy entry into the market.
 The challenge will be that the roll-out of a gamification platform is strongly based
on user-centric design and, hence, many software providers will need to link with
gamification designers to make the solution deliver on its ROI.
 The market for gamification is still young and in different stages across the world.
The more mature markets can be found in North America. Early adopters are
starting to engage in projects in EMEA - and APAC is considered a major
opportunity for growth by most providers. The understanding of what
gamification is varies, especially in the mind of the organizational buyer. For
some it includes serious games, simulations and game elements applied to
business processes and applications. For others it’s strictly the latter. Providers
tend only to be able to serve one of these options and are relied on by clients to be
the educator in the process also. This approach entails an element of risk when the
business objectives for the initiative may be force-fitted into the solution
providers’ platform or service limitations. Equally, not every platform provider is
a great educator.
 The key driver for gamification in L&D has been the bad press e-learning has had
in terms of effectiveness and engagement, combined with the hiring of a
generation of people who’ve grown up with games as part of their daily life. It’s
said that the average 18 year old has played over 10,000 hours of computer, tablet
and smartphone games. This is longer - in time - than they’ve spent studying in
traditional education. The gaming population is also increasing in average age to
the over 35s and even starting to slant to being female-dominated, according to the
latest statistics of UKIE in the UK. So while the demand for gamification may be
on the increase and the reasoning behind it largely driven by the end-user, the
actual implementation is in its early days.
 H2T has a gamified e-learning platform, called Curatr. This seems to have found a
stronghold in the MOOC sphere with education providers of various sizes. The
model links closely with social learning and integrates well with forums and social
media.
Applications
 Airline industry: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has launched a gamified online
onboarding application for its new recruits in KLM IT and people transferring in
from other regions. The objective is that you fill your suitcase with important, as
well as basic, knowledge about how the organization works and so on. As a
learner you’re given missions to complete, such as getting your ID card – which
involves interacting with different teams to make it happen. Progress is measured
in the on-boarding app.
 IT sector: SAP had similar thoughts for teams of people looking to learn iOS app
development, so it developed the G learning challenge. This challenge had
components taking place both online and offline in collaboration with colleagues

9. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
over eight weeks. Employees were given the choice to learn by reading or to take
part in the challenge. The average age of the participant was 37. Between 100 and
300 people signed up for it; 95 per cent completed and 50 per cent had a working
app at the end.
 Financial services: Rabobank invented iQuest to support financial advisors
through changes in regulations, processes, products, channels and customers.
They decided to make participation voluntary and played heavily on the curiosity
motivation of learners. Currently 50 per cent of the target audience has used the
gamified learning app and, of those starting, 66 per cent complete all challenges -
and rated the app at 8.5 out of 10.
 Financial services: Unicredit Bank gamified its leadership program for high
potentials in CEE with a banking challenge. Multinational teams were formed and
took on running a bank in a virtual environment. The decisions and practices of
other teams affected their outcome. The aim was to stimulate collaboration across
cultures and also to learn about aspects of risk and compliance.
 Food and drink: Heineken gamified its Capability Academy and, to reinforce
some of the lessons, also created a board game.
TCoT’s view
 The appetite for gamification solutions in the corporate and educational L&D
sector is on the increase. Increasingly, examples are delivering above and beyond
their expectations when well designed. Equally, some of the projects launched are
also being revised or cut short due to bad management, wrong objectives or non-
existing objectives and not taking the target audience into account.
 Since gamification is largely user-centric in design, it will be the users demanding
more of this style of learning that will make this approach more mainstream.
 Some organizations in the USA see gamification as something they now consider
the norm, having started with it in the early 2000s. However, in EMEA, the early
adopters only have their first or second implementations behind them - so a lot of
growth is still expected here. APAC is following in EMEA’s footsteps.
 Development among social media platforms, such as Facebook buying Oculus
Rift and LinkedIn recently acquiring Lynda.com, indicate that there’s a lot more
growth and consolidation to come in this young industry. The link between social
connections and learning has been reinforced through gamification, which actively
encourages collaboration and sharing - and often acts as the catalyst for social
learning.
 Although many companies use their millennials as the driver for choosing
gamification as part of their learning strategies, there’s growing evidence that
gamification equally appeals to generation X and baby boomers.
 With gamification education now existing on a number of MOOC platforms
(Coursera and iVersity), many learning design professionals will learn or take on
board the principles and encourage further spreading of gamified learning
solutions.
 The advent of gamified or gamification-enabled authoring tools will be the tipping
point for mass acceptance. Game designers will become more important members
of an L&D team but few will be willing to work within the constraints of existing
e-learning. Learning and instructional designers will need to continue to adapt and
create more engagement.
 With concepts such as the quantified self and the Internet of Everything coming to

10. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
the fore, learning will become increasingly personalized. The introduction of
devices such as smart watches and neuro-tracking will be key in making
gamification ‘mainstream’ - not necessarily as tools which deliver learning but as
tools which track learners’ adoption of the learning at multiple levels, from simple
data entry to neurological changes.
 The prediction by Gartner that 80 per cent of gamification interventions would fail
has been over-estimated. The complete reporting of all projects doesn’t exist but,
from speaking to clients and at conferences, it’s clear that many corporates are
still only starting to think about buying solutions.
5. Personalized e-learning and big data analytics
Technology issues
 The amount of enterprise data, and the rate at which it’s being accumulated, is
rising exponentially. The proliferation of mobile devices, artificial intelligence,
web analytics, social media and other types of emerging technologies is creating
new data streams that only add to traditional data stores, such as transaction
records and financial data.
 LMSs need to be able to provide statistical data related to learners’ learning
habits, because this opens the door to developing true personal learning
environments (PLE).
 PLEs impact all levels of e-learning. We’re able to track the learner’s journey
throughout the entire learning experience, so it’s now possible to focus on her/his
requirements. There are the challenges of storing and accessing large data sets, but
the bigger challenge lies in bringing together and interpreting disparate types of
data. The value of big data is in extracting actionable insights through the deep
analysis of that data.
Market news and issues
 In July 2014, the European Commission outlined a new strategy on big data,
supporting and accelerating the transition towards a data-driven economy in
Europe. The data-driven economy will stimulate research and innovation on data
while leading to more business opportunities and an increased availability of
knowledge and capital, in particular for SMEs, across Europe.
 According to the study ‘Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services, 2012–
2015 Forecast’ conducted by IDC, big data technology and services are expected
to grow worldwide at a compound annual growth rate of 40 per cent – about seven
times that of the ICT market overall.
TCoT’s view
 Stakeholders are realizing that market success is connected to having a personal
approach to the customer. People are sharing information. Data analytics in e-learning
is a circular process. Based on data that we get from learners, we can forecast their
future activities. There are a number of benefits that big data offers to e-learning, all
of which have the power to impact the future of e-learning and revolutionize the way
we analyze and assess the e-learning experience.
 Getting learners to use their own experiences to fuel their learning increases their
enjoyment of the learning. They feel more connected to, and engaged with, the subject
matter and, so, are more likely to retain it.

11. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 Personalized e-learning and data analytics play major roles in tracking the learning
results and ROI.
 As wearable technology gains more traction in our everyday lives, from fitness bands
and smart watches to Google Glass, it’s starting to take hold in the education market.
For example, users can wear sensors to collect heartbeat. Through that, we can
monitor each learner’s level of stress. All this information can be displayed on
wearable devices and can be fed to the LMS, so that questions can be automatically
personalized for each user.
 While wearable technology is in its infancy, analysts at Morgan Stanley believe it will
become a $1.6tr business in the near-future. Most of these gadgets are believed to be
related to health and fitness. Countries investing the most in this form of mobile
learning include the USA, Japan, South Korea, China and India. However, it’s likely
that the major players in this field in 2017 will be China, USA, Indonesia, India and
Brazil.
6. UK and European e-learning trends
Market news and issues
 Corporate e-learning is a function of learning and development (L&D)
expenditure and, while it’s bucked the overall downward trend in corporate L&D
expenditure, that pattern is still mixed across the EU with a number of almost
contradictory trends at work.
 Europe is growing in its uptake of e-learning, but its growth is patchy. Training
levies - as in France - can stimulate demand; confidentiality issues in Germany
can dampen demand, EU structural funds in many states have laid some
foundations but, overall, the fragility of economic performance in many states
contributes to the mixed picture.
TCoT’s view
 Investment in acquisitions of e-learning and edtech companies will accelerate as
publishers from Europe and large (principally US) technology vendors and telcos
(especially in the emerging markets of Africa and Asia Pacific) get more
interested in the global learning market. This is driven significantly, but not
exclusively, by the growth in demand for Higher Education (as ‘The Economist’
magazine put it recently, ‘the whole world wishes to go to university’).
 MOOCs are a glacier, not a tsunami or avalanche. The spill-over into corporate
learning has not been huge to date but, with new iterations such as VOOCs (from
Virtual College) addressing vocational skills, other models will emerge leveraging
the desire for low cost online learning, as already proven by Udemy and a B2B re-
focused Lynda.com.
 Compliance will not go away. It will remain as a driver for e-learning adoption in
the SME market but the learner experience will change with compliance-led
games (using simulation and one day virtual reality) along with adaptive learning
and engaging video, which will mitigate and alleviate the repetitive sheep-dip
compliance experience so detested by many learners.
 Extended enterprise learning solutions integrating supply chains, customers and
eco-systems will stimulate market growth for learning technologies.
 The lessons from marketing automation will be increasingly applied to learning
platforms and environments.

12. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 The UK along with an increasing part of the European training industry will close
the e-learning adoption gap on North America, as the real threat of Lynda.com
(and others) becomes apparent to an industry that hasn’t embraced e-learning
wholeheartedly.
 Certification (and regular re-certification) will grow as quickly as the demand for
qualifications. Badges and micro-credentialing evidence of competencies will be
hugely important, while merely recording hours of CPD will ossify as an
approach. Platforms such as Accredible, and MyShowcase from My Knowledge
Map are well placed in this market - along with a newly re-configured LinkedIn,
which will also be used for evidencing learning and competences.
 CPD as we now know it will fade. Already the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority
(SRA) is moving from a CPD-led to a competency-led approach. The leading
standards body, IMS, is moving in the direction of competence-based education
and training (CBE) with its Digital Credentialing initiative.
 A new generation of assessment technologies, including effective remote
proctoring (‘invidulation’) from companies such as ProctorU and Comprobo will
lead to a change in how exams and tests are taken, allowing for location-
independent online exams and tests.
 Big data and analytics are coming, with Skillsoft, IBM and others now paying
significant attention to the market potential.
 New starts and new entrants are proliferating in edtech and e-learning - and
London is growing in dominance as this edtech innovation hub across Europe in
an increasingly internationalizing market. London is increasingly the go-to
destination for ambitious European edtech companies seeking funding and an
incubation eco-system. This is further supported by London hosting the Learning
Technologies events (in summer and winter), an ever-internationalizing BETT and
the fast growing and influential edtech Europe event.
 There’s a great deal of potential investor activity with many new start- ups
targeting Higher Education in particular. In contrast, there’s uncertainty in Further
Education among investors and a schools market that’s not seeing investor
attention.
 The corporate e-learning market is receiving considerable investor attention and is
now well placed for a growth spurt in the UK and a robust internationalization by
the UK’s national e-learning champions.
 Compelling propositions are still needed in the workplace skills and
apprenticeship space, as the FELTAG fallout continues to impact Further
Education.
 Europe is becoming more attractive to US companies and London is the location
for them to set up.
 The US still leading the way in innovation and start-ups in edtech and e-learning
but an increasingly crowded market is causing more US vendors to consider
internationalizing their offer.
 Next generation US vendors, such as Instructure and ProctorU, are targeting the
HE market, along with a newly invigorated Blackboard.
 Many US vendors, such as Xyleme, have been paying attention to the UK and
Europe for some years and are making steady gains in the market with their
LCMS.
 A new wave of US LRS vendors will soon be arriving and forming partnerships in
the UK.

13. The e-learning think tank with an international perspective.
 UK companies are looking beyond Europe to the Middle East and Asia Pacific
markets.
 UK companies are really internationalizing at last. This is, in part, due to
consolidation of the UK’s industry and some real (and long overdue) national
champions emerging, led by the Learning Technologies Group with its LEO
brand, Kallidus and the Virtual College.
 Several UK and EU companies are performing well in the US market. Stand-out
performers are Dublin-based LearnUpon, whose LMS has achieved considerable
market penetration; the US/ Italian LMS vendor Docebo, CG Kineo and
Webanywhere with its Moodle/Totara offer. Other UK vendors will take US
investment and establish a US presence so, while the US remains in the lead in its
adoption of technology in corporate learning, the traffic is not all one way.
 From Europe, CrossKnowledge (now part of a much larger group) and the French
national champion, Cegos, have been actively internationalizing their businesses
for some years. Recently, some Irish, Spanish and Italian e-learning vendors have
been successful in internationalizing their businesses. Docebo is a shining
example of this, as is eXact learning solutions. Others, such as the Dutch LMS
vendor aNewSpring, will soon be emerging from their domestic market.
 Learning is globalizing and EDTRIN is an interesting Australian /Singapore / UK
venture that’s seeking to bridge the market opportunity for European companies in
the Asia Pacific market. This may be of significant interest to a number of
aspiring ambitious e-learning and learning technologies organizations.
About The Company of Thought (TCoT) and this report
Welcome to the inaugural report from The Company of Thought (TCoT).
TCoT is an international Think Tank which aims to help identify, analyze and generally shed
light on developments in the corporate online learning industry worldwide – and discuss their
implications for business. Its Mission is ‘to report and comment on trends within the
corporate online learning technologies industry worldwide, independent of any vested
interests’. As such, this report contains the informed thoughts, views and opinions of TCoT’s
members. While, hopefully, authoritative, its contents should not be the sole determinant of
any business decision.
TCoT’s global headquarters is in the ancient city of St Albans in the UK. It has outposts
around the world, notably in California, USA. Its founding principals are Craig Weiss
(California, USA), David Patterson (Sheffield, UK) and Bob Little (St Albans, UK).
Contributors to this report include: Iva Matasic (Zagreb, Croatia), An Coppens (UK/ Sweden/
Belgium), Craig Weiss (California, USA), David Patterson (Sheffield, UK), Graeme
Coomber (Darlington, UK) and Bob Little (St Albans, UK).
You can find out more about TCoT, its services and its members from: Bob Little, 23
Sherwood Avenue, St Albans, Herts, AL4 9QJ, UK (tel +44(0)1727 860405; email
bob.little@dial.pipex.com)