Now You Know Blog

It’s such a great feeling to look at your e-mail on a Sunday evening and discover not one but two incredible surprises.

For us, the surprises this past Sunday were confirmations from Brandon Hall Research Group that we had won a gold medal in the category Best Advance in Learning Content Management Technology and a silver medal in the category Best Advance in Technology for Mobile-Learning Authoring.

Needless to say, we were quite chuffed! (And you should have seen the looks on the faces of my family after I yelled out loud in the living room!)

For the gold medal in the category Best Advance in Learning Content Management Technology, our submission to the awards program focused on the usability changes that Claro introduced.

When the dominKnow LCMS first launched in 2002, the idea of a learning content management system was just catching hold. Like many leading-edge technology ideas it had strong appeal within early adopter circles, (not surprising given those circles’ strong technology background). But as almost a decade has passed, our user base has changed and it was time for the LCMS to change as well.

Using Claro is as easy as using any common desktop software tool, and the Gold medal recognizes the significance of this advancement.

The silver medal in the category Best Advance in Technology for Mobile-Learning Authoring is a great honour for us as well, recognizing the second critical focus of our team’s work on Claro.

It’s never been easier to make engaging and interactive learning content for smart phones and tablet devices like the iPad, the Motorola Zoom or RIM’s new Playbook.

Check out our samples page to see for yourself!

These are pretty exciting times here at dominKnow as we get set roll out Claro, our latest web-based e-learning content authoring offering.

The excitement is coming from all directions. There are still lots of last minute to-dos as we prepare for our time at Learning Solutions 2011 next week, and of course there are always neat things happening with our development team.

The best source of excitement, though, is from clients who are seeing and using Claro for the first time.

A couple of weeks back I was showing Claro to a client with whom we've had a great relationship for many years.

I can't remember what exactly I was showing him, but half an hour into our web conference he said, "Wow. I could become an evangelist for Claro."

Now, that reaction is on the extreme end of the scale, but the positive feedback has been tremendous from everyone.

So, what's got everyone excited?

First, it's the ease of use and the very intuitive interface. Almost anyone can log into Claro and start working on an e-learning or m-learning course – and make it great.

Second, it's the range of authoring features all brought together in one place. Need to edit that image down a bit smaller? No problem – do it right in Claro. Need to record a screen capture video? No problem – do it right in Claro. Need to record video from your webcam? No problem – do it right in Claro. Need to quickly create a custom interaction? Need to quickly add an assessment with a video? Need to make your course work on a smart phone or iPad? Yep, you guessed it – make it in Claro. And it really is no problem.

Third, it's that while you're creating that awesome learning experience, you can also get others to help you on work on the same course. Or get that SME three times zones over to look at the page you've been working on by sending him a meeting invite and sharing your desktop. Or invite as many people as you need to review the course - and you can track all the typos and graphical issues they raise and track how you ended up resolving them all.

If you're attending Learning Solutions 2011 in Orlando next week, there's something more for you to get excited about. Just drop by booth 302 and we'll tell you all about it.

And please join us for drinks during the Expo Reception on Wednesday, March 23 from 5-6:30 p/m. (which we're proud to be sponsoring), or take in our Master Classes.

On Wednesday, March 23 it's all about collaboration as we present Working Together, Better: Leveraging Collaboration to Improve Your e-Learning Development on Stage 2 at 9:45 a.m. And we go mobile on Thursday, March 24 with Learning on the Move: Going mobile using Claro on Stage 1 at 9:45 a.m.

Both sessions will be a great chance to see Claro in action – and, we think, get excited, too.

Tony Karrer over at eLearning Technology raised some points this week about the evolution of the Learning Content Management System (LCMS), noting that what started out as a way to organize and store media content has gone on to become an authoring-focused tool.

Claro, the sixth generation of the dominKnow LCMS, has followed that pattern for sure, but I think of its evolution as a bit more than just that. I've come to think of Claro as a place, not a system. A decade ago, if you thought of an LCMS as a place, it would likely have been a library, or a warehouse – pretty much all about storage, like Tony points out.

Today, though, I think of Claro as a studio – a place where people can work together on e-learning and m-learning projects. Claro makes the authoring process as simple as possible, including built-in image editing, video capture, and easy-to-use custom interaction tools. This means authors can work in this one place and take care of the things they need to do to create engaging learning experiences without having to turn to other tools. This is especially important for users who are new to multimedia or e-learning production.

And just like in a studio, some projects can be done by one person but many projects require people to work together. Claro has some great features to support this, including our new built-in web conferencing tool, our Reviewer Notes feature that allows key stakeholders to review a project and provide feedback as part of the development and approval process, and the ability for multiple authors to work on the same project at the same time.

Because it's a controlled-access studio, Claro is also a place where administrators can monitor what's being done on projects and control who has permission to work on content, to help keep content safe. Sure, the studio still has a library or warehouse for storing and tracking media files like images, audio, video or content created in other tools. But the library supports the more critical tasks people need to get done – creating engaging and effective e-learning and m-learning experiences – in the studio.

I've thought about the dominKnow LCMS in this way for a while now but Claro has really solidified the idea for me, chiefly because it is so simple and intuitive to use that it really fulfills the promise of a studio where everyone can work together. Last week I had a great opportunity to observe a client team do just that (and do it with enthusiasm and great energy!), and it really brought the point home for me.

Chris Van Wingerden is Vice President Learning Solutions at dominKnow.