Have you heard of the term IoB?

Imagine if you bought flowers for your mother on mothers day, then a week to your wife’s birthday, you start receiving messages and suggestions on your devices if you would like to get her the same type of flowers for her as well, from specific florist around you, including alternative suggestions to take her to your favorite restaurant for dinner, and the reservations can be made for you with a single click on your Phone.

This means your personal information about your mum’s birth date, the flowers you got her, the florist you got it from,  your wife’s birth date, and your favorite restaurants etc. are all being captured, and its used to market new products to you.  This technology is about to change everything we do. It is almost like someone knows what we are thinking before we act on it.

It is the collection and use of data to drive behaviors is called the Internet of Behaviors (IoB).  An example of it is industrial sites having employed computer vision to determine if employees were complying with mask protocol and then collecting this behavioral data to be analyzed by the organizations to influence people to follow government protocols at work.

IoB can gather, combine and process data from many sources including:

• Citizen data processed by public-sector
• Commercial customer data
• Government agencies
• Social media
• Public domain
• Location tracking.

The increasing sophistication of the technology that processes these data is making it a growing trend. The data collection  provides valuable information about customer behaviors, interests and preferences; it attempts to understand the data collected from users’ online activity from a behavioral psychology perspective. It seeks to address the question of how to understand the data, and how to apply that understanding to create and market new products, all from a human psychology perspective.

Do we love or hate this Technology?

 I was speaking to a client (financial institution) recently who has just invested in a Learning Management System (LMS), to combat the challenges they are facing with the COVID-19 Pandemic safety protocols and not being able to effectively train their staff with classroom training anymore.

He said to me that that he believes the system is fine, however they are having trouble uploading and playing all their desired content on the system. So I asked, Is the system SCORM compliant, so he asked me…

What is SCORM?

I took a deep breath and said…SCORM, which stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model,  is a set of technical standards for eLearning software products. SCORM tells programmers how to write their code so that it can “play well” with other eLearning software. It is the de facto industry standard for eLearning interoperability. Specifically, SCORM governs how online learning content and Learning Management Systems, like Tangerine LMS communicate with each other.

SCORM does not speak to instructional design or any other pedagogical concern — it is purely a technical standard.

He then said….Help me with an Analogy:

OK. Let’s take DVDs for example. When you buy a new movie on DVD you don’t need to check to see if it works with your brand of DVD player. A regular DVD will play on a Toshiba the same as it will on a Panasonic. That’s because DVD movies are produced using a set of standards.

Without these standards a studio releasing a new movie on DVD would have a big problem. They would need to make differently formatted DVDs for each brand of DVD player. This is how online learning used to be before SCORM was created.

The SCORM standard makes sure that all eLearning content and LMSs can work with each other, just like the DVD standard makes sure that all DVDs will play in all DVD players. If an LMS is SCORM compliant, it can play any content that is SCORM compliant, and any SCORM compliant content can play in any SCORM compliant LMS.

Look out for part 2.  #conversationwithaclient

Strictly speaking, an “online course platform” like udemy and a “learning management system” i.e Tangerine LMS are two distinct things, although the terms are often used interchangeably. The main difference between the two is how each handles the learning approach.

The term “online course platform” is actually fairly broad and can be used to refer to any platform that has educational materials users can view. Any platform that includes a listing of courses, resources, or modules for learning could be considered an online course platform.

One important caveat we might put on this definition is that the platform has to actually host the courses that are listed. So a directory that just has course listings but no course content would not be an online course platform.

Learning management systems, in contrast, are platforms with modules specifically focused on the delivery and engagement of educational content. LMS platforms not only host courses but also have tools for training and development so learners and educators can have a more comprehensive educational experience. Common LMS tools include course schedules, assessments, navigable course pages, and interactive resources.

So while all learning management systems are online course platforms, not all online course platforms are learning management systems. Learning management systems are more specialized and put a larger emphasis on the delivery, development, and engagement of educational content.