Docebo 6.2 Released
Today sees the official release of Docebo v6.2. You can read the full details from the Milan team here. This latest release retains the brilliant look and feel that came with the launch of Version 6 from November but adds some great new enterprise quality features:
What's New?
- A new, easier path to upgrading to the Enterprise version of the product.
- The ability to add more classroom and blended learning functionality through our brand new ILT Classroom App.
- A new assignment feature (for smoothly uploading coursework or assignments for review by an instructor)
- An all new instructor widget to add to your course
With a refresh of the pricing options there's never been a better time to get onboard with Docebo. GuyKat are Docebo's partners in the UK & Ireland. If you want to know anything about the product or want a free trial then please get in touch. In the meantime here's our quick video about why we love Docebo...
http://youtu.be/ZwS4s6pSGwM
GuyKat holiday office hours
It is nearly the end of a very memorable 2013 for the GuyKat team and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone we have worked with over the year!
So before we disappear, the office is closed from 4pm on Friday 20th December and will reopen at 9am on Monday 6th January. If you need to contact us during this time, please email info@guykat.com or leave a voice mail on the regular office number. These will be monitored during the break and followed up if urgent.
From the entire team, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
....See you in 2014!
Now developing in Captivate 7
After a lengthy trial, GuyKat Solutions has fully migrated our primary development platform from Adobe Captivate 6 to Captivate 7. The new technology introduces new short-cuts to our development process bringing quicker production with no loss of quality. The platform also increases our capability to output content to HTML5. GuyKat's Adam Garratt said: "Captivate 7 is simply better. We work faster and can do more cool stuff. Moving was a no-brainer"
We will continue provide client support for all legacy projects created in earlier versions.
If you are interested in working with us please contact us directly and we will be happy to discuss your requirements.
GuyKat Expands Office Space
GuyKat Solutions this week expanded their office space in the Faraday Wharf building of Birmingham Innovation Campus.
Guy McEvoy, the MD, said: "Since our last two hires we reached a point were there was literally not room for everyone to have a desk. When the unit next door became available it made sense to grab it. It keeps the team close together and has avoided us having to undergo a complex move. More than doubling our office space is an important milestone in our growth mission. Next year we may look to moving to fully amalgamated premises but for now I'm really happy with arrangements and looking forward to welcoming our clients"
GuyKat has been based at the Innovation Campus (previously known as Birmingham Science Park) since the company was founded in 2009. This is their second internal 'move' at Faraday Wharf during that time. There are no changes to contact or postal details.
DevLearn 2013
One of the premier events in the eLearning professional's calendar is the annual DevLearn conference in Las Vegas. This conference brings together the thought leaders, major vendors, and solution providers in our industry. Over the week you gain invaluable insight to the latest research, technology advances and industry trends. We pride ourselves on ensuring that we are always represented at this event. This year we sent Hannah Quinton. This is her account of the week:
Adobe Evangelist, Allen Partridge, speaking at the Adobe eLearning Summit
"This was my first year attending the eLearning Guild conference, DevLearn, (plus, only my second time in Las Vegas) and what a week! It was great to see first-hand how technology is changing online learning and training solutions. For me, some of the most valuable sessions were during the Abode Learning Summit day. Such as, an insightful session on 'The Power of Drag-and-Drop' by renowned Adobe Evangelist Dr. Pooja Jaisingh and a fantastic closing Q&A panel hosted by Adobe experts. My other highlight was the busy DevLearn Expo that saw hundreds of L&D departments engaging with interesting conversations about new products and tools to create powerful eLearning. Thanks to everyone who made me feel so welcomed and I hope to see DevLearn again soon!"
We will continue to invest in ensuring that our team are up to date with the very latest industry insights and always insist that were value can be added they are applied in our client work immediately. We'll be back in Vegas next year.
GuyKat MD Looks to Growth
GuyKat Solutions MD, Guy McEvoy, has graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Aston Business School. Guy said “The program was incredibly helpful. It gave me the headspace to properly plan the next five years' growth. On the back of that planning we've already now agreed contracts with two of our key target clients and we've begun another phase of recruitment. It was also a thrill to work with the other business leaders in my cohort, it opened my eyes to just how much talent there is in the West Midlands. I'm grateful to both Goldman Sachs and Aston Business School for providing this opportunity.”
Find out more about the program by clicking here
New Docebo Release
This week Docebo launched the latest release of their intuitive Learning Management System!
There has been a major overhaul of the user interface which we're very excited about. We'll cover off some of the new features in the coming weeks, but for now, if you want a two week free trial, you can activate this direct from the Docebo website HERE.
(Teaser Vid) New Docebo
The secret is out, a new version of Docebo is near release. Coming Soon. Watch this space... in the meantime, fresh from Italy, here's the teaser ad...
http://youtu.be/l--enw8aqnw
Aim to Exceed Client Expectations
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always have"
We are proud of what we do. But we still like to get better as we go on. To do this we listen to client feedback. As part of our RAID (Rapidly Applied Instructional Design) methodology the last step at the end of an engagement is to get structured feedback from our clients. We do it as an online questionnaire so we cannot influence their answers. We solicit some open ended questions which can give us qood insights. We also have some standard survey graded questions about how we have done.
The detailed results are commercially sensitive. However, the one really gratifying headline stat that stood out in 2012-13 was:- we either 'Met' or 'Exceeded' Client Expectations on 100% of survey returns*.Nobody expressed a neutral or negative opinion of our work. We're working hard to make sure we always 'Exceed' client expectations. Obviously, the higher we set those expectations the harder it becomes. It's still what we shoot for. If your eLearning vendor isn't meeting or exceeding your expectations, then why not give us a go?
* Client Surveys were taken in H1 2013 and covered 37+ project deliverables for work undertaken in 2012-13 of minimum value £1000
TinCan API v Experience xAPI.
Recently, a colleague and I attended D-Conf in Milan. Hosted by our partners at Docebo, the event focused on cloud apps and eLearning. As usual at conferences the agenda documentation was teasingly thin. You have little more than the session title to guess exactly what the speaker will cover.
Day 2 had interesting sounding back-to-back sessions. One was on 'Tin Can API' by Mike Rustici and one was on 'Experience API' (or just 'xAPI') by Aaron Silvers. Both were engaging speakers worth listening too. Both spoke of a new API in an infant state. They evangelised about how with a little momentum they will be on the cusp of the beginnings of something that will eventually change everything. Good. SCORM sucks.
For me, the really interesting insight was clocking my colleague’s reaction to these talks. She is a bright, switched-on, graduate, eLearning professional. She is no mug. She’d been looking forward to the Tin Can presentation having followed some of the buzz about it over the last year. She hadn’t previously heard of the Experience API. She listened to both forty-minute presentations in full. Yet when I spoke to her about it afterwards it dawned on me that she hadn’t connected that both presentations were talking about exactly the same thing.
Neither script referenced that there was any debate about the name. Yes, there were aggressive questions alluding to it after Mike’s talk, but these had a level of assumed knowledge in the way they were asked and answered that went over the audience’s heads. For those who live and breathe working on delivery of the post-SCORM standard, any vibrant debate about the name and any trademark issues may be boring and done to death. However, outsiders being introduced to the topic for the first time will not be aware there has even been a discussion.
My colleague is the target audience that these pioneers want to convert into the first wave of early adopters and sales-people. They diluted their message to her. Not because she is stupid, far from it, but because they didn’t explain themselves properly. She cares about this stuff. If they confuse her, they'll certainly confuse more generalist HR professionals.
The dual branding is plain confusing. Having folk going on road-shows and calling it two different things in the same meeting is simply nuts. The confusion will delay that last bit of momentum they crave to get vendors like us to tell our clients they have to jump on this wave. Only when we're pushing compatibility as an essential feature in any buying decision will it truly take off.
If I had a vote, and I don’t, nor do I deserve one, I’d say Experience API is a far better, more obviously relevant name. I’d go for that. I appreciate that there has been a chunk of work put into pushing the ‘Tin Can’ brand out there over the last few years, but let’s face it, it does sound like the code-word for a product in beta. You’d also struggle to sell something with such a whimsical name as an essential upgrade to a typical knee-jerk finance director. Worse, it does sound ‘suspect’ having a private company trademark the name of an open standard. I say that no matter how honourable or benign their actual intent.
Whichever name they settle on, they need to settle on it quick and stop the road show confusion. The benefits of this new standard, whatever it is called, means promoting this stuff to eLearning professionals should be pushing on an open door. Adding this confusion pulls the door back. Guys, sort it out.
Guy McEvoy is Managing Director of GuyKat, he’s looking forward to Tin Can or Experience or whatever it’s called freeing up eLearning content from the restraints of SCORM compliance. He hopes if you take nothing else from this article it’s that, for now, Tin Can API and Experience xAPI are exactly the same thing. Oh, and that whatever it is called Docebo LMS already supports it!