As demand for online learning continues to grow, a Vancouver tech company claims to have a solution for small-business staff training
Joel McKay
A Vancouver company thinks it can reduce the cost and complexity of delivering corporate education programs to employees.
In October, e-learning developer Lambda Solutions Inc. launched an online marketplace touted as a cheap, easy-to-use forum for creating educational content online.
Called Odijoo, the Swahili word for teacher, the technology is designed for small and medium-sized businesses that want to educate employees, but can’t afford the expensive learning management systems (LMS) that large organizations often use.
“I saw a real good application to the workplace while thinking about people travelling to teach face to face … why do we have to do that? Once you have the Internet the world is open,” said Shevy Levy, Lambda’s president and CEO.
And that’s the idea.
Users anywhere in the world can log onto Odijoo to create, publish and sell online courses.Lambda takes a commission from students and trainers who buy or sell content on Odijoo.
Since it was formed in 2002, the company has developed e-learning technology for ICBC, BC Hydro and Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI).
Levy said a traditional LMS can cost as much as $50,000 per course, a price tag only big organizations can afford.
“We discovered there was a huge need to develop something that was not expensive, that’s accessible to everyone.”
Levy added that more companies want to use e-learning to train employees because it can be cheaper than having staff travel around the country to attend seminars and conferences.
According to a study published in October by Ambient Insight LLC, a Washington state-based market research firm, the U.S. market for e-learning in 2009 has thus far reached $16.7 billion.
The report said the recession has slowed growth in the corporate sector, but that strong growth remains in the small and medium business category.
It also stated that there are more e-learning providers than ever before.
One such company is Vancouver-based Serebra Learning Corp. (SLC:TSX-V).
The 22-year-old company sells online training courses to large corporations around the world.
Serebra CEO Ted Moorhouse believes e-learning can be an excellent tool to not only educate employees and track their progress, but also to improve their skill level during tough economic cycles.
“With layoffs in companies the remaining employees need to be training in areas they may not have had responsibility for.”
Moorhouse added that many corporations prefer a combination of online and face-to-face education methods.
Scott Armstrong agrees.
The director of the Peter Thompson Centre for Venture Development at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) school of business said e-learning can be excellent for some things but not others.
“Some things can be taught online beautifully, but would you want to learn interpersonal skills online? So we have to be course selective.” Thompson added that e-learning will be more important to BCIT’s portfolio in coming years and could also attract international students.
But he said e-learning still has a certification challenge.
A school like BCIT can provide a recognized credential for each student, but what about Lambda?
Levy said Odijoo has a rating system similar to the one Amazon.com uses for books and CDs.
“But we have a vision,” Levy said. “Maybe we will create an Odijoo certification in the future.”
Moorhouse, on the other hand, is more interested in providing skills than credentials.
“We don’t have the cachet of a big university or Microsoft,” said Moorhouse. “But we have the core skills in our course library that prepare them to write the exam from the body that has the big name.”
Credentials aside, Levy, Moorhouse and Armstrong agreed that e-learning will grow, and education could look very different a few years from now.
“Unless we figure out a way to increase the value [so] that I can justify you spending two hours of your day just commuting and all the expenses associated with that, I don’t see a need for a huge campus,” Armstrong said. “For the things that can be taught online, I think the schools will be motivated to do it and the market will demand it.” •
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This article from Business in Vancouver December 1-7, 2009; issue 1049
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