Strategic Framework for a Product Launch - Learning Management System (Case Study) - Part 4

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We looked at how to implement the strategy to improve free subscription to paid account ratio, and increase user engagement within the application in the previous part. In this part, we will explore our competition profile in depth by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the companies featured in competition profile, and by determining each competitor's market objective. We will also analyze the different strategies employed by the competition to achieve their objective. In the preparation of our analysis, we focused on the competition in two main product categories as they relate to our product's core features, a Learning Management System, and a Live Classroom Management System for hosting online classes. 

Part 4

Competition Profile

1. Pearson Learning Studio

Model of Delivery: Web and Mobile-based SaaS

Education Sector: Higher-Ed

Product Category: Learning Management System

Product Summary:

Learning Studio is an LMS targeting online institutions. It’s value proposition of serving online education institution enhances significantly because of it’s fully hosted scalable platform which assures lower total cost of ownership. The product also comes with promising data and analytics package that is attractive to many of its clients because they consider data and analytics fundamental to improving individual student achievement. The data and analytics package include enterprise reporting which visualizes trending data on several metrics such as at-risk students and monitors data to identify students or faculty to target for intervention. Predictive reporting charts the risk of a student failing or dropping a course and recommends the intervention most effective. Data and Analytics package also offers student evaluation and reporting, institutional reporting which allows for cross-term and demographic data analysis for continuous improvement of curriculum, multiple workflows which allow instructors to map grades, standards and outcomes in real-time.

In addition, Learning Studio also assigns a service consultant to each account who help institutions achieve financial and organizational goals, identify opportunities for online learning growth, offer strategic guidance and develop custom solutions comprised of content, technology, and services. LearningStudio also offers Open APIs to invite third-party developers to develop extended and customized solutions for Pearson Learning Studio Platform.

For synchronous online learning, Learning Studio uses Blackboard to provide ClassLive Pro. Collaboration Tools integrate the social features such as profile creation, avatars, chat, groups, remarks, activity feeds and fully integrated Skype functionality to allow real-time class interaction. Integrated audio and video sharing  feature enables students and instructors to add photos, audio and video to posts. A customized mobile site for each course lets students participate in class discussions, access grade book and stay updated on deadlines from virtually any device.

Learning Studio also offers a group functionality which supports a wide variety of cooperative learning models including collaborative learning and group based learning.

In addition, Pearson is providing enrollment services for undergraduate online degree programs, including engagement, retention, and student support.

Product Highlights

Strengths:

  • 24/7 Technical support
  • Predictive reporting
  • Real-time view of students, class, and program performance based on evidence-based assessments
  • Individualized learning paths generation through assessments and evidence-based curriculum.
  • Open APIs
  • Curriculum-design Services
  • Content Supply to online curriculum
  • iPad App
  • Mobile Site for each course
  • Learning Outcomes Management

Weaknesses:

  • Poor User Interface resulting in bad User Experience
  • Limited integration capabilities with other information systems such as SIS
  • Limited to No degree planning and course recommendation features
  • Requires Java Platform for live classroom

         Objectives:

  • To keep its position as a major player in the online education industry by catering to technology and curriculum needs of Online Higher Ed Institutions

Strategies:

  • Assigns Representative to each customer campus for identifying selling opportunities for Pearson.
  • Help universities transition from blended or on-ground programs to fully online synchronous and asynchronous learning.
    • Building online communities for students.
    • Built-in Real-time “Students to Faculty” Chats.
  • Provide student services that include student engagement and retention to online institutions which makes Pearson attractive as a software vendor: since Institutions are getting a package which includes retaining and facilitating students.
    • In Pearson’s words they differentiate themselves by providing a “new” type of online learning and teaching experience which includes “the ability to scale significantly, improve content, and effectively use analytics, as well as provide extensive student services, and comprehensive enrollment and retention counseling”
  • Acquiring and investing in companies that focus on areas of key importance for Pearson to maintain its competitive differentiation
    • Companies Acquired:
      • IntelliPro - Developer of Learning software including MyEconLab for Pearson.
      • National Transcript Center - A provider of software that enables student’s academic records (Transcripts) to be securely transferred between institutions.
      • TutorVista.com - Online tutoring company based in India using Virtual WhiteBoard Technology.
      • SchoolNet - solution to align student assessment, curriculum, and instruction; guide collaborative, data-informed discussion; and enable targeted instruction for every student.
      • Invested in Knewton - Technology platform for adaptive learning.
      • Certiport- Courses for certificate exam preparation to help train the workforce.
      • GlobalEnglish - Tools to improve Business English language skills.
      • Embanet Compass - Online Degree Outsourcing services.
      • Invested in Nook Media - Barnes and Nobles subsidiary, an electronic book reader.
      • Invested in Scoot & Doodle - Online real-time collaboration, Google+ Hangout app.
      • Learning Catalytics - HigherEd Real-time student response data tracking and student assessment tool.

2. Blackboard Learn

Model of Delivery: Web and Mobile Based SaaS, Mobile App

Education Sector: Higher-Ed, K-12

Product Category: Learning Management System

Product Summary:

Going from trading publicly to being part of a private equity firm, this transition has allowed BlackBoard inc to move a little faster on innovation. BlackBoard learn is one of the flagship platforms of the company and is the most popular Learning Management System in the Higher Education The president of the BlackBoard Learn platform who is also in charge of prod. dev, Ray Henderson has made it clear in one of his letters to customers that blackboard will be changing its focus from acquisitions to an enhanced functionality of the platform and superior user experience.  The release of BlackBoard’s latest version which was code named “Ocho” (Officially SP 8) has reflected his commitment to this goal and has taken significant steps forward in terms of the design, UX, UI and innovation of the product. Not only the design but the overall product functionality has increased in subsequent releases of SP 9 through SP 12.

Among some of the newer features of these releases Bb Learn platform has introduced a new functionality called “xplor” which is essentially a global learning object repository that has boosted the content management capabilities of the blackboard platform, besides storing rich educational content, xplor also allows content creation, and enables sharing (across different institutions and LMS platforms through Open Standards) and discovery of the content with a rich metadata engine while enabling the institutions to do copyright management using the creative commons system. Yet all the content is delivered via LMS without import and export so that means all the content is opened and consumed within Bb Learn environment.

Other content management capabilities of the Bb Learn platform include a drive which is a desktop utility that allows for the mapping of network drives to the content collection in Bb Learn and the ability to edit the content through the desktop interface. Bb learn also offers tools like Content Editor that makes the content creation for course material easier and more intuitive for instructors.

The course management functionality has also been revamped in the new release of the product, with the option to self-enroll, instructors can enable this option and it will allow student to get enrolled right from the course page, the newer version has also seen improvements in course relationship management, which allows to merge students from two different catalogs (if the course is listed in the “Math track” as “Core” and “Liberal Arts track” as “Advanced”). Bb Learn also provides with functionality to choose from different course themes and structures for different pedagogies, so the instructor can customize the layout of the course based on his teaching styles.

Bb Learn platform also comes with quick assessment and intervention tools such as retention center, it brings retention factors and student engagement to instructor’s attention, quickly alerting the potential risk and allowing to take immediate action. Bb learn also features quick grading of multiple students, interactive rubric creation for assigns,  built-in enterprise surveys and course evaluations with reporting tools and mobile access, McGraw Hill’s content integration as a single point of access for courses, content and learning tool.

Social: Blackboard Learn’s SP10 release featured a social platform which is essentially a Global Navigation Menu and can deliver notifications, hold discussions, and highlight individual facebook-like profiles for each student and faculty member and offers one click access to different information objects. There are other tools that are featured in the Social module. Such as:

the People tool enables students to discover others in their academic network. This is where they can see who is in each of the courses and organizations and can also see anyone else at their school. My Grades is the place a student can go to get all the information they want about their grades. This feature diminishes the need to go in and out of each course to check grades. You can see a stream of the latest grades you've received, so you never miss a new grade that was posted. Dedicated pages to Student organizations is also a new feature in Blackboard which provide online collaboration space to these organizations. This module is modeled after courses module in BlackBoard.


Overall, It is safe to say that Blackboard has changed its strategy and product direction after the release of SP8, with new student-centered features and facelift Blackboard Learn platform is running stronger than ever, the president of the Blackboard learn division has also made it clear in his letter to customers that their primary focus will be to cater to the whole lifecycle of a student rather than being only a course management tool.

Product Highlights

Strengths:

  • Game mechanics built into courses.
  • Cross LMS, Cross Institution content sharing.
  • Content authoring and licensing (dynamic content creation capabilities using Flickr and SlideShare).
  • Course Management and course creation capabilities.
  • Integration with Cengage Learning, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Wiley for dynamic and smooth content delivery from commercial drivers.
  • Real-time course feedback.
  • Video recording, publishing and youtube integrations.
  • Social platform for collaborative learning and students interaction (discussion boards, profiles etc).
  • Interactive Rubrics with export and import functionality.
  • Timed assessments (force students out of test, yet saves and submits their work).
  • Deep Integration with McGraw-Hill content and tools like Connect, and SimNet.
  • Ability to list courses in multiple catalogs and then merge enrollments across all the courses allows system administrators to map courses directly to SIS.
  • Task-based navigation for easier grading

Weaknesses:

  • Poor Customer Support.
  • Security vulnerabilities exist in the product which has the potential of being exposed to zero-day attacks (Please see: http://goo.gl/jBqXcY)
  • No Open Data, APIs etc.

Objectives:

  • To diversify the product line and revenue stream as Blackboard learn’s market share decline, and new customer win rate decreases.
  •  To regain the declining market share in the LMS market through diversifying the LMS platform offerings and onboarding the clients to newer versions.

Strategies:

  • Active acquisitions of companies to build a wider and platform agnostic range of “stand-alone” solution offerings.
    • This initiative will help BlackBoard to recover from the decreasing market share in LMS market.
    • It will also help BlackBoard acquire new customers through offering products in other areas and help BlackBoard stay profitable because they have changed their strategy of not just depending on being the learning platform organization for every institution, but the way they’re positioning themselves is that even if an institute go with their competitors for learning platform, Bb platform is still very attractive for the other products they offer i.e. Bb Collaborate which is essentially the combination of Wimba and Elluminate.
  • Introducing "Course Site" as a MOOC-based free Learning Management System for instructors.
    • Many institutions are running older versions of Bb Learn Platform and have not upgraded to the next generation versions of the product (9.0 or 9.1), this fact is also coming into the upgrading and purchasing decisions of these institutions as they may compare older versions of Bb Learn with brand new products of other LMS companies. Trying out CourseSite for free can allow the teaching faculty to experience the next-generation suite of Blackboard products.
    • CourseSite is a cloud-based web application, which allows Blackboard to compete in the increasingly important space of Cloud-based solutions.
  • Blackboard is also making inroads into K-12.
    • After the acquisition of Edline (now BlackBoard Engage), BlackBoard is going for the market that is “ripe for harvest” and last year blackboard added 20,000 K-12 schools running Edline to their client base.
  • Acquisition of MoodleRooms, NetSpot and launch of BlackBoard education open source services:
    • Some surveys say that there has been a movement to moodle, which resulted in Blackboard losing its market share in LMS market. This movement was not necessarily towards Open Source but rather customized solution that included running Moodle out of the box with third party hosting services, and this led to BlackBoard acquiring MoodleRoom Inc, the largest provider of Moodle-related third party solutions and launching the BBEOSS (BlackBoard Education Open Source Services) initiative which will help them generate revenue through providing hosting, help desk, migration consulting and customization services to the clients who are looking for Open Source solutions.

3. Blackboard Collaborate

Model of Delivery: Mobile/Remote-Desktop Thin Client SaaS

Education Sector: Higher-Ed

Product Category: Live-Classroom/Online Collaboration

Product Summary:

BlackBoard Collaborate is an online virtual class platform that provide collaborative, interactive real-time class sessions through a native mobile application and remote desktop publishing.

Product Highlights

Strengths:

  • Built-in Phone conferencing allows participants to use VoIP and phone at the same time in a single session
  • Mobile Interface and collaboration allows participants to join a class-session on any device from email, calendar invite or any LMS Join Link. Mobile Application is available on Kindle, iOS and Android devices and provides full feature set of Bb Collaborate such as:
    • Tapping the screen can show names, polling responses and emoticons used for all participants.
    • This view also allows one participant to chat with other participants.
    • Mobile App gives the ability to the students to interact in the class by giving feedback and "raising their hand" to ask questions.
  • Blackboard Collaborate also allows to publish the recorded class sessions to channels like YouTube, iTunesU and SchoolTube.
  • Built-in echo cancelation tool facilitates participation with a standard microphone and speaker.
  • TI (Learning Tools Interoperability) integration allows the tool to be integrated with any LTI-compliant-LMS
  • Instructors can create a more engaging and effective asynchronous environment by adding a voice component that facilitates vocal instruction, collaboration, personalized coaching, and assessment.

Weaknesses:

  • Poor Audio/Video quality issues.
  • Audio/Video Kits don’t work well in large hybrid sessions.
  • Issues with Java Client while connecting to the Bb Collaborate Application.
  • Problems with launching Telephony bridge once the session starts.

Objectives:

To be an online collaboration tool that can be used by the user of any and every Learning Management System.

Strategies:

  • Building dynamic integration with the leading and LTI compliant Learning Management Systems to be attractive for users all across the LMS range.
  • Platform agnostic product for quick access to sessions/conferences by the participants.

4. Adobe Connect

Model of Delivery: Remote-Desktop Application Publishing

Education Sector: Higher-Ed

Product Category: Live Classroom / Web-conference software

Product Summary:

Adobe connect is a web conferencing platform for web meetings, eLearning and webinars. It delivers end-to-end web-conferencing solutions on all the devices as well as desktop platforms.

Strengths:

  • Any device, any platform.
  • Through Adobe Flash, attendees don’t need additional plug-ins (or clients for desktop) to join the conference call.
  • Flash Engine makes any type of content (even animation) run seamlessly during the virtual meeting.
  • Video conferencing capabilities
  • Persistent meeting rooms store work in progress in each breakout room with user-defined persistent URLs.
  • Strong multiple rooms capabilities such as each room has its own private VoIP, Single-room customization, ability to move between rooms and broadcast messages to participants across room boundaries.
  • Layout customization with multiple presenters before and during meetings.
  • Adobe connect can manage users with an organization's LDAP. Server administration console enables IT Admins or organizers to configure LDAP server details, authentication methods, and advanced settings, such as timeouts and query page size limits.
  • Customization capabilities with Adobe Connect Server APIs
  • Automatic notification to system administrators when usage approaches the threshold in addition to reports on system usage and license capacity.
  • Adobe Connect can collect usage information by minutes, rooms, training objects, storage, logins, and other parameters.
  • Ability to MetaTag the stored content and control access to confidential information.
  • Presentation, File sharing, session administration from any mobile device.
  • All interactive, hands-on components — such as quizzes, simulations, and links — remain interactive even in recorded classroom sessions and meeting.
  • Adobe Connect allows to create multimedia content within the application  with just a few clicks using MS PowerPoint, Adobe Presenter and Adobe Captivate.
  • Allows multiple- instructors to change the layout of classes and upload new content on the fly within the class session in real time.

Weaknesses:

  • Multiple known issues with poor voice quality, sound and audio cutting out or fading in and out.
  • Adobe Connect requires flash player and thus requires users to keep their flash player up-to-date.
  • An additional flash plug-in needs to be installed on all the machines joining in an adobe connect meeting for the first time.
  • Varying privacy settings make it difficult for flash plug-in to capture audio/video correctly, thus separate workarounds needed on every user device while connecting to Adobe powered lesson/event.
  • Limited video extensions are supported in “Share pod” feature of Adobe Connect especially the product has multiple errors and usage problems while playing .dvd format of videos.

Mobile Issues:

  • On Android devices, forward-facing cameras are not accessible. You can use rear-facing cameras on Android devices to broadcast video.
  • The mobile app does not support the Integrated Video Conference Pod, Web Links Pod, or File Share (file download) Pod. Mobile users can't see this content.
  • SWF content isn't officially supported in Adobe Connect Mobile.
  • The mp4 and f4v formats are not supported in Adobe Connect Mobile.
  • Breakout Rooms are not supported. Audio streams from all breakouts are heard on the mobile app.
  • Quizzing in Presenter shared content not fully supported: radio buttons in quiz questions don't always appear.
  • Adobe Captivate shared content is not fully supported. Movies sometimes stop or loop when not expected.
  • Limited whiteboard overlay object support on mobile. Whiteboard objects do not appear the same color, shape, or location on mobile as on desktop.

Broadcasting Issues from Mobile:

  • When the video camera is broadcasting from a mobile device, if host switches layouts from one to another, the camera stops broadcasting.
  • If a user is demoted or loses broadcast rights while actively broadcasting video, and is then given video rights or promoted to a higher role, the user can't broadcast video. The video icon sometimes appears  green and broadcasting can appear active in this case, even though the video may not be broadcasting at all.

Objectives:

To be the go to web conferencing tool to be used in capacity webinars, virtual classrooms, virtual events and conferences for any type of a large organization.

Strategies:

  • Adopting a multi-device and multi-platform approach for the product.
    • This strategy enhances user accessibility to the product itself and helps Adobe to break into unified communications stack such as Microsoft Lync.
  • Providing a large developer community for customizations to different user group’s needs and use scenarios.
  • Features specifically dedicated towards event hosting, analytics, advertising, branding and event attendee list management:
    • This strategy allows Adobe to tap into webinars and virtual events market where the integration of platform and technology integrity is not highly required and hence enables adobe to achieve its objective of becoming an all-encompassing web-conference tool.

Here we end the part 4 of our series which consist of 5 parts, in the next part we will present our problem / solution fit in a matrix-like table to highlight the features our product has and reiterate the problem our product hopes to solve.