JOHN BLACKMON – CRYTSAL BALLING WITH LEARNNOVATORS
ABOUT JOHN BLACKMON (Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Trivantis Corporation):
As Chief Technology Officer for Trivantis Corporation, John Blackmon is responsible for all aspects of development and strategy for the company’s eLearning products.
Prior to joining Trivantis, John worked in a variety of industries, including Electronic Data Systems, IBM, and General Motors. At IBM, John was awarded a patent for software design for his work in developing operating systems. At General Motors, John designed a number of automatic identification systems using various technologies for plant floor applications. John was also Co-Founder and Lead Engineer at BocaSoft, a software company that created various utilities for the software market.
John received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.
ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW SERIES:
‘Crystal Balling with Learnnovators’ is a thought-provoking interview series that attempts to gaze into the future of e-learning. It comprises stimulating discussions with industry experts and product evangelists on emerging trends in the learning landscape.
Join us on this exciting journey as we engage with thought leaders and learning innovators to see what the future of our industry looks like.
THE INTERVIEW:
1. Learnnovators: Trivantis’ Lectora is used by Global 2000 companies in more than 125 countries today… truly a phenomenal achievement. How did you scale this height?
John: I think we created a product that was truly unique and powerful at a time when there were no other solutions available for those who needed to create courses. And through the years we have continuously refined and improved the product to keep it at the front of a growing market.
2. Learnnovators: How does it feel to be called the ‘Father of Lectora?’
John: It makes me quite proud. I still refer to it as “my baby” even though it has quite a large development team these days.
3. Learnnovators: You were the first to provide the world’s largest template library free of cost to the learning community in collaboration with eLearning Brothers. What inspired you to come up with this idea?
John: We were thinking about ways to improve value to our customers, and the thing that kept coming up was the ability to “jump start” a course with content, and the eLearning Brothers had the perfect library for that.
4. Learnnovators: Lectora 16, with the Responsive Course Design (RCD) feature, is a remarkably simple, yet an exceptionally powerful desktop authoring tool. This helps e-Learning developers save valuable development time, as they can design once, and publish the courses to function across several devices. How has the response been from your customers?
John: The response has been overwhelmingly positive. It is a very different take on Responsive Design, and I was a bit concerned that it would be so different that it might not catch on right away, but our customers are loving it and have been producing quality responsive content with it.
5. Learnnovators: In addition to making online review possible, ReviewLink 3 now allows uploading Captivate and Storyline courses. This provides so much more flexibility to external reviewers, subject matter experts and other stakeholders to review course content and provide feedback, making the review/revision process much faster. How well has this platform been faring in the market?
John: ReviewLink has been doing well, and those who use it as a part of their business process are using it quite heavily. We are always trying to get the word out as much as possible that it is available included with every copy of Lectora so that it gets even more traction moving forward.
6. Learnnovators: What prompted Trivantis to publish a complete guide (targeted at those who are new to the training industry) on the foundations of eLearning development – “eLearning 101: A Practical Guide”?
John: We have so many resources for eLearning professionals already, so we wanted to have some resources available to those who were new to the field, to introduce the concepts that will guide them on the way.
7. Learnnovators: Trivantis’ Lectora made rapid e Learning simple and cost-effective. Its goal has always been to make it easy and affordable to create engaging content. What role, according to you, does the tool play in the creation of engaging learning?
John: I think it is the enabler of engaging content, with actions, branching, and gaming all built in. We often say, “If you can think it, you can do it with Lectora.”
8. Learnnovators: Against the backdrop of an extremely competitive atmosphere, what steps have you been taking to differentiate Lectora from other tools?
John: Introducing creative concepts like Responsive Course Design, being the first to market with new technologies like xAPI continue to keep Lectora ahead of its competitors.
9. Learnnovators: At a time when the learning industry is leaning towards HTML5, you bundle Flypaper (a tool for developing Flash interactions and animations) into Lectora. How has this decision been paying off? Can you please explain its relevance in today’s changing technological landscape?
John: Actually, Flypaper was bundled with Lectora in 2010, when Flash creation was still extremely relevant in the industry. We removed it from the Inspire tool over a year ago, now that Flash is no longer needed for eLearning design.
10. Learnnovators: Our hearty congratulations on Lectora Inspire having won the coveted Brandon Hall Group Silver Award for excellence in the Best Advance in Content Authoring Technology category in 2015. How has your experience been in getting awards such as this one?
John: It’s very rewarding to see all of the effort being put into the product being recognized by a company like Brandon Hall. I think it shows that we are concentrating our efforts in the right areas.
11. Learnnovators: Lectora has been making it into the Top Authoring Tools Companies List by Training Industry, Inc. for three consecutive years now. How has this been possible? What do you think is the reason for this success?
John: I think it’s the continuous improvement that we have put into the product for over 16 years now, and the commitment of the team behind the product.
12. Learnnovators: You are an incredible technologist who enables learning designers to create fulfilling learning experiences. What is your advice for learning designers to create such experiences?
John: Always ask yourself “Is this content something that I would enjoy taking?” Never settle for a bland page turner design when you can truly engage and motivate the learner.
13. Learnnovators: There’s a growing perception that e-learning, as a learning solution, might take a back seat in the face of learning models such as 70:20:10 that underline the significance of informal learning. There’s a greater push for organizations to look beyond – move away from, to be precise – formal learning programs. What’s your take on this perception? How do you think Lectora (and other authoring tools) are poised to address this change?
John: I think that the model emphasizes the need for micro learning and just in time learning which is well served by many tools on the market today.
14. Learnnovators: A growing number of new concepts and technologies – such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Wearables, Internet of Things, Performance Support, etc. – are coming up in the learning industry. How can an authoring tool like Lectora support or hasten the adoption of such technologies?
John: Technologies such as virtual and augmented reality will certainly play a role in the future of learning, but Performance Support is something that Lectora works well with today. The ability to quickly reference material and get to the information you need when it’s needed is provided by the interactivity available in Lectora.
15. Learnnovators: How would you describe your professional journey so far? Is there something you wish you could have changed for the better?
John: It’s been a great ride, driven not only by successes I’ve had, but also learning from mistakes I’ve made along the way. It’s the sum of all of the experiences, good and bad, that got me to this point in my career, and so I wouldn’t want to change anything along the way.
Learnnovators: Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights and experiences, John. We wish you the very best!
Click HERE for more interviews from the ‘Crystal Balling with Learnnovators’ series
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Published on 28-Jun-2016
