The new vision Tremend proposes is built on our inherent, intrinsic Agile philosophy, used to create tangible value in measurable increments with advanced technology and engineering solutions.

The skills required by modern organizations to remain competitive change faster and faster. The internal learning curve is always shorter: content is created and becomes obsolete in short cycles, sometimes in just a few months. Staff moves horizontally as well as vertically through the organizational charts, to acquire new insights and competencies, to foster innovation and exchange of information across organizations. New technology such as RPA and AI makes yesterday’s jobs obsolete, while new jobs are created daily. 

In modern organizations, stakeholders switch roles frequently between trainer and trainee. Experts contribute to training content as much as they benefit from it. The separation between learner and trainer is no longer clear.

To support today’s organizations’ needs, Tremend proposes a new agile approach to training; a paradigm that supports collaborative learning and knowledge creation, flexible learning styles, short learning, and induction cycles, in order to drive organizational innovation and growth.

Here is the beginning of our TALE: Tremend’s Agile Learning Environment.

TALE’s pedagogy/andragogy foundation is built on constructivism¹ ². This is operationalized as knowledge building³, namely collaborative learning and information sharing in groups of expertise (a.k.a. Circles, or Communities of Knowledge). The main benefit is that the learning paradigm changes from a traditional, top-down, trainer-to-trainees approach, to a community-driven, bottom-up approach.

Initially tested in academic environments, the new model is proven to be highly effective in modern business environments, research, and management. This strategy is particularly well adapted to suit the needs of the modern adult professional:

• is highly motivated; 
• has a high level of expertise; 
• continuously learns, innovates and creates know-how, at work, on-the-job. In fact, 68% of employees prefer to learn at work. 
• frequently changes the role and required competencies;
• knows more about certain topics than trainers;
• has limited time available.

TALE’s components are:

1. Agile stakeholder approach – i.e. who and where;
2. Project, processes, and tools – i.e. how and when;
3. End-products: eLearning content and eLearning platform – i.e. what.

Knowledge-building platform architecture

Philosophy

The technical architecture philosophy is to deploy a conceptual technical platform and social environment that supports knowledge building through learning, development, and collaboration between stakeholders. 

There are several types of content that create knowledge and support learning. Some are ad-hoc pieces of information, some are elaborate multimedia eLearning content products.

Core components

• Ad-hoc pieces of information form knowledge bases. These adapt and grow continuously. 
  • The platform is formed of a wiki, blogs, incident databases.
  • It is implemented through tools such as Jira, Confluence, Google blogs/sites. 
  • Translation / shared glossary support a common language.
• Collaboration and eLearning platform: our preferred software stack is built around Moodle, Drupal, Google docs/hangouts, Slack.
• eLearning authoring tools: Articulate, Captivate.

Add new technology

Tremend is aligned with new technology stacks and integrates in TALE deployment its proprietary Innovation Framework.

Blockchain can be applied when certifying diplomas and certificates. This could be achieved with public blockchain and can be brought by leveraging Blockcerts, which is an open standard for issuing blockchain-based certificates. The cryptographic proof of the diploma/certificate can be used to verify the validity of the document.

Tremend has significant experience in deploying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) solutions for various customers and includes such tools in order to foster adaptive learning, to uncover and deploy personalized learning. Other building blocks that can be added are Extended Reality (XR)/AI/VR, chatbots, serious games/simulations, mobile games.

Deployment

CI/CD

We deploy tools such as Jenkins or Bamboo for continuous build, testing, integration, and deployment. 

Articulate has built-in support for CI/CD for the collaborative development of advanced eLearning content.

We propose Bitbucket and GitHub for configuration management and versioned content repository. 

DevOps

Cloud-specific resources are provisioned using automated tools such as Terraform. This includes Archive-backup-restore-disaster recovery. 

Non-SaaS tools and applications are containerized using Docker and deployed in Kubernetes clusters for easy availability and scalability. This also makes the system easier to move/migrate from-to other clouds or in an on-premise deployment. 

Agile implementation process

We adopt agility for the deployment of the platform itself. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, several projects may be grouped in parallel/iterative streams to support a program-management approach, which was proved to be an effective tool for managing complex projects.

Conclusion

TALE is based on off-the-shelf components and Tremend building blocks – a library of software assets built over 14 years, that accelerates the development, deployment, and adoption of our knowledge-building platform to new organizations.  It is grounded on Tremend’s agile philosophy. It uses our proprietary Innovation Framework. It was created by experts with significant expertise in IT, eLearning, and education. It is new, while grounded on proven scientific research.

Let us create your own TALE.

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¹Piaget, J., Psychology and Epistemology: Towards a Theory of Knowledge (New York: Grossman, 1971)

² Eddy, Matthew Daniel (2004). “Fallible or Inerrant? A Belated review of the “Constructivist Bible””. British Journal for the History of Science. 37: 93–8. doi:10.1017/s0007087403005338

³ Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2003). “Knowledge Building”. In: J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education. 2nd edition. New York: Macmillan Reference, USA. Retrieved from

? Ribbers, P., & Schoo, K. (2002). Program Management and Complexity of ERP Implementations. Engineering Management Journal, 14(2), 45-52.

? Remington, K., & Pollack, J. (2007). Tools for complex projects. London: Gower Publishing Ltd.