840 - Movie Attendance Down, LearningTech, Skillsoft Buys SumTotal
September 2, 2014 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - September 2, 2014.
#840 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
56,635 Readers - www.masie.com - twitter: emasie - The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning 2014 - Oct 26-29 - Orlando. 872 Registered Already.
1. Movie Attendance Down: What’s Happening?
2. LearningTech: Wearables, iBeacons, Drones.
3. SumTotal Bought by Skillsoft.
1. Movie Attendance Down: What’s Happening? Sales of summer movie theater tickets were down. Actually, they were down quite a bit. And, it may be an interesting compass pointer for how we are consuming content.
The film industry had its worst summer in North America, still the world’s No. 1 movie market, since at least 1997, after adjusting for inflation. Between the first weekend in May through the end of August, ticket sales in the United States and Canada are expected to total roughly $3.9 billion, a 15 percent decline from the same stretch last year, according to Rentrak, a box office data company.
Some of the decline might be due to weak titles or all too familiar sequels. But, there is also a larger shift in how people are choosing and consuming content.
This summer, I watched several TV and Movie series that went straight to streamable format - like “Orange is the New Black.” I wanted to control the when, where and how long my viewing would be. More and more, we are choosing our laptops, smart phones and tablets as alternatives to the theater or even home TV. The personalization preferences of learners, along with widespread use of high tech, high definition, large TVs at home is impacting some of the decrease in theater attendance.
Let’s map this to changes in how our employees are opting for learning content at the workplace. If they can access content from their tablets or even from home in the living room, the desire to attend some face-to-face classes will ebb. The learner (and viewer) will demand more content, better content, shorter content, and more agile delivery that is time/place/device agnostic and more. At Learning 2014, my keynote will focus deeply on Learning Personalization.
Note: Ironically, I am heading over to the theater this evening for a movie. I want to watch something large in a big room with fresh popcorn and lose myself in that world for a while. Just remember, the theater has become just one of many choices for viewers. And, the same is true for many learning formats.
2. LearningTech: Wearables, iBeacons, Drones: I am pleased to announce a new series of sessions called LearningTech at Learning 2014. This year, we will focus on these emerging technologies and explore how they MIGHT impact designs for learning. Here is a sample:
* LearningTech: Wearables for Learning?
* LearningTech: iBeacons and Discoverables for Learning?
* LearningTech: Ariel Photographic Drones for Learning?
Check out our recent article and pictures on LearningTech at: http://www.learning2014.com/index.php/item/learningtech.html
3. SumTotal Bought by Skillsoft: The merger and acquisition pattern for Learning Management Systems continues with the recent announcement that Skillsoft is Acquiring SumTotal. At the same time, SumTotal is adding signification expansion into Talent areas. Details of this latest deal at: http://www.skillsoft.com/about/press_room/Skillsoft_Annoucement_Presentation_final.pdf
Yours in learning,
Elliott Masie
email: emasie@masie.com
twitter: @emasie
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* Learning 2014 - October 2014 - Orlando, Florida.
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