Tuesday, July 28, 2015

How Competency Mapping Creates a Viral Network Effect for Learning

Talk to most venture capitalists about your venture, and one of the first questions is usually, "So, how does this platform create a viral network effect?" 

Viral networks are a "tricky" thing.  The very term "viral" connotes an uncontrolled growth pattern...and, in effect, that's what happens.  However, there are certain platforms that have viral DNA built in...LinkedIn, for example.  The Knoitall platform is one of these (if you're a VC reading this, I know...it's a bold statement.  I do believe, however, I can back it up).

The Knoitall "network" effect accrues to the learning provider who lists a set of learning offerings on the Knoitall platform.  Our platform is built on a competency-based learning map that scans every piece of learning as it comes into Knoitall and maps it to a set of learning competencies that are stored with the learning item in our database. This process occurs once for each learning item entered into Knoitall.  The "magic" is in how this one-time map networks that learning throughout our platform.

The Knoitall platform is used by employers and other organizations to build out private learning views for their employees and key stakeholders based upon the unique competency needs of these individual entities.  These organizations identify their competency needs using the same proprietary competency map that Knoitall uses to organize the learning that is listed by learning providers.

"So, where's the viral network effect?"  It's in the matching of learning competencies delivered by provider listings to the competency needs of each organization that creates a private learning center on the Knoitall platform.  Each time a new organization launches a private learning center on the Knoitall platform, their learning center is filled with the offerings in our database that map to their competency needs.  In essence, we grow the distribution network for a provider's content each time it matches the needs of a new organization on our platform. A learning provider enters their content once, and it automatically gets listed into new learning centers each time the competencies delivered map to the needs of the learning center.

The same process works for any individual who chooses to create their own personal learning center on our platform.  They identify the individual skills they are seeking using our competency map, and their learning center is filled with provider content that maps to those needs.

It's a new way to distribute learning content, and the beauty is in the fact that "it just happens...it's built into the architecture of our learning management platform."

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