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About Totara


Totara Learning was formed in 2011 in New Zealand. Like Mind Click, Totara has been on an exciting journey since then, shaking up the LMS market on a global scale. Customers include SMEs, high street names, through to global brands across all sectors. Think Sony, EasyJet, Tesco, Sky, Safeway, Google, Save the Children, numerous NHS Trusts and you start to get the idea. Totara now operates on a worldwide scale and is supported by a partner network of over 70 companies. www.totaralms.com


Books to up your e-learning game (that you haven’t read already)


Book Two:


Edward Tufte’s Visual Explanations New from £32.55


Hardcover: 151 pages


Publisher: Graphics Press US; First Edition (31 Mar 1997) Language: English


ISBN-10: 0961392126


About Mind Click


Mind Click was formed in 2010 and has grown tremendously in four years to supply learning solutions to an international customer base. The Nottingham- based company employs a diverse team all contributing to its success. This is evidenced by its 96% retention rate with Totara LMS clients, showing that customer satisfaction and support is a top priority at Mind Click. www.mind-click.com


workflows for one of their biggest customers. The development team at Mind Click has also made other important new developments over the past year, including:


n Star rating system – allowing learners to rate content quality n Offline course capability – with later synchronisation back to Totara n Innovative user experiences – immersive 3D interface of a client’s workplace.


The service that Mind Click can sell around Totara – including the bespoke


services – has helped to drive growth. Sam said: “Once we have put in a Totara LMS we can sell bespoke services, off the shelf services, and consultancy on the best way to build the training catalogue. We’re starting to build in social elements as well.”


‘Social’ is also being integrated into Totara. Mind Click is hearing from new and existing customers that learners want to contribute to their LMS, including Facebook-type elements such as reviewing, rating and sharing. It is no coincidence that a new product, Totara Social, is due to be released shortly. The other main trend is mobile, and both Totara and Mind Click are working on responsive and adaptive enhancements. Open source is now well established in the e-learning marketplace. Blue chip firms are using Totara through Mind Click, Sam said: “This open model provides customers with a more competitive market. With more outlets and Totara partners, it makes the level of service higher and the whole approach much more agile.” The level of service that Mind Click provides is reflected by its wins for Totara, in the last year with customers such as The Big Lottery Fund, The Royal Yachting Association, Berlitz, Sky and Farrow & Ball coming on board. In addition, in January 2014 Mind Click was recognised as a ‘Core Challenger’


in Elearnity’s 9-Grid for bespoke e-learning. This recognised its ability to compete with larger providers as well as its customer support and cost effectiveness. Most significantly, Mind Click’s growing relationship with its customers


and Totara has meant the company has become a Platinum Partner of Totara LMS, which is transforming Mind Click into a respected provider of learning services.


e.learning age september 2014 Visual explanations


In the second in his series for e.learning age, Leonard Houx gives a taste of the best books around to transform learning and development


In an age of short deadlines, graphics can impress and delight. But how can they explain? For anyone who has asked this question, I recommend Edward Tufte’s Visual Explanations. A pioneer in his field, the Yale emeritus professor shows how to make graphics concise, clear and beautiful, introducing simple principles such as ‘remove chart junk’, ‘increase data-to-ink ratio’ and ‘use data parallelism’. But Tufte does not just tell; he shows. The masterful prose, balanced typesetting, illuminating before-and-after visualisations, thick paper, charming lift-up flaps and 3D pop-ups – every aspect demonstrates the heights to which we can aspire. Perhaps most delightfully, he illustrates each principle through a handsome


mix of images as diverse as Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar drawings, Russian cosmonaut cyclograms, and Muybridge’s multiple exposure photos. Since Visual Explanations was published in 1997, many books absorbed


its insights. Yet none so well exemplify them. In an age of speed, this book is a paean to quality.


Leonard Houx is a learning technologist at Floream


About this series Most ‘e-learning’ books I have read have, sadly, not helped my work as a learning technologist. In this series, I share 10 books found outside the typical e-learning library that have transformed my work and which could transform your work too.


Next issue: Janice Redish’s Letting Go of the Words


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