ExtensionEngine has been an Open edX supporter since our earliest days, developing tools, hosting meetups to foster community, and continuously advocating for high-quality online education.
We asked Dr. Scott Moore, who was a tenured faculty member at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and Dean at Babson College before he became the Chief Learning Strategist at ExtensionEngine, to share what’s coming next from ExtensionEngine.
What is ExtensionEngine all about?
We are focused on one thing and one thing only: collaborating with clients to deliver Custom Learning Experiences. We take a highly custom approach, and apply elite, highly experienced talent in Instructional Design, UI/UX, Software Development, DevOps, and Program Management. We are very good at solving big and complicated problems and are a service-only business–our clients keep all the IP and revenue.
Last year we had 70+ product launches for some 40 clients including universities, corporations, and foundations–programs that touched millions of learners.
We innovate with industry leaders including Harvard Business School, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Amplify, Kauffman Foundation, and, of course, the Open edX project.
What are you working on right now?
In addition to our client projects, we’ve been busy building and growing our business. To make a remarkable Custom Learning Experience, we’ve found that every client needs three things: technology, content, and learner acquisition. Historically, we’ve done an outstanding job at providing technology and content solutions for leading organizations.
Now, we’re pleased to announce a new service focused on learner acquisition. We’re offering a suite of digital marketing activities to acquire specific learners at a target cost. We’ll be piloting this offering with a few key clients over the new few months, and look forward to offering it to all of our clients in the near future.
What are you most excited about, of past or upcoming projects?
We are co-chairs of the Open edX Adaptive Learning Working Group. This group has over 30 members from 21 institutions working on applications for adaptive learning. Through working together, we’ve identified a handful of use cases where the edX platform could support adaptive functionality. The next step is to begin developing code to support these use cases and merge it back into the edX platform; ultimately enabling edx.org to offer adaptive functionality.
It is very exciting for us contribute to the community, and witness the incredible effect that working groups can have to push an agenda forward.
Where is ExtensionEngine going?
Our goal for the future is to continue building learning experiences that matter, ones that transform learners and impact how they think, act, and behave. We look forward to expanding our service offering through adding learner acquisition services and increasing our scale by significantly growing beyond our current size of 200 experts. We also look to remain the largest, most successful member of the Open edX community.
Can you tell us a bit about your role in the community?
ExtensionEngine goes above and beyond as a member of the Open edX community. We’ve been a partner of edX since 2013, and we’re proud to collaborate on key initiatives like co-chairing the Adaptive Learning Working Group and sponsoring the 2016 Open edX Conference.
ExtensionEngine also contributes XBlocks and hosts the XBlock Directory, a repository where all (or, most) known XBlocks exist. Here, developers and course authors can post their latest creations, search for XBlocks they need, or simply rate and review existing xBlocks.
Lastly, we’re located in same office building as edX, so we often host and attend meetups, guest lectures and brainstorming sessions with them.
If you see us at Open edX 2016, come say hi.
From left to right, photos of Bob Allard, Jared Moore, and Scott Moore from ExtensionEngine.
