Our story
Coracle is a Cambridge based Edtech firm that provides a specialist B2B Virtual Learning Environment.
Our mission is to create a world where no-one is isolated from learning opportunities
Our Digital Learning Platform (DLP) enables skills gap analysis, access to course materials, tests and assessments, evaluation and self-reflection tasks.
Where did Coracle come from?
Over the Christmas break in 2005 James Tweed had a conversation with his sister-in-law’s brother, Nader Nanjiani. Nader was working in Dallas for Cisco Systems. His cv at the time included work in interactive media, IP telephony and communications. In 2003 he launched the first ever Cisco online community for certified engineers to support the professional development needs of hundreds of thousands of Cisco customers, partners and prospects. He co-authored "The Business Case for E-Learning" (Cisco press 2004)
Inspired by Nader and looking for a change of direction, following many years ship broking and trading financial products, James took a proposal to the ICS to digitise their TutorShip distance learning course. A few months later, Coracle (now the exclusive digital reseller for ICS) had delivered the first online maritime courses, suitable for preparing candidates for ICS exams.
I was excited to see James get going with maritime e-learning. It was a great opportunity and provided a lovely case study for my book, "The Power of IP Video"
What about the name?
A Coracle is a small boat, used since Roman times. These lightweight craft are so portable that a fisherman can pick them up and carry them on their shoulders. Coracle Online is synonymous with this flexible vessel. Coracle's users can pick up their studies and carry them with them wherever they go, and access a rich library of knowledge whenever they want.
Small beginnings
Like any lean startup, our journey began with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which allowed us to collect data to validate our ideas. When we launched, our focus was on delivering maritime courses to individuals. Over time we have clarified what makes us different: supporting isolated learners.
Over the years we have experimented with a range of technical and pedagogical approaches, as well as products and services. We've been honoured to collect a few awards on the way, but most excitingly, we've seen Osprey-VLE be used and approved for use by multiple organisations, ranging from small charities to multinationals, to identify skills gaps. We've loved watching our customers find a way to use the data created by their learners to shape goal based Individual Learning Plans (ILPs).
Most of all we've been humbled by the messages from learners who our technology has helped to support as they progress on their learning journey.