Well, well. The initial game plan was to hold off the Hall of Fame until Halloween, but with all this news about A.I. eradicating us by the end of the decade, who knows if we will make it to Halloween?
Thus, the HOF of 2026, and the initial five entrants. As with our Hall of Shame entrants, some short details will be provided.
Entrants – that means the entities that are in the first class of HOF 2026 – E-Learning edition, incl. learning tech, learning systems, edtech, my mom’s meatloaf with mozzarella cheese in the center (back when I ate meat) mmmm, and other online learning surprises.
Jones International University
JIU (nickname unknown) was the first fully 100% accredited university on the net. They debuted in 1993- and yep you could get a full degree that was legit.
They lasted until 2017 or thereabouts, but to realize that a fully accredited university existed back during modem days, before any other known university offered partial or even full degrees, stands out.
I never understood where the name came from, it sounded like something you would see in the ads of the alternative weekly newspaper you could get (always free), a matchbox (for younger folks, they had matches) or on the last page in a comic book next to the sea monkeys.
And for folks who will say to me the University of Phoenix was the first, sorry to disappoint – they weren’t.
Blackboard
Still around, and the first edtech learning system on the market for the masses.
There is a system out there, who debuted in 1993, when the modem was just running around 12kbs – and they are still around, and look like they are still in the mid 90’s in design.
However I went with Blackboard because it was designed better, attracted a greater audience and really set the stage on how EdTech (k-12, higher education) systems worked.
BB first target was higher education, and was really angled under the 100% synchronous based appearance.
I’d argue that until the 2000 – teens range, that still was their design, but I know they will disagree.
Anyway, while the system wouldn’t blow you away, to become the initial leader in an effective design and UX for Edtech sufficed.
I used BB for a 100% online journalism course in 1999. It did it’s job, and students didn’t have a problem accessing it and using it.
Authorware
You can’t talk instructional design and e-learning development without recognizing nor talking about the monster for development of e-learning courses (now referred to online learning).
The learning curve was steep, and when I say steep, I mean it.
The UI/UX at the time stood out, well the idea of out of the box and start building wasn’t in play.
Every old school – okay, folks who built asynchronous based courses, with simulations or real-world situations, that did and looked like they should, knew about and likely used Authorware, and yes, Flash too (which really rocked), but Authorware was the king.
You can’t find it today, and when I talk to instructional designers, they really miss it. Nothing on the market can meet what it could have done.
Macromedia Flash
Adobe killed off Flash (thanks for nothing), and with it, the power of truly creating real-world courses and content that if done correctly would rule the world. I openly admit I thought HTML5 would take off in the industry and across the board – a huge mistake on my part – still the best example of HTML5 I have ever seen, with geolocation.
I had an independent ID person who built storyboards (those days are gone), and then steps afterwards would create a course that just rocked.
With mine, the learner could go into a real-life scenario, use their mouse to select various options, and have fun doing it.
They had a mentor too, which provided the insight they needed for the scenario, plus the mentor was always available.
The course was broken up into four modules plus a final scenario without a mentor, but based upon what they learned.
They could go anywhere they wanted, and while the course targeted 17-23 yr old, high school education frontline retail staff, we found that even managers were taking the course.
For what it’s worth, identifying your target audience, with your subject content, will always make a better course. General for all, is ineffective.
Anyway, Flash could pull it off – yep, 100% scenario-based learning with what we called micro nuggets (so the whole micro-learning craze in the late 2017s or thereabouts, was doable in 1999).
Playback Media
There is a version of PM that still exists, but it is not the same as the one in the HOF.
If you ever wondered if there was 100% video that streamed effectively at 56kps (modem days), without stuttering, present real-world scenarios and not everyone wearing a suit, say when they were dealing with safety, offered the ability to do bookmarks – so you could be a certain point in the course, leave and months later come back to the same spot – this was the company.
Part of the company’s content were interviews – (PASS), but the juice stuff was the scenarios.
Did I buy some of their courses for the training I provided at a company I worked at? You bet, back in 2000.
Did I call one day, not even a year later, and the phone was disconnected? You bet, I did.
Turns out NetG (the evil empire of Star Wars in the day), acquired them, and at some point, just placed them into their content area, as if it was that giant warehouse you saw in Indiana Jones’s first flick.
Bottom Line
Five Entrants, four which no longer exist but changed the industry for the better, and one that still exists that forever changed the EdTech higher education learning system space.
Just missing out this debut year was AICC, which still exists, should have been kicked to the curb, was first before SCORM, you could legit be certified, but everyone said they were even if they weren’t, and had the words Aviation as part of it.
Cobent was a serious contender too – the best 100% compliance learning system, because it focused only on compliance in the market. I see them as a potential entrant in 2027.
I could have added them, making it six entrants, but hey it is five a year, and something tells me they will be in next year’s class.
Was Apple part of the crash of Flash, yep – but the entity that quashed it was Adobe.
I’m unsure if Blackboard will announce they are in the Hall of Fame 2026, for being the first for EdTech – if they need a logo badge – happy to build one.
Just not with Flash.
E-Learning 24/7
