White Paper

Title: The Knoitall “Social Commerce” Platform

Version: 1.0

Date: February, 2015

Synopsis: Knoitall provides a robust and highly flexible software platform to support the marketing, distribution, and sales of education-related content. Core functionality of the product offering includes:

• A web-based social commerce platform • Competency mapping tools that automatically distribute learning from one

provider to other learning centers based upon the competency needs of those centers.

• Support for all learning formats, including classes, degrees, learning products, lessons, tutoring, and free resources (not a complete list).

• Support for both learning purchases and/or click through to a provider’s site to request more information or to complete a transaction

• Inventory management tools to limit the sales and/or referrals for each program marketed through Knoitall

• Integration with PayPal to support consumer credit card payments directly to the provider’s PayPal account.

• Tools to build and customize a provider learning center that contains the provider’s offerings created through Knoitall and that is mobile and tablet friendly

• A communications platform that automates notifications to all parties involved in the creation, registration, delivery and participation in learning activities.

• Student check-in functionality through a QR code that can be scanned by any “smart phone”

• Tools to manage your instructors and locations • Class rosters distributed to the instructor prior to the start of a learning

activity • Social tools to support marketing efforts through the Provider’s

Facebook page • Automatic placement of the provider offerings in the Knoitall Learning

Marketplace to increase provider sales Throughout the remainder of this paper, the core features and functionality of the platform will be covered.

1) Introduction The Knoitall Social Commerce Platform (Platform) was developed to meet the following objectives:

1. Provide a superior content management, marketing and sales platform for learning

providers offering continuing education opportunities 2. Support multiple channels of distribution for a provider’s offerings that include the

provider’s website, the provider’s free Knoitall learning center, and the Knoitall.com learning marketplace. Knoitall is a social commerce platform that helps a provider distribute learning to multiple learning centers based upon the competency needs of those centers.

3. Provide a flexible architecture to support both large and small providers 4. Provide a business model to learning providers that offers a free solution for

consumer purchases and referrals that come through the Provider’s website and learning center, while only paying for purchases that occur through the Knoitall.com learning marketplace.

The Knoitall Platform is delivered to learning providers through a Software as a Service Provider model, accessible through Knoitall.com.

a) Why does the Knoitall approach make sense for learning providers? Providers approve of the approach that we have taken because Knoitall can increase marketing, distribution, and sales lift while reducing costs to the learning provider.

b) What are the costs to use the Knoitall software? Knoitall provides its software to learning providers for free for activities that occur through the provider’s learning center hosted by Knoitall. Knoitall charges learning providers for activities (sales, referrals, online advertising) that occur through the general Knoitall marketplace and affiliate network. Costs are based upon the types of marketing/sales activities the provider wishes to promote, and the format of the learning that the provider is marketing.

c) How does Knoitall market alongside the learning provider’s Knoitall Learning Center?

By using the Knoitall Platform, providers are able to market through the Knoitall network without duplicating efforts. Learning offerings are managed from the Knoitall Platform, and fed to both the provider’s online outlets, as well as the Knoitall marketplace and affiliate network of learning centers, from a centralized database. This guarantees that, no matter where a referral or purchase originates, all are served on a “first-come-first-served” basis through a centralized database.

2) Key Features and Functionality The Knoitall Platform is used by learning providers for the following purposes:

1. List, promote, and/or sell learning-related offerings 2. Provide search, review, and purchase or referral capabilities to consumers through

the provider’s website 3. Assignment of advisors to assist potential students with questions regarding

provider offerings 4. Assignment of promotional components to the provider’s catalogue, including

discounts, coupons, and other flexible pricing options.

3) The Knoitall Technology Architecture Knoitall has developed a robust technology architecture to provide “first-come-first-served” support for all marketing and sales related activities through the provider’s distribution network, and through Knoitall’s network of affiliate learning centers.

a) Web gateway for all course and prospect management functions All course and enrollment management activities performed by a provider are accessible through a protected gateway within Knoitall.com. This gives users within an institution access, through a centralized web interface, to manage listings and to respond to requests from prospective students.

Knoitall is not the first to serve a market in this way. Sabre provides a similar architecture in support of airline ticketing; Ticketmaster provides a similar architecture in support of event tickets; and the Multiple Listing Service supports the real estate industry in much the same way.

b) Serving multiple distribution channels through a centralized management system

One of the major social components of the Knoitall platform is our ability to map the competencies of the learning entered to the competency requirements of the affiliate learning centers residing on the Knoitall platform. The Knoitall platform allows for affinity learning centers to be created by corporations, organizations, and others who have an interest in building a learning site for their audience. These organizations can then map the learning items available through Knoitall to the competencies they are interested in delivering to their audience.

In this way a learning provider can enter listings into Knoitall and have those listings distributed to other learning sites based upon the competencies deliverd through the learning being listed. This process is automatic through Knoitall. It requires no work on behalf of the learning provider. If their learning meets the competency needs of another learning center that wishes to include additional learning providers, their learning automatically appears in that learning center.

4) Key Components of the Knoitall Social Commerce Platform The remainder of this paper will provide a detailed review of the core components of the Knoitall Enrollment Management Platform.

a) Content Management Knoitall’s platform supports the combination of multiple assets within a learning item, including a location, an instructor, and an advisor. These assets can be stored by the learning provider and pulled into new listings as they are created. Content managed by a provider through the Knoitall platform may include classes, workshops, products, free resources, tutoring opportunities, certification & degree programs offered by the provider. It may also include the assignment of advisors and instructors, and provider locations, rooms, and unit types to various instances of offerings.

i) Setting Up a New Account

A provider can set up an account within Knoitall directly from the home page. The user enters certain information regarding the organization they represent, and their account is created and ready to be accessed.

ii) Creating a Free Provider Learning Center

A provider develops a profile through a protected gateway within Knoitall.com. This gateway creates virtual private storage within Knoitall’s database systems for the provider’s future content. The provider profile includes such things as the provider name, main phone number, provider description (types of programs offered, awards, hours of operation, etc.), provider accreditations, and payment terms. In addition, the provider creates a name for their learning center. Knoitall then creates a unique URL for the provider (www.knoitall.com/learn/YourName). The learning center will store all of your learning activities available for sale.

iii) Linking content back to Provider Properties

The provider has the option of linking consumers directly to their learning center to view and access learning activities, create an iFrame within the provider’s existing pages to contain the provider’s learning activities, or link each item directly back to the provider’s website so that the provider has complete control over the look and feel of each activity created within Knoitall.

b) Attributes of a learning activity supported by the Knoitall software Each learning activity created within Knoitall can contain some or all of the following details:

§ Title § Description § Learning category § Learning Outcomes (specific outcomes or skills that the participant will

receive as a result of participation in the learning activity) § Image to help describe the learning activity § Type of delivery (face-to-face, online) § Audience (Infant, child, pre-teen, teen, adult) § Instructor information (with hyperlink to an instructor profile) § Activity schedule, including days of week, times, and # of sessions

§ Location (including details of the specific location such as room #, building, etc)

§ Price for the activity § Price Discounts through a coupon or an expiring discount based upon the

enrollment deadline (discount for early enrollments) § Required items for the course § Inventory available for sale (# of participants)

c) Transactions

There are two types of transactions managed through Knoitall: 1. Those that occur through the provider learning center or provider website; and 2. Those that occur through the Knoitall marketplace.

iv) Transaction Types Knoitall supports multiple transaction types based upon the type of learning being marketed and the desire of the learning provider. These can include:

• Enrollments • Product Purchases • Referrals

All purchases are conducted through the Knoitall payment platform, and funds are transferred directly to the provider account using PayPal. The consumer may use Visa, Mastercard, or Discover to pay through the PayPal gateway. The provider must have a PayPal account in order to receive the payment.

All referrals are passed directly to the provider site through Knoitall. The consumer is notified that they are being forwarded to the provider site for additional information.

In the case where a purchase or referral originates through either the provider learning center or through the provider’s own website, there is no fee paid to Knoitall for this transaction. In the case where a transaction originates through the Knoitall marketplace, there is a fee paid to Knoitall based upon the type of program and the transaction type (see Knoitall pricing for more information). This fee may either be paid to Knoitall on a monthly basis, or Knoitall may elect to take this fee at the point of purchase.

v) Pricing & Discounts

A key feature of the Knoitall Platform is the ability to assign and implement price discounts using coupons. These discounts may be automatically assigned based upon a user’s past purchasing habits, or they may be passed to a user or group of users through a coupon code. Once the coupon code is placed into the purchase form, the discount is automatically calculated.

vi) Canceling a Course A course may be canceled through the Knoitall system, and all students that enrolled in the course will be automatically notified. The provider may manage the refund back to the

consumer using their existing processes, or can utilize PayPal to refund the student.

d) Communications The Knoitall Platform automates the notifications that should occur during the lifecycle of a learning activity. Knoitall automates the following notifications:

§ Registration reminders to students, teachers, and the learning provider

§ Enrollment notifications to the learning provider whenever a new enrollment occurs

§ Roster of students delivered to the learning provider prior to the start of each class

§ Notifications to instructors when they have been assigned to teach a class

§ Notifications and refunds to students when a class is canceled

e) Student Check-In on the first day of class When students register for a class through Knoitall, they are provided a bar-coded receipt onscreen and via email which contains a unique QR code. This receipt is again sent to them the day before the class when they receive an email reminder regarding the event.

The student can print out the receipt or save it on their smart phone or tablet device as proof of their enrollment in the class.

On the date of the class the learning provider, using any freely downloadable QR reader, can scan the student QR code which sends a message to the Knoitall servers and automatically checks the student into the event. This information is stored in the learning provider’s account so that the learning provider can confirm the student’s participation in class.

f) Reporting The Knoitall software application stores all information regarding enrollments, participation, and payments received for each of the items offered by a learning provider. In addition, the Knoitall system keeps an online transcript for each participant that includes information on each of the classes that person has completed. This is valuable if the learning provider wishes to track classes completed towards a certificate program.

g) Communications to the Student After a Class or Lesson From the Provider’s account they have the ability to post student messages, badges, or coupons for other events that will be placed directly in the student’s transcript. The student is notified when these communications are initiated by you, and can log into their account to obtain these communications through their online Knoitall transcript.

5) Conclusion Knoitall provides a robust social commerce platform utilizing a Software as a Service model that provides an attractive pricing alternative to the providers of continuing education. A learning provider can now build a course once and distribute the course through multiple enrollment channels, guaranteeing that everyone is enrolled on a “first-come-first-served” basis.