Blogger of the Week

According to the site, they “post information that covers all aspects of e-learning” including:

• An e-learning blog.
• Facilitates collaborative learning between e-learning professionals through its forum.
• Conducts frequent online contests for e-learning professionals.
• Provides free online training and assignments for instructional designers and graphic designers.
• Selects its favorite blog post and blogger from the e-learning blogosphere on a weekly basis.
• Selects active participants in the planet’s forum.

E-Learning Planet select the Blogger of the Week based on the following parameters:

• The number of informative, innovative, and self blog posts in a week
• The number of positive comments from visitors

Previous Bloggers of the Week include Donald Clark, Tony Karrer, and Jay Cross. I’m not sure I deserve to be in such illustrious company, but I’ll take it!

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The Great Recession notwithstanding, Ireland has a vibrant technology and knowledge-based industrial economy, and one of the domains we excel in, is in e-learning – most people in the industry have heard of SkillSoft, ThirdForce and HMH, for example.

Equally, academic institutions like Trinity College, Dublin, University College, Dublin, the National College of Ireland, and the University of Limerick run very innovative e-learning programs – particularly at post-graduate level. These organizations and institutions aside, there are over fifty ‘other’ e-learning development houses in the country. Not bad for a country with a population of under 5 million people. By any measure, I think we punch above our weight.

Despite this, there seems to be very few Learning & Development Technology professionals contributing to the blogosphere. Off the top of my head I can think of Brian Mulligan, Michelle Gallen, Patricia Donaghy, Eamon Costello and some guy called Michael Hanley. I’d love to include the views of Ireland-based Learning & Development Technology professionals in the new blog I’m developing, and to create a space for us to discuss the challenges and opportunities that we all encounter in our activities with learners.

If you’re interested in contributing, just e-mail me here: elearningcurve[at]gmail[dot]com and I’ll get in touch with you to discuss my ideas.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)!

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 Figure 1 A Snapshot Of Enterprise Mobility Today (after Forrester Inc., 2008)

The ubiquity of mobile devices ensures that there is a ready market for m-learning content. I would assert that learning designers should take advantage of information workers’ experiences as consumers of content in other domains to successfully implement e-learning on mobile devices.

Now read on…

Forrester’s BlackBerry: An Emerging Platform For Mobile Collaboration study states that two-thirds of companies have fully deployed wireless e-mail, calendars, and contacts. Another 16% of firms are in the process of implementing wireless e-mail. That means over four-fifths of enterprises are using mobile messaging applications. This near-ubiquity of support for converged media devices (CMDs) puts a potentially very powerful learning channel literally in the hands of hundreds or thousands of employees today.

We can say that mobile phones and wireless e-mail are central to the activities of organizations. With the right mobile content and collaboration applications, most information workers could be both productive and in an always-on learning environment – imagine people learning while walking down the hall to a meeting, cramming in a little work before bedtime, or waiting for the train. CMDs are more valuable to information workers if they support:

Access to file systems, team workspaces, or intranet portals. It’s frustrating for organizations to invest heavily in content management systems and workspaces, only to find that the information is locked away, available only to desktop workers in an office environment. On-the-go information workers would save time if they could find and view information on their CMDs. The importance and effectiveness of mobile access to content is easily demonstrated: we live in a world where the President of the United States has firmly asserted the he is

…still clinging to my BlackBerry. They’re going to pry it out of my hands.

New York Times

A mobile browser that brings the Internet into learners’ hands. Devices like the iPhone, with its touchscreen, gesture-based interaction model, and Safari browser make the mobile Internet almost as functional as the Web on a desktop. Having access to on-demand information and learning on a device is a powerful plus for all information workers.

Instant messaging and ‘presence’. Virtual and ad hoc teams need to quickly connect, engage, and move on. Subject matter experts need to be available when needed. Presence means that a person’s availability is always known.

Training sessions that can be done while waiting for the bus, train, or in an airport boarding lounge. If learning content is packaged appropriately, hosted on a mobile learning management system, and delivered to a CMD, information workers can learn in their downtime.

M-Learning on the iPhone

As we chart the rise of non-formal, informal, and social learning, my view is that media, information, and communications applications will emerge that make learning fun. RSS feeds, updates, video, games, and social networks are just some of the engaging and effective ways that information workers (in their other life as consumers) already get their information.

With the lines between work and personal time disappearing, learning applications should have the friendly face of regular consumer applications. According to Drego et al (2009) of North American CMD owners with a job, 60% use their devices to access the Internet, 43% to read the news, 33% to check RSS-delivered information, and 28% to download or stream music and podcasts. This is a huge ready-made market for m-learning content.

M-learning’s strongest capability is its timeliness. The relative effectiveness of mobile data channels is device- and software-dependent, but the ability to make contact any time, any where is a universal strength. Although the iPhone and other  devices won’t replace those with a larger form factor any time soon, these devices benefit from the advantages of portability and ubiquity. 

iPhone websites excel at providing information in multichannel contexts. Although the iPhone can access almost any Web site, many organizations choose to tailor sites for the iPhone’s small screen and strip them of Java- and Flash-based content. The best mobile sites support targeted, mobile-specific browsing behaviors such as search and content delivery. For example, YouTube enables viewers to search for content, read user ratings and reviews, and of course easily stream content.

More…

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References:

Drego, V. L., Rogowski, R., & Zinser, R. (2009) Match iPhone Capabilities To Customer Goals [Internet] Available from: http://www.forrester.com Accessed 17 February 2009

Schadler, T. (2008) BlackBerry: An Emerging Platform For Mobile Collaboration. [Internet] Available from: http://www.forrester.com Accessed 17 February 2009

Zeleny, J. (2009) ‘Obama Digs In for His BlackBerry’ In: The New York Times [Internet] Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/us/politics/08berry.html?_r=1&em Accessed 20 February 2009

So without further ado, here is my Second Annual Top 10 E-Learning Tools, in alphabetical order (‘cos every one of them is a winner!):

Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise – I could have picked any from the range of Adobe Flash-based content development tools, but I chose this application because of its multi-functionality, and because it manifests what Flash, Presenter, Dreamweaver etc can do. Enables collaboration, content storage, management, distribution, and (a certain degree of) tracking. A powerful content delivery platform to enable learning professionals and organizations distribute informational and training content effectively.

Audacity – I recommend this open source tool to Subject Matter  Experts (SMEs) who wish to create podcasts and/or software demos when using a Rapid E-Learning approach. It’s an easy-to-use non-destructive audio recording and editing tool, comes with a range of impressive plug-ins including Normalize and Noise Reduction (NR), as well as pretty good graphical equalizer (EQ). Audacity enables SMEs and training professionals create high quality audio quickly and efficiently.

Techsmith Camtasia- A SERIOUS rapid e-learning authoring tool for demonstrations, simulations, evaluation, and scenario-based learning. Would be Number 1 Tool on this list if I went for a merit-based rather than alphabetical format.

Blogs – The platform doesn’t matter – I use both the Blogger and WordPress platforms – but the concept of providing a means to create, share, and deliver content is the basis for a new way of learning. My e-learning blog, the E-Learning Curve Blog (unashamed plug) provides commentary and news on the domain of professional learning and development, as well as a handy personal knowledgebase.

Del.icio.us – Personal bookmarking at its best. If, like me you work on a number of machines in a number of locations, it is useful to access stored links and documents from a browser regardless of where you happen to be, once you have an internet connection.

MindJet Mind Manager Pro – Mind-mapping – using diagrams used to represent words, ideas, tasks, and concepts linked to and arranged around a central topic (and used to generate, visualize, structure ideas), is central to the way I work, research, organize, solve problems, and make decisions. I built the framework for my MSc. in Education thesis in Mind Manager. It is powerful intermediary in developing ideas, concepts, and course design.

Moodle – An institution in institutions! Martin Dougiamas’ erstwhile thesis project continues to meet the learning management requirements of any number and type of organization. Social Constructivist? Virtual Learning Environment? Easy-to-use? Great Platform.

Sony Vegas Video – Easier to use than Premiere, more powerful than MovieMaker; Vegas is my post-production "weapon of choice" for 90% of the video elements that appears in courseware developed in my organization. Whether you’re just "topping and tailing" a piece of video or creating the elements for a sophisticated soft skills course, Vegas is a must.

StatCounter – every learning professional knows that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” This mantra has an extra resonance in the online learning world. StatCounter is a Web and blog analysis tool that enables me to understand the requirements of learners who use my courseware, as well as how visitors interact with my blog.

TextPad – I would have chosen pen and paper, but decided to keep this list digital; TextPad is an advanced text editor that enables users to create and edit text documents, XML, JavaScript and other interpreted content without the extraneous "bloat" of word-processing applications. I find it useful to develop content in this stripped-down environment before transferring to Word, PowerPoint, Blogger or some other application for final enhancement and publishing (this list was created in TextPad, for example).

What are your Top 10 E-Learning Tools?

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[Click for large PDF of image]

• Designing Web-based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime
• Moodle 1.9 E-Learning Course Development
• E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age
• E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning
• Designing World-Class E-Learning
• Classic Drucker
• E-Learning Strategies: How to Get Implementation and Delivery Right First Time
• Michael Allen’s Guide to E-Learning
• Evaluation in Organizations: A Systematic Approach to Enhancing Learning, Performance and Change
• Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (3rd Ed.)
• E-Learning Tools and Technologies
• Integrating Educational Technology and Teaching (4th Ed)
• Managing Organizations
• Real World Research (2nd Ed.)
• Multimedia Learning. Cambridge University Press
• How To Research
• Interaction Design Beyond Human Computer Interaction
• E-Learning Standards:A Primer for Using the Standards as Decision Support Tools
  (Unseen)
• Evaluating the performance impact of non-formal learning on knowledge workers in a Small-to-Medium Sized Enterprise

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Low-cost mass learning. The mobile phone is the only information device available to citizens in many parts of the world. This has prompted experiments using basic phone facilities, such as voice and Short Message Service (SMS), to support educational initiatives.

Low-cost education as a service. According to Gartner’s Nick Companies such as Nokia are piloting low-cost educational services in emerging markets, such as India. These services exploit a simple interface on the phone, which delivers information and lessons using lowest common- denominator data contracts — for example, avoiding even the need for general packet radio service.

"Edutainment." Combining education and entertainment using games and simulations is a powerful learning technique. This can also leverage the substantial mobile application development experience of the gaming industry. Examples include a mobile augmented reality simulation game that tracks environmental pollution, and a mobile phone game to reduce the impact of culture shock when students arrive in a new country that’s very different from their home countries.

Surveys, exams, questionnaires, data gathering and feedback. Mobile devices can provide an excellent platform for simple surveys, examinations, questionnaires and real-time feedback. Examples include lecture feedback, real-time surveys and simple multi-choice tests (for example, teaching vocabulary when learning a new language). At their simplest, these can be delivered as SMS messages asking the user to choose and option and respond, possibly with a deadline.

Performance support through instant information. Generally reference material (not learning) including simple media such as text, as well as richer media taking advantage of 3G connectivity. An example of performance support via a mobile phone is the wide range of dictionaries available for PDAs, covering a wide range of languages, law, medicine and other professional topics.

Creating learning material. Mobile phones are the most numerous audio, imaging and video capture devices available, and will play an important role in the creation of learning material as the facility to edit content and distribute material to YouTube-like nodes increases in sophistication. iPhone users can already author blog posts via the WordPress app.

Task/role-specific tools. Some organizations in have created specialized tools to allow access to specific learning and simulation material using a mobile device. SalesForce have build an iPhone app that enables customers access information through the iPhone’s touch screen. 

Learning support and administration. Many organizations experimenting with m -learning have explored mobile support for learning management and administration. Examples include reminders that assignments are due; flash-card applications to aid learning; and organizer applications to assist new students with their lecture timetables and finding the locations of lectures.

More…

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References:

Jones, N. (2008) M-Learning Opportunities and Applications. ID Number: G00163293 Gartner Research [Internet] Available from: http://www.gartner.com (Subscription or purchase required) Accessed 17 February 2009

Kineo and UFI/Learndirect (2009) Mobile Learning Reviewed. [Internet] Available from: http://www.kineo.com/documents/Mobile_learning_reviewed_final.pdf Accessed 17th February 2009

According to elearningplanet.com:

Millions of e-learning Web sites are available in Cyberspace. There are Web sites that include only e-learning blogs; some include e-learning forums, information on e-learning jobs, reviews on e-learning products, and so on. But, very few Web sites post information that covers all aspects of e-learning.

We select the ‘Blog Post of the Week’ when a post meets one or more of the following parameters:

• Includes useful information on developing an e-learning course with trenchant instructional design strategies
• Provides information on the latest technology, news, and events in the e-learning industry
• Includes information that is useful and neutral to all e-learning professionals

Well done too, to Donald ‘Plan B’ Clark for getting the Blogger of the Week gong.

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