Vikas Joshi on Interactive Learning

MOOC Evaluation at Harbinger

noreply@blogger.com (Avinash Magdum) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 04:30:00 +0000

Base Camp is a ritual that is followed every year at Harbinger. This year, we formed six teams, each taking a project related to Harbinger operations / roadmap. Our team got an opportunity to work on the project - “Learning culture at Harbinger.” It was about researching on how learning happens at Harbinger and suggest steps to build the learning culture.

We started with interviewing various people to understand how people at various levels and experiences learn. To our surprise most of the people preferred on-the-job learning and self-learning, instead of classroom trainings. They also learnt things that were mostly relevant to them at that moment. To support this learning culture, we brainstormed and finalized that having access to a MOOC was a good solution for us. We decided to evaluate different MOOCs to identify the most effective and relevant MOOC, as an eco-system for supporting the learning culture in Harbinger Group, to enable and empower every employee – Learning anything, anytime, anywhere.

We followed the below process to evaluate and select scientifically and democratically, the best MOOC system suitable for us.

Initially we did search on most popular MOOCs available and shortlisted two of them for a trial setup. We selected a group of 50 volunteers (employees), with diverse functions and technology background. These volunteers underwent multiple courses during a span of 3 weeks. After the trial the survey brought up very interesting results:

The volunteers took great interest in taking the courses. They did not limit themselves to 1 or 2 courses but experienced many more courses in various domains.
Overall they found the quality of both the MOOCs and its usage experience equally enriching.
The most engrossing courses not only had videos but good reference material and exercises.
Many employees were able to apply the learn knowledge immediately in their ongoing projects or activities.

Overall we had a great participation from the employees. We realized that MOOCs in corporate learning is definitely a must to consider where people like to learn continuously based on their requirements and interests, rather than a learning environment controlled by the managers.

Three Things Learning Practitioners Can Learn from the Open Source Community

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 13:00:00 +0000

As I listened to the TED Radio Hour “What is Original?” I kept wondering what originality really means in today’s age of building on top of what is already there.

Back in the early days of modern science, the scientific method was new, and you could discover new scientific truths by observation – in your backyard, or in a home laboratory. Even in those times, getting together with other like-minded people in a cafeteria was a ritual frequented by the scientists.

Today, we live in an age of endless sampling and borrowing. Virtually everything we build is based on the work of those who came before us.

So, what can we, as learning practitioners, learn from the open source community?

For one thing, not every piece of content has to be an original creation. If there were a way of openly sharing small pieces of content for repurposing and reuse, with due acknowledgement to the author, it would help build high quality curricula faster.

We could evolve standards for learning technology together, making it easier for systems to interoperate and exchange data. When Elon Musk decided to give away Tesla’s patents, he did precisely this – he diffused proprietary knowledge into the broader industry so that as the ecosystem grows, Tesla in turn gets further ahead. While this appears to be philanthropy, it is sound strategy.

And finally, we could celebrate new ways of contextualizing existing pieces of knowledge. For example, e-learning developers could openly share learning interactions built for teaching core concepts, and others could modify those interactions to illustrate specific applications of those concepts.

Open source community boasts of several collective accomplishments in the field of software. There is no reason learning professionals cannot repeat that success in education. Or is there?

Inspired by TED Radio Hour “What is Original?” Part IV (18 min)

Six Learning Techniques

noreply@blogger.com (Avinash Magdum) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:23:00 +0000

Every human being learns through six different learning techniques. The quality of our learning is the binary value of the 6-nibble (24 bit) word, where each nibble is a technique, as shown below.

Here value of each nibble represents the expertise level in respective technique. The overall expertise of a person as considered in Industry could be the total binary value of 24 bit word.

6. Memorize – It’s the least significant nibble of learning word. We use it to store the information in our memory and try to retrieve it whenever we require it. We hardly do any processing of this information.

5. Understand – It’s the next level of learning technique where we try to construct a meaning from instructional messages communicated over a communication channel.

4. Apply – In this technique, we carry out or use a procedure / framework of some rules to the data we collect, in a given situation, to make meaning out of it.

3. Analyze – In this technique, we decompose the matter; study how parts are related to each other and to the overall structure or purpose, to make some conclusion.

2. Evaluate – Here we make Judgments based on pre-defined and accepted criteria / standards with one or more options. The main objective is to take or justify a decision.

1. Create – This is the most significant nibble of the learning word where we put all elements together to form a coherent or functional assembly, reorganize elements or add some new elements, to create a new pattern which helps to improve existing processes or builds new processes.

In many countries, the entire focus in schools is on “Memorize”. Whether students want to “Understand” it; is completely dependent on the student. The evaluation system will hardly test if the student has learnt “Understand” technique. When the student enters undergraduate course, he / she gets introduced to “Apply” technique, and some attempt is made to use this technique. In the exams though, highest weightage is still for the “Memorize”, then to “Understand”, and last (and least) to “Apply”.

After graduation, when one enters industry, he / she is exposed to “Analyze”, where earlier techniques are not enough to do the job. Those who can adapt to this “Analyze” technique survive and grow. As one becomes experienced, he / she also needs to develop “Evaluate” technique. Those who do well mastering “Evaluate”, become decision makers, and climb higher in organization. While at work, some people also learn “Create” technique and they excel in technical and R&D assignments.

An ideal education system should facilitate learning for all these techniques, thus making them industry ready and smart work force.

Why is Augmented Reality not Mainstream in Learning?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:00:00 +0000

Augmented reality technology has been around for over a decade now, and there is a lot of talk about its promise and applications. In this post, we would like to survey our readers to discover why augmented reality is not a mainstream technology in learning. We offer four reasons we have heard around the industry. Please feel free comment and let us know where you are on this issue.

A. There is not enough awareness about where AR can really help

B. It is expensive to build AR applications

C. Technology expertise is not widespread (not enough know-how)

D. AR tools have not evolved to meet the needs of the e-learning market

Posted on behalf of Vikas Joshi.

Internet of Things: Imagination is the only limit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 07:10:00 +0000

I started my journey with Harbinger Systems sometime back. Though I am just a couple of months old here, the knowledge and exposure which I have received has been enormous. I have interacted and learned a lot from my colleagues who always push and encourage me to dabble in new things. A few days back, one of my colleagues mentioned about The Internet of Things (IOT) to me. This was something new for me and so I decided to do a little research to understand what it is all about.

Though there are a lot of ways in which the IOT has been defined, I understood it as a network of physical objects accessed through the internet. These objects could be natural or man-made which would be provided with an IP address and the ability to transfer data over a network.

A lot of companies over the world are investing their time and resources to come up with various creative things as part of the IOT. These could actually make a difference in our lives. A good example of this is a product which is being developed by Microsoft Inc. It is aptly named as ‘The Smart Alice’ as it helps the visually impaired to ‘see’ things around them. It is a tiny wearable device which they could use at various places. For instance, at a railway station, it could give them directions to reach their coach and an update in case of a delay. It could even describe the food item that they are about to eat. Shopping could be made a simpler and enjoyable experience as it could read out the size of the outfits, the cost and could even describe the colour and the texture of the fabric.

Another exciting example of the IOT is the newly launched Nike+FuelBand. This cool and trendy looking wrist band not only ups your style quotient a notch higher but also tracks the amount of physical activity done; the energy burned and counts the number of steps taken. The information gathered is integrated into the Nike+ online community which helps us to monitor and track our fitness progress.

Good quality education has become easily accessible to thousands of students studying worldwide, thanks to the IOT. There are software applications which help the students to create content or to interact with content. Teaching methods and classrooms have become more open through voice, video and text based collaborations.

Sparked, a Dutch startup uses wireless sensors on cattle. If one of the cows gets sick or pregnant, a message is sent to the farmer.

Smart kitchen and home appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers and coffee makers have made our lives much simpler. They let us know when the milk is out or when the clothes are dry.

This vast network formed by a humongous number of connected things is expanding by the day. These things have started talking to each other and are developing their own intelligence. Constant learning has been beautifully weaved into our lives by the IOT. These are just a few examples which I have mentioned but there are many more. Besides simplifying things in our daily life, these applications help us to learn about a wide variety of things at all times. These products and are aimed at benefiting a wide section of people. As stated rather truly by Cisco, technological limitations are receding exponentially. When billions of things are connected, talking and learning, the only limitation left will be our own imaginations.

Six Simple Questions about Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Our world keeps changing and we need to continuously adapt to change. There is a process through which we adapt to change, and that process has a name, and that name is learning. Today, let’s boil this topic down to six simple questions about learning.

6. What is learning?

Learning is not what they teach you, learning is what you get out of it, right? As we shift our focus from teaching to learning, suddenly it’s an ‘aha’ moment: learning doesn’t have to be confined to formal education, it can be everywhere.

5. When do we learn?

Do we learn only during the childhood? Hardly. The fact is that learning is a lifelong process.

4. Where do we learn?

Learning happens everywhere and it particularly happens when you least expect it. Life is always trying to teach us something and we are ignoring it for the most part, because we’re not mindful about it. Every experience, good or bad, should be an occasion to stop, think, and reflect. That is how we convert experience into learning.

3. How do we learn?

People learn in many different individual ways: reading, listening, writing, teaching, talking to oneself, doing, observing, and so forth. It is important for us to recognize our most natural learning style.

2. Who Learns?

Yes, you read that right. Who is it that learns? On the face of it, it looks like a silly question. Obviously, individuals learn. But then, if you look deeper, in any organization, the whole system is learning. Teams of people develop tools, processes and work methods that help teams to get better and better at working together.

1. Now the final question: why is learning so important?

Learning helps you cope with uncertainty and it actually helps us adapt to change that’s occurring around us. It’s something essential for professional growth. We can grow to a certain level in any setup by following the rules. Beyond that level, we have to demonstrate adaptability, and that’s when all the learning DNA that we may have comes really handy. To another point, there is something about the structure of our brain. If we don’t use its neurons and synapses, we begin to lose them. We can therefore say that learning keeps us young.

So here is wishing you happy and fruitful learning!

Crowd-sourced Learning Content: Opportunities and Challenges – (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Last week, Vikas Joshi shared his thoughts on opportunities inherent in crowdsourced learning content. This week we talk to Maheshkumar Kharade, a technology expert, to follow up on the previous post.

Q. How are tracking systems keeping pace with the opportunities inherent in crowdsourced learning content?

[Maheshkumar] Due to its multidimensional nature, crowdsourcing apparently brings in multiple challenges and opportunities for tracking systems, content creation and content delivery platforms.

I think development of TinCan API specification is on the lines of supporting crowdsourcing requirements. Its activity based tracking model enables LRS (Learning Record Store) to record almost any user action.

Recent advancements and usage spike in MOOC paradigm in education is another major step in creation of online platforms for crowdsourced learning content. Though these steps have helped gain some momentum, it’s not yet enough.

Q. What needs to be done?

[Maheshkumar] We are getting to the goal in pieces like enriched tracking specifications, delivery mechanism, etc. In my opinion, content creation should be at the center stage of crowdsourcing, other challenges would revolve around it. The key is to provide an ability to create semantically structured content through proper community collaboration. It will enable maximum reuse and re-purposing. Social networking has to be given equal consideration.

Video content adds lots of value to learning experience, but we have to look for ways to enrich it further using crowd sourcing. Imagine what can be done if we have both TinCan API and MOOC together on a single platform. This combination will enhance current MOOC based learning experience i.e. set of sequential video lectures to next level by means of collaborated learning. Currently, multiple dimensions of crowdsourcing are different stand alone systems; we need better interoperability.

Q. How can the industry encourage platform vendors to support a common structure?

[Maheshkumar] The focus right now is on an individual aspect of crowdsourcing which is tracking systems; it needs to be widened. Also, solving problems in proprietary ways will limit overall outcome, so equal importance should be given to developing a standards based approach while addressing any aspect of crowdsourcing. Interoperability amongst multiple systems holds the key to successful crowdsourced learning.

We would love to hear from our readers in the e-learning industry if they are familiar with any work in this direction.

Crowd-sourced Learning Content: Opportunities and Challenges – (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 16:00:00 +0000

We are doing this post a bit differently. We present a short interview with Vikas Joshi, the primary author of this blog, and Maheshkumar Kharade, a technology expert. In this post, we start by understanding the opportunities inherent in crowdsourced learning content.

Q: How is the nature of learning content changing with time?

[Vikas Joshi] Nowadays crowdsourcing is playing an increasing role in the creation of learning content. When people have a question, they simply post it on a social networking site, and elicit responses. Sites like Quora organize questions and answers into topics, and make them searchable. People are increasingly open to participating in online platforms such as Wikipedia, that deliver crowd-sourced content. Increasingly, organizations are seen using internal portals that support crowdsourcing among employees. Learning content, therefore, comes not only from some pre-defined curriculum, but it evolves as people ask questions and contribute answers.

Q: Can this lead to new ways of evaluating learning?

[Vikas Joshi] Absolutely. Now we are not limited to evaluating learning outcomes—we can also evaluate the learning process. There is an opportunity to evaluate people based on how they are contributing to crowd-sourced content. There is also an opportunity to observe how people are learning, the kind of questions they are asking and how engaged they are in the community of learners. Such fine-grained evaluation can create opportunities for better remediation, leading to better outcomes.

Q: Doesn’t that make the job of evaluation more complex?

[Vikas Joshi] Undoubtedly. The key issue is the following. If you evaluate only behaviors, you will get right behaviors, but you won’t know if the student has really understood the subject matter. You will keep wondering if the student is simply parroting the right answer. If you observe the thought process instead, you get a better view into the student’s learning. This is hard work, but it may be worth the effort. Maybe peers can play a role in making this easier in an online community.

Next week we will explore the technology challenges in making this possible.

Mini-bite Learning - One of the Top e-Learning Trends

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Came across an article on Vista Training's blog that talks about 8 trends in eLearning. Last one in the list is about mini-bites of learning (also called learning chunks by Craig Weiss in his blog) where the author talks about learning which is incremental and can be done through short learning programs. Here is a portion of the article, which paraphrases Craig Weiss's thoughts. (You can access the article here.)

"Mini-bites" of learning: Not all training is focused on teaching a new hire how to perform a task from scratch. Some of it is incremental or remedial in nature. That means a growing demand for short learning programs, packed with just one or two nuggets of knowledge that help workers get a specific task done. Weiss envisions lessons that are five minutes in length at maximum. Formats could include brief videos and one-page documents.

Performance support is one possible use for "mini-bite" training: In the construction and mining industries, an equipment operator could watch a brief video in the cab of his machine prior to performing a task. This would bring the required best-practice knowledge to the top of his mind, increasing the odds that he will perform it at peak efficiency.

Are you too thinking about short learner attention spans? Is five minutes too long for many of your learners?

Learning Arcs and Story Arcs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:00:00 +0000

The purpose of a learning arc is accomplish a change in the learner, as implied in the learning objective, by taking him/her through multiple learning interactions.

Think for a moment of a TV series drama, which follows a story arc, spread over several episodes. The main character undergoes transformation as the plot progresses. The story culminates with the resolution of plot towards the end. A well-designed self-paced learning experience parallels some of these elements. The learner experiences one or more ah-ha moments as s/he moves through a series of interactions with the learning environment, completing a learning arc. Learning arcs transform the cognitive state of a learner, and concerns get resolved as learning progresses.

With that background, then, here is a definition of interactive learning arc for instructional designers who build e-learning courses. An interactive learning arc consists of multiple interactions linked together in a cohesive learning experience that is complete in itself, and can be part of a larger online course.

Have you used learning arcs as short learning nuggets all by themselves? Have you used learning arcs as branches within longer web based courses? What are your thoughts about the various ways in which learning arcs get implemented?

Learning Interactions in PowerPoint: Add Engagement to Instructor-Led Training

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 04:04:00 +0000

e-Learning course designers have traditionally turned to traditional classroom instruction for insights in instructional design. Now with a couple of decades experience of e-learning, classroom instruction can incorporate some of the best practices in e-learning. The use of learning interactions is one such example.

Self-paced e-learning courses employ learning interactions that allow learners to engage with the course materials in interesting ways. Interactions include games, exercises, simulations, drill-downs and so forth. Course authors typically use ready templates of such interactions, and add content as appropriate. When effectively incorporated, interactions make learning more engaging and memorable, provide a change of pace, and improve outcomes.

In the classroom environment, too, there is a need for enhancing outcomes. Since PowerPoint is one of the most commonly used presentation tools, I will limit my comments to a typical PowerPoint presentation here.

All of us know that slides after slides of ‘training’ content can be boring. The way to overcome this is adding interactivity. If you incorporate a quiz game, a quick exercise, a brainteaser or even a few trivia questions, the classroom comes alive. To make this process simple, Raptivity, the leading interactivity builder, recently released a PowerPoint add-in. This free tool installs a menu for interactions inside PowerPoint. Using the add-in, people can search and add interactions to their presentations in a single click. To know more, write to info@raptivity.com.

A Brand New User Interface for Raptivity

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 09:09:00 +0000

There are two reasons I love the new user interface of Raptivity.

One, it is trendy. The look-and-feel, colors, white spaces and screen layouts are pleasing to the eye. The design is simple and soothing.

Two, it boosts productivity. Its customer-inspired design helps you get around in fewer clicks. The interaction search is powerful. Help is embedded in the right places, so users can access support materials, other users' work samples and community from the application. The descriptions of interactions include useful tips on how and where you can use them.

Besides, Raptivity now provides a HTML5 preview of your work - another first in the industry.

Download Raptivity to try this yourself. Or check out the six cool things about the new Raptivity interface here.

Learning at Harvard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 11:14:00 +0000

For all the discussion on learning and interactivity in these pages, I always had a hunch that I would discover something new about learning if I were to go back to school. As it turns out, the hunch was right. I did get the opportunity to spend some time at Harvard Business School recently. And, getting back to campus life was both enriching and fun.

So, what are the 'new' things I discovered about learning? Here we go.

A lot of learning is accidental. You run into someone from a different walk of life, start chatting and come away with a new idea. Happens all the time.
Stories are a powerful way to immerse yourself in the subject matter. Nearly a hundred and fifty case studies that we completed were an amazing experience. It was like we were living inside those stories. In some cases, the real-life protagonists would show up in the classroom. That was cool.
Lecturing is easy, listening is the hard part. The best HBS professors get it.
When the learner understands that enjoyment of learning is directly proportional to the preparation beforehand, no additional motivation is needed to flip the classroom.
The design of the classroom and seating arrangements should encourage interaction - it has a big impact on the learning outcomes.

In our graduation ceremony at Harvard earlier this year, my classmates and I were ecstatic. We had endured the hard part. Now, I miss the campus, and our cohort of over a hundred owner-presidents and CEOs. The time we spent together in various interactions spread over the three years has been most memorable.

Job Aids Come to Help

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Since time immemorial, job aids have been in use by workers and artisans of all kinds. A well-designed job aid helps in improving efficiency, cuts down time to get the work done, and reduces frustration.

We recently spotted one opportunity for a new kind of job aid for Raptivity users. Raptivity has the largest number of interaction templates among all elearning tools. Being a specialized interactivity builder that works with all authoring tools, Raptivity continues to the at the forefront of interactivity. Users often express that they cannot locate, much less remember, every interaction in Raptivity. To make the selection of interaction easier and more intuitive we have put together Raptivity Album, a free job aid. To download the Raptivity Album, click here.

Even in the online learning world, some of us prefer a handy printed manual. The newly released Raptivity Album is yours to download for free, print and keep.

One Interactivity Builder for Many Authoring Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Of late, some vendors in the e-learning tools industry have started using the word 'interactivity' in a rather loose way. You hear of authoring tools that provide interactivity building features. This leads some users to believe they are getting course authoring and interactivity building in one package!

Of course, we do welcome the efforts by authoring tool vendors to help their users build engaging courses. What is important for course designers to understand is that the state-of-the-art in interactivity is further along. With a tool like Raptivity, which focuses only on interactivity, and works with other authoring tools, you make an investment in interactivity building that goes a long way.

Why a separate interactivity tool? There are many good reasons. One, it does not lock you into one authoring tool or platform. You can use multiple authoring tools - depending on what the content or client demands - and still use the same interactions. Second, you get a large variety of interactions, and more get added with time. Third, among all kinds of content, interactions are the hardest to migrate across platforms and devices. A specialized interactivity tool can anticipate the migration issues and make your work future-proof. Finally, interactivity tools treat each interaction as a unit, which can be re-used as it is, or with tweaks.

Interactivity building is different from content authoring. Course developers use many authoring tools. To make their courses engaging and interactive, they need one interactivity builder.

Innovative Customers in Action

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:30:00 +0000

According to Tom Kelley, the innovation guru, one of the ten faces of an innovator is that of an anthropologist - someone who really understands what people want, and why. Well, when it comes to software tools, who knows what users want better than the users themselves?

We recently discovered this quite serendipitously. A user on Raptivity community, InteractivityHub, suggested we build a learning interaction that involves characters and speech bubbles. His idea was to allow the course designer to input a dialog, and then for the software to render it in speech bubbles in a sequence. The Raptivity team liked this idea, and the 'Character Dialog' interaction was born.

Another user on the community wrote about the need for cliparts, backgrounds and such media elements people need in course design. Again, the Raptivity team thought it over and came up with the Raptivity Asset Library with over a hundred such assets.

This is the spirit of customer co-creation at its best. With Raptivity Evolve, we continue to build new exciting interactions that premium users get for free. We say to users: Now you are in the driver's seat. Tell Raptivity what you want us to build in the next interaction. We will built it.

Five Ways to Make Online Learning Engaging

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:00:00 +0000

A new complimentary whitepaper titled 5 Creative Ideas of using Raptivity in Online Training outlines five innovative ways to make online learning interesting and engaging with the help of learning interactions.

In specific, the paper suggests instructional designers and trainers consider the following techniques.

1. Combining an interactive e-book with a rapid-check assessment to implement an open book test.

2. Using games such as crosswords, TV shows and board games and to make learning fun and exciting.

3. Simulations where user gets to play a role in a situation and apply knowledge to decision making.

4. Using characters to provide opening and closing remarks, intermittent summaries as well as dialogs.

5. Encouraging exploration through the use of walk-through, zooming and other interactions.

While these techniques can be implemented in a variety of ways, the paper suggests over a dozen interaction templates within Raptivity that make the implementation quick and easy. You can download the whitepaper from the Raptivity website.

Using eLearning Tools - It's Like a Relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:18:00 +0000

The tools you use for producing e-learning day-in and day-out are no more than a bunch of software, programmed to work in a certain way and produce course output, right? Well, in part that may be true, but you might want to think again about that one.

Consider this: The last time you were stuck with an animation that wouldn't work, or a picture that was looking distorted, or the exam score that wouldn't appear correctly on the LMS - who did you turn to for expert help? The last time you had a great idea on how the tool could be improved, how did you share that with the vendor? And when your team hired a couple of fresh developers new to the technology, how did you arrange for their training?

Products that you use are not just software - they come with professional relationships you build with the vendor, other users and experts in the ecosystem. When you become a user of a product, you belong to a world of professionals that are linked to the product. Every tool you have in your bag is like a relationship.

That is why I am excited about Raptivity Evolve, a remarkable new initiative that brings value to Raptivity users on an on-going way through new complimentary interactions, webinars, samples and more. Also interesting is InteractivityHub, a vibrant online community, where users exchange thoughts and ideas, ask questions and provide answers. The Raptivity Valued Professionals (RVPs) are experts that volunteer their help on community. Raptivity Empower provides an array of complementary services, including in-depth training, to help users get the most out of the tool.

The idea of an innovative software that actively supports an on-going relationship has found good traction amongst e-learning developers. At the end of the day, it is all about relationships.

Infusing Assessments with Advanced Interactivity

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:31:00 +0000

Assessments are inherently interactive. There is no assessment unless the learner interacts with the e-learning course in some way. What then does 'infusing assessments with advanced interactivity' mean?

Some instructional designers believe that throwing in some multiple choice questions make learning sufficiently interactive. We would like to question that. Learners are bored to death with the chore of answering the same types of questions: MCQ, Matching, Fill-in and Drag-drop. They need variety. They need to enjoy their assessments. Don't they?

Formative assessments, sprinkled throughout the learning material, aim to perform a knowledge-check. Here, there is huge potential for using a wide variety of exciting interactions.

When the nature of the learning content drives your decision, you might choose interactions accordingly. For example, a product familiarization course may involve labeling, a soft-skill course may use videos or simulations, and so forth.

Sometimes your instructional objective decides the interaction type. This would lead to interactions that require recalling a concept and applying it or simply memorizing it.

Finally, the nature of your target audience influences the choice of interactions. Competitive audiences will enjoy games, those needing motivation could use other types of interactions.

Summative assessments, which occur at the end of a learning module, aim to evaluate the learner and report a score. Prima facie it stands to reason that summative assessments are more serious business, and should somehow steer clear of interactivity. On close examination, though, we find several situations where summative assessments too can benefit from advanced interactivity.

For example, a compliance training can include an assessment delivered as a simulation exercise. Similarly, when teaching leadership development, games can still deliver. The case of interesting assessments for K-12 is more obvious to make. Several questions can be delivered through game-like activities.

In conclusion, then, both formative and summative assessments can be infused with advanced interactivity to enhance learner engagement, enjoyment and retention, without compromising the key goals of knowledge checking and evaluation.

One great example of a simple interaction that works equally well in both types of assessments is Rapid Check. To see a demo of Rapid Check, click here. To hear about the various ways you can use Rapid check, watch this webcast.

mLearning - What Works? What Doesn't?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:03:00 +0000

This summer's thought leadership webinar from Harbinger Group attracted over 1000 registrants. Perhaps it was the powerful and relevant theme that drew such crowd: Interactions on Mobile. What works? What Doesn’t? The Raptivity-sponsored event provided several insights in interactive mLearning.

Here's a brief outline of the webinar:

The need for interactivity in mLearning
Characteristics of mLearning interactions
Challenges in mLearning, native vs. web apps
Flash vs. HTML5
Why HTML5
Tips for creating interactive content for mobile

In case you missed it, you can access the slide deck and the recorded webinar here.

The webinar speakers were Janhavi Padture, Vice President at Harbinger Group and Robert Gadd, President and Chief Mobile Officer of OnPoint Digital. 'As always, we hosted the webinar three times in the day to cater to Asia-Pacific, Europe and Americas', added Jamaica Bracken, chief anchor.

4 Must-haves for a m-Learning Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:02:00 +0000

These days designing and delivering end-to-end e-learning on mobile devices is on everyone's mind. What kind of capabilties must tools have to support m-learning? Here is a quick 4-point checklist.

Device Capabilties
Depending on the target device, user interface capabilities will vary. The m-learning tool should utilize fully the capabilities of the target device.

Templates
Ready-to-use templates for all supported devices go a long way in ensuring professional presentation while saving time.

Preview Capability
Due to the wide variety of form factors mobile devices come in, preview of learning material is a crucial step before publishing content.

Media support
With an explosion of device types and browsers, it is important to keep track of media supported by each combination. One way for an m-learning tool to create value would be to alert the user when a non-support type is referred to. Even better the tool could intelligently select an alternative media from multiple media provided.

Both the creation and consumption of m-learning content on mobile devices is substantially different from traditional e-learning. Tool vendors will need to keep the differences in view while designing their wares.

Building Your E-Learning Course Design Tool Kit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:38:00 +0000

If the title of this post makes you think I will list a whole bunch of tools here, let me first set the expectations right. It is my endeavor to take a look at the e-learning course design process here, so that you can decide how to build a tool kit that addresses all process components.

E-learning course creation is all about having a design process in place to build the right course in time. Every instructional designer follows some sort of an e-learning course design process. What I proposed one such process in a recent webinar titled “Interactive Courses on a Shoestring Budget” organized by Raptivity in November, 2011.

As you may have noticed in the figure shown above, the graphic image of the doughnut has been divided into two parts.

The lower part of the image has process steps such as screen capture, image editing, audio recording and video recording. These steps aid in the creation of assets for the course. These assets add to the picturesque quotient of the course and make it more engaging with videos, images, etc. The lower part also includes one final step of testing, which we will come back to later.

The upper part of the doughnut has processes such as special artifacts creation, interactivity building, content authoring and integration. This is where you assemble the assets and make the course interactive and complete. Interactivity building makes the course content more easy to adapt and retain in an interactive format through games, puzzles, etc. The final milestone is reached when all the assets, interactions, special artifacts created are put together in the content authoring and integration process and thereafter, you test the course on the Learning Management System (LMS).

Every course designer will follow some variation of this process. The process then, forms the basis of your tool selection. Building your e-learning course design tool kit is a matter of identifying the tools that help you execute the process efficiently. Some may be freely available tools, yet others commercially available.

To view the narration of the doughnut given during the webinar, you can view the recording here.

Global Poll Reveals Key Trends in e-Learning Design

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:11:00 +0000

In a recent online event, we polled hundreds of course designers spread throughout Australia, Europe and USA with four simple questions. The results are quite interesting.

Question 1.
In your experience, over the past several years, are customer budgets per hour of eLearning increasing, decreasing or remaining about the same?

Figure 1: Poll Results on E-Learning Budgets Per Hour of Seat Time

Question 2.

What level of interactivity do clients expect in the courses you deisgn?

Figure 2: Poll Results on Level of Interactivity Clients Want

Question 3.
What types of tools do you currently use for eLearning course creation?

Figure 3: Poll Results on Current Tools in use for E-Learning Course Creation

Question 4.
Do you use a greater number of tools today than you did three years back?

Figure 4: Poll Results on Number of Tools over the Years

My key take away from this set of poll questions is that eLearning budgets per hour of seat time have shrunk, but customers continue to demand higher level of interactivity. Given the pace of technology advancement, producers are able to meet the customer demands by using the right set of tools. That explains the use of a greater number and variety of tools.

Feel free to share your thoughts and interpretations of these poll results.

Raptivity Essential : Now Build HTML5 and Flash Interactions Simultaneously

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:13:00 +0000

As Harbinger Knowledge Products unveils a brand new version of Raptivity Essential that lets you publish interactions in the HTML5 format in addition to Flash SWF format, I thought it would be interesting to talk to Shweta Kulkarni, who was involved deeply in the engineering of this product upgrade.

What is the significance of Raptivity Essential?
Raptivity Essential provides a sufficient selection of templates for a novice user to get a hold of interactive learning. This best seller pack of Raptivity helps users create a variety of interactions like interactive questions, brainteasers, presentation aids, simulations, glossary and surveys. Many of Raptivity Himalaya users have started their association with Raptivity using Raptivity Essential and eventually went on to upgrade their license all the way to Raptivity Himalaya.

What prompted you to go the HTML5 way?
As everyone is now taking their courses to mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones, there is a need of quick transition of eLearning courses to m-Learning platform. Course developers who have already made an investment in Raptivity Essential are looking for a solution which quickly migrates their existing content to tablets and smart phones without hassles. HTML5 support for Raptivity Essential pack will fulfil this requirement and make them HTML5-ready for their future course creation without losing the Flash output.

What makes this a significant milestone?
The entire Raptivity Himalaya library will be available in HTML5 format soon. This release of Raptivity Essential marks a major milestone in that direction. When we started with HTML5 Turbo Pack, and followed up with HTML5 Starter Pack, we were taking baby steps. Now we are nearing 40 HTML5 interactions, the largest HTML5 library of learning interactions available anywhere. And more are in the works as we speak.

What were the technical challenges in porting Flash to HTML5 ?
Most of the challenges boil down to replicating the Flash user experience. For example, take special effects like dissolve, explode, fly, blinds, magnify and so forth. We had coded these relatively effortlessly in Flash. To make them work as smoothly in the HTML5 version wasn't easy.

Standard scroll bars don't work on iPad and iPhone. We designed custom scroll bars. Also, until recently drag-and-drop functionality was hard to implement. We are now betting on new libraries that will make this easy.

Another area is inconsistency in filetypes supported on different browsers. In the Flash world, you worked with an .MP3 sound file and you knew it would work across browsers. With HTML5, you may need .OGG format.

Thanks, hopefully we can do another post on this last topic. Software developers would love it.
Certainly we can. You are most welcome.

Changing Landscape in E-Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:30:00 +0000

During the Thought Leadership Webinar on “Interactive Courses on a ShoeString Budget” in November, 2011, I had a good discussion with Jim Hanlin, President and Founder of Best Training Resources. Jim shared his views on the changing landscape in e-learning.

Vikas: What are clients looking for in eLearning programs?
Jim: What strikes me is that there is a phenomenal change in the eLearning industry in comparison to when eLearning was first introduced. As eLearning is ever growing and getting interactive likewise the clients' demands have also grown over the years. They face a lot of cost pressure on eLearning programs. At the same time, the expectation for developing interactive eLearning courses is also on the rise.

From the Producer’s standpoint – we have to focus on reducing the cost of producing eLearning programs and increase the level of interactivity and graphic rich content. Especially important from supplier’s viewpoint is the decrease in cost for per hour of eLearning development. It has reduced to almost half of what used to be $50,000/hour of level 2 custom content development for eLearning. Suppliers of eLearning courses are looking for tools for better high quality program creation, produce them faster and create them for low cost.

In short, clients are looking for: better, faster, cheaper programs.

Vikas: How have eLearning development practices and processes changed over the past several years?
Jim: eLearning has made a staggering change from mainframes and dumb terminal delivery to page turners with graphics. All of this was delivered in linear fashion without any deviation from the learner path of learning. In 90s, the standards like AICC and SCORM were developed along with LMS and other tools. Later first generation tools came in which helped developer create courses with similar objectives. Then, there were interactive video discs introduced which were bulky. These were soon replaced with CDroms where courses where stored and means to share it others. Now a days, most of the training is delivered by web based technologies. Technologies such as mobile learning, virtual worlds, cloud based learning, Learning platforms, learning with informal learning applications etc are in great demand.

The advances in technology have triggered the extraordinary growth in eLearning courses development tools. The changing landscape is a win-win situation for both the providers and the clients.

Technology has allowed producers to produce engaging programs relatively quickly and in a lesser cost. For suppliers, technology has helped to get customer satisfaction and retention along with getting repeat business. The advancement in technology has brought about such a win-win situation which is endearing for all.

Vikas: What methods are producers using to achieve results the clients are looking for?
Jim: Today, the real advantage to the producers is that they are able to create innovative, creative, interactive and graphic rich eLearning courses at a much faster pace and lesser cost unlike the old times. The best thing to do is have a right selection of tools and make the best toolbox for developing eLearning programs. This is the ultimate survival tool in the market which will allow the producers to stay ahead in the competition and adhere to the customer demands in time within their shoestring budgets.

Vikas: Thank you Jim for sharing your thoughts with us in the webinar. The key takeaway from your inputs is that “the provider with the best set of tools will be the winner”.
Jim:You are welcome.