Spot Learning

Jerry Seinfeld loves e-Learning!

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:25:00 +0000

It came to me in a dream last night, but it was just as real as the Gucci handbag I'll be sporting on my way into work this morning: Jerry Seinfeld absolutely loves e-Learning!

I first noticed him pulling bags from the trunk of his car as my son and a new friend we'd just met were walking down the quiet Manhattan street. I thought I recognized him from somewhere, but his name didn't immediately pop into my head.

"Joe!" he hollered out as we walked past the front of his nondescript sedan. "Jerry. Jerry Seinfeld." It all came rushing back. I had met Jerry at an e-Learning conference the year before. He'd inserted himself into every conversation about e-Learning that he could find, hanging out in the lobby bar until way past midnight to talk about practical, but fun ways to leverage social media for learning, how reusable learning objects may just have arrived before their time, and whether or not tracking informal learning transmuted it into formal learning.

"Hi Jerry, what have you been up to?" I piped back at him, turning to focus, at least for a moment.

"Oh, the usual, telling jokes to throngs of adoring fans. Nothing exciting, really. But what about you? What have you been doing? Have you built any new courses? Get your hands on any new tools? What about Storyline? What's that all about? I keep seeing references to it on the blogs and it sounds really exciting."

"Lots of questions, Jerry. Well, yes, I've been doing a ton of courses and my team--they've been really rocking the learning scene at Amerigroup, putting together really interesting stuff on clinical quality management topics like HEDIS, NCQA accreditation, and Continuous Quality Improvement. They did a course on Sickle Cell Disease and another on HIV. Actually, we just had a bunch of courses get national accreditation. But really, we're still up against the same challenges that we talked about last time. How do you crank out really good courses quicker and quicker?"

"e-Learning, Joe! e-Learning is the answer. I can't get enough of it!"

"Yeah, I remember you're a pretty big fan."

"Who wouldn't be? The infographics, the scenarios, the stories--and the jokes."

"Gotta have those jokes."

"No more page-turners!"

"Couldn't agree more, Jerry. Hey, it was great seeing you. We're headin' over to the park to hang out, so I'd better get going."

"Great seeing you too, Joe. We should get together again. Are you going to any e-Learning conferences next year?"

"Yeah, I've got a couple lined up. I'm going to the Guild conference in the Spring."

"I'm going to the Guild conference too--Learning Solutions 2012! I already registered and booked a flight! Hey, is Jane going to be there? Let's get together with Jane!"

"I'm sure she'll be there, Jerry. Why don't we try to set up a dinner one night and try to get everyone together so we can talk e-learning like old times."

"Awesome! I can't wait!"

As I turned around, I realized the kids (my son surprisingly younger in my dream than he is in real life) had already made their way to the park ahead of me, so I hurried off to find them hanging out at the monkey bars. "Who was that, dad."

"That was Jerry Seinfeld."

"Must be one of those e-Learning geeks," my son told his new friend. "My dad knows a lot of e-Learning geeks."

"Yep. He's one of those e-Learning geeks," I confirmed. I realized I was starting to think of him in the context of those friends I see a few times a year at conferences and online talking about the same things that interest me for the rest of the year. Seldom in person, but always very near.

As I reflected on the encounter, I remembered that Jerry was known throughout the world for engaging audiences, and that he'd only recently been drawn to e-Learning as a passion and a hobby. I thought of how the old, page-turner models we used to over-use would repel him just as quickly as really interesting e-Learning attracted him to the field. It reminded me that as we plan and design e-Learning solutions, it would pay us to consider how it would impact the average learner. It makes sense for us to constantly ask ourselves how they'll react to each part of the course or module. Before we go forward building any new design, we should ask ourselves: "What would Jerry do?"

Open Clip Art Library

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 04:13:00 +0000

Stumbled upon a fairly significant library of open source clip art at openclipart.org. Simple search features, vector images, and all in the public domain. What more could you want?

Here's a screenshot of a simple search I did that yielded a couple pages of presidential images:

The site, which was started back in 2004 boasts hundreds of thousands of images available. Maybe you have some you'd like to contribute too. :-)

Editing MS Vector Clipart in Inkscape

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 03:32:00 +0000

I'm working on a new learning model and I needed a vector graphics tool to help me produce a visual representation of the model. I came across Inkscape, with which I'm quite impressed. It's an open source product that strives to capture some of the functionality of Illustrator, Corel Draw, and Visio. It appears to do most of what I need. One of the great things I realized while playing with Inkscape was the ability to pull a vector image in from the Microsoft Clipart library and edit it in Inkscape. Just copying from PowerPoint won't bring over the vectors; instead, you must copy the item from the clipart library, as shown here.

Then, just Paste in Inkscape and the individual vector pieces are placed. The image below shows where I've updated an avatar with a better wardrobe and hair style. I also changed his eye color and moved the corners of his mouth down in protest. '-) Inkscape produces SVG graphics, so the edited images looked nice and clean in Inkscape; I just did a copy and paste back into PowerPoint to illustrate the changes. Here are a couple of samples in Inkscape. Context menus provide you plenty of options, including the ability to ungroup grouped vectors:

Below, you can see that vectors come through quite well and can easily be modified.

Again, for my needs, it's a pretty robust tool...and certainly worth investigating.

Have fun! Joe

Learner Engagement

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:57:00 +0000

I've been spending the last year focused on two key topics: creativity and learner engagement. Fortunately, I've found that a lot of others are focused on these topics.

Mid-year in 2010, I did a session on Autonomous Engagement and introduced a concept I call "the five opportunities" framework for autonomous learning. The opportunities are:

Assess - learners gain an awareness of their autonomy and the opportunity for self-direction.

Introspect - learners need opportunities to determine what is important, especially at the beginning of the learning, and to construct complex meaning throughout the learning.

Engage - Experience-based activities provide the grounds for proof, as well self-validation of competency.

Reflect - Reconsideration throughout the learning helps learners determine what should be integrated and how. It also helps them decide what to forget.

Share - We all are compelled to make contributions and become advocates for the ideas that we share.

I've shared this model with about 400 people now and it's generated a bit of buzz at conferences and in online sessions. I'd be interested in your thoughts...and would be happy to flesh out more details.

PLENK2010 - Personal Learning Environments

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:03:00 +0000

Stephen Downes, George, Siemens, Dave Cormier, and Rita Kop are conducting a "course" in September that may interest you...it certainly interests me!

It's an experience centered around Personal Learning Environments Networks and Knowledge (PLENK); it's for the serious learner, from what I gather...and if my guess is right as to the reach of the participants, it's likely to result in some significant advancement and awareness of PLNs.

For information on how it works and what it's all about, start here. If it works for you, I'll see you there. I'll blog here through the experience; if you do, remember to include the hastag #PLENK2010 in whatever you create.

e-Learning DevCon Insights

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:18:00 +0000

I'm speaking at eLearning DevCon 2010 this week for the first time. I've heard about this conference for years, but this is my first trip here. I have to say that it's been a great experience.

Smaller venue that some of the bigger conferences, and much fewer attendees--about 300+, according to the opening session.

The networking has been great, as virtually everyone at the conference is interested in e-learning development. Sessions are fewer, but the topics are more focused on development and related concepts.

Particularly enjoyed Brian Chapman's keynote, which while it was future-focused, was mainly informative around what some larger companies have been doing to solve key problems, especially social learning challenges. Also Nick Floro has done a bunch of really good sessions. Tatiana Chapira also had a nice session on prototyping this morning and will be doing another on "bite-sized learning" later.

Overall, this is a nice conference and well worth consideration. The hands-on sessions are a great way to pick up some competency quickly.

Twitter hashtag: #EDC10, which apparently is someone's twitter name too. Oops.

The 12 Tutorials of the Promised Land (sorta...)

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:51:00 +0000

Okay, so I may have gotten a little carried away with the headline, but our buddy Tom Kuhlmann has just posted another great article pointing to 12 tutorials that walk you through an approach to creating engaging, interactive e-learning.

Definitely worth a read: The Rapid e-Learning Blog

e-Learning Salary Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:38:00 +0000

The e-Learning Guild released findings from it's 2010US Salary Survey today...among the highlights:

- The average salary of a person who lives in the United States and works in e-Learning is $79,252.

- Salaries of e-learning pro's continue to rise, even against a poor economy.

- Still appears to be considerable gender inequity, with men making more than women.

- Contractor salaries are are relatively weak when compared with full-time employees and factoring in benefits.

This is my off-the-cuff summary a couple hours after reading the report. If you want the details and you're a Guild member, it's here. If you're not a member, you may want to search for other, more detailed summaries...or join the Guild for full access.

Sentence Diagramming

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Here is a nicely done instructional video on sentence diagramming. It's part of a series on this topic.

What really jazzes me about this series is the simplicity: these are just a bunch of videos...but because of the content, your brain is compelled to apply the lessons as you go...making them even more powerful!

The other interesting thing is that by reading the comments, it's clear that these are very helpful to a number of learners.

I can think of a handful of ways this could be improved instructionally, but as components of learning, these simple explanations are excellent!

Google Wave Book

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Okay, I'll admit it...even though I have a Google Wave account, I haven't done much with it.

So I'm excited to learn about this guide. It claim comprehensivity, which I don't doubt at all. But perhaps the most interesting thing about the book to non-Wavers is the publishing model. You will note, when you follow the link, that the book's contents are freely available online, but you also can purchase the book, if you like.

I really like this model. It's a nice balance between openness and entrepreneurial thinking. While I might not shell over the bucks for this specific book, there are plenty that I want to have in my hand as I apply the concepts and the learning.

Open Source e-Learning Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Great post by Michael Hanley on the e-Learning Curve blog. You made the blogroll.

Learning Leaders Launched

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Just launched a new "pod-blog" project called "The Learning Leaders."

The first interview is with Brent Schlenker of the e-Learning Guild. He's got some great insights on the future of learning and some of the things we should give a listen to.

Jump in and join the conversation...and let me know if you have some others you'd like to hear from on "The Learning Leaders."

Thanks, Joe

Spot Learning: the book

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:36:00 +0000

So, I'm caving in to my inner scribe. I've decided to take the plunge and write another book. It's not that I'm a glutton for punishment or that I can't stand to have down time; the problem is that we are in a really important transition and a lot of people don't know how to handle it.

We are moving from a monolithic ivory-towered training paradigm where all knowledge, processes, and expertise is filtered down to a more distributed, real-time, learned-this-earlier-today sourcing of learning content...and candidly, it's a scary space to navigate for many otherwise very competent learning pros.

On the flipside, those who blindly dive into this transition with a jump-first; then-check-for-parachute mentality are doomed to failure or harm--not out of ill-intent; you just don't know what you don't know.

"Spot Learning" will bridge the gap and bring together much rational thinking about this shift we find ourselves in. I'm sure I'll test out many ideas here, so don't hesitate to weigh in.

The conversation is young, and your ideas are relevant.

Finding Fellow Tweeters

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Whether you are interested in e-learning or little league baseball, there are people out there who want to talk to you...whether you know it or not. Fortunately, there are some tools that will help you find each other so you can wile away the wee hours talking about things that nobody outside your virtual circles could quite possibly be interested in.

Here are some of the tools that bring like-minded Tweeters together:

Twellow - one of my personal favorites, this tool quickly returns lists based on location, industry, and keyword search, and lets you follow with a click. While I haven't personally used it for prospecting, it looks promising for that purpose.

Nearby Tweets - lets you find Tweeple near you...or anywhere really.

TwitterPacks - find Twitter groups by interest.

TwitterLocal - an Adobe AIR application that lets you filter tweets by location.

TweetMondo - cool visual application with a map (I like gadgety stuff)

ChirpCity - city-specific tweets and tweeple...good for a quick peak at the local twittersphere

Local Tweeps - find and get found

Another great way to find other Tweeters is by the conversation.

TweetChat - lets you follow any conversation by its hash tag.

Tweetbeep - gives you Twitter alerts by e-mail when conversations mention you, your company, your products...or anything else; so if you're tracking a hot topic, like "spot learning", you can find out who else is talking about it...quickly.

Social Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Great posting over at Search Engine Watch by Erik Qualman in which he describes key statistics from Social Media.

One of the implications is that we ultimately will see a change in the construction of learning content from being centered around institutional processes to evolving out of individual and socially collaborative processes. And perhaps we'll even how some certifications are granted.

Imagine, if you will, a social certification of sorts where individuals rate others on special competencies. Say, for example, you do some killer SEO work for me and I give you a 5-star rating. Why wouldn't that rating be more relevant than your MEd from Indiana...at least as it relates to SEO work.

I'm not saying certificates are bad; I'm just thinking the world is moving too fast for anything but the social internet to keep up with the changes, and if I want a Google Wave-proficient programmer, there's no way today to be sure I'm getting one aside from the certification of experience.

In the meantime, I advise you to get your portfolio updated; until we standard of social certification, that may be the best viable alternative. It's less and less about who you are and more and more about what you've done. And in the social web, it's virtually always about who ~~you know~~ knows you.

What the Economy Teaches Us About Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:29:00 +0000

I read recently in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) about how some fundamental assumptions of Financial Analysts are being overturned by the new economic history. Specifically, the article quoted Financial Advisor Carl Mahler introducing himself by stating "Hi. My name is Carl, and I'm a recovering asset-allocationist."

Asset allocation is a long-held strategy for diversifying investment portfolios in order to mitigate risk. Over time, models have developed that did a pretty good job of limiting the impact of general economic swings, but in recent years, the models have begun to break down. As I dug deeper into the article, it became clear that some fundamental changes in the basis of economic assumptions are at play.

This afternoon, I came across a story in the Financial Times of how British Airways and others are begging workers to work for no money...or to reduce hours, or take sabbaticals at reduced wages. The author laments: "To understand what is going on, one needs to forget all the economics one ever learnt." Again, some shifts in the underlying assumptions about the employer-employee relationship have caused changes in the landscape. The basic assumptions that one works for pay or does not work for no pay no longer hold true. Many workers are willing to work for less, or offer up free work days in exchange for a perception of better job security.

So, how does all this relate to learning?

I hold that we are in a time of fundamental paradigm shifts. People have thrown the rules out the window because they realize that the old rules no longer apply.

Think about it--in the learning business, we have come full-swing from a time when all learning was informal (think 1930's and earlier) to a period when the only learning that mattered included some sort of certification (1970's to 2006 or so), to a new model where what you can do matters more than your certificate or pedigree. Already, the people producing some of the most relevant learning are pioneers of all ages who are really subject-matter experts with neither a fear of technology nor of learning.

The new model for workers, financial analysts, and learning is one in the same: whatever works. Increasingly, we see tools that are capable of monitoring and measuring quite granular data points. We seem to be on the cusp of a world where ongoing performance metrics could be collected and aggregated, following individuals through their careers. And why not? Wouldn't this breed greater employment equity?

Some years back, I read of students who were crafting their own degree programs by leveraging online courses. They were in it for the learning and didn't care if they got the certificate or not. And in a world where performance can be measured over time, why does the certificate matter as much? It does not make you more qualified...or more certified.

The future of learning will see learning pros helping other experts produce content in more relevant ways; the learning pros will not be the guardians of the content; they will not be the sole masters of the technologies that facilitate learning. But they do play a critically important role. They are consultants who understand the learning process; they recognize that there are things that must happen to maximize the impact of learning and to minimize the cost of learning. These things can be taught...and those are the very skills we will be called upon to share with the world.

Get ready. Nothing will remain the same in this brave new world.

Where'd I Put My Brain?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Wouldn't it be nice to have a spare brain? What if your phone could take pictures or record audio and you could search either anytime you wanted to remember something...making a computer function as a memory capture and organization device?

Well, check out Evernote:

Here's a nice article that gives a quick overview...but let's think beyond that to the implications for learning:

One of the best ways to trigger memory is through activation of episodic memory, which has to do with place (either virtual or real);
All kinds of memory can be triggered by episodes.
Generally, up to 80% of what we learn is captured visually.
Generally, another 10-15% of what we learn is captured through hearing.

Hmmm...I really do need an iPhone. I wonder if, as people get older if it might be considered a medical device to assist with memory. "There's an app for that:" it's called Evernote.

Another Simple Message Design

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

An even more powerful message. In this case, the message itself must overpower the medium. Notice the simplicity. Simple is good.

Thanks go to Edward Harran for posting this on http://www.digitalforgood.com/.

WolframAlpha to Know Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Stephen Wolfram is at it again. Not satisfied to rest on his laurels after creating Mathmatica and it's several incarnations, Wolfram's company WolframAlpha is engaged in a long-term project to "make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone." WolframAlpha is built on a code base that now includes over 5 million lines of symbolic Mathematica code...but according to site information, it's only getting started. And they're off to a mighty fine start!

Try for yourself. Enter a couple words. The site suggests stocks, but I tried something off-chart, like "financial analysts" and learned within a second that there are about 228,300 people who claim the title of financial analyst and their numbers are growing at a rate of almost 16% annually.

Twitter, according to WolframAlpha has 360 million "page views" each day from 47 million visitors and is the 15th highest-ranked site. Hmmm, I wonder who the others are. When I enter a phrase it doesn't know how to handle ("web ranking"), Alpha gives me a list of suggestions, including some tips for good results.

The service answers specific questions rather than giving general topics.
You can only get answers about objective facts.
It can only answer what it knows about.
It only shares (and presumably has) public information.
It likes fewer words, but specific requests.
It prefers whole words.

So, given these parameters, I decided to ask some real questions, like how debt each American owes:

us debt / us population = 26,351 per person (2007 estimate)

Oh, to go back to 2007 debt levels! ;-)

WolframAlpha will also present you with relevant formulas if you search on terms and phrases like "credit card debt," "mortgage," or "amortization." It will also try to present you with diagrams and maps where relevant.

It will even tell you the "weather in Honolulu when Barack Obama was born". It was, by the way, 76 to 86 degrees and 60% humidity on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu.

In a world, WolframAlpha, you Rock! (which happens to be a surname for 0.0069% of people.

"Everyday Inventions" from Saul Griffith (TED)

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Peppermint Poo?

Starts out funny, but gets a little scary when you think of the implications of building programability in to biochemical organisms...although they're really talking about building programming into materials. Still extensible, I think...and it's 3 years old. So, the question I have is did we already make the leap and are we robots yet?

Amazon Nixes NC Associates Accounts

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:02:00 +0000

This morning in my inbox was a notice from Amazon that as of today my Associates Account (the account through which I previously earned referral fees) has been closed.

In the words of Amazon: "This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme expected to be passed any day now by the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) and signed by the governor. As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 26." Of course, they're talking specifically about those accounts being cancelled, not the program as a whole.

Fortunately for me, I've moved to Kentucky, so I promptly opened up another account...but my unfortunate brethren in NC may not have that option. Thousands will find themselves unable to tap into this source of jingle, which pays for many blog posts and web hosting and the like.

If you wan to take action, the North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/.

Windows 7 Pre-Orders at 50% Discount

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:55:00 +0000

As part of Microsoft's push to rid the world of it's buggy Vista platform, Amazon is pushing the product with as much as a 50% reduction and offering Associates a better-than-usual referral fee on qualifying purchases.

Here's my referral link if you want to same money and help support this blog in the process. :-)

The Ultimate Mashup

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:07:00 +0000

If you wonder where I've been the past few days ...and what happened to my post-a-day plan, well I've been Twitterized. I have been learning everything I can about Twitter and I've found that there is a quantum growth effect occurring. There is so much data on Twitter that it has become a destination of choice for all sorts of opportunists. Over the past few days, we've even seen Twitter become a vehicle for malware attacks.

But what is most intriguing isn't that those seeking to exploit are showing up; it's what is being done for good with the data. "Data?" you say. "I thought Twitter was social media." No, Twitter is a social engine. Consider what Clay Shirkey had to say at Ted recently:

Shirkey is the author of the book "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations."

Clay makes a really important point in the video. Innovation really begins after we learn to use the tools and stop being enamored with them. The same is true of design. Some of you remember the early days of PageMaker. Remember when non-designers first got their hands on multiple fonts? Been there; got the t-shirt. You know, like when you got your first credit card and couldn't stop using all that free money--same thing as the bailout, only smaller and more personally painful (we hope).

Clay goes on to identify four key (revolutionary) events in the history of media: the invention of the printing press; telegraph & telephone; recorded media (photos, sound, and movies); television and radio. The irony is that the Internet on a whole is a sort of mashup of these technologies....and now we're mashing the mashup. The result is that we now have these dynamic ways to have real-time conversations irrespective of place.

The next wave is real-time collaboration. We have seen a number of incremental steps in this direction: file sharing, content management systems, real-time document collaboration, and the new kid in the collaboration hash: Google Wave. In my opinion, this (paradigm) will change everything.

A Formula for Innovation

Whenever you're up against a tough problem, whether you're designing visual information, social networks, or interactive learning, you'll find that these simple rules apply universally:

1. Don't fall in love with the technology...it's just a tool and someday you'll move on.
2. Don't fall in love with a single design. Everything has a time and a place.
3. Spend quality brain energy looking at the problem and be sure you understand it; validate that with others.
4. Ask others for input on how to solve the problem.
5. Listen intently. Ask questions as needed.
6. Make sure you hear what people are saying (listen for the patterns).
7. Put it all out of your mind long enough to take a nap.

I'm a firm believer that our brain organizes the stuff in our heads while we sleep. If you let me "sleep on it," oftimes, I can give you an answer in the morning. (If you followed the last link, do you see the irony? Meatloaf's micro-opera was all about a social contract.)

Problem solving and innovation are highly relevant to the conversation. They are the new social skills that we must bring to the table. We are, suddenly thrust into a world where our abilities matter more than our pedigree, our social status, our funding, or our location. It is here. We are used to it. Adapt.

The Twitter Social Engine doesn't need all of its parts to move for new realities to be effected. As these diagrams illustrate, there are many ways to look at the Twitterverse.

Today, about 17 minutes after it was first reported, I knew that Michael Jackson had been taken to the hospital. That's the viral effect of Twitter. Within a few more minutes, I saw the first tweet that he had died of cardiac arrest...then it snowed RTs. I probably knew before my local news station did. Real-time, in-your-face pop culture.

Now, I've never had star fever, so it matters less to me that Michael Jackson died today than if I learned that my neighbor's mean dog got out. One has immediate relevance. The difference is, unless one of my neighbors tweets it, I may not know about the mean dog's escape until I go outside.

Twitter is a sleeping giant. We are at a crucial juncture, when the novelty is wearing off and the wolfs are beginning to circle. Data is valuable and powerful, but it can be used for good or for evil.

Choose wisely.

Social Linkage

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0000

You may have encountered the interesting little list of blog links at the bottom of someone elses' blog and thought to yourself "that's cool...how do I do it?"

Quite simply, the Add This! API is all you need...and here are the details you need to do it: http://www.addthis.com/help/api-spec.

There are other options too, such as http://www.addtoany.com/buttons/.

Implications for spot learning include the opportunity to help content go viral.

One more tip: If you're just getting started with a brand, you may want to use NameChk to verify if your brand name is already taken in the most viable social networks.

Authoring Tool: SCATE Ignite

noreply@blogger.com (Joe Fournier) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:45:00 +0000

scate ignite (priced from $50 to $400 for various versions) integrates many of the components you need to create simple, effective messages such as the one in the previous post.