- Steve Jobs, in a 1996 interview with Wired magazine

Share/Save

Share/Save

Quinn

Luca

I probably won’t be blogging for another month or so, but I plan to catch up on lots of blog reading in the meantime. See you soon!

Photos by Scott Unrein

Share/Save

Now, Apple did choose to put up a browser sniffer directing you to download Safari if you don’t happen to be using Safari when you visit. I personally think Safari’s worth using for the anti-aliasing alone, but if you just want a casual glance, go to the developer section instead… The demos are easier to get to and most of them work just fine on Firefox.

And authoring tool vendors, please visit the developer section for the code. I would love for someone to make it easy for me to make really pretty HTML stuff. Just sayin’.

3 AM Update: I have no idea why I’m up this late, but I went back to the demos and the site has changed; now there are browser sniffers on each demo in the developer section, in addition to the one blocking the main section. And in all cases, they don’t just warn you that the demos won’t work… they prevent you from seeing the demos unless you’re using Safari. Way to show that HTML5 is a web standard, Apple.

Share/Save

What a neat way to meet your learners literally where they are, at the moment they need the information. (Clearly, if a patient like me can see these screens, this is a major potential point of failure for privacy regulations!) I’m sure they do regular compliance training, but this seems like a useful year-round reminder, even if it blends into the background over time.

(And the cynic in me gets the last word: Good way to CYA, too.)

Share/Save

Learning Solutions Magazine

Enjoy! And here’s the permalink (requires free subscription to the magazine).

Share/Save

Not that I would be at all of these conferences in a normal year anyway, but I do usually enjoy them when I can make it. So you tell me… what did I miss? What was your favorite session or takeaway? Help me out; I’m stuck here in the middle!

Also curious what the buzz is going to be at mLearnCon, and especially whether people will be talking about HTML5. I’ve been doing some research and writing about that lately, which I’ll share very soon…

Share/Save

Design is a signal of intention.

That’s one of my favorite quotes. Couldn’t locate it yesterday during #lrnchat…

mrch0mp3rs: Design, in my opinion, means there’s an end in mind we wish to achieve by intent.

jkunrein: @mrch0mp3rs YES about intent! All design implies intent. If you don’t have it, you’re just throwing stuff, seeing what sticks.

tmiket: @jkunrein I know lots of people to take the “just throwing stuff” pproach… unfortunately!

usablelearning: @jkunrein I’m ok with throwing stuff and seeing what sticks, actually. Not ok w throwing stuff, and then walking away

tmiket: @usablelearning Great point…I see lots of walking away too…it’s journey right?

And then someone tweeted that throwing stuff was just for the first 5 minutes… Unfortunately, I can’t find that.

Anyway, there’s a plug for early usability testing… or rapid prototyping… or whatever interpretation you like.

Share/Save

So I had to share this link that was sent to me the other day: The Guild Leader’s Handbook, a primer on how to run a successful guild. Replace “guild” with “company” and you’ll see exactly what kinds of skills serious gamers are learning in-game. Spend enough time in an MMO, and it’s far from the anonymous, consequence-free, even anti-social environment that some non-gamers perceive: Leadership, management, and followership skills are every bit as important in guild life as they are at work.

Not convinced? I challenge you to read the free chapter. Come back and tell me what you thought… for 1000 XP.

Share/Save

I tried YourFonts.com a few weeks ago, thinking I might make a banner for this blog out of my own handwriting, but I wasn’t quite satisfied… with my handwriting, that is. The service was pretty freakin’ impressive. Still, my font isn’t there yet.

But I get another chance! On May 9, they’re running a special offer: Use the coupon code CPN4MOM2010 when you check out and you can make as many fonts as you like for free. This is only good on May 9, because… nothing says Mother’s Day like lots of free, custom fonts?

Share/Save

Why in the world would they do that?

Because they can.

More thoughts on the future of elearning delivery… and the technology behind it… very, very soon.

Must get done with spring semester first.

Share/Save

A few weeks ago I came across a very different vision of saving the world through games, one that appealed to me more because positive behavior change is viewed as — and shown to be — a long-term effect rather than something you do at the moment for a gold star or a number of points. It was also mind-opening to me as a gamer who is very aware of the time and effort spent… some say wasted… in online games. And this week’s #lrnchat reminded me that I hadn’t posted it! Doh!

If you haven’t seen it, you definitely want to. Here is Jane McGonigal’s incredible TED Talk, Gaming Can Make a Better World.

Share/Save

New Skills for Instructional Designers – Not only does the content sound great, I know the quality of these presenters’ ideas from their blogs and other online presence, and I’m interested in what they have to say.

I’ll catch up on the backchannel later…  Have safe travels home, everyone!

Share/Save

That’s when I turn to games, movies, and TV for inspiration. Personally, I don’t think what makes for good drama in these disciplines is all that different from what creates truly memorable learning experiences. I’ve seen no evidence that people turn off their BS detectors when they sign into the LMS.

Along that train of thought, here’s a letter from David Mamet to the writers of The Unit, about creating good television. Warning: Strong language abounds.

Enjoy.

Share/Save

Jealous! (Did you know that orange was the color symbolizing jealousy in Shakespeare's day?)

I enjoyed peeking in to the #ls2010 backchannel today! And I realized that yesterday I didn’t even mention anything that wasn’t a concurrent session… lots of stuff going on in the ID Zone sounded really cool, too, but I’m way too tired from my week to make this post any bigger than it’s already shaping up to be. I’m kind of glad I didn’t have to decide what to actually go to. Here are my picks for tomorrow…

The Top 10 Must-Do’s for Developing Successful e-Learning Programs – Having spent the last 3 years building an elearning initiative from the ground up, I have to wonder what I missed. There must be something.

Giving Voice to Your e-Learning - Okay, selfish choice. Since I do a little voiceover work on the side, mainly for elearning, I might figure out a few things about how to market my services in this session.

Designing Continuous Learning: Leveraging the Power of a Learning Continuum – Again with the movement away from learning “events”…

McGyver e-Learning: Creating e-Learning with Open-source and Common Tools – Even if you weren’t a proponent of open-source tech (which I am, don’t get me wrong), who could resist something called “McGyver e-Learning”?

The Evolving LMS/LCMS:  Their Role in the World of Learning 2.0 and Social Learning – While I’ve heard of several LMS/LCMSs that support social learning, the ones I have the most experience with definitely don’t fall into that category. It would be nice to get more education there.

Rapid Deployment Leveraging Social Networks and Google Wave – Or maybe it would be better to see some concrete tools and examples along the same lines…

Case Study: Converting a Live Workshp to e-Learning – This just sounds good. Lots of us grapple with converting ILT to elearning and the decisions that must be made in that design process; I’m always interested to see how others do it.

Visual Design Essentials: Practical Techniques for Designing Better Online Courses – I had to reread this description before I “got it” that when the writer says “design” he means “visual design”, and that made me chafe a little (that confusion being something that bosses and clients often fall victim to, as well). Having said that, visual design is important and it’s always something I’m up for learning more about… particularly when it relates directly to what I do.

“Don’t Make Me Think”: Creating Effective e-Learning with User Testing – I reread Steve Krug’s book recently because I hope to step up some of our user testing at work; this session would be relevant. And I like that they’re recognizing how relevant web design/development is to elearning design/development…

New Applications for Mobile Games and Simulations – mLearning has never been a huge interest for me, but I’m currently doing some research on HTML5 and therefore wish I could peek into just about every mlearning session I hear about…

When Worlds Collide: Social Media and the Learning Organization – Again, interested in how social media and collaborative tools can affect learning.

Don’t be shy! Tell me what I missed… even if it’s not listed above.

Edit: I have to say (as if there are people out there who are going to get offended) — there are a few sessions that sound really cool, but I might have caught the same speaker doing what sounds like a similar topic at prior conferences. So I pretty much didn’t list those here. No offense! And from the tweets coming in about Michael Allen’s session, I might be wrong about that anyway. Again, wish I were there…

Share/Save

Jealous!

Looking ahead to the conferences happening this summer, the one I’m probably most sorry to be missing is Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2010.

But just because I can’t go doesn’t mean I can’t window-shop! So, completely ignoring my word count, here are the sessions I would be trying to decide between if I were in Orlando today:

Using Web Analytics to Track the Use of Formal and Informal Learning – Lots of us try to avoid our LMSs, but then we don’t get good tracking on how many customers we’re serving. Analytics could bridge that gap and I do use Google Analytics for websites I manage… but I don’t know a lot about using it inside a company’s intranet, which it seems like you would have to do.

The Role of Standards in Supporting Innovation in e-Learning – This might be a little basic for me, but I’m really interested in the work that LETSI is doing.

Creating Game-like Engagement without a Game Designer’s Budget – I’m a big believer that it’s the creativity behind the game — and the understanding of what makes a game good — that makes it exciting… not the multimedia. It sounds like this session is aimed at the right ideas.

Assessing e-Learning Results: Fundamentals, Myths, and Special Opportunities – I like that Will Thalheimer focuses on research-based solutions, so I tend to be interested in pretty much anything he has to say.

Project Management for Rapid e-Learning Projects – Project management has always been a challenge for me… not so much because I’m bad at it (hopefully), but more because I’d like to be better so that I could spend less time doing it.

Improving Systems Training by Adding Informal Learning – See comments on Will Thalheimer’s session above.

Distributed Learning: Rethinking Design to Encourage Advanced Performance – I’ve spent a lot of effort over the last year trying to change from designing learning “events” to designing solutions that meet learners’ needs over time. Interested in what Clark Quinn has to say on the topic… his perspective is usually a very interesting one.

Creating Media Like a Pro: Tips and Tricks for Audio and Video Development – And as much as I like to contemplate theory and learning strategy, I’m part of a very small shop and that is just getting its feet wet in video development. Some nitty-gritty tips would be good, and I always pick up good stuff from Diane Elkins’s presentations.

Advanced e-Learning Technology Architecture: Moving Beyond Course Delivery – Again, just interested in how technology supports — and limits — learning delivery.

Creating Value in e-Learning Design through Effective Instructional Feedback – I also usually learn a lot from Allen Interactions’ classes and sessions, though this one might not be much that’s new after taking both of their Elearning Instructional Design classes from ASTD.

On the upside, I guess I don’t actually have to decide between these, since I won’t be there. Did you pick any of these? How were they?

Share/Save

"The perfect elearning host" according CS. I concur.

Cheers: Cartoon Solutions has released Beth, a smart-looking, non-Barbie™-proportioned character that’s great for learning agents. I have to admit, though I’ve used their art in the past, sometimes I’ve changed the body proportions to be more realistic. The marketing behind Beth shows that Cartoon Solutions is paying attention to its elearning audience.

She's not bad... she's just drawn that way.

Jeers: Trivantis included a — sorry to say — salaciously drawn mermaid in the Lectora X media library. Can’t say I’ll find much use for this in elearning… even if I needed a mermaid, I wouldn’t opt for Jessica Rabbit’s long-lost oceanic kin. And that’s a pity because elearning is Trivantis’s whole business. That being the case, it’s pretty disappointing to find something this off-the-mark. Hat tip: Marc Shecter.

*Wordpress tells me I started this blog post almost three months ago. I haven’t posted it because I’ve had an issue with Lectora X’s media library on my company’s network… not Trivantis’s fault from what I can tell, but it’s taken some time to get resolved, and I wanted to be able to say that in all fairness, the rest of the media library is at least work-appropriate. It is, and otherwise I’m pretty darn keen on Lectora X’s improvements.

Share/Save

1) Advance/Advanced. Conference season gives me ample opportunity to cringe at this, especially since I think huge endeavors are worth the copyediting effort (cheers to Learning Solutions, jeers to TechKnowledge and ICE). Advance registration is registering in advance; maybe advanced registration involves adding pre-conference programs…?

2) Penultimate. Ultimate means last; and penultimate means next to last, not most ultimate (which doesn’t even make sense).

3) Simple/Simplistic. Sometimes simplistic is used (incorrectly) to mean very simple, but actually it’s not a compliment. Simplistic means overly simple to the point of being misleading or under-nuanced.

Until next time…

Share/Save

And the problem with that is, it’s really hard for me to shake that spring fever in a cube farm. I’m more easily distracted by coworkers, and I can’t do my normal staying-focused behaviors because I’ll distract them back. (I hum when I’m studying or playing WoW at home.) I also can’t wear track pants… or even jeans.

Does anyone function well in this environment? Do you expect instructional designers to stay “professional” all day and still do creative work… Or is that a false dichotomy?

Got any tips for me?

Share/Save

As a trainer, I often fell for the idea that if I was giving out prizes, trainees would only value them if they were “valuable”. But in fact, mere measurement does change behavior, and the oddest things can motivate us: achievements in WoW (most of which give nothing), virtual prizes (like clipart of a car that I saw one webinar presenter give out this past week), or simply seeing a full row of green checkmarks because we got 100% on a quiz.

There’s lots of stuff to discuss here. Watch. Tell me what you think.

(Alternately, view in parts on YouTube…)

Share/Save