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I'm writing this blog posting while sitting at a New York City airport, on my way back home from giving a presentation on the use of Web 2.0 technologies for social learning in enterprises. As I mentioned in a posting last year (The When and What of M-Learning), one of the things I do a lot of when I travel is listen to educational content. This can be audio versions of magazine articles, but it also includes several podcasts from the Learning and Development industry.
A podcast is essentially audio content that is updated regularly, that you subscribe to via a "feed" for the podcast, using iTunes or a similar application. Video versions of a podcast go by several names -- vodcast, v-cast, vidcast -- but are essentially the same idea, just with video in addition to audio content. In either case, once subscribed, you will receive the new content in the podcast sent to you automatically, and you can listen to the content either on your computer, or perhaps more commonly, on your iPod, smartphone, or other mobile device. Podcasts are a great way to keep up with particular topics, subject matter experts, your favorite news sources, and so on.
Over the years, the L&D industry has been blessed with several good podcasts to choose from. Some of these have come and gone (their archives of past content are often still available). However, there are several podcasts that are still going strong, including but not limited to:
- ASTD T+D -- Selected articles from ASTD's T+D magazine are available as audio recordings, and you can subscribe to these as a podcast.
- ASTD LX Briefing -- A podcast of the feature items from LX Briefing, an ASTD newsletter for senior learning executives.
- ASTD Chapter podcasts - Over the years, some of the local ASTD chapters have done podcasts. Here are two that I'm aware of that are current:
- Xyleme Voices -- LCMS vendor Xyleme has long had an outstanding podcast in which they interview industry experts.
- The Rapid E-Learning Blog podcasts -- Using the Hear a Blog service, Tom Kuhlmann provides audio versions of his popular Rapid E-Learning Blog, which "shares practical tips and tricks to help you become a rapid elearning pro."
There also appears to be many podcasts about e-Learning and other learning and development topics provided by the academic sector -- whether from academic consortia or other groups, or from individual colleges and universities. Do a search on "e-learning" or similar keywords in iTunes and see what you find!
If you are like me and run out of time to read everything you'd like to, but have some time (commuting, travelling, waiting in lines at the post office, etc.) to listen to professionally relevant content, then give some of the above podcasts a try! I've still got an hour wait for my flight…which of the above will I listen to next?
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Top Tools for Learning 2010
I'll start by again noting that Jane Hart's annual "Top Tools for Learning" survey is well underway. For this survey, Hart asks industry experts and practitioners to list their top 10 tools for learning (broadly defined). Back in December, I wrote about her final survey results for 2009. I've participated in this survey since 2007, and have already updated my personal list in her index for this year. Read her recent blog entry on the subject and then join in the survey yourself!
On Cognitive Overload and Finding Your 20%
Jane Bozarth's latest column at Learning Solutions Magazine is titled "Find Your 20%" and it hits on a critical subject for any instructional designer or learning professional: cognitive overload and the need to, as Bozarth puts it, "cull the must-know from the nice-to-know." After noting all of the common stakeholders and people who typically have input on a learning program, she advises "Before you begin designing, identify the two or three points most critical to successful performance on the job. What must the learner know? I call this 'finding your 20%'… Design starts here. Rather than take everything there is to know and try to capture it all in the course, start in the center – with the critical content – and work your way out. Once you have found the critical content, add on only what truly supports understanding of it." Read the rest of the column for Bozarth's specific pieces of advice on how to tackle this common challenge.
How Many Ways Can You Effectively Use Tables in E-Learning Courses?
Tom Kuhlmann of the Rapid E-Learning blog wrote another wonderful, examples-filled blog posting, this time providing "10 tips on using tables in your e-learning courses." Any of us could think of several approaches to the use of tables, but 10? Given the amount of e-Learning that Element K has produced over the years -- both as catalog courses and as custom development -- I suspect our army of instructional designers and media developers have collectively used all 10 of Kuhlmann's techniques (and then some!) But I've never seen someone describe so many techniques in one place before, and do so as well as Kuhlmann has here. A great read!
When Mobile Learning is the Entire Show
Determining when we'll see an inflection point in the uptick of mobile learning solutions by L&D departments continues to be hard to predict: where are we on the industry-wide adoption curve exactly? That said, there continues to be significant -- and clearly increasing -- interest in the possibilities for mobile learning. The eLearning Guild recognized this and so decided to hold a conference dedicated solely to mobile learning: mLearnCon, held June 15-17 in San Diego. If you missed the event, and didn't follow tweets that emerged from it either, you can still get a sense for the goings-on by reading the following excellent blog postings from the industry leaders who were heavily involved:
More on Mobile Learning
The eLearning Guild didn't only hold a conference dedicated to mobile learning, their online Learning Solutions Magazine also ran a series of excellent articles on mobile learning as well. These have included:
The Latest Social Learning
There continues to be a great flow of good articles, blog postings, and resources on this important subject, so I will again list a few from recent weeks here. The first two are from Talent Management magazine's June issue:
- Just Read the Wiki - by Elaine Lees and Elissa Gavette. Includes two sidebars on the use of Web 2.0 tools at Swiss Re and Intel.
- Taking Talent Inventory - by Grant Ricketts and Rob Pannoni. Considers both the benefits and range of use of social media tools in an organization, and also the role that metadata -- through social networking analytics -- can play in talent management.
- Transforming the Learning Organization (PDF) - in the June issue of ASTD's LX Briefing newsletter, there is an interview with ASTD President Tony Bingham and social media expert Marcia Conner, specifically in regard to their upcoming book The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media.
- Try Yammer, Maybe You'll Learn Something - Mike Petersell briefly explains how Pitney Bowes uses the micro-blogging/micro-messaging tool Yammer for learning purposes.
- Michael Hanley on Evaluating Non-Formal Learning - a series of blog postings on this timely topic:
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Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched last year. Each newsletter includes several articles of relevance to the Learning and Development field, as well as updates about Element K events and our latest product releases. You can see the latest newsletters here: April, May, June, and July.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Jane Bozarth Introduces TrainingBookReview.com
Industry veteran and expert author Jane Bozarth has started a new website called TrainingBookReview.com. This is a new blog, sponsored by HRDQ. Bozarth was for some 10 years a book review writer for Training magazine, and describes that at this new blog she will be reviewing "a few new books," but also have a focus, at least to start, "on some classics in the L&D literature." She has kicked things off with a review of Figuring Things Out: A Trainer’s Guide to Needs and Task Analysis (Zemke & Kramlinger, 1982). For fans of Jane's book reviews, know that she continues to also review books focused on e-Learning at her new column with Learning Solutions magazine, the latest of which is a review of Clark Aldrich's new book The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games. Keep up the great work Jane!
Ten Myths About Video in E-Learning
And speaking of the online Learning Solutions magazine, it recently had a two-part article by Stephen Haskin titled "Ten Myths About Video in E-Learning." In part 1, he takes on what he considers to be myths such as the issue of Mac versus PC for creating videos, the software available, whether you need a streaming server to play your videos, and the issue of mobile devices. In part 2, he covers topics including HD, internal networks, frame rates, and importantly, the cost and skills required for video production. Although the topics covered are broader than the use of video in e-Learning contexts alone, Haskin has done e-Learning developers a service by sharing insights on so many issues of video production in one place.
What Will Workplace Learning Technology Look Like in 2015?
That was the "big" question posed for the month of May at ASTD's Learning Circuits blog. Responses to this provocative question came pouring in, and by now include postings from Tony Karrer, Clark Quinn, Clive Shepherd, and many others. Note to self: check back in five years to see who was correct!
Better Design Doesn't Take Longer
And speaking of Clark Quinn, in a recent article at eLearn magazine, "Better Design Doesn't Take Longer!", he argues in favor of better design in the development of learning content. He makes his case on the grounds that it really doesn't take any longer to produce well-designed content and learning experiences, and obviously (almost by definition) good designs will yield better outcomes. He admits the one caveat to his position about it not taking any longer: "after an initial transition period." That is, he is arguing for a long-range perspective, by noting that an investment in some time up front can be more than justified by the benefits you will reap in the future.
An Interesting Take on the iPad from a Usability Guru
And speaking of design, Jakob Nielsen is a very well-known usability expert. So when he publishes a 93-page report on the usability of the latest technology wonder device, it is worth your time to pause and at least hear what he has to say. You can download this report for free, or if time is short at the moment, start by simply reading this article from the Guardian, "Jakob Nielsen critiques the iPad's usability failings." Lots of food for thought, as the Learning and Development industry begins to consider the use cases for the iPad, and future competing tablet devices too.
On the Forgetting Curve and Ways to Improve Retention
Although I recently wrote a post that linked to these two items, I wanted to again draw attention to them. On May 28, both Charles Jennings and Donald Clark wrote about a similar topic, both invoking what is known as "the Forgetting Curve." These postings are both worth reading, so here again are the links:
On Mobile Learning
Are you up to speed on the current state, and the possibilities for the future, of mobile learning? If not, then I encourage you to read Ellen Wagner's article "When Mobility Meets Learning" from the April/May issue of Elearning! magazine. After setting the stage with a typical run down of the explosive growth of mobile devices, Wagner provides several reasons why mobile learning hasn't taken off equally as quickly. She then describes several attributes that a rich mobile learning experience will involve: ubiquity, access, richness, efficiency, flexibility, security, reliability, and interactivity. She then shares nine critical questions to ask when you are planning a mobile learning initiative -- a good list!
The Latest on Social Learning
As I noted in my reflections on the recent ASTD ICE 2010 conference, social learning is one of the hottest topics in the L&D industry today. There continues to be a great flow of good articles, postings, and resources on this important subject, so I will again list a few from recent weeks here. See also the many links in my blog posting "The Great LMS Debate," in which social learning plays a central role.
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched last year. Each newsletter includes several articles of relevance to the Learning and Development field, as well as updates about Element K events and our latest product releases. You can see the latest newsletters here: March, April, May, and June.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
Training Magazine, Goodbye Old Friend
A great many print publications are struggling financially these days, with some becoming online-only publications and others closing down entirely -- so each new announcement does not come as a complete surprise. But for many veterans in the training and development field, the recent news of Training magazine folding up shop came as sad news indeed. Over several decades, many have received significant education through its pages, while others were given a platform to share their knowledge or first spread their wings as industry experts.
Karl Kapp has done a good job of bringing together the reflections of a half-dozen people who have blogged at the news of the demise of Training magazine. His blog posting also provides a solid list of alternate resources that remain as outstanding sources of learning, training, and development articles and news. If you aren't subscribed to most or all of these, definitely check them out!
Learning Circuit's February Big Question: Instruction in an Information Snacking Culture?
At the ASTD Learning Circuit's Blog, Tony Karrer noted a trend that many of us are seeing lately: "we seem to be snacking on information, not consuming it in big chunks." As the February "Big Question," he then asks us all to reflect on this phenomenon: Are people really "snacking" more? Do we therefore need to think about instruction differently, and if so, in what ways? Is this shift a problem, and if it is, how so exactly? See the blog posting links to the blog responses so far.
Two Recent Articles on Mobile Learning
ASTD's T+D magazine has recently had two good articles about the growing trend of mobile learning. In my view, both are worth your time to read:
- "Smartphones Make IBM Smarter, But Not As Expected," by Nabeel Ahmad and Peter Orton. Appropriately enough, ASTD has made this article available as an audio podcast so that you can listen to it on your favorite mobile device!
- "Can You Hear Me Now?" (PDF), by mobile learning expert Judy Brown. She asks: "Is mobile access to learning and performance support a part of your learning architecture? If not, you may want to re-evaluate."
On Learning Styles
Will Thalheimer writes a good blog called Will at Work Learning, which he describes as being "Will Thalheimer's research-based commentary on learning, performance, and the industry thereof." He recently authored a post titled "Learning Styles Reviewed by Association for Psychological Science AND FOUND WANTING". In short, Will is reporting on a recent review of the evidence (commissioned by the Association of Psychological Science) for the benefits of using "learning styles" in creating instructional content. Interestingly, the review found that "there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice." Read his posting for more on the findings -- including the scope of what can be concluded from the review and what cannot -- as well as Will's thoughts as both a researcher and consultant.
The Latest Insights on Social Learning
I continue to find the flow of good articles, postings, and resources on social learning to be almost overwhelming. So as I did in the last two round-ups, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here:
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched in 2009. Each newsletter includes several articles of relevance to the Learning and Development field, as well as updates about Element K events and our latest product releases. You can see the latest newsletters here: December, January, February, and March.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
It's time for another edition of the Learning and Development Roundup! (See also previous editions at the archive page.)
More Predictions for 2010
In roundup vol. 9 I linked to several industry leaders providing predictions for 2010. I have found many more such articles and blog postings since then, and they are almost always a fascinating read. Here are some of the best that I didn't link to last time around:
- eLearn Magazine has again gathered predictions from a few dozen industry experts, including Stephen Downes, Jay Cross, Clark Quinn, Roger Schank, Jane Hart, Elliott Masie, Allison Rossett, Saul Carliner, Janet Clarey, Karl Kapp, Bryan Chapman, Mark Oehlert, Charles Jennings, and more. In addition, see the bottom right of this posting, where they provide links to their annual predictions from 2002-2009 -- it is fascinating to see how many were hits and misses from years past
- "Predictions and Plans for 2010" The January Big Question at ASTD's The Learning Circuits Blog is on the subject of predictions for the new year. There are over 20 response postings from folks like Jeanne Meister, Jay Cross, Clark Quinn, Bill Brandon, Clive Shepherd, and many more.
- TrainingIndustry.com provides their list of "10 Predictions for 2010."
- Tony Karrer, creator of eLearningLearning.com, and author of the eLearning Technology blog, has also posted his predictions for 2010. He writes this as a top-10 list, but with the tenth spot left undecided with a request for readers to chime in.
Mobile Learning in 2010
And speaking of predictions for 2010, with the exception of one of the experts from eLearn Magazine's gallery, many are predicting that mobile device use for learning will continue to grow in 2010, and possibly even (finally) burst out a bit. Mobile Learning guru Judy Brown does a good job bringing together the various mobile learning predictions in her post "2010 Forecasts." And Robert Gadd chimed in the first week of January at his new blog, mLearning Trends, with his mLearning predictions for 2010.
How Has the Internet Changed Your Learning?
The latest blog posting from Elliott Masie at LearningTown (login required) is titled "How Has the Internet Changed Your Learning?" Over 30 LearningTown members have chimed in with perspectives so far. If you aren't a member of LearningTown yet, now is a great time to sign up and join this discussion!
Learning in 3D
It doesn't get much more cutting edge than considering the various ways learning can occur in immersive 3D virtual worlds. And few if any are more expert in this subject than the duo of Karl Kapp and Tony O'Driscoll, authors of the new book Learning in 3D (Amazon link). They have also been quite innovative in how they are promoting their book, such as launching on a "blog tour" composed of interviews at various L&D experts' blogs. Further, they have created a useful website, www.learningin3d.info to both promote their book and provide visitors with helpful resources on the topic of "learning in 3D." Bookmark this one!
The Latest Insights on Social Learning
I continue to find the flow of good articles, postings, and resources on social learning to be almost overwhelming. So as I did in the last roundup, I'll provide some of the latest "gems" for you here:
Updates from Element K
As usual, I'll end this roundup posting with links to our newsletter service that we launched in 2009. Each newsletter includes several articles of relevance to the Learning and Development field, as well as updates about Element K events and our latest product releases. You can see the latest newsletters here: November, December, January, and February.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com and on Twitter @ThomasStone)
I'll admit it: I'm hooked on m-learning! By m-learning I of course mean mobile learning, or perhaps more precisely, mobile-device-based-learning. I listen to a wide range of content via hand-held devices, sometimes my BlackBerry, but most often my rather simple, older generation iPod.
Although it took some time to get into the habit of carrying content around with me, I’ve since found myself productively using time that would have otherwise been wasted. Some examples of times when I watch, or more often simply listen, to what I would consider "learning content":
- Driving to work.
- Waiting at the airport, or riding on planes.
- Waiting in long lines (e.g., at the post office).
- While exercising.
What I listen to that can broadly be considered "learning content" is also quite varied. My favorite is probably the articles of The Economist magazine. Every article of each issue is available as downloadable MP3 Audio. I wish all the magazines I subscribe to offered this—Wired magazine, are you listening?
There is one other magazine that comes close to what The Economist offers, and it is one from our own Learning and Development industry. ASTD's T+D Magazine offers many of its articles as free audio downloads. You can see which ones are available by looking at the end of each article and checking for the podcast indicator.
Naturally, working for Element K, I have access to a lot of great learning content that we produce and content provided by our partners. Some of this content is available in formats that will work on mobile devices. For instance, we provide some of the content from selected Business Skills courses (around 100 of them by now!) as Audio MP3 files. I've listened to some of this content, in areas such as personal productivity, and found it to be a useful alternative when I don't have time to sit at my computer and take the full e-learning course.
But some of my favorite mobile learning content actually comes from some of our partners. I have three examples here. The first was a short-term situation that arose for me last summer. My wife and I were taking a vacation in France, but I took Spanish in high school and college, not French. So in order to learn some basics, I listened to several Audio MP3 vocabulary builder and dialogue lessons from the beginning-level French content provided by our partner Living Language. That was perfect for me for the week or two before the trip, and even the plane trip over the Atlantic.
I also regularly listen to book summaries as audio files from our partner GetAbstract. I love the concept of book summaries: I don't have time to read all the good business-related books that come out each year, but I do have time to read brief abstracts of them, or even better, listen to those abstracts on my drive into work.
And finally, our content partner 50 Lessons provides some 700 or so short video interviews of CEOs and other experts on a range of business topics. I've gone through the entire collection, created a list for myself of the ones I want to view, and then each month I tackle a dozen or so—sometimes watching them, sometimes just listening to the audio track. Either way, I get the value they provide.
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com)
Mobile Learning or "m-learning" surely has a very bright future. Who doesn't have one or more cell phones, iPods, or other mobile devices? And who hasn't had some downtime at the airport or felt they could better use their time while driving to and from work? The possible learning opportunities are significant, but so are the challenges including:
- Varying technology support on different devices (e.g., Flash is not supported on the iPhone or iTouch).
- Inherent content difficulties due to the small screen space, limited device memory, etc.
- Varied device implementations across organizations, making off-the-shelf solutions more difficult than for browser-based e-learning.
- Varied devices within organizations, making consistent content deployment to all users more difficult
We've witnessed a flurry of industry research and reports this summer, including items from Brandon Hall, Masie’s Learning Consortium, and the eLearningGuild. These are all geared toward helping learning leaders in organizations understand the mobile learning landscape—both its current reality and future potential.
Further, over at LearningTown! the groups for "Podcasting for Learning" and "Mobile Learning" have the fourth and fifth most members—another sign of the exploding interest in this area.
Many organizations have by now experimented with podcasting or other initial mobile content delivery initiatives. But consider the following partial list of possibilities for the use of mobile devices in learning and performance support contexts:
- Pre-work for an ILT class session (introductory material, set context, etc.)
- Follow-up for an ILT class session (reinforcement of key points)
- Performance Support / Just-In-Time / Reference solution (for cases where laptop/desktop access is problematic, and users need info on the job)
- Review of key concepts for exam preparation
- Providing summary or key content only (such as book abstracts)
- Corporate communications (CEO updates or other regular organization news)
- For formal learning, especially where the content can be broken up into very discrete pieces (such as language learning)
- Assessments of learning
What is your organization already doing with mobile devices for learning, and what plans, ideas, or needs do you have for the future? Please leave us comments to share your thoughts on this exciting topic!
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com)
There are different ways to determine the popular topics and top trends in any industry. You can conduct surveys, review what research reports have to say, or look into what the hot topics are with bloggers in the field.
After attending over a half-dozen conferences in the past year, I realized that another way to gauge forward-looking trends in the learning and training industry would be to categorize all of the conference presentations and see what topic areas occurred most often. So I did that for six conferences that ran from October 2007 through April 2008:
- Training Tech
- Learning 2007
- DevLearn 2007
- Training 2008
- ASTD TK 2008
- eLearningGuild Annual 2008
Before getting into the results of this exercise, I want to note that there is a definite level of subjectivity involved here. Depending on what topic categories you chose to sort by, your results would vary. Also, even with the same category scheme, any two people might assign the categories differently. So take these results with those caveats in mind—this wasn't a scientific exercise, but rather one that provides a rough guide regarding what is being "talked about" the most in our industry.
Also, a large number of presentations were either on the very basics of developing e-learning and other training materials, or were on topics that were not easily categorized. I didn't want to spend days and days on this exercise, so if it wasn't fairly obvious from the title and description what the talk was about, I included it in a large "miscellaneous" category.
That said, here are the top eight topic categories (other than miscellaneous), and the number of presentations for each (there is overlap, as a presentation can be categorized in more than one area):
- Web 2.0 / Collaboration (64)
- Serious Gaming / Robust Simulations (62)
- Mobile Learning (52)
- LMS and LCMS (51)
- Using Rapid E-learning Tools and Techniques (51)
- Virtual Classroom / Synchronous / Webinars (29)
- Immersive Learning / Virtual Worlds / Second Life (28)
- Performance Support / Informal Learning (27)
As you can see, there is a bit of gap between the top five areas which each had 50+ sessions, and the bottom three which each had 27-29 sessions. I tracked another dozen or so areas, but each of those had less than 20 sessions.
I consider three of these areas—LMS, Rapid E-Learning, and Virtual Classroom/Webinars—to be more mature from a vendor perspective than the other five. Innovation is occuring in all of these areas, but some have a longer history than others.
I'll have more to say on these results in the future, but for now let me ask you: Which of the top eight areas above are you using for learning and training in your organization? Which are you investigating for potential use in the future?
Please use the comments form to add your thoughts about this blog posting and these questions. I look forward to hearing from you!
— Thomas Stone (Tom_Stone@elementk.com)
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