100 Free Sites to Learn about Anything and Everything:
Jane Hart has done it again with an excellent resource of 100 free sites including general reference resources, how-to guides, wikis, how-to videos, podcasts, courses, lessons, tutorials (including open courseware), e-books as well as other reference resources.
Monday, March 30
Wednesday, March 25
Xobni - Outlook Plugin comes out of beta
Xobni
A new version of Xobni has been released (1.7), and the Outlook plugin is now officially out of beta.
According to the company, Xobni "saves you time finding email, conversations, contact info & attachments." It adds a sidebar to your Outlook window which allows you to view profiles of the people you're corresponding with and keeps tracks of related messages, phone numbers, and files exchanged.
I noted Xobni when it went into public beta, but reports of slowness and memory hogging kept me away.
The new version is supposed to be much faster, and have less of a memory footprint.
I'm going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it works with my massive email archive (I don't know how to delete).
A new version of Xobni has been released (1.7), and the Outlook plugin is now officially out of beta.
According to the company, Xobni "saves you time finding email, conversations, contact info & attachments." It adds a sidebar to your Outlook window which allows you to view profiles of the people you're corresponding with and keeps tracks of related messages, phone numbers, and files exchanged.
I noted Xobni when it went into public beta, but reports of slowness and memory hogging kept me away.
The new version is supposed to be much faster, and have less of a memory footprint.
I'm going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it works with my massive email archive (I don't know how to delete).
Monday, March 23
Cheating SCORM
pipwerks.com : Cheating in SCORM:
Philip Hutchison points out that the emperor is, in fact, naked. As many of us know, but prefer not to talk much about, SCORM (both 1.2 and 2004) is, on its own, vulnerable to "exploits" (aka cheating).
Philip explains:
I have long used a bookmarklet to aid my testing, and can complete, pass, score pretty much as I please in most SCORM environments.
In fact, I've often assumed that users would quickly figure out how to hack the system, and I run regular reports to find the cheaters (there are a number of indicators that would identify likely cheaters, the most simple of which is time... if a two hour course is completed in 5 minutes, you've probably got a cheater on your hands).
As the years go by, however, and no cheaters show up in my net, I've come to realize that either the cheaters are way smarter than me, or they simply aren't out there.
So why isn't the SCORM interface being hacked more often?
1) Security through obscurity - while the interface is published, most "average" users have never even heard of SCORM. It would take some effort to grok the standard. Effort that clearly, most users (in my experience) are not willing to make.
2) Fear of repercussions - cheating is one thing, cheating in such a way that you won't be caught is another. As I pointed out earlier, there are a number of ways cheaters can be detected.
3) Most users actually want to learn. In the world of corporate training, while users may grumble, most actually do want to learn the material presented.
and finally,
4) There are easier ways to cheat.
All the above being said, the issue of security in SCORM is something that LETSI and ADL should be working to address.
Philip Hutchison points out that the emperor is, in fact, naked. As many of us know, but prefer not to talk much about, SCORM (both 1.2 and 2004) is, on its own, vulnerable to "exploits" (aka cheating).
Philip explains:
"The fact is, SCORM — the most common communication standard in e-learning — is fairly easy to hack. It uses a public JavaScript-based API that is easy to tap into and feed false data, and because it's a standard, you know exactly what methods and properties are available in the API. It doesn't matter what vendor or product produced the course (Articulate, Adobe, etc.)… if it uses SCORM, it's vulnerable."
I have long used a bookmarklet to aid my testing, and can complete, pass, score pretty much as I please in most SCORM environments.
In fact, I've often assumed that users would quickly figure out how to hack the system, and I run regular reports to find the cheaters (there are a number of indicators that would identify likely cheaters, the most simple of which is time... if a two hour course is completed in 5 minutes, you've probably got a cheater on your hands).
As the years go by, however, and no cheaters show up in my net, I've come to realize that either the cheaters are way smarter than me, or they simply aren't out there.
So why isn't the SCORM interface being hacked more often?
1) Security through obscurity - while the interface is published, most "average" users have never even heard of SCORM. It would take some effort to grok the standard. Effort that clearly, most users (in my experience) are not willing to make.
2) Fear of repercussions - cheating is one thing, cheating in such a way that you won't be caught is another. As I pointed out earlier, there are a number of ways cheaters can be detected.
3) Most users actually want to learn. In the world of corporate training, while users may grumble, most actually do want to learn the material presented.
and finally,
4) There are easier ways to cheat.
All the above being said, the issue of security in SCORM is something that LETSI and ADL should be working to address.
Friday, March 20
animoto - the end of slideshows
animoto - the end of slideshows
Animoto takes a collection of your photos, some music and automagically mashes them up into a "movie trailer" video. 30 second videos are free, longer ones cost a bit ($3/video).
Actually, pretty cool.
(Via e-Learning Acupuncture)
Animoto takes a collection of your photos, some music and automagically mashes them up into a "movie trailer" video. 30 second videos are free, longer ones cost a bit ($3/video).
Actually, pretty cool.
(Via e-Learning Acupuncture)
Storytelling in the Digital Age
We Tell Stories - 'The 21 Steps' by Charles Cumming
UK design company Six to Start won Best in Show at this week's SXSW Web Awards. Their project, "Telling Stories", was a six part experiment with Penguin books.
The project took mainstream authors, gave them classic novels for inspiration, and then twinned them with a design team to come up with new ways to tell stories online.
All of the stories are worth perusing, but my favorite was Charles Cumming's "The 21 Steps", which is told via a Google Maps style interface (satellite view).
UK design company Six to Start won Best in Show at this week's SXSW Web Awards. Their project, "Telling Stories", was a six part experiment with Penguin books.
The project took mainstream authors, gave them classic novels for inspiration, and then twinned them with a design team to come up with new ways to tell stories online.
All of the stories are worth perusing, but my favorite was Charles Cumming's "The 21 Steps", which is told via a Google Maps style interface (satellite view).
Thursday, March 19
SCORM 2.0 and beyond LETSI seminar
SCORM 2.0 and beyond LETSI seminar
Sheila MacNeill has a recap of the recent LETSI webinar on the future of SCORM... or whatever it is that they are working on.
Apparently, contrary to earlier announcements, ADL will be retaining stewardship of SCORM, and will NOT be turning it over to LETSI. Instead LETSI will be focusing on what WAS called SCORM 2.0, but will now have a new name.
So what exactly is LETSI going to be doing?
Sheila explains:
More information available on LETSI's website
Sheila MacNeill has a recap of the recent LETSI webinar on the future of SCORM... or whatever it is that they are working on.
Apparently, contrary to earlier announcements, ADL will be retaining stewardship of SCORM, and will NOT be turning it over to LETSI. Instead LETSI will be focusing on what WAS called SCORM 2.0, but will now have a new name.
So what exactly is LETSI going to be doing?
Sheila explains:
... LETSI is not a standards development body or a trade association. It sees itself rooted within the implementation community. LETSI will work with existing bodies to help shorten adoption lifecycles through filling a gap in the current standards community. Specifically by helping to build communities and developing agile software development processes which should speed up consistency of implementation approaches. LETSI will not build a spec if there is an existing one which is fit for purpose and they are currently reviewing a number of standards as part of the SCORM 2.0 scoping work. LETSI hopes to enable a move towards a more agile, iterative standards development process.
More information available on LETSI's website
Monday, March 16
Forced Navigation - Learning Assembly Line
Learnlets : Monday Broken ID Series: Seriation:
Clark Quinn discusses linear versus self-navigation in the first of a series of "Broken ID" posts.
One of the benefits to self-paced content over class-room, is that the learner can review the content in a way that makes sense to them. By doing this, they can gain some ownership over the material.
Courses that lock a user into a "click next" linear flow, are forcing all learners into the same mold, regardless of their prior experience, acuity, or understanding.
Imagine if you had a text book that only allowed you to turn to the next page, or back to the prior... would that really be the most effective way to utilize that resource for learning?
Yet it's done all the time in self-paced elearning courses.
Clarks states:
Clark Quinn discusses linear versus self-navigation in the first of a series of "Broken ID" posts.
One of the benefits to self-paced content over class-room, is that the learner can review the content in a way that makes sense to them. By doing this, they can gain some ownership over the material.
Courses that lock a user into a "click next" linear flow, are forcing all learners into the same mold, regardless of their prior experience, acuity, or understanding.
Imagine if you had a text book that only allowed you to turn to the next page, or back to the prior... would that really be the most effective way to utilize that resource for learning?
Yet it's done all the time in self-paced elearning courses.
Clarks states:
"The point is, while a good default is a reasonable choice, having some alternative paths might be worth considering, and allowing learner navigation is almost essential. Allowing learners to test out is a good option as well. Don’t lock your learners into a linear experience, unless you’ve really designed it as an experience"
Sunday, March 15
New technology - the threat to our information
New technology - the threat to our information
Norman Lamont informs us all of a threat to corporate communications presented by a piece of new technology. A technology that is becoming increasingly popular ... and potentially dangerous!
Something must be done, before it is too late!
Norman Lamont informs us all of a threat to corporate communications presented by a piece of new technology. A technology that is becoming increasingly popular ... and potentially dangerous!
Something must be done, before it is too late!
Friday, March 13
Google Voice takes over from GrandCentral
Official Google Blog: Here comes Google Voice:
Google announces that they are releasing a preview of Google Voice, "an application that helps you better manage your voice communications".
Based on top of the GrandCentral service that Google acquired in July of 2007, Google Voice will still do what GrandCentral did (a single number to ring your home, work, and mobile phones, a central voicemail inbox that you could access on the web, and the ability to screen calls by listening in live as callers leave a voicemail) but will add googly goodness:
Check out the Features page for a run-down of what's new with Google Voice.
I just started to get interested in the GrandCentral service when it was acquired by Google. Google has kept the service running, but has disallowed new subscribers. With the launch of Google Voice, Google will be allowing new users again... the launch should be in the next few days.
Out of the new features, I'm particularly interested in the voicemail transcribing.
Google announces that they are releasing a preview of Google Voice, "an application that helps you better manage your voice communications".
Based on top of the GrandCentral service that Google acquired in July of 2007, Google Voice will still do what GrandCentral did (a single number to ring your home, work, and mobile phones, a central voicemail inbox that you could access on the web, and the ability to screen calls by listening in live as callers leave a voicemail) but will add googly goodness:
The new application improves the way you use your phone. You can get transcripts of your voicemail (see the video below) and archive and search all of the SMS text messages you send and receive. You can also use the service to make low-priced international calls and easily access Goog-411 directory assistance.
Check out the Features page for a run-down of what's new with Google Voice.
I just started to get interested in the GrandCentral service when it was acquired by Google. Google has kept the service running, but has disallowed new subscribers. With the launch of Google Voice, Google will be allowing new users again... the launch should be in the next few days.
Out of the new features, I'm particularly interested in the voicemail transcribing.
Wednesday, March 11
Convert PowerPoint to SCORM
Eduforge: Convert PowerPoint to SCORM:
William Peterson of Eduforge posts an quick summary of some of the more popular tools for converting PowerPoint to a SCORM package.
Tools covered are:
William Peterson of Eduforge posts an quick summary of some of the more popular tools for converting PowerPoint to a SCORM package.
Tools covered are:
- Wondershare PowerPoint to Flash
- Learning Essentials 2.0
- Pointecast Publisher
- Articulate Presenter
- Adobe Captivate
Creative Commons Zero - Expanding the Public Domain
Expanding the Public Domain: Part Zero - Creative Commons:
I've volunteered with Librivox (whose volunteers read and record books in the public domain and release the resulting audio files back into the publich domain) since its inception a few years ago, so the public domain is near to my heart.
Creative Commons has has been thinking about ways to "help cultivate a vibrant and rich pool of freely available resources accessible to anyone to use for any purpose, unconditionally". One result of this is CCO (a second as-of-yet unidentified tool will be released soon):
I've volunteered with Librivox (whose volunteers read and record books in the public domain and release the resulting audio files back into the publich domain) since its inception a few years ago, so the public domain is near to my heart.
Creative Commons has has been thinking about ways to "help cultivate a vibrant and rich pool of freely available resources accessible to anyone to use for any purpose, unconditionally". One result of this is CCO (a second as-of-yet unidentified tool will be released soon):
"CC0 (read “CC Zero”) is a universal waiver that may be used by anyone wishing to permanently surrender the copyright and database rights they may have in a work, thereby placing it as nearly as possible into the public domain. CC0 is not a license, but a legal tool that improves on the “dedication” function of our existing, U.S.-centric public domain dedication and certification"
Tuesday, March 10
Work on Stuff that Matters: First Principles - Tim O'Reilly
Work on Stuff that Matters: First Principles - O'Reilly Radar:
Tim O'Reilly has been asking people to "work on stuff that matters":
His thoughts are worth reading in their entirety, so check the link above for the full article.
I want to focus, though, on his second point:
"Create more value than you capture"
Organizations and systems that seek to capture more value than they give are doomed to eventual failure.
How does this apply to elearning and training?
I've been around in the industry for over a decade now. I've seen training departments who were more interested in their own bottom line and their perceived importance in the organization than they were about what they actually contributed to the people. They were more interested in controlling information, than they were about growing knowledge. Maybe you've known a department like that? Maybe you're still working in one...
Good organizations need to keep an eye on the bottom line, but their "big goal" needs to be about more than simply making money.
When we are thinking about systems to support "training" (or learning, performance support, skill growth, whatever we want to call it), we should be thinking about creating simple tools and structures that will create value for the user.
The Web itself is a great example of this, as is Twitter: simple structures that give value.
In terms of the development of content, remember that the content is not really the goal.
O'Reilly notes about his own publishing business, that he is never upset to find that others have used his ideas to make themselves wildly successful. Even when he finds that his direct competitors have "stolen" from him to make their businesses better. Because his goal wasn't to control all his ideas:
What's the big goal of your department?
What's the big goal on your current project?
Does it create more value than it captures?
Tim O'Reilly has been asking people to "work on stuff that matters":
"I'm a strong believer in the social value of business done right. We need to build an economy in which the important things are paid for in self-sustaining ways rather than as charities to be funded out of the goodness of our hearts."
His thoughts are worth reading in their entirety, so check the link above for the full article.
I want to focus, though, on his second point:
"Create more value than you capture"
Organizations and systems that seek to capture more value than they give are doomed to eventual failure.
How does this apply to elearning and training?
I've been around in the industry for over a decade now. I've seen training departments who were more interested in their own bottom line and their perceived importance in the organization than they were about what they actually contributed to the people. They were more interested in controlling information, than they were about growing knowledge. Maybe you've known a department like that? Maybe you're still working in one...
Good organizations need to keep an eye on the bottom line, but their "big goal" needs to be about more than simply making money.
When we are thinking about systems to support "training" (or learning, performance support, skill growth, whatever we want to call it), we should be thinking about creating simple tools and structures that will create value for the user.
The Web itself is a great example of this, as is Twitter: simple structures that give value.
In terms of the development of content, remember that the content is not really the goal.
O'Reilly notes about his own publishing business, that he is never upset to find that others have used his ideas to make themselves wildly successful. Even when he finds that his direct competitors have "stolen" from him to make their businesses better. Because his goal wasn't to control all his ideas:
"If my goal is really "changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators," I'm thrilled when my competitors jump on the bandwagon and help me spread the word!"
What's the big goal of your department?
What's the big goal on your current project?
Does it create more value than it captures?
Friday, March 6
Stephen Downes talks about OLDaily and online learning
Xiphos : Stephen Downes talks about OLDaily and online learning:
Project Xiphos has an interview with Stephen Downes.
Stephen is widely accepted as the central authority for online education in the edublogging community. He is also widely accepted as the originator of ELearning 2.0. He was the winner of the Individual Blog award in 2005 for his blog OLDaily.
You can download the interview as a podcast.
Project Xiphos has an interview with Stephen Downes.
Stephen is widely accepted as the central authority for online education in the edublogging community. He is also widely accepted as the originator of ELearning 2.0. He was the winner of the Individual Blog award in 2005 for his blog OLDaily.
You can download the interview as a podcast.
Thursday, March 5
Action Mapping for eLearning Course Design
Design Lively Elearning with Action Mapping
Cathy Moore explains in the Slideshare presentation linked above and embedded below, how her "Action Mapping" concept works.
You can find more info on her website, cathy-moore.com.
I like the basic principle of linking everything to an measurable business goal, and focusing on what people need to do in order to achieve that goal. This turns traditional corporate training development on its head. Here action mapping technique promotes the development of activities that simulate real world scenarios.
I'm not sure I like the graphical treatment, something about it strikes me as inelegant. But the concepts are solid and should improve instructional design if your organization is still stuck in the "information dump" mode.
... plus, you gotta love ninjas.
Cathy Moore explains in the Slideshare presentation linked above and embedded below, how her "Action Mapping" concept works.
You can find more info on her website, cathy-moore.com.
I like the basic principle of linking everything to an measurable business goal, and focusing on what people need to do in order to achieve that goal. This turns traditional corporate training development on its head. Here action mapping technique promotes the development of activities that simulate real world scenarios.
I'm not sure I like the graphical treatment, something about it strikes me as inelegant. But the concepts are solid and should improve instructional design if your organization is still stuck in the "information dump" mode.
... plus, you gotta love ninjas.
Wednesday, March 4
Aren't books dead yet?
E-Learning Curve Blog: What’s on your e-learning bookshelf?
Michael Hanley lists the e-learning books he keeps on his shelf.
It's startling to find someone who actually keeps books -- books about e-learning. To learn about e-learning, we need books? Physical books, made out of dead trees?
It just seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
Couldn't we just have a wiki, and let the collective intelligence of the learning community build the perfect resource?
Do you have any books hiding in your closet?
Michael Hanley lists the e-learning books he keeps on his shelf.
It's startling to find someone who actually keeps books -- books about e-learning. To learn about e-learning, we need books? Physical books, made out of dead trees?
It just seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it?
Couldn't we just have a wiki, and let the collective intelligence of the learning community build the perfect resource?
Do you have any books hiding in your closet?
The Authors Guild's Next Target?
Life Rocks 2.0: Listen to Website Content with Internet Text Speaker
Life Rocks 2.0 points to a freeware application that will read web content aloud:
Given the recent decision by Amazon to cave to the Authors Guild regarding the text-to-speech feature in the Kindle2, I wonder whether applications like this will be next to be attacked by writers and the publishing industry.
After all, this tool is designed to create unlicensed derivative works…
Life Rocks 2.0 points to a freeware application that will read web content aloud:
"Internet Text Speaker is a freeware utility which can speak any selected text from any website. Internet Text Speaker once installed will integrates itself to the Internet Explorer and Firefox context menu i.e. the right click menu. Whenever you want to listen to any text on the website, select the text and then right click and choose Speak Text option."
Given the recent decision by Amazon to cave to the Authors Guild regarding the text-to-speech feature in the Kindle2, I wonder whether applications like this will be next to be attacked by writers and the publishing industry.
After all, this tool is designed to create unlicensed derivative works…
Tuesday, March 3
A Vision of 2019
Microsoft Office Labs vision 2019 (montage video) - istartedsomething
At the Wharton Business Technology Conference, Microsoft’s Business Division president, Stephen Elop, unveiled the latest video production from Microsoft Office Labs called “2019″. This is part of a series called "Envisioning".
You can view the video at the link at the top of this post (both the short "montage" and the full-length piece).
Download Mr. Elop's PowerPoint presentation for more detail on Microsoft's vision.
The visualization of ubiquity is what most interested me. Flexible, unbreakable, transparent displays, "pico projection" (the ability for small handheld devices to project full-size images onto any flat surface), and 3D transparent overlays, will truly introduce the age of computing ubiquity. While now our cellphones, GPS units, and netbooks allow tiny portals into the digital world that walks beside us, future devices will allow an almost seamless integration of digital and physical.
At the Wharton Business Technology Conference, Microsoft’s Business Division president, Stephen Elop, unveiled the latest video production from Microsoft Office Labs called “2019″. This is part of a series called "Envisioning".
You can view the video at the link at the top of this post (both the short "montage" and the full-length piece).
Download Mr. Elop's PowerPoint presentation for more detail on Microsoft's vision.
The visualization of ubiquity is what most interested me. Flexible, unbreakable, transparent displays, "pico projection" (the ability for small handheld devices to project full-size images onto any flat surface), and 3D transparent overlays, will truly introduce the age of computing ubiquity. While now our cellphones, GPS units, and netbooks allow tiny portals into the digital world that walks beside us, future devices will allow an almost seamless integration of digital and physical.
Monday, March 2
Doodling boosts memory?
A Sketchy Brain Booster: Doodling | Wired Science from Wired.com:
Wired examines a study that finds doodling may help students pay attention.
Before we ask all our students to start doodling during lessons, or provide online doodle tools for our elearning content, it should be noted that the study found that doodling helps subjects pay attention during "dull" tasks.
The subjects were asked to memorize a string of random names, with no context.
So doodling may be a mechanism to stop people from tuning out altogether. But there is no evidence to suggest that it enhances learning where the content is engaging and relevant to the learner and provided in context.
Also, like the recent study regarding podcasts, the sample size in this study was rather limited. 40 students were studied, half doodled, while the other half did not.
Wired examines a study that finds doodling may help students pay attention.
"Asked to remember names they'd heard on a recording, people who doodled while listening had better recall than those who didn't. This suggests that a slightly distracting secondary task may actually improve concentration during the performance of dull tasks that would otherwise cause a mind to wander."
Before we ask all our students to start doodling during lessons, or provide online doodle tools for our elearning content, it should be noted that the study found that doodling helps subjects pay attention during "dull" tasks.
The subjects were asked to memorize a string of random names, with no context.
"'People may doodle as a strategy to help themselves concentrate,' said study co-author Jackie Andrade, a University of Plymouth psychologist. 'We might not be aware that we're doing it, but it could be a trick that people develop because it helps them from wandering off into a daydream.'"
So doodling may be a mechanism to stop people from tuning out altogether. But there is no evidence to suggest that it enhances learning where the content is engaging and relevant to the learner and provided in context.
Also, like the recent study regarding podcasts, the sample size in this study was rather limited. 40 students were studied, half doodled, while the other half did not.
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