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Friday, February 26, 2010

Creating a "Story" as the Foundation for Virtual World Learning Events

Good stories shouldn't be relegate to only reading
 a novel on the beach, use them to promote learning!

Storytelling is a powerful instructional tool, stories help learners contextualize information and gives them an experience-base from which they can recall techniques and actions when encountering the same situation at work. With virtual worlds, we can expand the use of storytelling. In a 3D virtual world, the learner is not just observing a story or scenario, the learner becomes a character within the story.

To create an effective story within a virtual world, you need to create the following elements:
  • Characters-This would include the learner or learners. Each learner should assume a role or a position similar to what they would be doing on the job or a trainer assumes a role of a client or a supervisor. Each role should have a brief written explanation so the learners know how they should act within their role.

  • Plot (something happens)-Maybe a salesperson is trying to make a sale or a person violates a safety procedure or they must lead a team to accomplish a goal. Something needs to happen to move the story from point A to point B.

  • Tension-Good stories have tension. Something might go wrong or there is conflict between two of the individuals within the story. The context of the situation will impact the story and cause friction among the characters (learners). Conflict isn't a bad thing in learning, it happens on the job and so it needs to be mimicked in learning situations as well.

  • Resolution-The issue must be resolved. This is where the learning comes in. The tension causes a learner to have to take an action, commit to a behavior and, as the story unfolds, feedback is given to the learner describing if the right or incorrect actions were taken. During the resolution phase, the problem can be resolved satisfactorily or in an unsatisfactory manner. Both of those outcomes provide opportunities for feedback and learning.

  • Conclusion-This is the resolution of the story. The learner then finds out what happened to the other "characters" what they should or could have done and learns rules or guidelines of what to do next.
Adding these elements together in a virtual world learning event creates an effective story for learning. An instructional story can unfold with a character encountering a problem or a situation, the problem builds tension in the story as the character may not know what to do or how to react or, worse, may do the wrong thing. Then a solution is offered in the form of a colleague, a moment of inspiration or an idea (or even reading a policy) and then results are presented in a positive manner.

This simple structure can be used for compliance-based story scenarios or sales-based scenarios or manufacturing based scenarios--really any type of learning.

Stories can help learners understand what they must do to be successful in their work environment. It is as if a wise mentor or co-worker is telling them the best method to deal with a situation at work. This type of information sharing is a common form of communication. One worker tells another a “story” about how to do a job or what to avoid. Learners and employees remember stories more effectively than random lists of policies and procedures.

A well crafted story is focused on helping the learner to solve problems and when it is done in a virtual world, the learner is immersed in the context of the situation and the learning becomes meaningful and memorable. 

Other Storytelling entires:
  Storytelling and Instructional Design
  Tell me a story
  A Unique Perspective on Video Games and Storytelling

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Why an Instructional Design Degree from Bloomsburg University ROCKS our Community!

A while back I wrote an entry called Why an Instructional Design Degree from Bloomsburg University ROCKS! where I discussed all the neat things our students do in the program for the Department of Instructional Technology while earning a Master of Science in Instructional Technology in our program.

As a faculty member and the assistant director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies I am proud of the accomplishments our students have achieved and of the partnerships developed with local organizations, companies and social service groups that I have helped to build over the past 12+ years.

In this entry, I want to talk about what the Department of Instructional Technology and our Institute for Interactive Technologies contributes to the college, our community and the state of Pennsylvania. These accomplishments show that the field of instructional design reaches beyond individuals into the community and touches lives in by helping others learn and understand. It is a great calling.

So, here are some of the things we do to help our students learn the skills needed to be successful in the growing field of instructional design and to help our local community and the state.
  • We have many partnerships with businesses related to science, technology and health. This includes working relationships with major, big-name pharmaceutical firms, smaller pharmaceutical firms, health insurance firms and several hospitals and healthcare facilities. These relationships ensure that our instructional design students are prepared to enter the workforce in the health education field because of their “in-the-field” experience through these partnerships and experience working side-by-side with people in these companies as graduate assistants and interns.

  • Sustained relationships with companies in the field of technology-based learning through our 30 member Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) which meets on campus twice a year to evaluate student performance. The CAC also provides internship opportunities, graduate assistant funding and project work that directly involves students, thus meeting the expressed need of students to integrate their academic learning with real-world experiences. The CAC also provides direct input and feedback for new curriculum directions and innovations.

  • In terms of helping the community, we have applied the knowledge and experience developed at the University to enhance the social well-being of the Pennsylvania citizens through work done with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (10 year relationship), the PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the PA Coalition Against Rape.

  • We also support the local community through the development of no cost training materials for organizations such as our local hospitals and community colleges, local school districts, Boy and Girl Scout organizations and the local police department.

  • On campus we have helped with the education of fellow faculty members on distance learning techniques and methodologies.

  • In terms of supporting local entrepreneurial and small business development, the department and institute has supported Bloomsburg University alumni in the start up and creation of Pennsylvania located companies (viaAcademies, PinPoint Strategies).  As well as provided support for such local (in Bloomsburg) companies as ASP Platform Services,  Touche EDI, Keystone National High School and SusQ-cyber Charter School. Our department and institute is the hub of the learning technologies cluster within the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone (GSKIZ)

  • Support and involvement in the Bloomsburg Regional Technology Center and the - Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone (GSKIZ) by providing resources for web site development, participation in meetings and events and participation in reviewing materials in the annual business plan competition. As well as active participation in grants to fund Technology Transfer efforts and providing interns and expertise as needed.

  • Contributions to Pennsylvania’s Community and Economic Development initiatives through projects with local companies (or local branches of national companies) such as Kellogg’s, Kawneer, PPL and DelMonte in support of Bloomsburg University's office of Corporate and Continuing Education through DCED grants and associated funding. The efforts have helped to up-skill workers and retained local jobs.
When you consider enrolling in an instructional design program, consider its impact not only on you as a student but on the community in which it resides. Active programs develop strong, intelligent, flexible instructional designers who can "hit the ground running" when they graduate and continue to contribute to their company, organization, community and state.

To learn more about the program go HERE!
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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Training Magazine Closes and Now, it appears, So Do the Conferences

Just got this in an email:

Regrettably, we have some unfortunate news to share with you: The Nielsen Company has made the decision to cease operation of Training magazine and Training magazine Events effective February 26. This will also be our last day with the company.

For those of you scheduled to present at our upcoming Training Leadership Summit, we hope that a buyer will step in to continue the brand and that the Summit will go on as planned. You will be notified as soon as we have word.

It has been a privilege working with you and we wish you continued success. Leah and I have worked on this brand for a combined 41 years and many of you have been like family to us. We’d like to leave you with a line from the final episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show…"I just wanted you to know that sometimes I get concerned about being a career woman. I get to thinking my job is too important to me, and I tell myself that the people I work with are just the people I work with. And not my family. And last night, I thought, 'what is a family, anyway?' They're just people who make you feel less alone...and really loved. And that's what you've done for me. Thank you for being my family.”

Julie Groshens
Conference Program Director
The Nielsen Company

Leah Nelson
Senior Conference Program Manager
The Nielsen Company

And I would just like to say "THANK YOU" to Leah and Julie who were a pleasure to work with, professional and committed individuals!
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Interview with Cammy Bean at Kineo

As part of the extended Blog Book Tour, Cammy Bean of Learning Visions and I had a discussion about learning in 3D, its impact on instructional designers and how organizations can get started. Check out the interview called Karl Kapp on Learning in 3D. Cammy has great audio in the interview but mine is a little scratch (sorry about that).

Anyway, it was a lot of fun so check it out.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Second Life Making an Announcement Tomorrow (actually today)?

Here is a little email intercept I received from an unnamed source (ok, it's from Snickers' Doodles in her post Linden Lab to announce Viewer 2 beta tomorrow which she received in-world from Pink Linden.

Hello SL Merchants:

We wanted to give you an early heads-up on a big piece of news because we greatly value our relationship with you and this community. Tomorrow, at SL Pro! (http://www.nmc.org/2010-slpro) Tom Hale, our Chief Product Officer will announce the availability of the next generation of Second Life viewers—Viewer 2 Beta. It combines an easy browser-like experience with shared media capabilities--giving all Second Life Residents a new option to choose from among Viewer 1.23 and other approved third-party viewers. We are also going to announce Second Life Shared Media(tm), a standard capability in Viewer 2, that makes sharing standard Web-based media and content in Second Life easy, and enables content creators to place Web pages, video, Flash content, and other web media, on any surface in Second Life.

So, keep your eyes peeled to the Second Life Blog (http://blogs.secondlife.com) and once the news is out—go download the software and let us know what you think in the Viewer 2 Forums. And, if you Twitter, then use the #SLViewer2 hash tag.

Looking forward to a very exciting day tomorrow!

Pink

So tomorrow, you can download the viewer. Interesting in that I think this makes the viewer similar to business-focused virtual worlds which allow for the placing of documents (spreadsheets, MS Word documents, etc) on a surface so that groups of employees can collaborate around a specific media asset. I am assuming that since one can place a web page on any surface, placing a MS Word Document or spreadsheet is as simple (I'll need to check that out.)
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Learning Circuits 3D Article

As part of the blog book tour, Tony and Karl wrote an article for ASTD Learning Circuits called Lessons Learned from Conducting 3D Virtual World Learning Experiences

Here are some of those lessons, go to the article to see more detail and the "missing" lessons.

Lesson 1: Solve a real business need with the implementation of the virtual immersive environment.

Lesson 3: Allow learners time alone with their avatar.

Lesson 5: Don’t approach design with a set of preconceived notions.

Lesson 8: Don’t underestimate the technical challenges associated with getting 3D virtual immersive environment software functional within an organization.

Lesson 11: Logistics should be managed very tightly with a tendency towards over communication

What lessons have you learned implementing a 3D virtual immersive environment for learning?
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Monday, February 22, 2010

Blog Book Tour Recap Week Six::Impressive

This week, the final week of the blog book tour, we had some impressive comments and thoughts about the book and the meaning of 3D in terms of learning and development. Here is a recap of the great posts for this week.

Recap of Blog Stops

Day Twenty-Six Chris Brannigan at Thinking Worlds blog wrote a post titled Learning in 3D - walking the walk #lrn3d. In the post Chris states that the book is in shifting the discourse forward from the ‘what is 3D’ to the ‘why, ‘when’ and ‘how’ to use it. This is what we want to accomplish and we are excited to that the theme is resonating.

Day Twenty-Seven Brian Miller at his blog Cognitive Technologies reviewed the book in this post Book Review: “Learning in 3D”, Kapp & O’Driscoll, 2010 and he commented on some content that he thought could enhance the book especially in the area of where we discuss an equation that states that when interactivity and immersion are multiplied they result in engagement in motivation. Brian is advocating for the addition of Relevance and Challenge which I have to agree enhance the equation. Brian has since written another interesting post related to 3D worlds titled Systems Thinking and Simulations: Part II

Day Twenty-Eight Roland Legrand at Mixed Realities penned a post Learning in 3D: a book as a tool to change enterprise learning – and the corporation itself discusses the changes that are occurring in business and how that change must be reflected in our learning systems.

Day Twenty-Nine 02/18/10 Robyn DeFelice of DishingDesign wrote a post Hosted Event: Learning in 3D Blog Book Tour. In her post she discusses elements of instructional design that relate to 3D worlds and potential areas of research.

Day Thirty Special guest Jay Cross added an entry Learning on the Holodeck. Jay adds that Learning is social, and I think this has something to do with the power of watching your avatar experience something as opposed to simply imagining it in your mind.

Facebook

During this week, the Learning in 3D Facebook page passed 300.

Look for a more extensive wrap up in the near future, a few more Learning in 3D surprise posts and some stats from the tour itself. Also, thanks to everyone who participated, joined Facebook page, lurked, wrote and purchased the book!!!
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Friday, February 19, 2010

It's Happening in the Learning Industry: Training Magazine and Web Site Shutting Down

Apparently, it is not just the newspaper business that is in trouble, the trade publication magazine business isn't so hot either. Training Magazine and the associated web site are being moth balled at the end of March.

As a sometimes contributor to the TrainingDay blog, it is will be sad to see it closed as well.

Here is an excerpt from Nielsen shuts down 'Training'

Nielsen Business Media told employees Tuesday that it is shutting down Training magazine and its companion Web site, trainingmag.com, according to a Nielsen Co. spokesperson.

The March issue will be the publication's last. The move includes the elimination of 11 positions, the spokesperson said

What does this mean for the learning and development industry? I don't think it will mean a whole lot as much of the monies and advertising dollars in the past few years have gone toward technology focused trade publications in our industry. Tech always seems to have money for advertising.

One of the items that led to lower trade publication subscription rates is that a lot of information that use to be found only in the trade publication can now be found all over the Internet with no cost to the person who needs to learn the information or become part of a community of practice.

Learning communities around topics traditionally covered in trade publications are readily available and, because it is a community, more content is available.

Case in point, a source has told me that the Training Magazine Network with over 12,000 members will continue into the future.


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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Learning in 3D Week 6 Stops for "Learning in 3D" Blog Book Tour

Here we are for week six, the final week of the blog book tour. The tour has been such a wonderful experience with many great comments and enlightening discussions about the book. So here are the final "official" stops.

We have a couple more surprises in store this week so stay tuned.

Week Six

Day Twenty-Six 02/15/10 Chris Brannigan at Thinking Worlds blog.

Day Twenty-Seven 02/16/10 Brian Miller at his blog Cognitive Technologies.

Day Twenty-Eight 02/17/10 Roland Legrand at Mixed Realities.

Day Twenty-Nine 02/18/10 Robyn DeFelice of DishingDesign.

Day Thirty 02/19/10 Randy Hinrichs Reflections on Virtual Worlds.

***With special guest blog this week by Jay Cross.

And don't forget to become a fan, we only need a few more to reach 200. Thanks in advance for your support!!!

Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collabora

Become a Fan Today!


Here is a tiny URL for this post http://tinyurl.com/3dweeksix
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Saturday, February 13, 2010

April Speaking Engagement

In April, I will be appearing on a panel with a couple of blogging pros to talk about learning with New Media. Below is all the marketing information with links for registering.

Learn & Know 2010

Is Twitter or, even, the iPad a viable learning technology? What's real, what's buzz?

Register today for our 5th annual users conference – "Learn & Know 2010," and you'll see the elearning industry's top bloggers break through the buzz and sift fact from fad when it comes to learning technology. If you've registered for our conference, this is your chance to sign up a colleague for "Learn & Know 2010," which runs from April 20 – 21, 2010, at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Va.

Our Buzz-Breaker panel of elearning pros will give you their best insights about what defines learning technology, and what it's really capable of. Don't miss this one-hour session packed with viewpoints and sage advice that'll make you a learning technology buzz-breaker, too.

Who are the Buzz Breakers?
Susan Smith
Susan Smith Nash blogs for the "E-learning Queen" as well as elearners.com. Her most recent books include "Moodle 1.9 Teaching Techniques" and the "E-Learner Survival Guide."

Karl Kapp Karl Kapp is a professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University; you'll find his musings at the elearning blog "Kapp Notes." He's co-author of the newly released book "Learning in 3D," and the widely popular book "Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning."

Mark Bower Bower blogs at "Learning Leaders Forum." Mark has over 20 years of experience as a learning management executive and consultant for companies like IBM.  He writes about learning and performance management solutions when he's not solving his clients' workforce challenges.


Butch LumpkinAlong with the Buzz Breakers, you'll see our keynote speaker James "Butch" Lumpkin.  Butch is an expert at turning nothing into something.  Born without arms, Butch learned to play golf at nearly par and achieve notoriety as a tennis instructor!  His accomplishments were showcased on the Golf Channel, and he'll show us his secret for learning the impossible.  Watch Butch on the Golf Channel here:http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/meet-butch-lumpkin-9477/?ref=26000
Along with Butch and the "Buzz Breakers," you'll also get: 
  • An in-depth, first-look at the latest technology behind Meridian Global LMS.
  • A tour of the latest editions to the Meridian Virtual Library (over 15,000 titles!). 
  • Customer case studies presented by your peers.  Our customers will highlight how they have creatively solved top training and business challenges during the past year.
To attend this year's users conference, please visit http://www.meridianksi.com/registration/, or email Rhonda Penders, Meridian Marketing Associate, at rpenders@meridianksi.com.  You'll find the conference agenda at: http://www.meridianksi.com/registration/agenda.asp


Blog Book Tour Recap Week Five: Immersive

Week five was a busy week with a webinar about Learning in 3D sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and guest appearance on the popular and innovative Metanomics in-world TV show. The tour had great stops this week as well as a couple more "misses" but it is still a lot of fun and seems to be picking up steam as the tour moves forward. Here is a quick recap of this week's activities--starting with the live events.

The first live stop this week was with Dan Bliton and Charles Gluck of Booz Allen Hamilton who had Tony and Karl to present a webinar entitled "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds." The presentation was attended by over 100 people (not too bad in the middle of Snowmageddon).

You can see some screen captures of the presentation at Images from Resources for "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds" Webinar and you can get the slides and a list of resources related to the presentation at Images from "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds" Webinar. The recording of the entire webinar will be made available shortly and I'll post it so you can check out the webinar.

Tony and Karl talk about "Learning in 3D"
The second live stop this week was at Metanomics where Tony and I appeared to discuss the book.

An image of our discussion is below and you can see some photographs I took at Metanomics Presentation Photographs. To see a recording of the show go to archive for Learning in 3D--Immersive Environments in Training and Education.

Recap of Blog Stops

Day Twenty-One John Rice at the Educational Games Research blog wrote a post titled New 3D Learning Book by Karl Kapp. Make sure you check out the post and the comments, he generated a great discussion about technology in schools.

Day Twenty-Two This was the stop at Booz Allen Hamilton discussed above.

Day Twenty-Three Connie Malamed at the The eLearning Coach and the stop at Metanomics. At The eLearning Coach, Connie wrote a post titled Your Brain on 3D. The post described how thinking about 3D has rewired her brain and then gave some pointed examples of affordances of 3D. Check it out, it is a great read and check out the rest of her site, some great stuff.

Day Twenty-Four This stop was missed.

Day Twenty-Five This stop was a book review of Learning in 3D and will be available in the near future.

Recap of all the tour stops so far:
Blog Book Tour Recap Week One: Awesome!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Two: Fabulous!!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Three: hectic
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Four: Interesting

The Book Behind the Tour


Become a fan on Facebook of the book!!

And follow the tour on Twitter at #lrn3d

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Skillsoft Goes Private

SkillSoft (Nasdaq: SKIL) a provider of e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses with a huge catalog of "off-the-shelf" courses in a variety of subjects from IT to business skills announced today that it will no longer be publicly held.

In an announcement today, Skillsoft stated that a group of independent investors (investment firms) including Berkshire Partners LLC, Advent International Corporation and Bain Capital Partners, LLC will take Skillsoft private.

Under the terms of the acquisition, SkillSoft shareholders will receive $10.80 in cash for each SkillSoft ordinary share or American Depositary Share ("ADS"), representing a 26% premium to the average closing price of SkillSoft's ADS over the one-year period ended on February 11, 2010 and a 49% premium to the average closing price of SkillSoft's ADS over the five-year period ended on February 11, 2010. The fully diluted equity value of the transaction is approximately $1.1 billion.

This is a huge, apparently friendly, takeover of Skillsoft and a shift from a publicly held company to a privately held company.

What does this mean for Skillsoft customers? Apparently the investment team will keep the current Skillsoft team in place and they haven't formally announced any plans but I think the key question will be how much equity will the new owners invest in maintaining and updating Skillsoft courses? As content and styles age and progress, subscription based models require the company to continually invest and innovate.

Time will tell in terms of the investors intentions for Skillsoft.

Read more at the Skillsoft press release on the topic.

As stated in the DailyFinance

Through...dealmaking, SkillSoft now has a platform that includes more than 30,000 education titles in 19 languages and a sophisticated learning management system. Its focus is on corporate topics, like Six Sigma, project management and IT skills.

SkillSoft also has a salesforce of more than 240 and over 3,000 customers, of which 55% are in the Fortune 500 and 24% from the Global 2000.

The problem? The recession has been grueling. As unemployment ballooned, the need for employee education has deteriorated. At the same time, customers needed to find ways to cut back on costs.

Even so, SkillSoft has been able to generate strong cash flows. It helps that the company has lots of scale and a large base of customers that continue to buy software.

Take a look at SkillSoft's latest quarterly report. While revenues declined 3% to $80.4 million, net income was $19.6 million, or $0.21 per share, up from $12 million or $0.12 per share in the same period a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $32.1 million. No doubt, it certainly helps that the company has gross margins at a juicy 91%.

See the article Private Equity Firm Taking SkillSoft Private for more details.

The deal is valued at about $1.1 billion dollars. According to the Wall Street Journal:

The trio of private-equity buyers are all headquartered in Boston. Though smaller in scale, the deal still ranks as the second-largest going-private transaction since the beginning of 2009, ranking behind the $4 billion takeover of IMS Health Inc. led by buyout shop TPG Inc

In November, SkillSoft posted higher-than-expected results in its fiscal third quarter amid higher margins and boosted its outlook for the year. The company cut jobs and costs last year as customers trimmed the size of contracts because of the recession.

Still, the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services put SkillSoft's ratings—already at junk level—on its watch list, saying a downgrade was highly likely because the deal would significantly weaken the company's credit metrics.

See the entire Wall Street Journal article here. It seems that e-learning firms are struggling in the economy even though they hold a great deal of potential.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Metanomics Presentation Photographs

Today, Tony and Karl gave an interview as part of the Learning in 3D Blog book tour at Metanomics

Tony has spoken with the group several times. It was a lively presentation with great audience participation and interaction. Many good points and research mentioned by attendees and lively chat discussion. Here are some images from the presenter's perspective.

Had to find just the right shirt
 to wear (settled on the famous blue one)
and I was told I needed shoes (insurance reasons).

Now, all dressed and waiting for the event to start.

Audience slowly begins to arrive.

Lots of avatars in attendance for discussion.

A bird's eye view of the show.

Robert (aka Beyers Sellers) asks 
Tony and Karl about learning archetypes.

Beyers giving a thoughtful wrap up of the discussion.

All in all a great stop on the tour with engaging discussion and thoughtful questions.
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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Images from Resources for "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds" Webinar

Just got done with a great webinar with BAH, great audience members who had plenty of questions, insights, ideas and comments that really added to the rich discussion. Very engaged and "on top of it" group of people. Here are a couple of pics from the presentation.

Introducing the Webinar.

Special thanks for Chuck and Dan for all their help!
Showing a case study from the book.

Here is a link to Resources for the presentation.

Also, check out Twitter conversation with hashtags #lrn3d and #lrm3d for great tweets!

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Resources for "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds" Webinar

Dan Bliton of Booz Allen Hamilton asked Tony and Karl to present a webinar entitled "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds." The presentation promises to be a lot of fun. Here are the supporting resources.

Slides
Here are the slides from the presentation.

Resources:
Alternatives to Second Life

A Few More Alternatives to Second Life

Applying ADDIE to 3D Worlds

Questions about Second Life

Virtual Worlds Worth Billions in the New Year

Save Yourself Time and Money--Before Implementing a Virtual World, Do an Analysis

Recent Second Life Happenings: Going Corporate

Resources for Researching Virtual Worlds

Examples of Using Virtual 3D Spaces for Learning

Video discussing the Seven Sensibilities of 3D Virtual Immersive Environments


Video comparing 2D and 3D environments for learning.


Web site for the book Learning in 3D.

If you would like to purchase the book, you can receive a 20% discount directly from the publisher. Go to the publisher's web site for Learning in 3D and then go to the Shopping Cart and type in the code L3D1.

You can read Chapter One of the book to get a sense of what the book is about.

Become a fan on Learning in 3D's Facebook Page.

If you'd like to check out the 3D learning archetypes for yourself, go to Download a Trial Version of ProtonSphere and, once inside, go to the menu item on the top bar on the window called Locations and then select Learning Archetypes and you will be transported to a space where you can check out the learning archetypes in the book. It is a great opportunity to you to check out a "corporate" virtual world and to try out some of the learning archetypes first hand. Take some time and go visit, it is well worth the trip.

Book





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Sunday, February 07, 2010

Learning in 3D Week 5 Stops for Blog Book Tour and Webinars

Here are the great stops for week 5 of the blog book tour.

Also, follow the tour on Twitter with hashtag #lrn3d. And, join us on Facebook at the Learning in 3D page. We are trying to hit 200 fans by the end of the week. Can you help? Invite your colleagues, friends and relatives to become a fan.

Also, if you like, stop by our Amazon web page and leave a review.

Tour Stops

Day Twenty-One 02/08/10 John Rice at the Educational Games Research blog.

Day Twenty-Two 02/09/10 (actually, this stop with Dan Bliton is with Booz Allen and Hamilton (see below). It is a sold out event, however, it will be made available as a link in the next recap and portions of the audio will be converted into a podcast and that link will be available in the future as well.

Day Twenty-Three 02/10/10 Connie Malamed at the The eLearning Coach

Day Twenty-Four 02/11/10 Mark Oehlert at e-Clippings (Learning as Art).

Day Twenty-Five 02/12/10 eLearn Magazine will have a review of the book.

Live Web Stops

Tuesday
SOLD OUT
Tony and Karl are presenting free webinar called Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds courtesy of Booz Allen Hamilton. Unfortunately all 290 slots are taken.

Wednesday

Tony and Karl are appearing at Metanomics with Metanomics host Robert Bloomfield who will interview Tony O’Driscoll and Karl Kapp on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 12 p.m. PST. The interview will discuss learning, training and education in 3D environment

See you around the web!
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Saturday, February 06, 2010

Blog Book Tour Recap Week Four: Interesting

Week four was a busy week with an interesting development in the virtual world space. The biggest news was that Forterra Systems assets and intellectual property was sold to SAIC and about a dozen Forterra employees will be joining SAIC.

In the book tour we had some interesting stops but a few stops were missed as well.

Day Sixteen Gordon Snyder's at Information & Communications Technology Blog brought in the interesting idea of Cyberbullies in a virtual world and the impact they can have and did have on a young girl and the tragic results. It was a moving post.

Day Seventeen Over at Koreen Olbrich's Learning in Tandem she discussed her interesting and, as she calls it, "fanatical rantings" about about the future of virtual worlds and how those view fit into the context of the book in her post Why You Should Be Learning in 3D.

Day Eighteen Bart Pursel at Virtual Learning Worlds wrote an indepth post describing three area of virtual worlds: User Interfaces, Informal Learning and Characters.

Day Nineteen Clive Shepherd at Clive on Learning wrote a post a little early since he was leaving for a little vacation in the Canary Islands. His post is called Learning in 3D: a stop on the world blog book tour.

Day Twenty We didn't have a post on Day 20. Unfortunately, Tom Werner who has a Brandon Hall Research blog wasn't able to post this week but hopefully we'll see a post from Tom in the near future. Also, Course Director Daniel M. Siegel of Full Sail University will be posting in the future at his blog Captivation in Education.

Recaps:
Blog Book Tour Recap Week One: Awesome!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Two: Fabulous!!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Three: hectic

Accolades
This week Kapp Notes was named as one of the Top 50 Global Education Blogs by Sir Learnalot, I am sure the blog book tour played some part in that recognition. Thanks Sir Learnalot!

The Book Behind the Tour

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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Virtual World Vendor Forterra Systems Purchased by SAIC.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called Not a Good Week for the Virtual Worlds Space where I reported, based on other reports, that Forterra Systems had laid off some of its workforce. It now looks like the large consultancy firm SAIC has purchased Forterra and is going to leverage the 3D capabilities as part of its offerings. I think this sends a signal to both large consultancy firms that they also better get onto the virtual immersive environment opportunity

Here is the press release:


FORTERRA SYSTEMS ACQUIRED BY SAIC

Forterra Systems is pleased to announce that effective today, all assets of the company have been acquired by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). SAIC is a FORTUNE 500® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, health, and select commercial markets.

The company is headquartered in McLean, VA, has approximately 45,000 employees and annual revenues of $10.1 billion for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2009. Forterra personnel and the OLIVE product line will be absorbed into SAIC's Analysis, Simulations, Systems Engineering and Training (ASSET) Business Unit based in Orlando, FL.

SAIC has been following the opportunity presented by the growth in virtual world technologies to support collaboration and training/learning and saw the acquisition of Forterra as an aggressive way to enter the market. They felt Forterra had by far the best technology and business model to match key customer requirements and that Forterra was addressing synergistic markets. SAIC fully intends to continue development and the commercial sale of the OLIVE platform to all interested parties – both in the public sector and in commercial, enterprise markets. “We look forward to working with current and future OLIVE license holders to support and extend the platform,” said Bev Seay, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. “We see virtual worlds as the direction of the future in modeling and simulation – emphasis on interpersonal interaction and collaboration enables us to take our products in new directions, and to new markets.”

We see SAIC as the type of strategic partner that will enable us to continue shaping the virtual world marketplace and the OLIVE product line. With a complementary customer base and access to opportunities by virtue of its size and relationships, SAIC provides an opportunity for us to support existing customers as well as to work with new ones in new markets. Having the financial stability afforded by a large company puts us in a strong position to continue offering world class solutions for all our customers. Where we’re sure to expect some organizational bumps in the road typical of any acquisition, we’re sure the end result will position us strongly for the future.

This will be interesting for both Virtual World Vendors and Consulting firms.
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Monday, February 01, 2010

Learning in 3D Week 4 Stops for Blog Book Tour

Here are the great stops for week 4 of the blog book tour.

Also, follow the tour on Twitter with hashtag #lrn3d. And, join us on Facebook at the Learning in 3D page.

Tour Stops

Day Sixteen 02/01/10 Gordon Snyder's blog Information & Communications Technology Blog

Day Seventeen 02/02/10 Koreen Olbrich's Learning in Tandem

Day Eighteen 02/03/10 Bart Pursel at Virtual Learning Worlds.

Day Nineteen 02/04/10 Clive Shepherd(already posted due to a vacation) Learning in 3D: a stop on the world blog book tour

Day Twenty 02/05/10 Tom Werner who has a Brandon Hall Research blog.

***With special guest blog this week by Course Director Daniel M. Siegel of Full Sail University at his blog Captivation in Education

Webinar
Also, on Feb 9th, a free webinar called Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds will be presented by Tony and I courtesy of Booz Allen Hamilton. They invite book tour followers to attend the complimentary Webinar.

Join us on Tuesday, February 9th to learn:
  • Value of Social Learning for your organization
  • The impact of Virtual Immersive Environments
  • 3D Learning Experience Design Principles and Sensibilities
Tony and I will cover key concepts from our new book and explain the impact that 3D environments, virtual worlds, and immersive learning spaces will have on society, business, and learning. Specifically, we will discuss practical, research-based recommendations and techniques for integrating existing training and business into productive 3D virtual work environments. The 45 minute session includes a presentation by the authors and conversation with the hosts, followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers with the audience. 

The event is Tuesday, February 9, 2010 12:30 to 1:30 pm ET
Register HERE!

Recap In case you missed the first three weeks, here is a recap.
Blog Book Tour Recap Week One: Awesome!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Two: Fabulous!!
Blog Book Tour Recap Week Three: hectic


  Books
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