Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Interface Be Gone

Interfaces, or the lack of interfaces seems to be a theme lately. I thought the posting, What Interface? provided a provocative glimpse into the future but...it was nothing compared to the concept of a helmet that reads your thoughts and then controls images on the screen to help you play video games without a controller. No joystick or controller, just put the helmut on your head and begin playing...with your mind.

Emotiv System, Inc., a company with offices in San Fransisco, CA and Sydney, Australia plans to utilize electroencephalography (EEG) technology to release a helmet containing electrodes that read brain signals. The technology will distinguish between patterns of brain activity in order to correspond with specific commands in video games. Commands are currently limited to a predetermined set of actions, but players can teach the sofware by associating repetitive thought patterns to individual commands.

Think of it, no need for even a Wii controller, simply think "jump" and your character jumps...visualize swinging a bat and you hit a home run. Think the word "Enter" or "Submit" and your information is entered into the database. You can now control software with your mind (instead of software controlling you.)

Read Project Epoc Brings Mind Control to Games to learn more or see the photos at Cnet news.

This takes user interfaces to a whole new level.

Thanks to my student Brian Seely for pointing this out when he did his Wall Street Journal Review assignment for class.
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Design: Bullets Be Gone

This week over at at TrainingDay, the post is about how to rethink the traditional use of bulleted lists in PowerPoint and other similar programs. The post discusses a few ways to avoid the use of traditional and boring bulleted lists.
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Design: Are You Designing Elementary Instruction?

Somehow I end up watching the show “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” Amusing show focusing on information to be memorized. The type of stuff presented in most corporate training programs (This is our policy on customer wait time. Here are the three features of product x.ARM means Adjustable Rate Mortage.)

The game on TV is being played by a blonde, energetic real estate agent named Avis. She is doing well but does get some assists from the fifth graders in her “class.”

Then she runs out of assists and the next to the last question is asked, “How many months of the year have 31 days.” It is a 2nd grade measurement question worth $300,000. She says she knows the answer because of “that rhyme.” If she gets the answer wrong, she wins nothing. If she is right, she wins $300,000 and a shot at the million dollar prize.

Jeff Foxworthy looks at her and sarcastically says, “So you are betting $300,000 on a rhyme you learned over 25 years ago in elementary school?”

“Yes,” Avis responds and after a long pause... “The answer is seven.” She is right and wins $300,000.

I challenge you to name one piece of information you learned in a corporate training program over 25 years ago which you would be willing to bet $300,000 that you can still recall in a stressful situation.

My guess is that you can’t name one. Yet, the use of a simple rhyme helped Avis encode information that she was able to recall, under stress over 25 years later. Remarkable.

Think of the training and e-learning programs you are developing today, any chance they will be remembered 25 years from now? Why not?

Perhaps you should consider putting some rhymes or songs in your instruction…or perhaps you think that's too elementary.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: What Interface?

This video comes courtesy of Mike Qaissaunee's blog Frequently Asked Q. It really provides an excellent glimpse into the future of computer/user interfaces. When the interface is this simple and intuitive...what will happen to software training courses?

I've always said that one of the reasons instructional designers have a job is because programmers create such HORRIBLE user interfaces that employees need training just to figure out what is going on. However, if Jeff Han's work takes off...no more horrible interfaces.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: You Go Girl

Over at Learning Visions, Cammy Bean posted an entry titled Games for Girls… there she discusses the fact that it seems that girls aren’t really gamers. I encounter that thought a great deal when I talk to groups about the gamers and how they like to learn.

So much so that I carefully researched and wrote a piece about female gamers for my upcoming book Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning that specifically addresses that issue. Here is an excerpt:

Unfortunately, female involvement in video games tends to go unnoticed—even among themselves. As Kirsten Kearney, a video game industry journalist puts it, “I started off playing Pong 25 years ago, then I had a GameBoy and played SuperMario. There are plenty of girls who did this but when you ask if they are gamers they say no," Nikki Douglas, founder of www.grrlgamer.com, a site dedicated to girl gamers adds, “We know that women do play games…we have played hundreds upon hundreds of [video] games.”

While not being as visible as their male counterparts, females are no strangers to the video game world. Seventy percent of the players of the social interaction game, The Sims, are women under 25. The computer game that held the number one position in the Children’s PC chart from May 2004 until July 2006 was designed specifically for girls age six to eleven. In that popular game, Princess Fashion Boutique, a player chooses her favorite fairytale princess and dresses the princess in a variety of outfits mixing and matching colors and textures until everything is just right.

A game that has been a hit with older females is Nintendo’s Nintendogs. This game allows players to “pick out a puppy, name it and then watch it interact with other dogs." Forty-two percent of Nintendogs purchasers are women, with over 700,000 copies of the game sold over the first two months in Japan. When the game hit the United States, it sold 250,000 copies the first week and sold out of two major computer game store chains within a month.

Increasingly, females are playing first person shooter games as well. In fact, there are several female-only game tournaments started by women for women. Web sites such as www.womengamers.com, www.ladygamers.com,and www.grrlgamer.com have sprung up to eliminate the stereotype of girls not playing video games.

Females are active participants in video games; they are learning the same traits, concepts and behaviors as their male counterparts when it comes to the influence of video games. While females tend to gravitate toward different types of games, the lessons learned; problem-solving, the benefits of exploration, the advantages of multiple attempts are all the same. When discussing the traits of gamers, the traits cut across genders because young girls play video games and are growing up in a culture influenced by those games.

So, we as designers of educational or training games for learning need to remember that females like video games as much as males, they just tend to like different game play and different content. When designing instructional games, we need to keep this in mind and overcome the large mis-perception about females and video games.__

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Build Dangerous 3D Environments

One effective method of using 3D worlds like Second Life, Active Worlds, ProtoSphere and others for education is to build environments and 3D models for the students to learn about places they could not otherwise visit or inhabit. Build a dangerous or deadly environment and let them freely explore to learn in a realistic manner just how dangerous the particular environment can be.

Build naturally inhospitable locations like the Antarctica or Death Valley or many made structures like the topic of high tension wires or oil refineries or a metal forge or chemicals plant. These virtual tours can provide some type of insight into the environments in which students may consider working.

Create 3D buildings that are not build safely or correctly and then ask student pre-architects to identify unsafe or poorly created 3D spaces.

Create a mock airport terminal and let the employees identify suspicious people and items.

On a less dangerous note, create a room with a horrible décor, then let interior decorators conduct a “walk through” and make suggestions for improving the space.

Or have them design a create space using just the elements in the room. Or have would-be designers create unique buildings, cars or even products virtually. Have a clothing designer create a line of fashion and have him or her conduct a fashion show with avatars serving as models.

Here is an article titled 3D Online Learning Environments for Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security Training that explains more on the topic.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learning in 3D

My post this week at the TrainingDay blog is a little late since I was stuck (and still am) in San Diego since the East Coast got the huge storm which shut down teh airport I was to fly into.

As I play with 3D worlds more and more I think that they are going to be standard software in organizations in 5-7 years. One that breaking some ground is ProtoSphere. Read my post Social Learning in 3D to learn more.
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Out and About: The Changing Face of Learning

Today I am in San Diego, CA speaking to an enthusastic group of clients of Eduneering. We are discussing how the gamer generation is beginning to influence learning and knowledge management and how changes need to be made to training programs to properly transfer knowledge from the boomers to the gamers.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Fun with Learning

I've been a fan of Jellyvision's You Don't Know Jack for a while, my first CD of the game had the following system requirements:

• 486SX/33 or better microprocessor
  
• Windows 3.1x or Windows 95
  
• 8MB of RAM
  
• 15 MB of Free Hard Disk Space
  
• 2X CD-ROM drive
  
• Video display capable of at least 640x480 resolution with 256 colors
  
• Sound Blaster 16 or compatible multimedia sound card

In fact, I remember playing You Don't Know Jack online in 1997 (in my office at school) complete with commercial breaks right in the middle of each game. It was low graphics but high entertainment.

So the other day my youngest son and I go on the Jellyvision site to check it out. We go to the iCi showroom and play the CompassLearning games.

Wow! Every topic my 9 year old says..."hey we are learning that in school." "Alright, I know this." "This is fun!"


Now my two boys are put through a lot of "educational games" a hazard of being children of a mad learning scientist. Many they like, some they think are horrible and a few they love. The educational stuff by Jellyvision is in the "love" category.

The secret to Jellyvision is...sound.

Jellyvison products lead with sound and voice. Really, there is nothing as "one-on-one" as a conversation. A discussion with a friend, speaking with a colleague, getting advice from a mentor. The iCi interface captures this. In most e-learning, sound and voice overs are an after thought. Not with the iCi interface.

Sound can be a powerful tool for learning. The reason podcasting is so powerful and can be an effective tool for learning is that a mentor or a colleague can speak directly to you as you listen to the podcast. You can learn so much by listening to the tone, pacing and pitch of a person's voice.

The power of voice must be placed into e-learning. We need to maximize the sense of hearing to impact the learners. It is one tool that can lead to humor, emotion and a sense of fun and with high levels of retention.

Next time you sit down to author an e-learning course. Start with the audio script. Everything else should simply follow.
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School House Rock, School of Rock

Remember School House Rock? It was a fun, interesting way to learn the boring aspects of conjunctions, how a bill becomes a law and multiplication tables (remember 3 is a magic number.)

This type of knowledge is known in academic circles as declarative and conceptual knowledge. Information that must be memorized as well as concepts to be understood…like what is a bill (listen to song). The powerful thing about School House Rock is the impact it had on my memory (and others). I can still sing “conjunction, conjunction…what’s your function? Hook’n up phrases…”

Interestingly, I find few memories of learning anything in a formal classroom setting that even comes close to having the “staying power” of the jingles, songs and rhymes of School House Rock. Perhaps, as designers of learning events, we need to re-think the stale, static nature of our presentations and focus on adding music, rhymes and “catch phrases” to our learning events.

Are you using words on a screen for your PowerPoint slides or e-learning modules? Consider creating a “story” or theme with your presentation, add some royalty free music to your e-learning module, add audio of sounds, not just your typical stale, static narrator but bells and whistles. Add life to your e-learning. Follow the lead of the School House Rock folks…they knew how to conduct training.

Another person that knew how to conduct effective training is guitarist Dewey Finn (played by Jack Black) in the movie School of Rock. Dewey is anti-establishment rocker who lands a “gig” teaching students in a prep school. The school is typical, desks all in a row, highly structured activities and kids bored out of their minds.

Dewey tells them they are working on a project called “Rock Band.” Each student is assigned a task based on their individual strengths. They are given homework like “listen to Pink Floyd.”(talk about discovery learning)

They work together as a team to create a final product. They evaluate themselves on the quality of the product and not on how they stack up to one another. A one point, a grade grubbing student cons someone into allowing the band to play and Dewey says, “Hey summer, you get 12 gold stars and an A+” She replies, “I didn’t do it for the grade.”

What an education for these kids. They learned about working together, cooperation, playing to their strengths, intrinsic motivation and how to integrate learning and fun….this movie should be required of every school teacher, trainer and instructional designer.

Take a cue from School of Rock and School House Rock to move your learning events to a higher level in terms of fun, retention and learning experience. Check out the School of Rock Trailer.


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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: 1994 was a Milestone Year

In 1994, Time Magazine named the "Internet" the person of the year. In that same year, Sony released the Playstation One in Japan and the next year in the United States and Europe.

If you were born in 1994, you have grown up with the Internet, video games and the cell phone. To you, these are not new inventions, they have always been around.

As you turn 13 this year you have been surfing the internet, collaborating with friends, and playing video games your entire life.

In fact, 44% of you own a computer AND a cell phone or PDA. Thirteen year olds call "email" snail mail. They even wonder aloud if land line phones aren't "obsolete."

Designers and developers of instruction are not digital natives, we have not grown up with this technology, we learned it along the way. We have trouble thinking like digital natives, we try but are not always successful.

To better create instruction in the future, we need to immerse ourselves in the gadgets, games and gizmos of the digital natives while simultenously enlisting them to help us create learning events and assets that they find relevant.

Look at your learning and development team. How old is the youngest member? Can you get an intern from college or better high school or middle school to help you think about the future of learning?

At 13, in a mere five years the first all-net, all-video game, all-cellphone connected generation hits the workforce...is your organization ready?

See Defining a Gamer for more information and discussion on this topic.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Second Life Class Project

This semester as part of a larger class project where students are required to respond to an e-learning Request for Proposal (RFP), my students are going to need to create some spaces and areas in Second Life.

To faciliate this process, I have created wiki (at the suggestion of Barton)to provide information and to answer student questions. The wiki is called MSIT Second Life and is designed to provide information to students. If you want to stop by and provide some assistance or help, feel free to do so.

We are in the process of purchasing an island and setting up for the class project.

Here is my land for you to check out.

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Online Case Study Development

My post this week at the TrainingDay blog is titled Developing an Online Case Study

Too many times, the technology takes over when developing an online case study or a branching story. Really, what needs to occur is a careful focus on the design to ensure that regardless of the actions of the learner (right or wrong) learning occurs.

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Definition: Mnemonic

Mnemonics are word tricks to help enrich and encode information to be memorized and then help to maximize recall. A mnemonic is when a meaningful word is created from the first letter of each word that is to be memorized or learned.

Mnemonics work because learning research indicates that the more richly we encode information, the more easily we can retrieve that information when needed. They also involve chunking and organizing of content (also effective techniques.)

An example would be ROY G. BIV as a term for remembering the order of the colors in a rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)* Or the word HOMES to represent the names of the great lakes in the United States—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.

An example from industry is the word “whip” which is “W-I-P” formed from the first three letters of the words Work-In-Process. Another example is the word PERT which is the first letter from each of the words Program Evaluation Review Technique. PERT is a method of project management using a project network diagram. In instructional design we talk about the ADDIE model of instructional design—Analysis, Design, Development Implementation and Evaluation, sometimes we call it the MADDIE model by adding Management to the beginning of the acronym.

Using mnemonics is a simple technique and backed by research. They are effective. You probably still remember mnemonics from grade school. Unfortunately, the technique is severely underutilized. In a study of 14 different pharmaceutical training programs created by six different vendors, no mnemonics where found in any of the courses. A link to the whitepaper is contained on AXIOM's Evidence-Based Training page. Why aren't they used? Are they seen as too childish or too difficult to create?

I am not sure why they aren't used but I do know from research and anecdotal evidence that they are effective. Try creating and adding a mnemonic to your instruction today. You will aid your learners in recalling key information using a simple, low cost technique that is shown to be effective for recall.

If you have time, leave a mnemonic in the comments, let's see how many we can gather.

*You can see awesome images of rainbows here.
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Develop: When Does Collective Wisdom Make Sense?

Interesting article over at cnet news about the future of games called Future games to harness player’s collective wisdom. The article describes a talk given by alternate-reality game developer Jane McGonigal at the Game Developer's Conference in the serious games summit portion. She stated that she believed computer games can teach collective intelligence. She defines “collective intelligence” as many people coming together and using technology to solve problems or advance knowledge. Here is fellow blogger Barton's take on her presentation. (He also has blogged on other aspects of the conference as well, the lucky man is there.)

She gave several examples including Wikipedia which was interesting since that very day, faculty at Bloomsburg University were having an email discussion about the value of Wikipedia to students and for research.

The normal debate raged on, spurious information (especially since Essjay turned out not to be who he claimed)is contained in Wikipedia, it can’t be trusted, it is not a good source of information.

On the other side are people who claim that it is as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica. You know the story, a research study was done and published in the referred journal, Nature . The journal contained a study that revealed that Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia had approximately the same number of errors in a random sample of articles. Read Internet encyclopedias go head to head to learn more. Of course, Encyclopedia Britannica fired back stating that the study was fatally flawed.

To me, the accuracy debate is important but misses a serious advantage of Web 2.0 tools for gathering collective intelligence. As soon as Wikipedia knew what the errors were, they were fixed. For Britannica, the process takes much longer (trust me, as someone going through the process of writing a traditional paper-based book, the production process is painfully slow).

As instructional designers we need to consider when to use certain tools, when is the wisdom of crowds appropriate for a wiki-delivery mechanism and when is it appropriate to take the time to deliver well crafted e-learning? So here are some thoughts I have on the subject. (By the way, I am working on a wiki to accompany my book since the "publisher" ran out of room for the glossary.)

Considerations for choosing a wiki:

• Large enough critical mass (need the "crowd" concept)
• People feel free to contribute
• Some structure is already in place (template for adding entries)
• Speed of information is important (maybe even more important than accuracy)
• Real-time collaboration is not necessary but serial collaboration is needed
• Some level of expertise exists in different pockets within the "crowd'

Am I missing anything? Are these accurate?
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Games, Gizmos and Gadgets: The Value of Games

On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, I will be presenting with Greg Walsh and Steve Sugar on the topic The Power of Play: Effective Training Through Games and Simulations

The neat thing is that Greg and I are the techie guys and Steve Sugar is a game guy who has been doing learning games for years without incorporating technology just games and learning. So the discussion will be interesting to see how the prinicples discussed by Steve Sugar will translate into online games.

Steve is owner of The Game Group and is author/co-author of five books that focus on the design and use of classroom games, including: Games That Teach, Games That Teach Teams, Primary Games, Games That Boost Performance, and Training Games.

Steve agreed to share with me (and allow me to post)his top ten reasons to use learning games...without even considering technology. I think you will find his insights interesting and help you to build the case of why you should be using games within your classroom.

Ten Reasons to Use a Learning Game

1. Games are Fun…with a Purpose. Games “celebrate” your topic and reward individual and group achievement. Games bring fun and energy into a buoyant learning zone, but with the focus on learning.

2. Games Provide Feedback to the Learner. Learners want and need feedback on their performance. Games give them immediate feedback on the quality of their input—their successes and their errors. With the appropriate feedback, this can become an invaluable learning opportunity.

3. Games provide Feedback to the Trainer. Games provide a practice field where learners interact with the topic, demonstrating their knowledge and ability to apply the information. By observing this real-time demonstration, the trainer can adjust the subsequent level of lecture, readings and interventions, as required.

4. Games are Experiential. Today’s learner needs to do and try things on her own. Games provide an environment that transforms the passive student into an active part of the learning process, connecting her own dots and experiencing her own ideas. Games remind both player and trainer that energy in the classroom is a good thing.

5. Games Motivate Learners. Games engage players and then motivate them to interact with the topic. This interaction drives players to demonstrate their understanding of the topic in a friendly contest where successes are memorable moments of shared triumph, and mistakes mean only that the learner is being stretched to his own limits.

6. Games Improve Team Work. Games are real-time activities that bring players into teams, demonstrate the rules and roles of working together as a team, and underscore the value of team collaboration. Games give your learners a chance to know their peers as they share the same real-time experiences, allowing for strong networking and bonding.

7. Games Provide a Less Threatening Learning Environment. Because the game format is playful, the challenge of the material—even new or difficult material—is less threatening. During game play seemingly difficult questions and scenarios are “just part of the game.”

8. Games Bring Real-World Relevance. Games allow you to present real-world information in the form of questions, scenarios, role-plays, and so forth, allowing players learn not only the “what,” but the “why,” of the topic from a real-world perspective. Players also observe their own behavior and that of others during game play.

9. Games Accelerate Learning. Games allow you to compress your topic and demonstrated learning into shorter periods of time, accelerating the speed of learning. The visual presentation, oral interactions, and active participation of game play appeals to all of the learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic), involving both the rational and experiential mind so that players remember more of what they have learned.

10. Games Give You Choices for Your Classroom. Games allow you to add variety and flexibility to your teaching menus. Games allow you to vary the level of learner involvement, introduce new topics, mix theoretical and practical, and vary the level of skill and knowledge.

List taken from Primary Games, 2002


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Shout Out: Will Thalheimer

Will Thalheimer just announced that he is transitioning from independent consultant to once again working within an organization. He is turning Work-Learning Research into a hobby.

I would just like to say that any organization that is smart enough to hire Will is going to have a great employee on their hands.

I know Will from presentations, email exchanges and a fairly long interview I did with him once at a conference for E-Learning Guru. He is a dedicated professional and has done so much to help the field make informed decisions regarding learning and learning development. He has really raised the awareness level and made an impact.

I wish him the best of luck in whatever he does because I know it will be good!

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learning about Web 2.0 with Web 2.0

This has been around the blogosphere but, if for some strange reason, you haven't check out this great list of Web 2.0 exercises, you should. It is called 23 Learning 2.0 Things.

It makes my punny list of 4 items in my post This Weekend Go High Tech look a little anemic.

Thanks to Brent Schlenker for point it out to me.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Create Your Own Lego Model

So there has been much talk about DIY learning in the blogosphere lately. I have even entered another salvo over at TrainingDay Blog so you can check it out. It is called Design of Learning.

However, the entire DIY got me thinking and exploring and coincidently, I am reading Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and came across the section about DIY Legos and so I went to the web site to check it out. Awesome!

First some background, as I kid, I grew up with the large Lego kit where I had to use my imagination for everything, no pre-set houses or cars or castles just me and 150 non-descript Lego pieces. I wasn't a master builder by any stretch but I did have fun.

When my younger brother, younger by a number of years, got into Legos. He got all the cool kits. Star Wars ships, houses, firetrucks.

Now Lego has combined the two. You can go to the Lego Factory, download software to design your own unique Lego model and then upload the model and order a custom kit to build whatever model you designed. The kit will come with all the pieces you need to design your own model. Did I say Awesome! And the cherry on top is that you can even design your own custom box. Awesome.



Here is what Lego says "Design your LEGO model, share your design with other LEGO fans and purchase the exact pieces to build it!"

Now there are certain parameters you need to follow to make sure you can order your kit and that it can actually be built. To me this is a great model for DIY learning. You get a certain number of designed learning assets that you can connect to build your own learning. Those assets are designed by instructional designers to be complete and structurally sound. Like the fundamental Legos you order. However, you can combine those pieces however you would like. You learn from a collection of assets built according to certain rules. It makes sense to me.

Then, to futher build community. Lego allows you to upload your image and others can then purchase the kit as well. So whenever I create my awesome model, you can select it and order the kit and build the model. Now imagine doing the same thing with an online course or wiki where a learner sequences content, adds his or her own comments and then others can choose the best learning sequence or course design for their own DIY learning.

What a great way to build a learning community. Lego Factory, a great model in so many ways. (oh, yeah, that pun was intended.)
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Shout Out: Abbey Stahl--All the Rage

Tonight's supplement to my daily newspaper is a paper within a paper called All the Rage, For Teens! By Teens! About Teens!

Typical teen stuff, what to wear to the prom, choosing a college and so forth. However, one article caught my eye "MySpace, IM--why so addictive?"

We spend a lot of time in the blogosphere talking about the future of learning, making predictions and lamenting formal instructional design but rarely is the voice of the "gamer generation" heard...the voice of the learners who will be demanding that we design instruction differently.

This article, written by Ms Abbey Stahl from Shikellamy High School, provides insight into the thinking of current high school students. The article provides great information about what the upcoming gamer generation is going to demand in terms of learning.

Here is some of the article:

Yes, these terms --Instant Messanger and Myspace--may seem foreign to your parents, but to us teenagers they're essential to keep up with the lastest ins and outs. Communication has developed enormously in the last couple hundred years. It used to be that people would have to travel miles to talk to a person before the postal service was established. But who wants to mail a letter and wait a week for the reply? Now telephones are even becoming impractical. Is the internet the new communication wave of the future? Nearly any Myspace or Instant Messenger user will tell you that they are addicted to it. Why?

It's a fact that us teenagers, more than anyone need to talk to our friends. We can easily carry [on] more than one converation, listen to music and search the web for a homework assignment all at once.

First I was really struck by the comment, "Now telephones are even becoming impractical." Not obsolete but impractical. Not practical to use...a telephone. So the gamers find it more practical to communicate via the Internet than via a telephone.

Also, the social aspect of the Internet is an important and a integral part of being a teenager and communicating with others. Social networking is, as stated often, critically important to this gamer generation. We need to be prepared to leverage this fondness for electronic social networking.

Finally, Ms Stahl (probably 16 or 17) tells us adults what we have frustrately witnessed for years--teenagers expect to multitask and enjoy dealing with the whirlwind of technology that is constantly at their finger tips. Rather than be overwhelmed by it, they embrace it.

Thank you to Ms Stahl for re-confirming the fact that the gamer generation is coming and that they have different learning and information expectations than the boomers or the Gen Xers. Anyone responsible for providing learning opportunities for these gamers better be ready.

Thanks Abbey and a shout out to you.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learning to Spell

Learning to spell in elementary school can be a drag, it is all rote memorization. Writing the words over and over again so you can learn them for the test. A web-site named Spelling Time has developed a fun an interactive method to teach kids in grades 1-5 spelling in an engaging manner. The process involves multiple steps, first an animated character speaks a word and then you type the word.

You then play a hangman type game for any words that you misspelled and then you are asked to get a piece of paper and a pencil and write the words you missed three times and the ones you got correct once (talk about an integrated blended learning approach). Finally, you are rewarded with points and allowed to play a game where you can send the high score to a friend or anyone on the high score list.



The application has built in repetition designed to teach facts which is an effective learning strategy. It has engaging activities and characters that provide an exciting learner experience and has built in motivation. It also works blended learning right into the learning process.

Plus it is fun, my 9 year old son in 4th grade had so much fun he played the demo twice. It would be a great way for him to practice his spelling words. Watch out the company is also working on topics like understanding money, math, geography, the solar system and others. Look out FDA compliance training...

Designers of instruction should take a number of pointers from this example of well designed instruction.
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Implementation: Evaluating Collaboration

One of the goals of Web 2.0 and other technologies is to foster collaboration. But, there seems to be an issue with how many people actually collaborate. According to many sources, less than 1% of the people who visit blogs or wikis actually contribute or collaborate with the author of the wiki or blog. This is called the 1% rule.

One of the major issues with collaboration in an academic or even a corporate setting is determining how to evaluate each individual's contribution to the overall collaboration. How do you ensure equal participation? How to you judge one person's work against another?

One answer is to create a collaboration rubric: Here are examples of several collaboration rubrics.
Collaboration Rubric 1
Collaboration Rubric 2
Collaboration Rubric 3

None are perfect but they can be the basis for building your own tool that begins to approach the concept of evaluating collaboration within your classroom or organization.

Much like the old saying "you get what you measure." Perhaps if collaboration were better measured, more true collaboration would occur.
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Design: A Friendly Human/Computer Interface

One important thing we need to remember as designers of instruction or people who create "learner experiences" is to consider how to create an engaging user interface. Most interfaces are un-intuitive, unimaginative and confusing (thus the reason for so much software training...press the submit button to...)

Designers often end up creating page-turning e-learning and not focusing on the experience for the learner. However, pundits always point to interfaces like Google and call it the "e-learning" of the future that nano-learning is the way to go. While I see Google as a clean, easy-to-use software, I do not see it as creating any kind of learner experience, in fact, it is rather COLD. Efficient but cold.

But what are the alternatives to that cold interface? Well, you could check out the search engine known as Ms Dewey for an alternative. Much more friendly and interactive than Google. It brought a smile to my face the first few times I interacted with the program.
Do I have some issues with the display of results and the overall functionality...some...but the interface is much more friendly than Google and should serve as a model for thinking about creating learner experiences and not just instruction.

Next time you sit down to create an e-learning course, think instead about creating a learner experience.

For more information and ideas on creating an effective learner/computer interface, check out the Jack Principles created by the makers of You Don't Know Jack, the folks over at Jellyvision.
Check out any of their "Jack" games to see how you can create a real sense of relationship between the learner and the computer program. A great way think about the design of learner experience. Also, you can play You Don't Know Jack online.(not appropriate for work)


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Delivery: Collaborating in a Virtual Classroom

Online collaboration does not just occur in a wiki or with Web 2.0 products, one exciting, and sometimes forgotten, method of online collaboration is within a virtual classroom envrionment. Recently I conducted a session online in a virtual classroom using breakout rooms. It was fun and educational.

You can read about it on my post Collaborating in a Virtual Classroom at the TrainingDay Blog.

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Out and About: Rapid E-Learning of Interest

Thank you to everyone who attended ASTD's Rapid E-Learning Seminar. The desire to learn more about rapid e-learning is obvious, we had the largest ASTD Webinar attendance to date, over 650 individuals.

Allison Rossett did a wonderful job of talking about the Big Tent of e-learning and how we need to expand our thinking beyond courses to performance support systems. She also made an excellent point that some things cannot be taught rapidly. Sometimes "time" is an instructional methodology. She provided wonderful examples of blending learning into the workflow for rapid learning on the job.

I discussed the importance of instructional strategies (suprise, suprise) and how rapid e-learning doesn't need to be boring e-learning. I call that the Z-factor...even though it is rapid, you can still make it interesting with large images, engaging activities, thoughtful scenarios and questions that make the learner think.

Also, templates are an important aid in developing rapid instruction and I stressed the importance of having a toolkit of templates, reusable engines and other development that aids can shorten the creation process for e-learning.
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Value of Instructional Designers Discussion

In case you haven't noticed, I have been having a great discussion with Barton Pursel and Brent Schlenker about the value or lack of value of instructional designers. I think they have value, others are not so sure. Check out the the comments section of my post Value of Instructional Designers, please chip in your ideas, however, be warned it is a lively discussion.

Are you with me? Do you think instructional designers have value or do you tend to agree with Brent and think designers do not have value?...Bart...I think he is in the middle but leaning more toward no value.

All this spanned from The Learning Circuits Blog: February Big Question: What Questions? So join in the discussion.
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Shout Out: Ryan Reilly

Ryan recently graduated from the Instructional Technology program at Bloomsburg University where I had the pleasure of having him as a student. While at Bloomsburg, he created a neat game to help kids learn the capitals of the United States. The game was great but had one or two gliches.

When he graduated he said that he would fix the gliches and send us a revised copy. Well, you know how many times I have heard that "line" and never saw a revised project...

However, Ryan was true to his word and sent a great version of the game State The Captial.

Kudos to Ryan for his follow through. He was a really good student and has a great internship right now (and they would be best to keep him) however, if you are looking for a good designer, check out his portfolio.
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Out and About: Honored to be Nominated

I just received a message in my email today. I was simultaneous, shocked, surprised and honored:

On behalf of Training Industry, Inc., please accept our congratulations for your recent nomination to the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals Award! Our Nominations Committee reviewed many nominations and have selected you as one who is notable and worthy of recognition for this honor. This Award is prestigious as it is voted on completely by your peers and other professionals within the training industry. Voting will be done online at TrainingIndustry.com from February 20 through March 2.

The list is filled with some really impressive individuals in the field of e-learning, not exactly sure how I made the list...this may sound like a cliche but I really mean it when I say, "I am honored just to be nominated." I seemed to have accidently got mixed in with some giants in the field.

If you would like to see the entire field of nominees and cast a vote, you can go to TrainingIndustry Top 20.

Thank you to everyone and anyone who had a hand in the nomination.
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Design: Rapid E-Learning

Just because you are creating Rapid E-Learning, that doesn't mean it needs to be boring e-learing. Follow these tips to increase the "applicability" of your rapid e-learning to the learner's job.

• Specifically point out how the learning will impact the learner's job (if you don't know this, don't create the instruction.)
  
  
• Show the learner the WIIFM. (What's In It For Me). Let them know that the learning can and will make the job easier/faster/more profitable.
  
  
• Create the instruction to solve the learners problems. Making the learner "aware" of something is not enough, (aware of FDA concerns)...create action items. (You have a problem inspecting the vials, here is how to solve it to be in compliance with FDA regulations...
  
  
• Creatively use media, you don't always need a graphic in the right corner and text on the left, use a graphic that takes up the entire screen with text over top or use a single screen with one line of text to make a point. Be creative within the context of the work environment.

Here is a post with more Rapid E-Learning ideas.
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Welcome

As the blog community continues to grow... more and more interesting people are joining the conversation every day and adding interesting perspectives. Two people who have recently joined will make it especially interesting

First a welcome to Tony O’Driscoll who leads Performance Architecture Analysis and Design for IBM Sales Learning. He already has a great post about Second Life and I am anxious to read more about IBM's committment to the platform. Although I don't know him personnally, I have read his work and he always has something interesting to say. Visit Tony at Learning Matters and check out his posting Second Life =Experience Economy Platform.

The second person I would like to welcome (although he did have a blog in the past) is Michael Qaissaunee who is the Director, Mid-Atlantic Institute for Telecommunications Technologies and a professor at Brookdale Community College. Mike has some great ideas about technical education and the convergence of learning and technology. Visit Mike at Frequently Asked Q. His post on visual literacy, "Beyond tables, pie charts and bar charts" is well worth the visit.

So, check out these interesting thinkers, stop by their blogs and leave a comment or two.
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ASTD Webcast: Rapid E-Learning

Here is a reminder for you ASTD Members.

February's Featured T+D Webcast: Rapid Learning

Join ASTD tomorrow at 2:00 PM ET for this month's featured T+D Webcast, which examines how the need to deliver training materials faster is altering design and delivery of training programs.

Karl Kapp, a faculty member at Bloomsburg University, and Allison Rossett, professor of educational technology at San Diego State University, will also discuss the design challenges of rapid learning and the future of this training approach.

Rapid Learning
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Note: Please do not log in until 1:30 p.m. EST (I'll be rehearsing)

Webcast registration is free for ASTD members. Go over to www.astd.org and register. Hope to see you there and if you attend and heard about it from this blog, please let me know.

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Value of Instructional Designers

Lately there has been some talk about what exactly instructional designers do and what value they add to the process. Brent Schlenker in his response to the ASTD Big Question asks, Well, I think the biggest question is STILL, "Why US?". Why do we ("learning professionals") continue to think we have the answers that are special to learning...how it should be done...who should create it...and how should others consume it? Maybe the question is "Do we still add value to the new learning equation?

Over at ASTD's Learning Blog, Clark Aldrich asks Is it possible to have a universal argument, Simulations work better than traditional formal learning programs?

To his question I answered in the comment:The answer for radio, television, video, and computer-based instruction is...that when well designed instruction is created and delivered, the medium doesn't matter. It is effective regardless of the technology. The medium is NOT the message. So, a well design simulation may be better than poorly designed classroom instruction but given an equally well designed classroom experience and a simulation...it will always be a tie.

So it is the design of the instruction that matters more than how the instruction is delivered (a lesson that needs to be learned by many Instructional Technologists).

To me, instructional design is

"the deliberate application of instructional strategies and tactics to facilitate the learning process in a manner that is as efficient as possible for both initial learning and long term retention and that leads to a change in behavior, knowledge or attitude based on defining the needs of the learners and the attributes of the content to be learned."

(See other definitions)

The discipline (and it is a discipline) borrows heavily from psychology, cognitive science, behavioral science, information design theory, and media design theory. However, it is the blending of these theories and ideas into the design of instruction that makes the difference between merely presenting information and creating an event in which learning actually occurs.

While learning can and does happen in non-designed situations, it may not be as efficient as it could be, it may not be deliberate and retention may not occur. Is there value in non-designed learning...of course! But that doesn't diminish the need to design learning carefully and properly or the value of well designed instruction itself--just because informal learning is important that doesn't mean formal learning isn't. We've all been in poorly designed training classes or taken bad e-learning...we always console ourselves with "if I learn one thing then it was valueable." NO!

We should learn multiple new pieces of information or links between existing information and instructional designers (good ones) faciliate the learning process. We learn many things from well designed instruction.

In many situations it is better to have instruction designed than to let it happen haphazardly. This is true for compliance training, customer service, engineering, and even, I would submit, problem-solving.

As Tom Haskins once wrote in a comment:
As long as there are factories and bureaucracies, there will be a need for instructional design methods and practitioners. The hardware/brick & mortar parts of the economy don’t mess around. There is one right answer for every detail. There are costly mistakes. Experts provide accurate content to port into instructional designs. Compliance training needs to get results. Procedures are linear and need to be followed in sequence. Amen.

So, while anyone on Earth can put together some powerpoints for either online delivery or a stand up lecture and present information, far fewer Earthlings can design instruction that is efficient, effective and actually facilitates a change in the learner's behavior, knowledge or attitude. That skill set is invaluable in our knowledge economy...that is the value designers should and do bring to the table.
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Broadband Reaches Half-Way Point

One thing Second Life, Online games, and high quality streaming video need to be successful is a broadband connection. Fortunately, it seems that broadband access is becoming less and less of an issue:

U.S. residential broadband penetration is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2007--and the U.K. isn't far behind. By the end of 2007, more than 60 million U.S. households will be connected--around 55 percent--according to market researcher Parks Associates. During 2006, broadband subscriptions grew by more than 20 percent in the U.S. and by the end of the year around 50 million households had fat pipes.

Read the entire article, Broadband adoption passes halfway mark in U.S.


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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Learn About Knee Surgery

Ever wonder how they perform knee or hip surgery, find out for yourself at EdHeads. Actually, you get to perform the surgery with a little guidance. You are patiently provided instruction on how to mark the leg, clean the area, make the incision and repair the damage. Even though the surgery was 2D, I still got a little sqeamish.

The site also has a virtual hip replacement surgery simulation as well as other interesting educational games. Compare the interaction of these educational modules with what you are designing. Remember, these are for kids...but they allow for application, problem-solving and interactivity.

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Industry News: elearning Company Purchase

Here is the big announcement:

Kaplan, Inc., one of the world’s leading providers of educational services, has signed an agreement to acquire EduNeering Holdings, Inc., a top provider of knowledge management solutions that assure regulatory compliance and improve business performance. EduNeering designs and deploys knowledge management solutions for organizations in the pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, energy and manufacturing sectors. The transaction is awaiting clearance by the Federal Trade Commission.

EduNeering has outstanding management and a long-standing commitment to delivering the highest quality knowledge solutions,” said William Macpherson, CEO of Kaplan Professional. “The company will complement Kaplan Professional’s growing suite of compliance services.”

Read the entire press release.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Phones for Kids, again

Gushers are clearly aimed at kids, adults don't eat these things. Yet, here is an ad for the kids to get 4 cell phones. The marketers certainly understand that kids love gadgets.

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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: ESL in SL

This weekend I attended an English as a Second Language (ESL) class. It was a surreal experience for two reasons. 1) I already speak English (unfortunately, the only language I do speak except for a little French which I continually butcher, oui) 2) the class was in Second Life (SL).

The instructor, Kip, separated the attendees into two groups and then asked a series of questions in English using slides and then the participants answered with written English sentences. The instructor would correct the students (most of whom spoke German as a first language) by typing a correction or the entire correct sentence.

It worked surprisingly well. The students raised their hands with questions and there was good rapport between the students and the instructor. Many of whom used that medium as their only method of learning English.

It was interesting to attend a class online in SL. I would strongly urge you to do so if given the chance, one can certainly see the potential and the promise of learning in 3D for a language.

For example, the instructor could move the class to a restaurant and have the students order a meal or go to a train station and have them buy a ticket or ask for the restroom or walk down a street in Paris and ask a policeman for directions. The SL environment provides a great opportunity to immerse the learner in the language and the situation. A guided tour designed to help learners speak the language.



Special thanks to Deanna!
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Design: Level One E-Learning Questions

Rarely are e-learning courses evaluated at the reaction level (level 1). The level that provides face validity to the content and measures customer satisfaction.

I have created a short list of questions related to level 1 e-learning evaluations but would really like some input on other questions that might be appropriate at the end of an e-learning class. Please feel free to add some of those questions as a comment to this blog or write a posting on your own blog and I'll link.

Here is what I have so far:

• How relevant was the course content to your job?
  
• How effectively will you be able to apply what you’ve learned to your job?
  
• How closely does the content match the tasks you perform on a daily basis?
  
• How valuable will the content be in helping you to better perform your job?
  
• How convenient did you find the online learning module?
  
• Rate the ease-of-navigation of the online learning module?

I place most of these questions on a Likert-type scale. (1-5 with 1 being good and 5 rerepresenting bad)

I realize the questions are only the learner's opinion after a learning event, however, I believe some merit can be given to the learner's opinion:)

What questions might you ask?
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Hand Held PC

Here is a cool little gadget called the OQO.





It is literally a fully functional PC in the palm of your hand. I have a first generation version and I love it. Small, portable but powerful. The OQO two looks even better. Thanks to Andy Shean, a former student who brought this to my attention.

Here is what Andy writes:
…looks like a pretty intense piece of hardware. With a gig of ram, and a 60 gig hard drive, this thing can run Windows Vista and just about any application that you want to throw at it. Released as of a few days ago you can also have broadband Internet built into it from Verizon or Sprint for Internet anywhere. With the travel package, broadband access, Vista Ultimate and the warranty it totaled roughly $2600

Here is what the company says.

• Ergonomically designed for usability on the go, the model 02 features an integrated backlit thumb keyboard, track stick, and capacitive TouchScrollers™.
  
• Encased in a magnesium alloy chassis, the model 02 is a standalone, handheld computer with shock mounted hard drive and drop detect technology.
  
• At the office, the model 02 functions as a desktop PC. The optional OQO docking station allows quick and easy connection to a full size display, keyboard, mouse, and wired Ethernet.

Here is what I say:
One neat gadget to lug to conferences, light weight and powerful enough to show all your slide shows. And it is fun to pull it out and set it up, always draws a crowd.

Check out more about the OQO2. It is one neat gadget. Thanks Andy for dropping me the note about the new OQO!
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Out & About: A Change is Coming to Higher Ed

The future of higher education is online. Unfortunately, many faculty and administrators can't see the tidal wave of online learning that is approaching but it is approaching. The cost of higher education is untenable in its current form. Just like manufacturing was 20 years ago, same with financial institutions, insurance...those industries were changed forever by technology...higher education is next. It will be stripped to the bare bones before too long.

As Scott McNealy, Chairman of Sun stated:

Technology has to play a huge role in education. (It's) changed commerce...publishing...banking. It's got to change education big time.

It will change but it takes time for large entrenched institutions to change. Heck, Harvard has just now decided to have its first women president.

Or, maybe a more moderate approach will occur, as advocated by Charles Reed,, chancellor of the largest four-year university system in the United States (the California State University System).

He envisions:

...students becoming more like telecommuters. They might meet with faculty and peers one day a week on campus, and then use simulations, virtual worlds and downloaded information the rest of the week to complete coursework.

I ask, why do they need to meet once a week? And what are those colleges going to do with those huge classrooms and infrastructure the other 6 days of the week? It's got to be expensive to heat or cool all those mostly empty buildings.

Yet, colleges are still on a building frenzy. Driving up costs and hoping to get a large return. It reminds me (as I think I've said before) of Ford building the SUVs when anyone could see a gas shortage coming. But they just forged ahead. Is higher education doing the same thing...

Read the more optimistic article that sparked this post titled Universities register for virtual future
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Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Second Life by the Numbers

Here is an article brought to my attention by one of my students Jason Kojtek. The article, The Second Life Census provides a link to a spreadsheet showing some interesting SL numbers. For example, the number of non-repeat credit card accounts is 2 million and the number of people online at any time is between 10,000 and 30,000.

But the most interesting part of the article are the comments posted afterward. The vast majority blasting Second Life because it is not a "game" and there is nothing to do in Second Life except walk around.

Interesting, I think a lot of early technologies are seen as "non-exciting" by all but the techies and then, when someone figures out something cool to do with them, they catch on or when someone else makes them simplier to use. Remember, not everyone had a bag phone but when they became smaller, cell phones became a must have.

Also, I remember when GPS seemed unnecessary, now I can't live without it or when PDAs first came on the scene. I think we are on the verge of something but, perhaps, Second Life isn't the final form, however, I think we owe it to ourselves to explore the possiblities so we know what works and what doesn't in these new metaverses.
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