Williams Instructional Design, LLC

Heutagogy

2012-01-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

Do you know what it means? I didn't!

A learning services firm I work for is looking to expand its development of informal learning services. Of course this intrigues me as I am a great admirer of self-directed learners and the leverage that informal learning and communities of practice hold for individuals.

So, I began researching (read: mucking about on Google) informal and self-directed learning. I did not know that self-directed (or "self-determined") learning has a formal term: Heutagogy.

In education, heutagogy, a concept coined by Stewart Hase of Southern Cross University in Australia, is the study of self-determined learning. The notion is an expansion and reinterpretation of andragogy, and it is possible to mistake it for the same. However, there are several differences between the two that mark the one from the other.^[1]

Heutagogy places specific emphasis on learning how to learn, double loop learning, universal learning opportunities, a non-linear process, and true learner self-direction. So, for example, whereas andragogy focuses on the best ways for people to learn, heutagogy also requires that educational initiatives include the improvement of people's actual learning skills themselves, learning how to learn as well as just learning a given subject itself. Similarly, whereas andragogy focusses on structured education, in heutagogy all learning contexts, both formal and informal, are considered.^[1]

^~Wikipedia

Online learning for kids that works: The Khan Academy

2011-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Salman Khan's TED presentation on his free, online academy for math and science.

From the TED website:

"Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script -- give students video lectures to watch at home, and do "homework" in the classroom with the teacher available to help."

I am mulling over how this approach can be applied in a workforce training setting....

Amanda Cox: Developing Inforgraphics at the New York Times

2011-12-11T09:26:00.001-08:00

In case you did not see this post by Information Aesthetics, they have four great videos of Amanda Cox, from the NYT graphics department, speaking on the development of infographics. She is crystalline in her synthesis of, and ability to discuss, their goal in their work and theory behind great infographics. She is so articulate and enthusiastic, in fact, that she runs out of breath as she speaks.

She says that one major goal the NYT strives to is clarity. She goes on to explain that the graphics department works to provide clarity of understanding through:

Revealing Patterns
Providing Context
Describing Relationships

She goes on to comment that one of the qualities of a great infographic is how interesting pieces of information will reveal themselves through the structure of the infographic chosen.

I also found intriguing her description, and example, of how others leverage the data for further, deeper analysis. She calls it "annotation."

Well worth the time. I started with her presentation at "New Media Days" in Denmark. A good place to begin...

Roundtable: Social Learning and Reflective Dialogue

2011-11-20T07:51:00.001-08:00

Reflective dialogue is a powerful vehicle to critical thinking and deep understanding. So often now, much of what is called "dialogue" is not. It is simply sharing with, or shouting at,others in our increasingly polarized society. Civil discourse online is even harder: the physical distance, the anonymity, and other factors feed into a communication culture of multiple monologue, not dialogue.

In response, Roundtable is a website dedicated to empowering meaningful conversations – between thought leaders, between friends, and between curated communities of strangers. Anyone can "listen in" on these curated conversations on topics like Future of Blogging, Entrepreneurship and Startup Funding. Oh, you can apply to become a member and participate if you think you can add value to the conversation.

This model could be leveraged in many forms of elearning and blended learning settings. My mind is racing with the thought...

Clients (or SMEs) and Feature Creep

2011-10-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

The video speaks for itself. It is certainly speaking to me these days....

Data Visualization, Visualized

2011-10-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

A perfect PS to yesterday's post:

The Value of Data Visualization from Column Five on Vimeo.

By Column Five Media

On Research & Design, Form & Content

2011-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

I am salivating over a Master's of Research program in Information Environments at University of the Arts, London.

From the website:

What's an MRes?
In this context, it's basically research for designers. Augment your practical skills with a Masters degree in empirical research methods, for a better understanding of people, places and things. That said, you don't have to be a designer - we've had photographers, fine artists, a historian and a life coach - but many of the students have a first degree and/or practical experience in some form of design. The course is a mix of theory and practice, balancing the theories and methods of the social sciences with practical skills in various areas of digital and analog design and fabrication.

The research informs the design, and the design enhances the research.
What are information environments?
In a nutshell, most of the physical and virtual environments we live in and use today - the home, city, village, workplace, museum, retail environments. The Internet and virtual worlds are no longer separated from the real world - ubiquitous sensors, embedded micro-computers, intelligent buildings, interactive installations, networked cameras all blur the line between physical and digital. The course aims to help you study, understand and explain the informational world we live in.

I love the idea that research informs design and design enhances research. It reminds me of a video of Paul Rand speaking on design. He said,

"Without content there's no form, and without form there's no content.... When form predominates, meaning is blunted. When content predominates, interest lags."

The concepts of design are universal to all its applications. Instructional design is most effective when alignment and balance of information, its context and its delivery method and form are "right." The problem is figuring out what is "right." THAT, I have found, is a Wicked Problem.

When data is compromised, everything is compromised.

2011-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Physician and epidemiologist, Ben Goldacre, exposes his audience at TED to the troubling practice of scientific and other data manipulation for commercial and political benefit. The practice is common-place, and can be done so subtly with complex data that it takes deep expertise, passion for truth and ample time and money to expose the fraud. The implications are broad: science, health, civics, consumer protection, environmental protection - I could go on - are all compromised. What is the solution?

DIY Content Curation on Paper.li

2011-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

As a learning experiment in content curation, I have signed up to publish a weekly "newspaper" of the news and information I follow on the topics of instructional design, workforce development, training, and other learning topics. I am using an interesting - and free - tool called Paper.li . We'll see how it goes. I hope to build and refine the content over time, to provide the most interesting, relevant and useful samples of the information I track.

Here is how Paper.li describe themselves:

Paper.li is a content curation service. It enables people to publish newspapers based on topics they like and treat their readers to fresh news, daily.

We believe that people (and not machines) are the ones qualified to curate the content that matters most. We also think that these same people can greatly help their own communities to find their way through this “massive content world” we live in. We’re here to help!

Every day, around the world, millions of articles are featured on Paper.lis, benefiting millions of readers. We are just at the beginning of an exciting new adventure and we think we’re on to something good.
We love the semantic web, we respect our content creators, we strive for simplicity, and we thrive on feedback.

We are based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) – Innovation Center (Lausanne, Switzerland) and we are proud to support an international and distributed team presence in Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Information and Empowerment

2011-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

How information is presented greatly affects whether the learner (citizen, employee, patient, you name it) ends up feeling empowered and motivated to act on that information. Here are four examples of how information can be presented to either empower or dis-empower the audience:

In his TEDMED talk, Thomas Goetz, executive editor at Wired Magazine and author of the book "The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine"
discusses the issues surrounding medical data, and how it has the inherent power to drive behavior change.More particularly, he analyzes how we tend to communicate messages about health to people (e.g. mainly through conveying images of fear) and makes the bold call to make such health information more relevant and personal (e.g. by unpacking personal choices). Soon he focuses on the current practice of conveying lab test results by way of numerical tables, and explains how this is the worst information presentation possible. He then presents a compelling visual redesign of these reports, which aim to provide more insight to lay patients, and ultimately should empower them to act on the information shown.

(Hat tip to Information Aesthetics from which I gleaned the above, well-written, summary.)

Dave Meslin, a "professional rabble-rouser" from Toronto works to build community and links between them. In his TED talk, Dave takes on the communication of local politics — schools, zoning, council elections. Why don’t more of us actually get involved? Is it apathy? He says no and identifies seven barriers that keep us from taking part in our communities, even when we truly care.

Over at "eLearning Coach", Connie Malamed shares, "A Quick Guide to Attitudinal Training," providing some instructional strategies for making training in the affective domain more effective.

I am currently reading, "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath. They speak to how some messages are presented in ways that "stick" better with people: more memorable, more actionable, more motivating. They have identified factors that promote this stickiness, namely:

Simple — find the core of any idea
Unexpected — grab people's attention by surprising them
Concrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
Credible — give an idea believability
Emotional — help people see the importance of an idea
Stories — empower people to use an idea through narrative

Each chapter includes a section entitled "Clinic", in which the principles of the chapter are applied to a specific case study or idea to demonstrate the principle's application.

Many factors can influence empowerment and behavior change: a sense of self-efficacy (a belief in one's own competence), knowledge, skills and practice, personal motivation, and more. What have you found influences empowerment in your audiences?

Williams Instructional Design is on Delicious and Twitter!

2011-09-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Williams Instructional Design is now active on Twitter . As with the WID blog, thought provoking articles and other resources will be tweeted (but with limited commentary, of course). More in-depth reviews and analysis of interesting finds will continue to be posted here.

And a reminder that an entire library of resources can be found on WID's Delicious page. You can find articles, presentations, links to tools and other resources on a range of topics from mobile and social learning to performance management strategy and competency models.

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Year Up: Overcoming Youth Unemployment Through Professional Training

2011-08-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, there was a great opinion piece by David Bornstein in the New York Times entitled, "Training Youths in the Ways of the Workplace." It shared a quick analysis of the "two types of economies" that are emerging: 1) the corporate economy, relating to the growth and profitability of corporations and high-end earners, and 2) the job economy related to the employment gap for average-wage jobs. It addresses, specifically, the challenge for new, young members of the workforce:

"One group that has been particularly hard hit by the recession is youth. Among workers aged 16 to 24, the unemployment rate is almost 20 percent. For young Latinos, it’s over 24 percent, and for young African Americans, it’s over 32 percent. Some 4.4 million youths are currently unemployed.

This is of serious concern to a country with a rapidly aging population. And while today’s best jobs require post-secondary schooling, 30 percent of U.S. public school students fail to graduate from high school (pdf), and more than half of those who enroll in higher education fail to earn a degree or credential within eight years."

The article digs into the issue at greater length than I sample here. It is a great read, and I highly recommend it. One of the causes of the high unemployment rate for youth that Mr Bornstein notes is the marginalizing catch 22 of not having the opportunity to be exposed to the "professional culture" when you can't get a job. One of the tools for the solution he endorses is Year Up, a non-profit that assists disadvantaged, mostly minority youths, in developing professional acumen.

Founded in 2000, Year Up has grown steadily and has produced some impressive results:

100% placement of qualified students into internships
95% of interns meet or exceed partner expectations
84% of graduates employed or in college full time within
four months of graduation
$15/hr average wage at placement

Source: 2008 - 2009 organization-wide results

Year Up currently has locations in:

Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
New York City
Providence
San Francisco - Bay Area
Seattle
Washington DC

It is a great opportunity for volunteers from all professions to share their expertise.

Opportunities include:

Guest Speakers - Share learning on industry topics such as Entrepreneurship, E-Commerce, Leadership, and other interest areas. Time Commitment: One hour session.
Job Coaches - Assist with job preparation including resume writing and mock interviewing. Time Commitment: 1-2 hours.
College Application Advisors - Assist with the application process, including writing essays and financial aid forms. Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week.
Mentors - Provide guidance, support and advice to Year Up students. Time Commitment: Meet twice a month for 12 months.
Curriculum Coaches - Work one-on-one with students learning technical skills (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and HTML). Time Commitment: In person, by phone, or by email - 2+ hours per week for 3-6 months.
Instructors - Teach professional and/or technical skills as a member of our learning team. Time Commitment: 2-3 days per week.

It is a particularly powerful opportunity for those of us in the Workforce Development field to not only share our professional expertise with youth, but apply our skills in the development of the organization itself.

If Year Up is not in your community, there are likely other, similar, organizations that are. It is a direct and powerful way to invest in your local community and economy.

Teaching in the Affective Domain: Teaching Empathy

2011-07-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a powerful example of teaching in the affective domain; a hard task. Sam Richards uses metaphor to support learning to the first three levels of Bloom's taxonomy of affective learning:

Receiving Phenomena
Responding to Phenomena, and
Valuing

to teach empathy.

His presentation may be a challenging journey, but I think it's effective.

Pay Attention

2011-07-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager."

- Susan Sontag

"Fun is just another word for learning" (under optimal conditions)

2011-07-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

The title of this week's post comes from Sebastian Deterding's presentation, "Meaningful Play: Getting Gamification Right" at Google Tech Talks. I love it... the quote and the presentation. Sebastian knows his stuff. He knows it so well that his presentation is deeply substantial as well as engaging and easy to understand.

The original quote was, "Fun is just another word for learning." This statement was made by master gamer, Raph Koster, who explained his statement thus:

"Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension.
It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. With games, learning
is the drug."

Sebastian builds and refines this statement in his presentation as he provides a deep-dive into the "how-tos" of gamification.

A few of his guideposts include:

Provide...
...a story with meaning
...rule system and challenges players can master
...goals and personalization of the goals and informational feedback
...a free space they can play in
...meaningful community of interest

Be mindful of...
...unintended behaviors
...social contexts
...the ropes of rule design
...the basics of UX design

But these highlights are just a taste of what he shares.

And for a great double feature, check out my earlier post "Gaming to Save the World" on Jane McGonigal's TED presentation on leveraging gaming skills to solve real-world problems.

Plutchik's Emotion Circumplex: A visualization in three dimensions

2011-07-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Luc Latulippe is right: this Emotion Circumplex by Robert Plutchik is mesmerizing. Used to describe how emotions are related, the circumplex 3D model supports a deeper understanding of the relationships between the primary emotions and their derivatives as well as the relationship between emotional groups by including a sense of volume and a more precise illustration of the interface / influence between the emotions.

Learn more about Plutchik and his theory of emotion on Wikipedia.

Job aids online: Gojee

2011-07-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Gojee is a beautifully designed example of online job aids. The site uses an interactive search engine, content curation and social media to help home-chefs cook with what's on hand. Tell Gojee what you are craving, what's in your pantry and what you don't like, and it will serve up recipes for delicious and simple dishes.

To use the site, you must create an account. Gojee saves your history and preferences to refine its suggestions as time goes on.

I am thinking about how this model could be applied to other tasks...

via Swiss-Miss

"Gaming to Save the World," or Building Skills and Confidence to Solve the Big Problems

2011-06-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Collaboration & community
Specificity of problem and task
A sense of "achievability"
Contextualizing a problem
A compelling story

These are qualities of games, particularly online games such as World of Warcraft, that make them absorbing and satisfying. So says Jane McGonigal, and she should know. She has spent years as a game developer. Most recently, she has worked to harness the skills developed by gamers to solve the problems of the real world instead of virtual ones.

If she can achieve her "epic win," of crowd-sourcing to solve issues such as oil-dependence and poverty, she will have an army of virtuoso problem-solvers, each with over 10,000 hours of practice in the virtual world. The skills that she sees they will bring to the table include:

Urgent optimism (extreme self-motivation: a desire to immediately tackle an obstacle combined with the belief of a of a reasonable hope of success
Weaving tight social fabric (research has shown that we like people better after we've played a game with them). Games build this fabric based on learned trust, and a sense of common values and goals, experienced cooperation
Blissful productivity. Jane posits that when playing a game we know we are happier working hard than we are" just hanging out", that we are optimized as human beings to do hard, meaningful work.
A passion for epic meaning: gamers love to be attached to awe-inspiring missions

All of this adds up to super-empowered, hopeful individuals. Her challenge to overcome is that most gamers believe they are only capable of changing virtual worlds, not the real one. Also, at this point, they use games to get away from everything that's broken in the real environment. Virtual world provides more positive feedback and satisfaction.

Her motto is: "Don't predict the future, create the future." She is working to create games that imagine best case scenario outcome and empower people to make that outcome a reality. They imagine epic wins and give people the means to achieve the epic wins.

Learn about her winning games, inspiring the development of problem-solving skills that very well could be a win for the entire world...

Quotable

2011-05-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

Entitled: "There's No Such Thing as a Know-It-All"

From Jessica Hagy's "This is Indexed" blog.

The New York Subway as Stringed Intrument

2011-05-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

This imaginative animated visualization tool uses the the NYC subway's schedule and plan as a stringed instrument. The piece begins in real time by tracking trains scheduled to depart in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop. The visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli's 1972 diagram.

I love how the line/tone struck is appropriately higher or lower depending on the distance between the nearest two stations. I also love the added touch of the "bounce" animation. Whimsical.

Here is a recording of one start time.

Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

For "live" starting, go to: MTA.ME

Conceptually, a beautiful metaphor. What might be the useful applications for learning?

Colors in Cultures

2011-05-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

The site "Information is Beautiful" has a great infographic that shows the different meanings of colors in different cultures. It is designed as a color wheel and legend. This is not only a great data visualization but also an important tool for instructional designers and trainers when working cross-culturally:

Via: Information Aesthetics

When You Do it Well, It's Invisible.

2011-05-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

In my previous post about safari guiding I mentioned that the hallmark of some skill sets is that, when done well, they seem so easy. Similarly, when training is done well, the learning process is almost invisible. I guess training itself, as the underpinning of knowledge and skill, is often invisible too. :)

Gotta love XKCD...

If you go to his site, hover your mouse over the image for an extra punchline.

A Renewed Appreciation for Self-Directed Learners

2011-05-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

The lights are back on at Williams Instructional Design, having just returned from a three-week holiday on photo safari in Botswana. It was an incredible adventure, made possible by the highly knowledgeable, skilled and committed staff at each of the camps I visited.

Working at the safari camps takes a substantial personal commitment. Staff members work for 2-3 months straight, every day, for up to 12 hours a day to host their guests. Each team member performs multiple roles. For example: managers supervise staff, graciously host (and sometimes manage) guests, manage reservations and activity schedules, manage the gift shops, oversee logistics and repairs, etc.

I was most impressed, however, by our guides. They are responsible for all aspects of the safari activities. As a result, they must seamlessly blend a wide range of knowledge and skills every day, twice a day for the four-hour game drives for up to 10 guests each.

Like a ballet dancer, those most highly skilled are those that make the job look so easy. However, they must be thoroughly knowledgeable/skilled in: wildlife biology, botany, geology, conservation theory, animal behavior, astronomy, extreme driving, guest safety, first aid, tracking, nature interpretation, bar tending, hospitality, etc. Usually, this is all in a 2nd language. Batswanas' (the people of Botswana) first language is Setswana. All of the guiding is done in English.

To become a guide in Botswana, a candidate must pass a lengthy and stringent three-part exam, including guiding a National Park Ranger on a game walk. One of our fabulous guides actually had a master's degree in wildlife management from South Africa. Other had taken guide training courses. However, one guide trained himself independent of any educational organization.

Robert of Savute Elephant Camp in Chobe National Park, Botswana is my new self-directed learning hero. Excellent naturalist, guide and historian, Robert was also an amazing tracker, driver and host. His technical vocabulary and ability to explain scientific concepts in English was impressive. When I complimented him on this, he said he learned much from prior guests. Robert is truly a lifelong learner. I learned much from him, more than he realized.

Mind mapping your way to a new job

2011-04-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

A great poster by Mind Map Art:

Simile, humor AND visualization...

2011-04-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jessica Hagy does it again at This is Indexed:

"A Little Goes a Long Way"

Distilling the message

2011-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

A good reminder:

Simplicity is hard. But, communicating not only accurately but succinctly is a powerful facilitation of learning.

As Ernest Hemmingway once said: "If I had more time, I'd write a shorter letter."

Mind mapping the kitchen tool taxonomy!

2011-02-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

"The Splendiferous Array of Culinary Tools" poster is a bit tongue-in-cheek as job aids go, but it is a fun (and attractive) example of graphically showing the taxonomy of a class of things - the family groups based on purpose and relationships between them. Useful, I think, for novices in a field to 1) become acquainted with the breadth and depth of a job by the tools used, see how they are related, and find the right tool for a task.

It can be applied for any job that uses a wide range of tools: carpenter, auto mechanic, janitor, you name it.

By Pop Chart Lab

Via SwissMiss

Choices and Calculations: How They Differ and Why it Matters in Gaming and Instructional Design

2011-01-31T18:37:00.001-08:00

I read a great post recently over at "The Usable Learning Blog," discussing how game theory can inform instructional design in significant ways. Her example was this great video that explains the difference between choice and calculation and how it makes all the difference in engagement in gaming.

Gaming is used frequently in training, but not necessarily as effectively as it could. I agree with Julie when she says, " So much of the stuff written about instructional design recommendations is good, but frequently vague or too general (with a few exceptions like Tom Kuhlman and Cathy Moore), while in the mean time I keep finding really great experience design information in the game design blogs that addresses very specific problems."

Mapping Professional Connections

2011-01-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

LinkedIn and InMaps have partnered to create a tool that allows LinkedIn members to visualize the world of their professional connections. LinkedIn Maps groups and color codes your connections based on affinity (e.g. how your connections are connected to each other). You can then analyze the groups and label them.

From a business perspective, it is an interesting tool for understanding the scope and "architecture" of your professional network. You can then identify opportunities for community development and communication.

From an instructional design standpoint, it's another great example of the power of free web tools to analyze and visualize data into meaningful information that can be used.

"Na" job aid

2011-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

OK, so color me geek, but XKCD is one of my favorite comic strips.

Today's edition is a useful job aid to help you track the "NAs" to ID a few classic songs.

It's worth a click-through... there is always an extra punch line if you hover your cursor over the cartoon on the site. Plus, this time, there is a "new and improved" version (link under the page banner).

Testing: Not Just for Assessment Anymore

2011-01-23T07:40:00.000-08:00

Recent research by Purdue University on retrieval practice finds that test-taking is, by far, a more effective learning activity than either studying or concept mapping. The findings were published by Science Magazine, then reported on by the New York Times.

Reflecting back on my days of formal learning, I can say my personal experience supports these findings. My retention of knowledge was far greater after having taken the tests that were intended to simply assess that learning. They generally were the most powerful learning tools in the curriculum.

The synthesis and application of knowledge and skills that is needed to successfully complete a test cements the learning deeper and in a more tangible, useful fashion. Additionally, I am wondering whether the meta-skills needed for test-taking are those skills needed to apply learning in practice.

Video in eLearning

2011-01-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

I must say, the New York Times consistently publishes great infographics and other brief elearning. Here is a perfect example: Top 10 Composers.

This is a smartly managed use of video in elearning. User-driven and in bite sized chunks, the videos merge music theory, examples and storytelling. Each element contextualizes the others.

The Noun Project

2011-01-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a great resource for instructional, and other, designers: The Noun Project symbol library. This online library is a growing collection of highly recognizable symbols. They are creating a "dictionary" of visual language.

All of the images are free and without use restriction. They are beautifully designed and easy to download.

The Noun Project is being developed at Kickstarter, the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.

These are perfect for job aids, manuals, signs... any quick and/or universal recognition need.

Beyond visualizations...

2011-01-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite design bloggers, Swiss Miss, found DowPiano and shared it today. Here is what she says:

The Dow Piano audiovisualizes the ups and downs of 2010 into musical notes. Using a five-note scale spanning three octaves, pitch is determined by the daily closing numbers of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The variance in volume mirrors the trading volume changes throughout the year. The notes are clustered in series of five, representing Mondays through Fridays. The weeks are punctuated, separated, and started by drum hits. Follow along with the graph to experience the market in a (somewhat) musical way. Created by Bard Edlund.

I am thinking of the possibilities for information "stickiness" in learning and job aids. I remember lyrics much easier than poems because of the music!

A Few Random eLearning Finds

2011-01-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few interesting links on various topics of elearning:

DemoSlam is a high-energy ongoing project by Google, where "Contenders" compete in "tech demo battles" by submitting videos that highlight one of Google's many free tech tools, such as Google Voice, Google Translate, Custom Background.

@ Ignatia Webs blog posted recently on IBM's immersive gaming and informal/social tools for learning projects.

The Word of Mouth blog has a great post on how Articulate is being used for a wide range of elearning projects at SickKids.

Delicious tidbits: Presentation Design

2011-01-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

The following are articles in my Delicious library that include the tag "PresentationDesign."

Designing a narrative with index cards: From Communication Nation, a proven, low-tech approach to designing a presentation, either from the "top-down" or "bottom-up."

Designing slides: From Eye on Learning, a series of presentations, on and examples of, PowerPoint slide design.

"...Whip your Slides into Shape": From The Learning Generalist, ideas for both the design of the presentation itself as well as the slides as a vehicle for them.

How to Create a Presentation for Someone Else: From the Duarte blog, ideas on how to facilitate the process of designing a presentation someone else will deliver.

A True eBook

2011-01-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

“20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web” is an electronic story book, complete with pages to be turned. It is the creation of Min Li Chan, Fritz Holznagel, Michael Krantz and Christoph Niemann. Developed by Fi and published by Google Chrome, it answers questions such as: How do browsers and the web work? How has the Web evolved? How do I navigate the Web safely and effectively? It defines terms and covers topics such as cloud computing, HTML5 and plug-ins, using plain English and approachable metaphors. It demystifies the technology, empowering the learner in the process. A great example of informal e-learning tools.

Empowering Learners

2011-01-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Diana Laufenberg reminds us that contextualized and reflective learning and meta-learning creates deeper understanding and more motivated learners:

For Fun and Learning: Holiday Recipes eLearning-Style

2010-12-31T15:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun holiday treat: a handy little interactive recipe "book", complete with an infographic for each!

This great little tool is from Xplane.

Via: Elearning Examples

Complex Problem-Solving Infographic

2010-12-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

This multi-layered infographic on problem-solving by Idiagram is a great example of how to communicate a complex mental-model through discovery learning. You start with a graphic of the problem-solving process and text links highlighting elements of the model. As you float your cursor over the links or parts of the graphic, more in-depth information is shared on that element of the model.

Meta-Visualization

2010-11-28T06:28:00.000-08:00

David McCandless at informationisbeautiful.net has created a visualization on good information design that walks its talk.

His post "What Makes Good Information Design" discusses and illustrates the four elements that he posits are the foundation to meaningful and effective blending of information and design into data visualization:

Form
Function
Integrity
Interestingness

His model is persuasive.

Via Information Aesthetics

delicious tidbits: Professional Organizations in the Learning Field

2010-11-20T06:16:00.001-08:00

The following are links to professional organizations in the learning field. They are listed in my Delicious library under the tag "organization." Each description is an edited version of the organizations' own profile.

The Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research - CIDER - is a research initiative coordinated from the Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University - Canada's Open University. The CIDER Website is an online self-managed research community with a shared domain of interest in distance education research. Within this research community, members have the opportunity to engage in debates, explore research areas of interest, and disseminate research related to distance education.

MERLOT, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, is a free and open online community of resources designed primarily for faculty, staff and students of higher education from around the world to share their learning materials and pedagogy. MERLOT is a leading edge, user-centered, collection of peer reviewed higher education, online learning materials, catalogued by registered members and a set of faculty development support services.

The eLearning Guild is a source of information, networking, and community for e-Learning Professionals. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces conferences, online events, e-books, research reports, and Learning Solutions Magazine—all devoted to the idea that the people who know the most about making e-Learning successful, are the people who produce e-Learning every day in corporate, government, and academic settings. Their goal is to create a place where e-Learning professionals can share their knowledge, expertise, and ideas to build a better industry—and better learning experiences—for everyone.

Illinois Online Network is a faculty development initiative that provides comprehensive professional development opportunities in the area of online teaching and learning to faculty and staff from higher education institutions in Illinois and beyond.

mWomen Connect is an online community for those interested in increasing mobile access to women in the developing world for their socio-economic advancement.

The site curates research and information on women using mobile technology, the learnings of the pioneers and experts in this field both from the GSMA’s mWomen team and a number of other sources.

The New Learning Institute is dedicated to bringing next-generation educational experiences to young people wherever they are ready to learn: in schools, community programs, libraries, and museums – even the city streets. Much of the focus is digital media.

Public Agenda, a public opinion research and public engagement organization, works to strengthen democracy's capacity to tackle tough public policy issues. Their efforts – online, through PublicAgenda.org, issue guides and Citizen's Survival Kit, FacingUp.org, PlanetForward.org and on social networks - and in communities around the country, and through their academic arm, the Center for Advances in Public Engagement (CAPE), are all focused on ensuring that the public's views are represented in decision-making.

TeachingOpenSource.org serves as a neutral collaboration point for anyone involved in Teaching Open Source, to:

* Work out Open Source educational models, support and funding schemes, community relationships, and other issues.
* Advocate for the changes that are necessary to further the goal of teaching Open Source.

ALADIN (Adult Literacy Documentation and Information Network) is a well developed, defined and lasting follow-up initiative of CONFINTEA V (Fifth International Conference on Adult Education) in 1997. This global network was brought to life by the UNESCO Institute for Education (since July 2006 called UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning) and the efforts of many adult learning documentation and information centres.

ALADIN has a clear mandate of UNESCO, CONFINTEA V and the UIL Governing Board. Its various activities are co-ordinated by Lisa Krolak, Head of Documentation at the UIL in Hamburg, in close co-operation with the ALADIN Task Force.

The Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) is coordinated by the world bank and is a partnership of over 120 recognized global institutions (Affiliates) in over 80 countries that collaborates in the design of customized learning solutions for individuals and organizations working in development. Affiliates are as diverse as the Asian Institute of Management, the Ethiopian Civil Service College, the Islamic Development Bank, and Pontifícia Universidad Católica of Peru.

The International Commission on Workforce Development (“ICWFD”) is a California based Non-Profit that is enabling the workforce of G77 Developing Countries and disadvantaged sectors of countries with developed economies to compete in the current and future global economy. It is run by a committed Board, staff and volunteers who are passionate about bridging the digital divide and providing access to 21st. century employability skills.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals is an organization committed to be the national voice for the profession and meet the individual professional development needs of the membership.

LIFE Center(Learning in Informal and Formal Environments) is a multi-institution NSF Science of Learning Center hosted at the University of Washington in partnership with Stanford University and SRI International. The LIFE Center seeks to develop and test principles about the social foundations of human learning in informal and formal environments with the goal of enhancing human learning from infancy to adulthood.

The New Media Consortium (NMC) is an international not-for-profit consortium of learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. Its hundreds of member institutions constitute an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the world, as well as leading museums, key research centers, and some of the world's most forward-thinking companies. For more than 15 years, the consortium and its members have dedicated themselves to exploring and developing potential applications of emerging technologies for learning, research, and creative inquiry.

PROLEARN is a 'Network of Excellence' financed by the IST (Information Society Technology - Contract number 507310) programme of the European commission dealing with technology enhanced professional learning. Our mission is to bring together the most important research groups in the area of professional learning and training, as well as other key organisations and industrial partners, thus bridging the currently existing gap between research and education at universities and similar organisations and training and continuous education that is provided for and within companies.

The Coalition for Self-Learning envisions and co-creates a world of cooperative life-long learning communities. The Coalition is a matrix of individuals and groups, networking freely and acting in concert in mutual support of the Mission Statement.

ISPI's vision is that members have the proficiency and insight to customize Human Performance Technology to meet the needs and goals of their organizations and clients, so that the members are recognized as valued assets.

ISPI's (International Society for Performance Improvement) mission is to develop and recognize the proficiency of its members and advocate the use of Human Performance Technology.

JISC CETIS, the Centre for Educational Technology and Interoperability Standards, provides advice to the UK Higher and Post-16 Education sectors on educational technology and standards. This web site brings together educational technology news, comment and analysis, as well as information on our community events. Our aim is to contribute to current debates and future thinking in this rapidly growing and changing field.

TechSoup.org offers nonprofits a one-stop resource for technology needs by providing free information, resources, and support. In addition to online information and resources, they offer a product philanthropy service called TechSoup Stock. Here, nonprofits can access donated and discounted technology products, generously provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners.

National Council for Workforce Education meets its mission through five goals.

* Provide a national forum for faculty, staff and administrators in workforce education to network and share promising practices.
* Support NCWE member community colleges in their efforts to expand workforce education in their communities through programs and services of highest quality.
* Engage in synergistic partnerships with organizations, business, labor, government and the military for collaborative projects across all areas of workforce education.
* Serve as an advocate and a resource for legislation and policy that enhances and supports student success in workforce education including adult and basic skills education.
* Provide leadership through national and regional research studies, projects, the NCWE Annual Conference, and the NCWE website.

The MASIE Center is an international ThinkTank focused on the changing workforce and how they will learn and perform.

Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies (C4LPT) is a major resource site about Social Learning (ie the use of social media for learning) for those in Schools, Colleges, Universities and Business profit- and non-profit making organisations).

Visualization x Storytelling + Interactivity = GREAT eLearning

2010-11-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a site that will take your breath away, both by how the elegant simplicity and combination of elements creates impactful learning, and by the powerful data it brings to life.

"Products of Slavery is an online visualization that takes the data from a report of the U.S. Department of Labor on child and forced labor worldwide, and makes it open and accessible. Investigations show that more than 122 different products are made using child or forced labor in more than 58 countries." (Via Information Aesthetics)

Products of Slavery was created by Anti-Slavery International, the oldest human rights organization in the world. They work at local, national and international levels to eliminate all forms of slavery around the world.

Finds: Sir Ken Robinson on Changing Education Paradigms

2010-11-09T18:35:00.000-08:00

RSA Animate animates Sir Ken Robinson speaking on the needed revolution on our approach to K-12 education. It speaks for itself in so many ways....

NYT Weekly Health Quiz:

2010-10-24T08:32:00.001-07:00

The Weekly Health Quiz is another great interactive learning tool from the New York Times. The quiz is used more to spark curiosity and lead readers to learning rather than assess.

Answer each question, then click on the “Submit Answer” button to see if you are correct. After you answer the last question, click on “Results” to see your score. At any time, you may click the link on the right to see the article related to the question.

The School of Life: Helping people frame life's experiences

2010-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

The School of Life is a small, storefront school in London focusing on life enrichment programs. It's an interesting mix of services and an interesting mix of educational forms: workshops, classes, resources, "sermons", etc.

From the website:
The School of Life is a new social enterprise offering good ideas for everyday living.

We are based in a small shop in Central London where we offer a variety of programmes and services concerned with how to live wisely and well.

We address such questions as why work is often unfulfilling, why relationships can be so challenging, why it’s ever harder to stay calm and what one could do to try to change the world for the better.

The School of Life is a place to step back and think intelligently about these and other concerns. You will not be cornered by any dogma, but directed towards a variety of ideas - from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts – that tickle, exercise and expand your mind. You’ll meet other curious, sociable and open-minded people in an atmosphere of exploration and enjoyment.

Via Swiss Miss

Visual learning and discovery learning blended

2010-10-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Lunch Line Redesign from a recent New York Times opinion piece is a wonderfully simple application of discovery learning theory. Learning is led by curiosity, and information is shared in small, digestible bites. The graphic contextualizes and illustrates the information.

Delicious tidbits: Persuasive Design

2010-09-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

The following are articles in my Delicious library that include the tag "PersuasiveDesign."

From Forbes Magazine, " Jon Kolko On Design That Changes Human Behavior," An interview with Mr. Kolko, who is the associate creative director at Frog Design, a global innovation and design firm, and founder of the Austin Center for Design, a school devoted to using design as a means of social change.

From The Design Observer Group, "Design with Intent: How Designers can Influence Behavior." This article questions user-centric design and suggests new design practices that go beyond ease-of-use to a place where design the design fits "so well with user needs and expectations that it 'dissolves into behavior'."

CNNHealth's article "Self-help treatment effective for binge eating, researchers say," provides an example of persuasive design.

From Shelly's Pybop: "The Big Picture: End-to-End Content Strategy." I believe her approach is a big piece of creating persuasive design.

From UX Matters, "Three Reasons Why Persuasive Design Isn’t Enough to Influence Change." This article discusses the limits of design to affect behavior change.

Visualization: using context and comparison to make meaning

2010-09-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

David McCandless, speaking at the TED 2010 conference, provides examples of how much more accurate, useful, and powerful information is when seen in context and not in a vacuum. Viewing data graphically and in relation to other data, rather than in absolute form, provides meaning and supports understanding.

Delicious tidbits: The Semantic Web (or Web 3.0)

2010-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

The following are articles in my Delicious library that include the tag "Web3.0."

From Digital Inspiration: A post on, "Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English." It includes a comparison of the three "versions" of the web and a presentation on the evolution of Web 3.0.

From Harold Jarche: A post on, "The Evolution of Web 3.0". It includes his comparison of "the three webs" as well as a link to his Delicious collection of articles tagged "web3.0."

Clay Shirky on Social Media & Social Change

2010-08-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

At last year's TED conference, Clay Shirky presented on the power of social media as, and for, social activism and change. Very inspiring. This applies to learning as well as advocacy. How do we as instructional designers and teachers/trainers best harness this new model to effectively and efficiently facilitate learning?

Delicious Tidbits: Learning Organization

2010-08-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

The following are articles in my Delicious library that include the tag "LearningOrganization."

From Harold Jarche, a blog post on The Networked Enterprise and Learning Support. In it he argues that training is often a solution in search of a problem, and that we need to understand, encourage and support social learning in the enterprise.

From Bersin & Associates' blog, "The Business of Talent," comes a post visualizing a model for modernize corporate training:an Enterprise Learning Framework.

From Eric Davidove, a video on YouTube, entitled "Phenomenal Learning," describing how Web 2.0 technologies can help develop a learning organization. He says, "Web 2.0 technologies enable the development and delivery of phenomenal learning. Learning is naturally a social experience and comes about primarily from discussion, collaboration, sharing, practicing, and feedback. Watch this podcast to understand what I mean by Phenomenal Learning and a way in which we can employ Web 2.0 technologies to the learning experience."

In this blog post, Michelle Martin of The Bamboo Project asks and answers the question: "How Do You Create a Culture of Sharing?"

Edward Volchok looks at the topic a bit differently in his article for eLearn Magazine, entitled "Virtual Teams: Making the Online Classroom a Learning Organization."

Cultural Concepts of Choice and Their Impact on Learning and Life

2010-08-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have always appreciated the adage, "somebody discovered water, but it wasn't a fish." There are so many forces that form how we perceive the world without us even being aware of them, because we are so completely and forever surrounded by them. Language is one. Another is cultural norm. Here is a great presentation on cultural concepts of choice and how they impact our lives.

As an instructional designer, I also wonder how providing choice in learning impacts effectiveness and quality (not only "good vs bad" quality, but the perceived "personality" - for lack of a better term - of the learning experience and the newly acquired knowledge/value/skill.)

Who chooses? How many choices? How do we discern options? Should we always accept the opportunity to choose? Knowing our learners is so important to best facilitating the learning process and understanding the impact.

So many questions to ask ourselves, and so many questions we may not even realize exist to be asked!

Learning from the Movie Maestros, "Anatomy of a Scene"

2010-07-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

From the New York Times, Anatomy of a Scene is a great example of self-directed, learner-controlled elearning. Viewers are provided a palette of scenes from a range of films. Each is voiced over with the movie directer discussing ideas and techniques behind scenes in the film. Viewers can adjust the audio levels between the scene and the director's commentary.

You will likely need a NYT account to view, but it is free.

For a film-buff like me, this is a candy store.

An Idea that Resonates, and its Implications for Presentations (and Training)

2010-07-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

From the Duarte Blog comes a great analogy and concept to improve training and presentations. He asks the question: "What Does It Mean to Resonate?"

Please read his post for the full story on this great video and his conclusions for its implications for presentations. However, I will share two excerpts:

"But what does it mean to truly resonate with someone? While doing research for Resonate, I learned about lovely phenomenon in physics. If you know an object’s natural rate of vibration, you can make it vibrate without touching it. Resonance occurs when an object’s natural vibration frequency responds to an external stimulus of the same frequency."

And, his conclusion...

"The audience does not need to tune themselves to you—you need to tune your message to them. Skilled presenting requires you to understand their hearts and minds and create a message to resonate with what’s already there. Your audience will be significantly moved if you send a message that is tuned to their needs and desires. They might even quiver with enthusiasm and act in concert to create beautiful results."

Creating the right context to best facilitate learning. Or, through the prism of behavior change (which requires motivation, self-efficacy, and skills), infusing the reason for motivation in the presentation.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

A visualization debate - Traffic Light Food Labeling

2010-07-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

A proposed visual learning "job" aid for healthy eating is debated in Europe. Information Aesthetics posted this article on the EU's proposed "Traffic Light" food labeling job aid.

My natural instinct is to distrust the industrial food industry, but they do have some good points here. This is a great example of weighing the pro's and con's that come with simplifying complex information into an "at-a-glance" graphic form.

Finds: "Analog" Presentation Visual Aids a la Ikea

2010-07-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

As Hans Rosling presents on global population growth at TED, he uses what he calls "new, analog" visual aids alongside the "old, digital" kind. It's a great one-two punch.

Finds: Games for Change

2010-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a double win: elearning games for social change.

From their website:

Games for Change (G4C) is a non-profit which seeks to harness the extraordinary power of video games to address the most pressing issues of our day, including poverty, education, human rights, global conflict and climate change. G4C acts as a voice for the transformative power of games, bringing together organizations and individuals from the nonprofit sector, government, journalism, academia, industry and the arts, to grow the sector and provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and resources. Through this work, Games for Change promotes new kinds of games that engage contemporary social issues in meaningful ways to foster a more just, equitable and tolerant society.

Del.icio.us Tidbits: Project-Based Learning

2010-06-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

The following are articles in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tag "Project-Based Learning."

Project-Based Learning Online is a resource for all things PBL.

Reinventing PBL is another online project-based learning resource, this one on a wiki.

Finds: The Semantic Web - Making Meaning of Data

2010-06-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

Appropriately, as this is a rare 2nd post of the day, this video describes the problem of information overload on the internet. It is a mini-documentary on the Semantic Web, its potential to give meaning to information by overlaying context, and the raging debate over how it should be developed.

Web 3.0 from Kate Ray on Vimeo.

Finds: David Byrne on how Architecture Helped Evolve Music

2010-06-14T12:26:00.001-07:00

A bit of a stretch on the surface, but there are implications here for ID: Creating the art to fit the context. To ensure optimal learning, what we design and how it is delivered needs to be informed by the venue/context/vessel in-which it is experienced.

Besides, it's David Byrne presenting on the evolution of music. A great experience no matter the parallels.

Finds: Behavioral Economics and the logic of the small solution

2010-06-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Rory Sutherland at TED.

From the TED site:

"It may seem that big problems require big solutions, but ad man Rory Sutherland says many flashy, expensive fixes are just obscuring better, simpler answers. To illustrate, he uses behavioral economics and hilarious examples."

There is great fodder for thought here vis-a-vis performance improvement. The big solutions are not always the best (e.g. training is often not the best solution to a performance challenge). Good front-end analysis and a presumption of no budget creates an opportunity for creative problem-solving and good design. Learner control over the process (unlock those navigation controls!), immediate & private micro-feedback (automated?), and an eye to behavior change science (motivation, skill, confidence as pillars) are thoughts that flashed across my mind as I watched this presentation.

Forewarning: The beginning doesn't seem particularly relevant, but when you get to the "lentil" story, you've hit the sweet spot of the presentation.

Del.icio.us Tidbits: Backchannel

2010-06-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "Backchannel."

In training and presentation settings, a backchannel is a tool (or tools) or other established process for supporting real-time conversation (generally now online) alongside live spoken remarks. Backchannels have become commonplace in many industries during conferences, classes and other learning/informational events as a way for the learners to deepen/expand their experience and learning by communicating with those around them.

From the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies' Social Learning Academy: How to use Twitter for Social Learning - Incorporating the Twitter back channel in a presentation

From the Free Technology for Teachers blog: Five Platforms for a Classroom Back-channel Chat

From the Ruminate blog: Understanding the Backchannel

Finds: Connect with Haji Kamal

2010-05-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Connect with Haji Kamal is a brilliantly conceived e-learning simulation that teaches sophisticated cultural awareness training in a combat setting. Blending complex branching, graphic novel illustrations, realistic scripting and dialogue, this training is a great example of e-learning done very well:

Hat tip to Cathy Moore at Making Change

Finds: Sir Ken Robinson on matching education to talent

2010-05-24T19:17:00.001-07:00

This witty and compelling essay proposes a complete restructuring and repurposing of K-12 education. I believe it is also very applicable to adult learning, even in the workforce arena. Think: professional development, informal learning, and succession planning.

Sir Robinson argues for building on individual strengths and passions and customizing learning. He posits that this approach will, by far, more fully develop individual talent and human capacity.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Empowerment

2010-05-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

For most adults, learning can have high stakes: professionally, personally and emotionally. Empowerment is key to learning process. Learners must feel confident in their capacity to learn and become proficient in their new skills and knowledge to have the courage to risk the learning process.

Here are the articles I found in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tag "Empowerment."

From the "Making Change" blog: Four ways to move your learners from clueless to confident

From the "Leading as Enabling" blog :Learning versus thinking hard

By Andy Hargreaves of Boston College: Seven Principles of Sustainable Leadership

Finds: Performance Gap Analysis - CEO pay vs stockholder returns

2010-05-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Smart research, powerful tool, depressing (although not surprising) news....

From the Bloomberg site:

For the full, interactive tool, CLICK HERE.

via eLearning Examples

Finds: Wheel of Nutrition "job" aid

2010-05-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

A fun, visual reminder that promotes healthy eating. Although the pie chart is more conceptual than functional with regard to portion size, it does provide a nice guide to relative proportion of each food group to consume at a meal. It is also nice that the plate itself is moderately sized... not the charger size dinner plate we've been seeing in recent years!

They were designed by Hafsteinn Juliusson, an Industrial/Interior designer from Reykjavik,
Iceland living and working in Milano, Italy.

http://www.hafsteinnjuliusson.com

Finds: E-Learning Examples

2010-04-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

OK, so maybe I'm beyond fashionably late to this party, but I just discovered the E-Learning Examples blog. It is chock-a-block full of samples from a range of sources for a range of uses. From customer education and marketing to journalism, from personal development to corporate training. You can browse by e-learning category (e.g. audio slideshow, game, multimedia storytelling), by industry (e.g.automotive, real estate, medical, etc.), by tags, by keyword search and other tools.

Click here to view a great training course on CPR that I found on the site.

New Research Findings on Sleep, Dreaming & Learning Retention

2010-04-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

From the BBC:

"Napping after learning something new could help you commit it to memory - as long as you dream, scientists say.

They found people who dream about a new task perform it better on waking than those who do not sleep or do not dream."

The full article is at the link above.

Bodes well for night-school students (as long as they head to bed after class)!

Humor: Riffing on ADDIE

2010-04-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun variation on the ADDIE theme, from Jessica Hagy at This Is Indexed:

Finds: Teaching the Critical DOING Skills

2010-04-14T07:25:00.001-07:00

In this video, Kevin Roberts reminds us that just about anyone in the developed world can find information on their own. The value of teachers and trainers is helping learners filter that information, apply it to problems and create from it. It also discusses the three most important qualities of effective teaching of higher level thinking stills; tha tthe experience must be: relevant, challenging and engaging.

via Ignatia Webs

Finds: Riffing on the lessons of improv to co-create with your audience

2010-03-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Liz Danzico explores how these frameworks take hold and what the opportunities are for interaction designers. A great concept for designing environments that support co-created learning.

Liz Danzico-Frames: Notes on Improvisation and Design from Interaction Design Association on Vimeo.

Humor: Meeting ALL learning styles

2010-03-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

You've got to love The Onion....

Headline:

Parents Of Nasal Learners Demand Odor-Based Curriculum

"COLUMBUS, OH–Backed by olfactory-education experts, parents of nasal learners are demanding that U.S. public schools provide odor-based curricula for their academically struggling children. " ...

del.icio.us Tidbits: Self Directed Learning

2010-03-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the most recent articles and resources I've found in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tag "SelfDirectedLearning" I include an earlier post of mine on the same topic which provides more links:

Williams Instructional Design: Self-Directed Learning January 2008 post

CappuccinoU: "This e-book is about a new style of learning in which innovative people have combined new information technology with traditional ways of learning to develop a new, personally-driven approach to learning. It happens predominantly in “the third place,” a location that is neither home nor office. The third place is usually a coffee house, one which is designed to serve this particular audience. People gather in their favourite third places to work, relax, visit and learn. They work independently and in groups. Some of them use computers which may or may not be linked to the web. Some are taking courses online; others are writing books
like this one. This is Cappuccino U."

Strong Value of Self-Directed Learning in the Workplace: How Supervisors and Learners Gain Leaps in Learnin g: From the Free Management Library, a primer for fostering self-directed learning in the workplace.

Mastering healthcare applications: Toronto hospital uses self-directed and computer-based training to meet clinical staff's learning needs: A case study.

Creating Learning Communities: From A Coalition for Self-Learning, an online resource center.

Beyond Global Collaborative “Units,” on to Real PLN’s: Podcast with Chris Craft: From the Beyond School blog.

The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world: From Cognitive Edge. From the synopsis:

"In this paper, we challenge the universality of three basic assumptions prevalent in organizational decision support and strategy: assumptions of order, of rational choice, and of intent. We describe the Cynefin framework, a sense-making device we have developed to help people make sense of the complexities made visible by the relaxation of these assumptions. The Cynefin framework is derived from several years of action research into the use of narrative and complexity theory in organizational knowledge exchange, decision-making, strategy, and policy-making. The framework is explained, its conceptual underpinnings are outlined, and its use in group sense-making and discourse is described. Finally, the consequences of relaxing the three basic assumptions, using the Cynefin framework as a mechanism, are considered."

Finds: "Slo-Mo Dogs" Wordless Storytelling & Getting to the Affective

2010-03-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Alright, I admit it. This is an excuse to simply share a lovely dog video in the form of an ad. But... doesn't this micro-story evoke emotion?

Finds: Sam Loman's "Underskin"

2010-03-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

Sam Loman has created a great metaphor for illustrating the systems of the body: the NYC subway system. It is a simple and clean communication that differentiates each major system (skeletal, pulmonary, etc.) and organ, showing where they are and how they interact, without the "white noise" detail of classic illustrations. Brilliant.

Click here for a full-size version via Information Aesthetics.

Finds: Temple Grandin on valuing and raising the visual minds

2010-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

"Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, speaks at a TED conference about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids."

As an aside: I have been a fan of Temple Grandin for years for her work to make slaughter houses more humane. This may sound like an oxymoron to some, but any step to reduce suffering is the right one. Hers was a giant leap... and all with ~ or, more accurately, because of her ~ autism.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Collaboration + Tool

2010-02-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Here are the most recent articles and resources I've found in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tags "Collaboration" and "Tool." I include an earlier post of mine on the same topic which provides more links:

Williams Instructional Design "Collaboration Tool" post from 2008

Chamilo

From their website -
The Software: Chamilo is a new project that opts for open source in a radical way. It aims at bringing you the best e-learning and collaboration platform in the open source world. At its start it will come in two flavours: Chamilo 1.8.6.2, the direct successor of Dokeos 1.8.6.1, and Chamilo 2.0, that has reached the final stages of development, a new taste of e-learning and much more, that will definitely bring fresh and creative tools to you.

The Association: Chamilo is also a brand owned by everybody who is part of the association Chamilo.org. The trademark is not and will never be owned by a single trademark holder.

Aiming to protect the software and to keep it free and open, an association has been created to watch over the future of Chamilo software.

Key features:
* Easy creation of educational content
* Easy installation on web hosting solutions
* Tracking of users results, allowing for methodology improvements
* Clean interface, letting user focus on learning
* Synchronous and asynchronous communication channels
* Many tools allowing for all learning types (visual, auditive, practical, serious games)
* Extensive documents management

Learning Tools Compendium of Collaboration Tools: From the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, a learning tools directory of stand-alone tools suitable for individuals to work and learn more effectively with others - as well as on their own.

Learning Tools Compendium of Social Networking & Collaboration Spaces: From the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, a directory of social media platforms that include public social networks as well as tools to create private collaborative, social spaces for groups or communities, as well as enterprise collaboration systems (with multiple groupsites).

Scribblar.com: A free, online tool that provides multi-user whiteboard, live audio, image collaboration, text-chat and more.

Wiggio: From their website... "Wiggio is an online toolkit that makes it easy to work in groups. You can basically make a Wiggio group for any type of group you're in (a team, organization, business, project, social group, etc.) and Wiggio provides you with everything you need to simply communicate and collaborate within the group." The tools include mass messaging (emails, text messages, voicemails), scheduling, file sharing and editing, polling, conference calling, video conferencing, and project management.

Social Media and Learning - Part 3: Collaborative Working & Learning: From the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, the third of a three part article that looks at how key social media tools can be used for learning, development and performance support. Social media tools, support social interactions and connections with people, collaboration and sharing and the creation of user-generated content, and are helping to build a new phase of (e-)learning – often referred to as E-Learning 2.0 or Social Learning.

LucidChart: A free, flowchart/org chart collaboration tool.

Etherpad: A web-based word processor that allows people to work together in real-time.

Dabbleboard: A free online whiteboard collaboration application.

15 free tools for web based collaboration: From the Six Revisions blog, a review of 15 online tools.

Humor: Who in your Organization Needs What Training?

2010-02-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

From the This is Indexed blog

del.icio.us Tidbits: Behavior Change

2010-02-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

The concept of Behavior Change is common to the health care field. Health behavior change counseling and education is used by physicians and other practitioners to promote good health habits in patients. Effective health behavior change requires three components: motivation, knowledge/skills, and self-efficacy. The approach is applied in other areas of education and training as well.

Here are the most recent articles and resources I've found in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tag "BehaviorChange." I include an earlier post of mine on the same topic which provides more links:

Williams Instructional Design Behavior Change links

Theories of Change: From "Beyond Intractibility," an overview of behavior change theory from the perspective of conflict resolution.

Change your Behavior, Change your Mind: Michele Martin at Bamboo Project re-posts a great TED presentation by A.J. Jacobs and add her own thoughts as to how it applies to social media.

The Performance Chain: From the "Six Boxes" website, a nice model of how behavior produces business results.

The Information Architecture of Behavior Change Websites: From the Journal of Medical Internet Research, using examples and relevant perspectives from multiple disciplines, the article describe a continuum of website IA designs ranging from a matrix design to the tunnel design.

Social Learning: Situation beats instruction: From Theorypedia, a brief description of social learning theory and the importance of behavior modeling.

Humor: Social Media Mullet

2010-02-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Steve Badowski’s Social Media Mullet is all business in the front and a party out back.

It made me laugh, then it made me think a bit about so many things related to Social Media, especially its transparency and the implications.

Finds: On Good Clients and How to Serve them Well

2010-01-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

Designer Michael Bierut gives a presentation on "Clients." The first part of this (rather lengthy... I fast forwarded some) presentation is about what constitutes "good" and "bad" clients. He makes some insightful points here and exhorts his audience to work hard to vet for good clients. Then, around minute 22, he discusses how to serve those good clients well. I found this the most interesting and instructive portion of the presentation. Although Mr. Bierut is speaking to "physical" designers (e.g. industrial designers, exhibit designers, graphic, etc.), his insights apply well to other professional services.

2010/01 Michael Bierut from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

Finds: What Makes Design Seem Intuitive?

2010-01-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

This entertaining and informative presentation by Jared spool of User Interface Engineering on, "What Makes Design Seem Intuitive?," addresses web design, but much of his message applies to instructional design as well. Some of the gems of insight include:

Good design is so intuitive it is “invisible,” like the perfect temperature in a room
You know when design is NOT intuitive when:
a) It’s taking much to much time to figure out
b) You stop thinking about the thing you’re trying to do and start thinking about the tool you’re trying to do it with. That focus shift disrupts everything
What is intuitive is personal. It is based on what people already know walking into the process: their previous experience with that tool (e.g. learning activities, web forms, etc.) or something similar and their domain knowledge. You need to know who your users are.
Design is an evolutionary process. It happens in stages
This process often evolves resistance to evolution by vested interests of the current status quo
Design is needed to bridge current knowledge (what user already knows) to target knowledge (what user needs to know). A user experience is best is when gap is nil (you eliminate the need to learn the tool) or so small you don’t know you are being trained

MFA Interaction Design Spring Lectures: Jared Spool from MFA Interaction Design on Vimeo.

This Goes for Instructional Designers Too...

2010-01-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure I completely agree with all 7 rules vis-a-vis instructional designers, I certainly agree with most... especially #1.

Finds: On Being Less Helpful to Support Learning

2010-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

In this hour-long (and worth the time!) video, Dan Meyer presents to teachers on how to help students develop problem-solving skills by being less immediately and directly helpful and, instead, guiding them through their own critical thinking and helping them be comfortable with ambiguity.

<

I found this presentation on the Usable Learning Blog:

Computers are dumb – make smarter e-Learning

That takes these concepts and applies them to the elearning context.

A Shout-Out to my Readers

2010-01-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years, a small community of readers has grown on my site. Some of you subscribe to my feed, some find my site when searching on specific topics regarding instructional design, eLearning, or other training-related topics.

I blog as a way to share the best of what I find on current thought/idea topics in the instructional design and training world. I subscribe to many other blog feeds and save what I feel valuable to my Delicious library. If you find my posts relavent to your work, you may also find value in linking to my Delicious account and subscribing to the Delicious feed to receive a more current source of my finds, and see some of whom I source for information and inspiration.

I would love to get to know you and why you follow my posts or otherwise visit my site. It would be of great value to me to know what value I add to your work and professional development. So, I ask this favor, please post a comment including any or all of the following:

Describe your interest in instructional design, training and related topics
Comment on why you choose to subscribe to my blog... what value do I add?
Make a wish of what you would like to see more of (or less).

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.

Finds: Sushi Etiquette Job Aid

2010-01-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

Via the Always Looking blog, a fun example of a visual aid / job aid:

Given the immense popularity of the graphic novel form, this is an interesting (and fun!) style option for job aids for some learner groups and topics.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Social Media Policy

2010-01-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

As social media becomes more prevalent in business and learning, the challenge of creating policies guiding its use, to both encourage and ensure appropriate participation, is of growing concern.

Here are the articles I found in my del.icio.us favorites list that include the tags, "SocialMedia" and "Policy."

Social Media Usage Policies: Less Lawyering, More Encouraging: From "The Conversation" blog at the Harvard Business Review, a recommended list of the concepts a social media policy should convey.

A twitterable Twitter policy: From Hackademic.net, a nice, concise Twitter use policy example.

Social Media Policies of 113 Organizations: From SocialMediaToday, a substantial list of links to various companies' social media policies.

Corporate Policies on Web 2.0 : eLearning Technology: Frome the eLearning Technology blog, another link list to corporate social media policies.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Elgg

2009-12-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "Elgg." Elgg is an open source, and free-to-use social media platform that is often used for education, including the creation of personal learning environments.

Here is what I have:

Elgg: The site itself.

Elgg -- A Personal Learning Landscape: From The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, a thorough summary article describing Elgg, its elements, how to use it, how it compares to Moodle and other backgroung.

Using Elgg as as Social Learning platform: From the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, a how-to SlideShare presentation on Elgg.

Elgg, Ning and SocialText: From eLearning Weekly, a quick-and-dirty comparison of the three platforms.

SOCIAL LEARNING STRATEGY - Comparison of Facebook, Ning and Elgg: Again from Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, a chart comparing Elgg to Ning and Facebook.

Finds: LINGOs

2009-12-22T06:04:00.000-08:00

...passing on the love after hearing about this from Tom Kuhlmann at The Rapid eLearning Blog.

LINGOs (learning for international NGOs) is a consortium of over 45 international humanitarian relief, development, conservation and health organizations. The folks at LINGOs are looking for volunteers to help some of they member agencies build elearning courses. This is a great opportunity to practice and build elearning skills while making the world a better place.

If you’re interested, contact Eric Berg [eric at lingos.org] or look over the list of courses and contact the agency. If you’d like to help but want to partner with someone else, Tom is offering to help you get connected. Leave some contact information in the comments link of his post, or contact him directly. He'll try to get you connected with others.

Finds: Ushahidi

2009-12-09T06:53:00.001-08:00

The Ushahidi Engine is a platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline. Their goal is to create the simplest way of aggregating information from the public for use in crisis response.

The code is open-source, however. This means anyone can download the source code and utilize it for their own purposes. Think of the learning opportunities for collaborating over distance, particularly for research-styled activities!

What is Ushahidi? from Ushahidi on Vimeo.

Ushahidi's initial, core mission to make transparent incidents of violence and human rights violations is an urgent need. The possibility of its broader uses seem endless.

Putting some pieces together: Learning Activities and Learning Motivation

2009-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

Watching this great presentation by Scott Kim on TED today got me thinking about the value of gaming and puzzle activities for learning:

And as I contemplated this, I also began thinking about the framing of these activities to best support learning, specifically the importance of separating the activity from any form of reward or formal testing system. The evidence for this is eloquently and humorously argued here by Dan Pink:

del.icio.us Tidbits: Barriers

2009-11-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "Barriers."

Program Completion Barriers Faced by Adult Learners in Higher Education:

From the abstract - "This article identifies characteristics of the adult learner and briefly reviews literature on the attrition and retention of adult learners in higher education programs. A summary of that research shows that adult learners focus on their roles as learners, their ability to balance school with outside responsibilities, and their flexibility in attaining personal goals within the context of educational and institutional goals. Programs aimed at improving the retention of adult learners and lessening attrition rates must take into account these factors."

Why Group Norms Kill Creativity:

From the Introduction - "Unfortunately groups only rarely foment great ideas because people in them are powerfully shaped by group norms: the unwritten rules which describe how individuals in a group 'are' and how they 'ought' to behave. Norms influence what people believe is right and wrong just as surely as real laws, but with none of the permanence or transparency of written regulations."

The Real Reasons We Don't Evaluate:

An article on how to overcome the perceived and real barriers to performing learning evaluations.

Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond:

A List of Objections, Replies and Concessions Regarding Social Media and Tools.

Williams Instructional Design's Approach to Performance Improvement

2009-11-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

Instructional Design and training are one part of a healthy program to support peak performance. Here is WID's model for building realistic and sustainable performance improvement.

Finds: The 4 ways sound affects us: Julian Treasure on TED.com

2009-11-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

With so much focus these days on visual learning, the point of this brief presentation by Julian Treasure is well taken: Don't lose sight of sound.

There is not much detail in Julian's talk, but more can be found on his blog, Sound Business. His focus is business applications, but his information can be leveraged for learning and performance improvement as well.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Job Analysis

2009-11-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tag "JobAnalysis." Here's what I have:

Job Analysis Overview: From HR Guide, a brief description of job analysis including its purpose, process and elements.

MUD Questionnaire: This .pdf from Designing for Learning is a questionnaire to use in a job analysis project. From the authors:

MUD Analysis is an interview-based method of job analysis. It is used to accurately
identify ‘job learning needs’, as opposed to individual learning needs or training
needs, in order to ensure training is relevant.

The MUD Analysis describes jobs not in terms of job outputs, but rather in terms of
different learning strategies (or learning processes) that the incumbent needs to use in order to learn to perform the job. Both what is to be learned, as well as how it should be learned, are identified.

MUD Analysis Guidelines: A partner document for the one above, this describes the process guidelines.

Employee Evaluation and Selection: From ACCEL Team Development, this document outlines a job analysis strategy to be used as a tool for recruitment and performance review.

del.icio.us Tidbits: Mobile learning tools

2009-11-02T19:52:00.001-08:00

Here is the periodic sampling from my del.icio.us favorites list. This time I chose the tags "MobileLearning" and "tool."

The Mobile Learning Dilemma (and a few cool tools): From Mr. Robbo blog, a list of his favorite mobile learning tools.

Nimbuzz: The Nimbuzz application enables people to enjoy free & low cost mobile calls, free instant messaging, social networking and other rich communication features, using the internet capabilities of the their mobile device.

My Top 10 Mobile Tools for Learning: From Ignatia Web, one of my favorite go-to spots for low-resource distance learning ideas.

Mofuse: A tool for "mobilizing" websites, such as blogs. Looks to be free for small blog sites.

This Goes for Instructional Design Too...

2009-10-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Another great post from Jessica Hagy at This Is Indexed:

On less being more

2009-10-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I have recently posted on three topics which tie nicely together in this "simply brilliant" graph by Indexed: visualization, humor, and the paring down of information to it's essentials to support learning.

On Needles and Haystacks and Such

A great summary of these topics, practicing what it preaches. Thank you Jessica Hagy.