GSMA 2012 Global Mobile Awards Announced - Congratulations to OnPoint Digital!

The GSMA Global Mobile Awards were announced this week. I'd like to congratulate Robert Gadd and the OnPoint Digital team for their award.

Best Mobile Innovation for Education or Learning

Winner: OnPoint Digital - CellCast Solution

You can read more from one of the judges, Judy Brown, at her blog mLearnopedia.
See the full list of winners at the Mobile World Congress site HERE. 
Be sure to visit OnPoint at mLearnCon this June and see their winning solution for yourself.

Oracle buys Taleo - Cloud Tech is Important! Are you Still Avoiding Cloud Services?

Interesting news this morning comes in the form of an acquisition by Oracle.  Here is the press release from Taleo regarding being purchased by Oracle.  eLearning plays a big role in the management of corporate talent and Taleo offers eLearning delivery as part of their cloud package.  Here's a piece from the release:

"Taleo's integrated cloud-based talent management solutions optimize how organizations hire, manage, develop and reward their employees and gives companies the intelligence needed to capitalize on their most critical asset -- their people," said Michael Gregoire, Chairman and CEO, Taleo. "Joining forces with Oracle gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers."

The big news here is that Oracle rival SAP recently acquired SuccessFactors which is a rival of Taleo.  So the race to round out cloud services is still running.

More articles on the topic:
Reuters - Oracle buys Taleo for $1.9biln: Cloud War Brews 
MarketWatch - Oracle buys Taleo for $1.9biln
GIGAOM - Oracle buys Taleo in a $1.9bil Response to SAP
ZDNet - Oracle buys Taleo for $1.9bil; SaaS Consolidation Ramps

ProtonMedia Announces ProtoSphere Version 2.0

ProtonMedia.com has been on my radar for quite some time. There was a time when 3D virtual environments were all the rage...think SecondLife. Then the fad dropped, but the reality that lies in the usefulness of these tools remains.

Like every other technology used for training, it's not meant for every training problem. But if you have the right training problem and capable users, then I believe interactive 3d environments can prove to be highly effective.

Check it out!

ProtoSphere 2.0 Trial Download here.

1,300 iPads for Level 3 Sales Team - Perfect Mobile Learning Tool

So, if you are one of the people mad about the EULA for iBooks2.  And you are convinced that companies will not use Author for training materials? THINK AGAIN!!!


MacTrast posted "Level 3 Looks to iPad to Reinvent their Sales Team".  They are relaying the story from Information Week's article "iPad's for All: One Sales Team's Story".
While neither article specifically mentions iBooks as part of the intended use, I can bet that it's coming.  I mean, why not? Right? 1,300 Sales people outfitted with iPads means the delivery channel is ready and the sales team will expect it.

The last paragraph of the article states:

What's next for Level 3's iPad app? Taylor doesn't pretend to know. "Enterprise IT is dead," he likes to say--meaning IT needs to take the consumer tools people like to use, watch and learn how people work best, and then provide systems that fit. He's convinced there's something important and different in how efficiently people interact with the tablets' interface, and that "we've only scratched the surface of using that." 

If you work for Level 3 in the training department will you please contact me :) 

Media for Learning: Top Tools - New Research Report from The eLearning Guild

The eLearning Guild released it's highly anticipated TOP TOOLS report today.

Get the download here.

Of course this report was completed prior to the Apple announcement.  But next year's report, I suspect, will have a new tool on the list: iBook Author.  It's definitely a game changer.

What I've discovered over the last few years with regards to iOS is that many people start out wanting to create an iPhone app because they have some information to share.  What they really want to create is an interactive experience...more like a digital book.  Author makes the development of interactive digital content easy, and the app is free.  So, why not? Right?  But I digress...

Here are just a few of the data points revealed in the report:

• 46% want ability to support mobile delivery of their #eLearning media 
• Adobe Captivate has largest media tool market share with 40.4%
• Top-rated #eLearning Media Tool by Cost = Audacity
• 85.6% rate Adobe Photoshop Excellent for #eLearning graphics creation and/or content editing
• 67.1% say Lectora is essential for their overall #eLearning Media toolkit
• 70% report being able to use SnagIt and Audacity effectively within 1 week of use

Find out more from the author of the report at Learning Solutions conference in Florida, March 21-23.

What Great Bosses Know - 10 Training Tips - iTunes U Revolution?

Ever since the Apple education announcement I've been blown away by what this means for our industry.  In the process of scanning the new and improved iTunesU I found this interesting podcast.  It's called "What Great Bosses Know".  Here is the description from iTunesU...

"Jill Geisler heads the Poynter Institute's leadership and management programs. In these Poynter podcasts, she shares practical leadership for managers who want to be great bosses."

Episodes 13 titled 10 Training Tips caught my eye.  It's only 4 minutes so I listened.  Here are her tips.

1. Adults learn differently than young people
2. Make learning practical
3. Interactivity is better than passive learning
4. Do not use Powerpoint as a teleprompter
5. Each person learns a little differently
6. Always tap into the wisdom of the room
7. Don't embarrass people
8. Have fun
9. Always end with next steps in mind - What will the students DO after the class
10. Always include evaluations in your teaching

I like these tips.  Sure, many of you will say, "yeah, duh".  And I know some of you are making a list in your head of all the things she missed or forgot.  But that's not the point I'd like to make.  I don't know what Jill's background is, but she obviously has the ear of many Sr. Management types who NEED to hear this information.  Maybe these managers will be delivering a training session and just one of these tips could resonate with them.  That's helpful.

I often hear of the struggles to "get a seat at the table".  We want what we know about instructional design, and corporate training design, to be important and cared about.  Maybe iTunesU can help?  

Now that Apple has introduced the hardware, delivery system, AND authoring tool for designing, delivering, and consuming instructional content, it's only a matter of time before the market is flooded and ONLY the BEST instructional designs will float to the top.  And, at some point every training manager, or CLO, in the Fortune 500 will hear from their C-level peers, "Why can't our LMS be easy like iTunes U? And why aren't our training manuals as cool as the textbooks on my kid's iPad?"