Congratulations TLDCast! Today is the 200th Episode for Training Learning and Development Professionals

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Thanks to everyone who joined us today! Luis and I appreciate all of you. If you'd like to continue the TLDCast conversations, please join us in the slack group. #TLDChat will continue in slack making the connection between live streaming broadcast and text-based chat conversations.

TLDC18 January 29-30 Phoenix, AZ

We're also looking forward to seeing everyone in Phoenix January 29th, 30th for TLDC18!
It's the best for a professional development opportunity that you will find. Join us for TLDCast and ask others why they're going. You don't want to miss this!



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CES: VIZIO Announces new line of PCs - Impacts eLearning?

Hey! It's CES week! Why is a Corporate eLearning Strategies blog covering consumer electronics?  Well, I wouldn't exactly say that I'm "covering" the show.  However, I am getting a lot of info about new product launches.  I'm actually quite shocked at the number emails I am receiving as an industry analyst.  But it's also quite fun to see it all.

This came from VIZIO inviting me to check out their new PCs.  It's interesting to me because I always think of VIZIO as a TV maker.  And the products in this image look REALLY nice.

So, what does this tell me and why should eLearning people care.  Okay, I know this is going to be a stretch but its also kind of fun :)

1) The TV is increasingly more interesting as a content delivery device...not less.
2) Convergence (an often overused word in computing) is becoming more mainstream.
3) Mainstream adoption of new consumer electronics capabilities means eLearning can get on board.

So that's a long way towards an impact on eLearning, right?  Yes, but seeing the reality of what the future holds can help us prepare.

Think about how powerful it is to participate in a Google+ Hangout while watching a YouTube video.  That experience, as good as it is, is still not quite ready for prime time.  But it will be...soon.  When TV makers get into the PC business and PC makers start getting into the TV business it's easy to see that we are well on our way to a shared video viewing experience.

This is the convergence that has been talked about for many years.  2012 is when this begins to actually work for many people.  Computing on your "TV", and watching television shows on your laptop, iPad, or other mobile device.  Yes, it's available now and many enjoy the experience, but I would still call it new and in it's infancy.  The true convergence and ease of use begins this year.

And since eLearning lags behind consumer technology it's easy to see how this new technology will be useful as a technology delivered learning channel.  Don't worry.  You don't need to start converting all of your training materials just yet.  But aware of what's coming and start thinking about the next 5 years in your org.  Plan now.

Get more CES info and video at their official YouTube channel.

Creative Training Course Titles: Around the Corner vs How a Differential Works

In my last post I asked you to review a couple training videos about the complex gearing system in cars known as the differential.

I purposely did not mention which video I viewed first.  The video that Dan Roam shared on Facebook was the video from 1937.  I'll be honest and say my reaction to the first 60secs or so was something short of "this is lame! I must have clicked the wrong link.  These are motorcycles, not cars."  But then of course the story begins to unfold and connections are made.  Nothing short of BRILLIANT!

I will spend the next few posts pondering the instructional design of each video as I see it.  You may not see it the same as me.  And so, I'm hoping you'll join me in a conversation about these 2 videos and the 70+ years of instructional design and corporate eLearning theory between them.  As a quick primer I started with the simple yet often overlooked TITLE.

Around the Corner
What is in a name? What I completely missed in the 1937 video, the first viewing, is the catchy little title to the story...oh wait... excuse me... training.  They titled it Around the Corner.  What?  Why around the corner?  AH, NOW I GET IT!  Holy moly, they actually incorporated the problem being solved into the title...nice!  And besides, simply being curious about WHY the "course" is titled in such a way engages the learner.  I would think that even on a subconscious level creating interest in the first 5 secs with a mysterious title would be a good thing.  Even if the learners simply asked themselves why a training video would begin with such a title.

How a Differential Works
The title of the 2011 video is predictably How a Differential Works.  I'd swear the first spoken words are straight out of the designers handbook on how to write an appropriate objective,

 "We're going to explore what a differential is...".  

I wonder how many instructional design reviews it took for the Ph.D. to finally land on the word "explore" as apposed to learn, or discover, or look into.  I'll bet some of you reading this were critiquing every word.  Go ahead, it's okay to admit it.  You've been "trained" well, and you paid a lot for that masters degree, so you have every right to question each and every word your peer has chosen.  While I'm at it I'd like to point my finger at those of you dying to tell me that these are "information" and  <eyes rolling>  not REALLY training. </eyes rolling>
"For cryin' out loud, man!  Where's the practice and feedback?" 
Yea, I get it.  Now get over it.
But I digress...

I love these videos for so many reasons.  Discussing the titles is only the beginning.  The next time you begin the design process you might want to ask yourself how you might incorporate a creative title into your design.  Your stakeholders may not approve, but if they ask you "Why did you title it this way?"... well... then you've done your job well.

What Have We Learned about Training in over 70 years? [VIDEO]

My favorite design thinker Dan Roam posted a YouTube video on how a Differential System works on cars. I was blown away by the quality of the video and how confident I felt in understanding the complex system of a differential. After watching the video I noticed other videos in that right hand column of YouTube and so I watched another training video.

The videos I watched are in this post. Do me a favor. Watch them both and tell me your immediate gut reaction. Also, tell me if you had prior knowledge of the topic before viewing these videos.

What do they have in common?  Can you see, or simply sense, a particular learning model?  Or template?  Or format?  What about the development technology?  Did it one work better than the other? What about the scripting?  Put yourself in the shoes of the instructional designers.  What methods does it look like they used to design and develop this training?  Better yet, is this even training at all?
Ready? Go!
 

Templates: Love 'em or Hate 'em?

Do you use templates?  Are you a purist and despise templates?  Personally, I don't like to take a hard line on this topic.

I like to think of all templates as time-savers and as such they become productivity tools.  They don't impact my instructional design.  Unless a certain template is requested or mandated, finding a template also serves as inspiration.  And quite frankly every custom project you do should also be considered a template for any other similar project that appears in the future.  It has nothing to do with being lazy, but has everything to do with being productive and getting better at what you do.

Consider all of the things you were NOT able to do with the first project.  When a similar project starts you now have much of the work completed and you can use your development time to add, or improve the parts of the "template" that you now have time for.

Also consider a customer asking you to do work within an unreasonably short timeframe.  Instead of not being able to do the job, you could inquire if a pre-designed template solution would be okay.  I think its always worth asking.

Baked Goods Gift Tags

The internet provides an endless supply of templates for SO many different projects.  I'll share this one I just discovered from LOVE vs DESIGN.  Baked Goods Gift Tags.

Download Template here

But if you're looking for eLearning Templates a Google search will turn up many, but I'd recommend starting with the eLearning Brothers at elearningtemplates.com

Learning Web Design & Development is fun when Gamified

Gamification is a buzzword that is frowned upon by many.  It's more of a trend than anything else and since it's hanging around I thought this example might be fun to share.  This blog post from The Gamification blog landed in my Google reader.

TeamTreehouse.com

The blog post points out the use of gamification elements in the web development learning environment created by Team Treehouse.

I have a couple reasons for sharing this with you:

1) I really like the design of both the site and the video lessons.  The videos are well done. The production quality is great, and the few free lessons that I reviewed were well scripted and flowed quite nicely.

2) While I am not a believer in the gamification of all learning, I do think in certain instances it makes sense for that audience.

Whether you are a fan of gamification or not, I just figured this was a nice example that you might want to review for any number of reasons.  Heck, you may even want to learn how to program iOS and make your own learning app.  Go for it!
Enjoy!

Building the Instructional Designer's Relevance in 2012 - Aaron Silvers

@aaronesilvers

Aaron Silvers gave a fascinating presentation for the recent eLearning Guild's online forum entitled Building the Instructional Designer's Relevance in 2012.  You can find the recording here.  If you are not a paid member of the Guild you won't be able to view it, but presentations like this are exactly what makes the Guild archives well worth every penny you invest in a membership.  And yes, it IS an investment...in YOU!  Nobody can make you better at your craft.  You MUST own it and make time to improve yourself and your skills.

Brain Rules - Getty Images - Vision Trumps all other Senses

In my humble opinion BrainRules should be MANDATORY reading for YOU and all of your eLearning colleagues. When the instructional design of 40 years ago was...well...designed, the only thing we could study was behavior. Today's technology looks inside the brain and tells us what that mass of cells is REALLY up too. If you are in an Instructional Design degree program of any kind and have NOT been exposed to the latest brain research then go get it for yourself...on the Internet. Its all over the place...and in books.

Its these new findings that help us understand why we intuitively know that simulations and virtual, highly visual, spaces are AMAZINGLY powerful learning tools. And it also confirms that creativity is at the heart of truly great instructional design. Words alone simply DO NOT cut it!

Special thanks to @cammybean and @tmiket for tweeting about BrainRules.net and helping to spread the word.

Dr. Medina was SO awesome at DevLearn08, I'm thinking about bringing him back...what do you think?

DevLearn 2010 Conference & Expo - November - San Francisco, CA

@KathySierra Learns Spanish via TWITTER

KathySierra_LearnSpanish_viaTWITTER
Originally uploaded by Brent Schlenker

And so can you. Follow @cadadia

If you are still trying to understand what TWITTER is all about and why we should care about in training/education, then here it is.

I'm randomly following my twitter stream, minding my own business, and all of sudden I see the string of tweets by @KathySierra that you now see posted in the image. It took all of about 20mins for Kathy to have a customized daily Spanish lesson delivered via TWITTER. (actually only 6mins according to Kathy) Actually delivered for ALL of us via twitter. Just "Follow" @cadadia and you will been connected to a stream of daily Spanish words.

Okay, so I can actually SEE all of you pedagogy pundits out there rolling your eyes at me. But you've GOT to admit this is pretty DAMN cool! And as Kathy might say: This is just another little thing that helps me kick ass! And so I'm all for it.

This was a wonderfully positive experience for me with TWITTER considering the morons we all endured 140 characters at a time during the conventions.

Adobe Summit Day 2 - Authorware and the future of e-Learning

Adobe Learning Summit
I finally have an opportunity to sit and live blog. [yes Mark, I know living blogging is soooo 90's ;-)] I'm sitting in the Friday morning session of the Adobe eLearning Summit.
Yesterday was awesome and the reception at Adobe was a blast. GREAT hosts!!! Good people. Can't ask for much more.

Adobe eLearning Solutions
So, Ellen is talking about Authorware and IT's future in eLearning:

6 part plan
1)Business continuity
2)conversion
3)migration
4)enablement
5)develop the next gen leanring content authoring
6)improved communication

Tom KIng will be acting as the Liaison for Adobe and the Authorware community to help this transition process.

Its obvious that the authorware decison was a tough one for adobe. And Silke reminds me that it is NOT end-of-LIFED. For now, its only end-of-development. Because of you, the Authorware community, they are looking into putting some engineering effort into updating the runtime for IE7 and Vista support.

So basically, DON"T PANIC (that's me saying that) ! Just because you shouldn't expect a new version in the future doesn't mean you can't still use and purchase the tool to continue creating killer eLearning apps. With that said, Adobe is actively pursuing #1 above to provide a "soft landing" for its users. The basic idea is that Authorware has been used in the past to be the onsize fits all for elearning development. Adobe is working toward helping the community to see better ways to move some types of content into other tools.

Conversion: Adobe is working with many vendors to facilitate, broker, and enable conversion efforts. Currently, they have reached out and engaged with DazzleTech, SumTotol, Eedo, Atlantic Link, Huric, Eduworks.

Migration: Captivate and Flash for content creation. AIR provides interesting options. Flex is great to some of what Authorware did for you too. The key is that there is NO one solution to fill the gap left by Authorware.
Issues: 1) Migrate "heritage" content. 2) Migrate skills and 3) decision making on new tools as we move forward.
Thermo - ??? PHotoshop plugin - alpha

If you want to have a conversation with Ellen and the Adobe team to discuss all the things Authorware, join their webinar on November 14th on Authorware

Adobe is also putting together an eLearning Advisory Council. This is something that I think will be extremely valuable for the eLearning community. Adobe is a big player and we ALL use at least ONE of their tools to get our jobs done. ADL and AICC will play a role moving forward. AICC.org/blog has great authorware usage data.