Putting the Dance in Your mLearnCon Attendance

The mLearnCon event is 3 weeks away.  If you are designing learning experiences in any way, you've got to take mobile devices seriously.  This is not a fad that will just go away if you keep demanding that your students check their devices at the door.  mLearning is something of a buzzword these days, but no matter what you call it mobile devices are everywhere and in everyone's hands...most with more than one mobile device.  Mobile is how we live our lives, it's how we access a global world of knowledge, and it's how business gets done.  

Ignoring mobile devices in training and education is as bad as being an entrepreneur and ignoring money.  

mLearnCon is in it's third year and continues to grow.  The most influential mobile training development experts will be there to answer all of your questions.  Since this is a niche conference you won't feel lost in the crowd.  It's hyper focused on one thing...MOBILE! 

If You're New to mLearning

If you are just getting started with mobile learning then mLearnCon is the place for you.  You could spend days, even weeks, searching the internet, reading reports (Mobile Report), and consuming other content in effort to get your mind around mobile.  But in the end you'd still have questions and you'd still lack the confidence to move forward.  Do your homework and then register for mLearnCon.  You'll want to sign up for a pre-conference workshop as well.  It's well worth the extra expense.  

Once you've registered you should start creating your strategy for attendance.  What? You don't create a conference strategy when you go to conferences? Well, If you are one those boondogglers, that's cool too. There's plenty of golfing near San Jose.  If you're serious about your conference attendance, then you really should be planning your attendance.  And this doesn't need to take long.  And it's NOT all about choosing which session to attend.

Step One

Step back and take a look at your current environment.  Define the context of your current job.  If you are a manager then you'll be thinking about your long term strategies and which projects are currently in progress or in the pipeline headed your way.  You should also understand your enterprise environment and your IT departments strategy.  You do not want to run off to a conference and find a beautiful hammer only to come home and discover there are no nails.  

If you are a designer or developer, these issues are important to you as well but you'll also want make a quick list of what tools you use, how you use them, and what you think you might be missing.  You've no doubt already encountered projects where you thought a mobile solution could be useful as part of the overall solution.  If your company has settled on a certain development tool then whether you like it or not, you should find a pre-conference workshop on that tool and a few sessions to help you hone those skills.  Remember, learning more about your tools is valuable. REALLY valuable in today's marketplace.  If you get the opportunity to learn more about your craft, do not squander it.

Step Two

Now that you have a solid picture of your own personal current environment, you should craft a few questions.  The questions you craft now will be what you use to refresh yourself when you've gone off track...and you will go off track.  The excitement of seeing colleagues, friends, keynote presentations, expo hall booths, etc., will no doubt begin to overwhelm you.  A short list of questions crafted BEFORE the event will act as your compas to get you back on track.  You don't need to define specifics on how these questions will get answered just yet...trust that the event and a little serendipity will offer the moments of enlightenment.  But if you don't have those questions on your mind you could very well miss the opportunities to gain the knowledge you need.

Step Three

NOW you're fully prepared to handle the detail work of reviewing the specifics about the event and how you will allocate your time.  This is when you'll engage with the conference mobile app.  If you don't have it then just use the web site. Review all of the sessions the first time by quickly scanning for the ones you think might answer your questions.  Don't think about it too much, just do a quick pass and see if anything jumps out at you.  Then do it again but look a little more closely, this time eliminating the ones that you are CERTAIN you will not need to attend.  Then do ANOTHER scan, this time dig a little deeper into the ones that are still remaining.

Make sure you have at least 2 or 3 selected in each time block.  Once you get to the event things happen fast and you don't have a lot of time for decision making.  You may find that one of your questions has been answered on day 1, and so that means a day 2 session is no longer necessary.  Having multiple sessions selected makes it easy to know exactly which one will fill in the gap.  It's no fun making decisions 5mins before sessions start, because you'll be frustrated going into what ever session you chose and every little thing will begin to annoy you.  I've experienced this many times and have heard the same from others.  Some times in those situations you get lucky and you wander into an amazing session...that's the serendipity that often occurs.  But the opposite can also occur and your state of mind going into a session that isn't working for you, is critical.  You don't want to be "that guy/gal" that starts nitpicking a well intentioned speaker because you were rolling the dice on their session.

Step Four

The greatest of plans often change in an instant.  This is where you need to put the DANCE in your attendance. Going with the flow works well if you are prepared to make adjustments without much thinking. The pre-planning takes most of the work out of decision making and allows you to feel more relaxed about the decisions you make.  When when need to adjust, it shouldn't be a big ordeal.  Just consult your session list first for alternatives.  If things have completely shifted and your session selections are no longer useful then refer to your questions and the quick environmental scan you did in in Step 1 and 2.  Because if things change THAT much on site, you will most definitely be flustered, so having your original image of the big picture will help you adjust and focus more quickly.  Remember, don't panic! Breathe. Dance.

The pre-planning may seem extreme, but I'm hoping you'll do something to prepare yourself for mLearnCon.  You cannot prepare for the changes in training and development without understanding mobile.  It's complicated.  It's different. It requires a new mindset around what training is and what it WILL be.  Moving your Powerpoint slides to mobile delivery services is NOT the solution.  Commit to being better than that.  Your learners deserve it and so do you.

Mobile Learning Report Shows Significant Increase in Intent to do MORE mLearning

Mobile Learning: The Time is Now was just released by The eLearning Guild.  With the mobile market being the fastest growing industry you'd be wise to pay attention to how mobile devices impact your learning audience and in turn how you develop and deliver your learning solutions.

Guild members have shared the impact of mobile learning on their organizations and their strategies.  The questions they've answered have given us a solid picture of the mobile learning space.

"The number of Guild members who say they intend to use mLearning continues to increase. In 2010, 45.6% of Guild members said they intend to do more mLearning. In 2012, that figure has increased to 65.7%."

This mobile research report is nicely timed in anticipation of the mLearnCon Conference and Expo.  The major mobile learning industry players can be found at this event. You don't want to miss it.

Khan Academy Announces iPad App

This Fast Company article is the first I've heard of Khan Academy's new iPad App.  I have not downloaded it yet.  But that's next on my list after writing this post.  I'm a big fan of what the Khan Academy is doing and my favorite new school model is "flipped" instruction.  The app supports that model well.

For the growing number of schools that are adopting iPads, the most impactful potential for the app is for Khan Academy's "flipped classroom," in which lectures are watched at home by students, and then assignments are completed collaboratively in class, where a teacher is present. "The teacher is free to do a lot more of the human interaction," says Shantanu Sinha, President and COO of Khan Academy.

I know this blog is supposed to be about corporate learning strategies but so much of what is going on in tech impacts both corporate AND academic learning environments.  Some of the same methods could of Khan Academy could very easily be incorporated into corporate training environments.

Let me know if you are doing anything similar to Khan Academy in your corporate training department.  I'd love to hear about it.

Check out more mobile learning innovations at mLearnCon June 19-21.

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.

DemoFest Winners Webinar - Nov. 30 10:30am Pacific

If you missed DevLearn 2011, then you also missed DemoFest and the amazing work of your eLearning colleagues.  The eLearning Guild has taken the projects selected by attendees as outstanding and asked them to participate in a Guild Online Forum. 

This DemoFest Highlights Webinar is scheduled for tomorrow. (Wednesday November 30th - 10:30 to Noon Pacific time)

Be sure to get registered NOW!

http://www.elearningguild.com/devlearn/surveys/index.cfm?sid=182&selection=doc.2128&utm_campaign=dl11demo&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=elg-180l

May the 4S be with You...at DevLearn 2011

Sorry, I couldn't resist the title.  So, I spent some time this morning listening to the Apple announcement.  Actually, I spent time listening to conversations ABOUT the Apple announcement (live.twit.tv) and WATCHED streaming text and images of the announcement being made.  There.  That's more accurate.  And yes, it was as boring as it sounds.

You can read all of the iPhone 4s details at Apple's site.

All the little upgrades to the iPhone4 are great.  All of which make the iPhone4s an even BETTER media creation device.  And since MOST people STILL don't create that much media with the iPhone they have, the updates aren't that meaningful...to most.

I love the idea of a better camera.  I love that a LOT.  And the higher rez HD video recording is a plus as well.  But it also means that each image will take up more space on the harddrive.  That means, for me, I'll  be needing the 32GB model at the very least.  My current iPhone4 is 16GB and I fill that with video and images, and apps, very quickly.

The real announcement today was about the integration of Siri.  This is the type of app that simply makes the iPhone easier to use.  It's a user experience boost which Apple, in my opinion, is most famous for.  Most of the other technology sites will be debating how well it works.  I'm going to assume it works as advertised. Watch the video.  

What does this mean for eLearning?  Does our iPhone become a mobile SME?  Dare I even write, mSME?  Does something like Siri work well with WolframAlpha?  That would be pretty cool...and very educational.  What if there was an API that we, as eLearning developers, could tap into and give our eLearning solutions the ability to "hear" the learner, and then respond?  These are all the things I'm currently pondering while I wait patiently for Oct. 14th.  Just in time for DevLearn 2011...phew.

Upside Learning and Others Showcasing Mobile Learning Products at mLearnCon

I did my usual search for press releases today and noticed one from Upside Learning.  They are one of the exhibitors participating at mLearnCon in San Jose, CA June 21-23.  That's only a week away and I'm excited by all the new mobile learning products.  Upside Learning will be showcasing Upside2Go and it sounds interesting.

While this is off topic I feel the need to say how impressed I was with Upside's integration of mLearnCon's design.

I had just been reviewing the mLearnCon site prior to clicking through the press release to their site.  And it struck me how the visual elements immediately made the connection for me.  And of course this made me think about how powerful good design and imagery can be in learning when applied correctly.  It's that consistent visual theme, and branding, that helps the brain form the connections it craves.

But anyways, back to the original idea.  It's also apparent from the web site that the expo has grown significantly over last year.  The mLearning marketplace is real, and it continues to grow.  Everyone is scrambling to make sure their tools produce content ready for mobile delivery.  It's exciting to see.

Mobile Learning is definitely on everyone's radar now.  Managers, Developers, and Designers of mLearning have no choice but to face the reality of delivering content to smaller screens, breaking content into smaller chunks, understanding SMS, designing for touch screens, and SO much more.

Many of the long time readers of this blog will be at mLearnCon speaking, sharing, connecting, and helping move our industry forward.  If you're not registered for the event you can still stop by the Fairmont for an expo pass and check out all the GREAT products/services as well as benefit from mini-stages delivering hallway sessions on all sorts of topics.  

If you see me (@bschlenker) there, please stop me and say hi!

mLearnCon 2011 VIDEO Introduction

mLearnCon, Mobile Learning Conference and Expo from The eLearning Guild on Vimeo.

mLearnCon is not that far away.  June will be here faster than you think.  At least that's what the calendars on my iPad and iPhone are telling me.  Its going to be an intense 3 days highly focused on mobile learning.  If you don't think you're ready for mobile, I would suggest you think again.  You don't need to be implementing a mobile learning solution RIGHT NOW to need this conference.  Whether you like it or not your learners (the orgs employees) all have mobile devices with them...in their pockets...RIGHT NOW!  This is a great opportunity for you and your training department to take advantage of this technology.  Find out how at mLearnCon.

JotYou - Location Based SMS mobile eLearning

This new little web app is very cool. You set up an SMS to be sent when the recipient enters a certain location area. Of course you define the area and who will get the msg when they enter that area. I love this stuff! That's probably why I like the idea of QR codes too.

I can think of a lot things to do with it and they list some of them on their site. But how about welcome msgs for new hires when they get on your corporate campus. I'll let them explain how jotyou works. Or you could just watch their video demo below.

Mobile Learning News: Verizon goes to BYOP model

Must be a cold day in hell. Check this out.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Verizon Wireless will break with the rest of the U.S. cell phone industry and become the first mobile operator to let customers use any phone on its network, the company announced Tuesday.

All I've got to say is WOW!
First Google, now THIS! What's next...FREE iPhones for all AT&T subscribers?

This is great news for users and for developers of mobile learning content. Looks like Verizon and Google will battle it out to buy the C block. Can you imagine cell phone speeds at the rate of cable or DSL? 2008 is looking to be an interesting year already.

Apple lays out the future of mobile learning

Wow! Look at how beautiful that is! The price drops by $200 on the iPhone and the iPod Touch is a thing of beauty. So you don't want to switch to AT&T but still want the killer mobile web and beautiful touch screen? Well, your in luck. The Touch is just the device for you.

Can I here anyone say "Ultimate mobile learning device"? I had heard of schools testing iPhones with wi-fi only (they disable the phone service but utilize the wi-fi with the on-campus wireless network). Maybe we don't give every kid a laptop. Maybe we give them each a Touch...without the impending molestation charges of course.
Early reports of iPhone distribution in bulk were stifled by cost for many organizations, but maybe the new Touch and lower costs are just the thing to blow this whole mobile learning thing wide open.

I think other device makers must be simply ashamed and embarassed at this point. Palm killed its Foleo device yesterday. According to engadget

"Palm needs to focus on one thing right now, and that's coming out with a category-killing smartphone".

Gee...ya think!? But who the heck even WANTS a smartphone anymore when you can have an iPhone or a Touch? I mean really, people! Aren't you just a little embarassed when you have too pull out that dinosaur Treo or Blackberry in front of your iphone toting colleagues? Your geek cred is on the line.

If you read The eLearning Guild's 360 report on Mobile Learning then you know my thoughts on the iPhone as a Mobile Learning Device. It rocks! But it's not the first gen that will make mobile learning happen. It's THIS gen! More on why later.

Put the Touch on your Christmas wish list! This is good stuff!

360 Report on Mobile Learning 2007

360 Report on Mobile Learning 2007
Originally uploaded by Brent Schlenker

Just another reminder that the Mobile Learning Report is available at The eLearning Guild.

Also, for an open discussion with the authors keep August 29th open for a Webinar.



Click HERE to register.

Mobile Learning - iPhone - Perhaps I was wrong?

Judy Brown of mLearnopedia sent this to me over the weekend.

International Academy of Design and Technology - Online



I'm shocked and very impressed that they were able to get the iPhone version of their online school web site online so quickly. Perhaps its because, compared to earlier versions of the "mobile web", you don't really need to tweek too much to get your site to work in Safari on the iPhone.



I wasn't sure that Instructional Designers and Educational businesses were ready or prepared for the iPhone. I still think most aren't, but its nice to see one moving so quickly to test the waters.

Nice jobe IADT.com!!! Anyone from IADT want to contact me to be on a podcast?

Judy authored part of the 360 Report on Mobile Learning available now from The eLearning Guild.

Learn More!
WEBINAR
August 29th
8:30am or 11:30pm
Pacific Time

iQuiz Maker - Quiz creator for iPods

We have been discussing iPods as training tools for over a year now. And the folks at Aspyr have a created an app to make it happen.
IQUIZMAKER
Users need to purchase the iQuiz game for their iPod however the authoring tool is free for developers. Anyone want to give it a go and report back?

iPhone Impacts Mobile eLearning

I tried getting a post up about the iPhone on the day of the keynote but since I have switched to the NEW version of blogger all of my typical posting apps have been messed up. So, I've discovered my new work-arounds and now I'm able to post again. I was hoping the new version of blogger would convince me to NOT switch to Wordpress, but its not looking good for blogger.

Anyways! The iPhone! Its beautiful! I love it! Mark Oehlert and I having already discussed saving our pennies for the big June release date.

So what does this mean for Mobile Learning? It certainly changes the technology landscape for what's possible...no question. Corporations have already commited to the Blackberry, and many of those same companies are testing or preparing to implement iPods for their employees as learning devices. So, for the same price you can now get a device that can handle both...AND THEN SOME!

Will corporations make the switch? I highly doubt it. PCs are simply too entrenched in the large corporate cultures. But the rest of us should take a serious look...small business, and even midsize companies. One device to replace them all. If the others are smart phones then the iPhone is the genius phone. You will actually be able to sync EVERYTHING from your Mac and be able to access it on the iPhone. Not in some crippled version of a browser, or mail app, but the same beautiful full featured apps that Mac users are familiar with on their desktops and laptops. I'm hating my Treo650 more and more each day.

So you say, "Brent, give me an example"? Okay, I was listening to a podcast version of the keynote this morning and the selective voicemail feature struck me. Wow! So, its already cool that you use a graphical interface to access your voicemail msgs...in any order. That's cool enough, but what else does that mean. Hey, why not use the voicemail system in the same way that we have intended to us podcasts for elearning?

Bingo! Instant podcasts, but created using a technology that everyone already knows how to use. There aren't THAT many "silver learners" out there that are still uncomfortable with voicemail? So now, you create a voicemail that becomes an artifact on the system no different from an email, a wiki page, an mp3, or avi, file. Perhaps we can drag 'n' drop those email files into garage band and make them part of a podcast, or mobile learning module. Collaborative audio recordings from translators in different languages: You send a script to them in Language A, they call you back and read the script in your voice mail using Language B, and you pull the voicemail file into your editing/authoring app. Many possibilities here.

I hope to have Judy Brown, the queen of mobile learning, on an upcoming podcast to discuss this in more detail. Or maybe I should wait until I have one in my hands...hmmm. Not sure.