I read this post by Natalie where she talks about her job interview during which she had to create a short training presentation. Her post title reads as Epiphany, but too late? Maybe. She says she had lot of fun in  her interview. She also says soon after the interview, she  reflected on that test and thought of alternative ways to present the same training. She says "I can come to a situation with a number of ideas and even make a decision on one, but then I will ruminate later on how to do it differently or better." . I also got to read this good post by Sumeet Moghe where he says to do Instructional Designing, you need many other skills and not just writing skills. Sumeet has put in a lot of thought while describing the skills required for an Instructional Designer.  Some tags that can be added to both these posts are  skills, jobs and interviews. These posts have triggered me to write this post. I have been thinking a lot about job descriptions, interview processes and techniques, the kind of questions people ask during interviews and of course the tests that candidates are asked to take up.  Some questions that come to my mind are: Do job descriptions really reflect the kind of work you will do in a company? Is it not important to think over the questions you ask someone in an interview? How do you test someone for the kind of skills required to do a job? Is it justified that someone interviews a person for just a few hours and then take a decision? Is it justified that most interviews are in the question- answer mode , yes - no mode and there is no scope for discussion? There are many people who reflect over things already done and look for better ideas. Are interviews too short-lived to accomodate this? Is it not important to research about the candidate before the interview? Is it not important to analyse what the candidate has already done? Is it justified to make decisions only based on test results? Is it not important to think beyond the data in the resume? In short do you think current interview processes work or should it be revamped? With changing times, should interview techniques be more creative? If you are a hiring manager, how do you prepare yourself before you go for an interview? If you are a candidate applying for a job, do you get bored of tests and the kind of questions the hiring manager asks? Do you think you can do justice to a job  interview in 3 hours? This is an open discussion. Please feel free to post your comments

Slides da apresentação do artigo Aplicação de Elementos de Jogos numa Plataforma de Aprendizagem Social (Jorge Simões, Ademar Aguiar, Rebeca Redondo, Ana Vilas) realizada em 1 de dezembro na ticEDUCA 2012:   ticEDUCA2012 Slides from Jorge Simões

I created this tutorial video in 2007 when i was exploring Photoshop myself. I had real difficulty understanding the concept of layers. That’s when I thought I must create this video which might be of help to many other beginners like me. Some people found this video useful and have left their comments.  A few found the quality of video quite poor. I see a better quality video now. Thanks to YouTube for enhancements. This video also has about 10k hits, which excites me, though this was achieved over 2 years This video tutorial is also a good example of Show me simulation of software products. So here I repost my video again for all those who have not seen this before.  

Estão disponíveis online as atas do II congresso internacional TIC e Educação - ticEDUCA2012. ticEDUCA 2012II Congresso Internacional TIC e EducaçãoInstituto de Educação da Universidade de Lisboa

Canufit is an interesting puzzle game. The objective of the game is to fit the given letters inside a picture. The challenge lies in how quickly you are able to fit the letters in the right position within the picture. All that you have to do is just drag and drop the letters into the picture. You have options to rotate the letters too. For example, here is a snapshot of level 1 of the game: You place the  letters H and I inside the picture as shown below: Then you click on the star to proceed to the next level. This game gets increasingly challenging as you clear each level. Since there are absolutely no solutions revealed, you might not be able to proceed after a certain level. However, there are some nice things about this game. So here goes my list of good things about this game. What I liked about the game The game requires no instructions to play The game controls are pretty simple The game interface is simple yet appealing. I especially liked the use of the blackboard and chalk in this game When you select each letter, there are two distinct symbols that indicate the move and rotate actions that can performed on the letter. I liked the clear visual representation used here instead of tool tips The descriptive line at the bottom of each picture is also a good idea The colour in each letter brightens when you place it in the right position inside the picture. This is a creative way of giving hints and guiding the gamer to achieve the objective. Play the game now and let me know your views

A edição para o ensino superior do Horizon Report 2013 incluirá seis tecnologias seleccionadas a partir de uma short list de 12 tecnologias inicialmente candidatas. Essas doze tecnologias eram (de acordo com diferentes horizontes de adoção): Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less Flipped Classroom Massively Open Online Courses Mobile Apps Tablet Computing Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years Augmented Reality  Game-Based Learning  The Internet of Things Learning Analytics  
Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years  3D Printing  Flexible Displays Next Generation Batteries  Wearable Technology  Foram então seleccionadas as seis tecnologias a seguir para integrarem o relatório:  Massively Open Online Courses Tablet Computing Game-Based Learning  Big Data and Learning Analytics  3D Printing Wearable Technology Já pode também ser consultada uma ante-visão do relatório a publicar em 2013. As tecnologias escolhidas para o horizonte de dois a três anos são especialmente relevantes para os que tem sido escrito neste blogue. Game-Based Learning, a aprendizagem baseada em jogos, aparece descrita como sendo "... the integration of games or gaming mechanics into educational experiences". É diferente a opção de integrar jogos ou de integrar mecânicas de jogos (ou mais corretamente, elementos de jogos). Restringindo a definição a ... the integration of ... gaming mechanics into educational experiences" então Game-Based Learning, tal como é visto pelos autores do relatório, não é mais do que a aplicação do conceito de gamification na educação. Big Data and Learning Analytics é a outra tecnologia relevante. Na definição dos autores do relatório refere-se a "... the interpretation of a wide range of data produced by and gathered on behalf of students to assess academic progress, predict future performance, and spot potential issues". A possibilidade de avaliar o progresso académico ("assess academic progress") é essencial para aplicação de gamification no ensino, seja qual for o nível considerado. Com a aplicação deste conceito pretende-se promover nos alunos determinados comportamentos desejados e inibir os comportamentos indesejados. A forma como esta abordagem afecta os resultados académicos é essencial para avaliar a validade da aplicação de gamification. Logo, a possibilidade de recolher e analisar dados decorrentes das actividades dos alunos em ambientes de ensino suportado por tecnologia é um componente essencial para avaliar o impacto de aplicar gamification em actividades de ensino.

Um balanço da atividade, on-line e não só, em 2012: - 75 posts neste blogue. Como se vê na tag cloud, o tópico principal foi, como não podia deixar de ser, Gamification: -  As estatísticas de acesso ao blogue foram idênticas às de 2011, embora com alguma redução no número de acessos. - 2 posts no blogue de Gamifeye: Education and Training: From Game-Based Learning to Gamification e How Gamification Can Drive Behavioural Change. Um agradecimento a Sam Geuter. - 3 publicações: Aplicação de Elementos de Jogos numa Plataforma de Aprendizagem Social(ticEDUCA), A Social Gamification Framework for a K-6 Social Network (Tech Education) e A Social Gamification Framework for a K-6 Learning Platform (versão estendida do artigo da Tech Education publicada na Computers in Human Behavior). - 426 tweets e muitos retweets. 294 followers no final de 2012. - 2 cursos no Coursera: Gamification (uma boa surpresa) e Learn to Program: The Fundamentals (programação em Python). - Participação numa workshop sobre Gamification: Videojogos na Sala de Aula: O Processo de Ensino por Gamification.  - Continuação da colaboração com a Tecla Colorida no âmbito do schoooools.com, como suporte ao trabalho de doutoramento. Participação no Dia Aberto do Projecto Escolinhas Criativas. - Experiência de aplicação de elementos de jogos e do conceito de gamification num curso profissional, relatada num blogue criado para o efeito. Uma turma difícil e resultados pouco conclusivos. - Alguns livros de referência importantes sobre Gamification, Jogos e outros temas: The Gamification of Learning and Instruction (Karl Kapp), For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business (Kevin Werbach), Gamification: A Simple Introduction (Andrzej Marczewski), Drive (Daniel Pink), A Theory of Fun (Raph Koster). - Presença no Leaderboard dos GamificationGurus: a melhor classificação foi #19, em setembro  (#30 em dezembro). Há ainda muito para melhorar. - Algumas horas a jogar Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies (uma sugestão obtida no curso sobre Gamification) e Call of Duty. - Muitos quilómetros na companhia de Nike+, um bom exemplo de aplicação de gamification, com o objectivo de aumentar a motivação para a prática de corrida (ou mais exactamente, para comprar material desportivo da Nike ...).  Para além desta aplicação gamificada, a Nike acaba de lançar o jogo NikeFuel Missions (ver também este post). O jogo interage com os mesmo dispositivos do Nike+ (iPod, iPhone e outros gadgets da Nike) e coloca desafios nos quais se obtêm pontos (NikeFuel). Os desafios têm um tempo limite para serem ultrapassados e qualquer actividade que gere esses pontos é elegível. Os jogadores progridem ainda através de níveis que se vão atingindo com os pontos obtidos. A primeira missão já foi ultrapassada, a 29 de dezembro: - Para o ano, está em perspectiva uma participação como e-formador no Projecto NACCE (Galiza e Norte de Portugal), usando uma plataforma de e-learning no curso "Internacionalización de PYMES TIC transfronterizas". Esta participação é em colaboração com a TecMinho. Para já, em 2012, houve uma participação na jornada Presentación de Resultados: Proyectos de Colaboracíon. E agora, em força para 2013,

by ruparajgo | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com I am sure you might also have faced a situation, where the instruction in the manual misled you or did not help you much. If you are writing a help manual or a tutorial for a product, it is very important that you write precise instructions. Most people think writing precise instructions means writing less words and writing simple grammatical sentences with the right choice of words. When I say precise, I am not just talking about the language or choice of words. By precision, I also mean accurately listing the logical steps to work with the features in the product. The purpose of any help manual gets served, only if the user successfully uses the product just by following  the instructions in the manual and when the user does not feel the need to call for any external support. If you want to write precise instructions, here are some things you must keep in mind while writing: Think in terms of the user all the time Never assume that the user might know some step because it is obvious Never assume that any step is trivial and needs no mention Make sure someone else executes your instructions and checks if the steps are correct and useful If you faced a funny situation while trying to follow a instruction manual, please share your experience by writing about it in the comments section. 

A designer de jogos, Jane McGonigal, autora de Reality is Broken, aparentemente está a colaborar na nova iniciativa da Nike, a NikeFuel Missions, mencionada no post anterior. Não será por acaso porque além de designer de jogos, Jane McGonigal também se apresenta como uma runner (vale a pena ler a entrevista) tendo corrido uma meia-maratona em janeiro de 2012 (como terá sido o resto do ano?). A Nike há muito que usa elementos de jogos na sua aplicação de apoio aos praticantes de running. Falando também como utilizador, é um bom exemplo de utilização de gamification. Para mim, 2012, foi o ano na primeira (espero que de muitas) maratona.

If you are an aspiring instructional designer, start thinking about instructional designing right now. Times are changing. Just like how a 2 year old kid is expected to know alphabets, some words and quite a few rhymes before he or she joins school, an aspiring instructional designer must have some basic idea about instructional designing before getting into the role. If you are a fresher and want to start your career in instructional designing, I recommend the 5 ways Tom Kulhmann suggests in his post - 5 Ways Web 2.0 Can Make You a Better E-Learning Designer. Additionally, I would like to refer to some interesting resources that will help any fresher get started easily, without any hassels. Let me duplicate Tom’s suggested ways and add my two cents to it. So here are the top 4 things that you can do to get started with instructional design: 1. Create a RSS reader account and bookmark top e-learning blogs There are loads of information about e-learning and instructional designing on the web. Reading continuously about e-learning and instructional designing will help you gain a lot of breadth about the subject. To keep track of useful information, the best thing to do is use Google Reader or Bloglines and add the best e-learning blogs to your list. This way you will be able to read all articles in one location. Here is my blogroll in Bloglines - http://www.bloglines.com/public/ruparajgo Also check eLearning Learning which has a good collection of e-learning blogs. 2. Start a professional blog It does not matter if instructional designing is new to you. Create a blog in Wordpress or Blogspot and write about your thoughts on instructional designing. It does not matter, if you make a mistake. It is important to keep thinking and keep writing. You will improve along the way. Your blog will help you connect with other learning professionals. It will help you debate and discuss on the subject that you are interested in. When you look for a job, your blog will speak for you. 3. Join a Community of Learning Professionals Today there is lot of scope for collaborative learning and social learning. Sumeet Moghe has written an interesting article on why synchronous learning makes sense today. Please read this article to learn about virtual classrooms. You have a lot of communities that faciliate free online learning sessions. So all that you need to do is join such a community. When you join a community of learning professionals, you get to : Attend free learning sessions Share and discuss ideas Network with like-minded people You get to gain a lot of knowledge which no training institute or certificate course can fetch you. Here are some communities that faciliate free online learning sessions: Corporate Learning Trends and Innovation Instructional Designers Community of India 4. Follow Learning Professionals on Twitter If you have no time to blog or attend sessions, you can choose to follow learning professionals on twitter. You get access to millions of useful articles on twitter which you might not find it yourself when you google or which might not be there in your RSS reader. Jane Hart has a good list of 100 learning professionals who you can choose to follow. So create an account with Twitter and use TweetML where you can choose to add all the learning professionals to your list at once . Thank you Christy for reminding me about Tweet ML. If you are a fresher and find this post useful, please leave your feedback. If you want to add more to this list, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section