Bare with me, I have time to think and its going better than expected. I’m so blessed to be living in a time and space in this great country of ours where I can have a discussion with people who think with their brains and not simply regurgitate the noise of other, less worthy souls. […]

This is the first in a series of posts looking at a range of new and emerging web tools that can be used to enhance learning. I plan to break these into categories, and I am going to begin with something ubiquitous in education, training and business: presentation tools. (Hang on in there folks - these are pretty good.) Before I start, I would like to point out that much needs to be done to rescue the reputation of one much maligned piece of presentation software: PowerPoint. Sadly, this stalwart of the boardroom and lecture theatre has been abused for decades by people producing thousands of those Death by PowerPoint presentations: 2375 slides, 25 bullet points per slide (font at size 10 to fit it all in), few or no images or, worse, migraine-inducing technicolor animations. This is a shame, as it isn’t the software that is at fault.  It’s the users who have little time, and no idea how to design engaging content. People use PowerPoint the same way they use their microwave: there are a hundred ways of cooking with it, but they only know how to use it to heat up beans. One other thing: this is by no means an exhaustive list. I do not want to overload or bore you, so I am only looking at three tools that meet the following criteria: They are new (or newish) They are free (though sometimes only to a point, as they usually offer paid-for add ons or subscriptions at a cost) They all have an interesting Unique Selling Point (USP) There are dozens of similar tools out there and many of them have been around for a while. As I said, presenting them all would be an overwhelming task for me to check out and you to plough through, so enough digression and down to business. Here’s a look at the first tool: Tool #1: emaze Like many others before it, this web based tool allows users to edit and view presentations online and on any internet-enabled device, and saves presentations in the cloud. Its unique selling point is that users are able to use pre-rendered templates to produce 3 dimensional presentations that can include audio and video as well as the usual text and images. The templates are very well designed and their animated pathways are pre-installed, so none of that tricky plot-your-own-animation issue that can put beginners off similar products such as Prezi (or induce the motion sickness in the audience). In fact, emaze appears to be a lot easier to master than Prezi (which I always felt demanded a reasonably high level of technical ability to begin with). Set up a free account and users can also view and use presentations saved to the cloud by others. Here’s one I made using one of emaze’s templates in about 30 minutes: http://app.emaze.com/474827/surrealism#slidenum=1 Tool#2: StoryDesk Okay. I’ll be honest here. StoryDesk (SD) has been designed as a sales presentation tool so educators and trainers may not be aware of its existence or feel inclined to use it. However, a bit of lateral thinking can do wonders. Bypass the business-speak bingo of the site’s introductory blurb and there’s a great tool here. BUT…there’s also a double edged sword regarding SD’s unique selling point: because of the interactive nature of completed presentations, these are shared synchronously over the audience’s tablets. So audience members can interact with the presentation, watch videos and access related documents, but they have to use a tablet to do this. And not everybody owns a tablet.  Oh - and it’s not just viewing that has to be done via tablet: authoring is done the same way, so if you don’t own a tablet you can’t use StoryDesk. That paragraph has probably put you off using SD, which is ironic considering its focus. If you have a tablet, check out the presentation I made in about an hour using most of the slide templates provided. Also, notice the way presentations are non-linear. For anyone over 40, think ‘Crossroads’ or ‘Acorn Antiques’ closing credits… Here’s what a finished presentation looks like: Tool#3: PowToon More web-based presentation creation and sharing and blurb that pulls no punches; PowToon wants to ‘address all the frustrations that people have with Power Point and Keynote and add animation and killer design.’ The great thing about this site is that users with no technical or design skills are able to create engaging, animated presentations that have a really professional ‘look and feel’. As the aforementioned blurb goes on to say, using PowToon can even ‘help effect the way people communicate in a profound way (because while) a picture speaks a thousand words, an animation conveys an idea.’ All very Utopian……but there are a few drawbacks. Once published, presentations can be uploaded to YouTube and shared and embedded from there, they can’t be designed on a tablet as Flash player is a mandatory requirement. A free account only allows for presentations of up to 5 minutes in length, but an educator’s account at $1 a month allows for up to 15 (and gives the user a greater range of themes, background tracks and animations). I’m going to use this to make quick animated demos rather than presentations per se. Here’s my first attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6i6hEttVDU&list=UUgcILUD9sbyGxgfyolRRgwA Enough already! I hear you shout. And that’s fine by me. I have a glass of wine and series 4 of ‘The Thick of it’ to watch. Tune in next time for part 2: online resources what you can make…online.

Dropped a dozen of Dunkin’s finest on our amazing custodial crew this morning to say thanks for doing such an awesome job clearing out my new space yesterday. It was literally the first room in the entire school to be made ready for cleaning & waxing. These guys rock! On deck today: finishing yesterday’s leftover tasks (starting with the floorplan) and a meeting with Barb Shenkus, 4th grade teacher extraordinaire, to talk about our overall implementation plans & EiE integration points. So how’s this all going to WORK, exactly? That’s the question Barb & I will be pondering. Once the floorplan is in a shareable state, the project plan will become my primary focus.

From Chevin… As you know, I am working on my masters in Educational Technology.  As part of my cohort’s Capstone requirement, we have to contribute to the education community in a way that uses technology.  I’ve offered my blog space to anyone interested in doing a tech review or sharing any topic they’d like. My […]

Karl Kapp, professor, author and speaker, understands the value of games and simulations in learning. In this two-part interview, Karl covers everything from video games to virtual 3D worlds, their cognitive advantages and future trends in online learning. Coach: How did you become an evangelist for learning through games, simulations and gadgets? Karl: Well, I’m not sure I am an evangelist, I don’t think of myself that way. But, in terms of my interest in games, gadgets and simulations, it really started by observing my two sons. I can "blame" them for this whole thing. Whenever we would get a new video game in our house, it would always result in neighborhood kids congregating in our basement investing hours and hours of time trying to reach, and ultimately defeat, the final level. Collaboration, shared vision, working together to achieve a common goal, fun, excitement, and high levels of energy were inevitable when a new video game arrived. And, I have to admit, I enjoy playing video games as well but at first, I didn’t see the potential for learning. Ironically, about the same time my kids really started to get into video games, many of my clients and fellow faculty members kept complaining about boring e-learning, irrelevant training programs, archaic teaching styles and the increasing pressure to engage learners who grew up with technology and seemed to have little patience for long lectures with little learner interactivity. About this time, one night I found myself watching some televised poker tournament and I noticed 21-year-olds playing against 55-year-olds—the grand masters of poker—and winning. I wondered, "How can that be?" Why are these young guys…kids really…winning? Then the announcer, as if reading my mind, provided the answer. "One of the reasons relatively unknown poker players can defeat 30 year poker veterans is because of online poker." The announcer continued and said that online poker allows a gambler to play as many as eight hands at once against unseen but real opponents. The experience of playing so many hands over and over again while receiving almost instant feedback on good or bad bluffs allows 21-year-olds to gain as much experience in two years as someone who has been playing poker all his life. At that point, it hit me. If we could leverage the positive aspects of video games—the instant feedback, the constant interaction, the willingness to practice something until it is right, combined with a little bit fun, then we could have an awesome educational platform for all types of learning and education. Almost immediately after that insight, I began to research and write Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning, launched a class called learning in 3D in our graduate program and started to investigate how games and simulations can be powerful tools for learning. Coach: In terms of online learning, what are the cognitive advantages of learning through games rather than through presentation-style instruction? Karl: First, it is important to realize that games are not a "one-size-fits-all" solution. We do that too much in training and education, a new technology or technique comes along and we apply it to everything as a great panacea. It doesn’t work that way. For certain types of subjects and contexts games and simulations make sense and absolutely should be used. For some, admittedly small, portion of learning, lectures can be effective. Cognitive advantages include: repetition—games are played over and over again for a higher score, to beat a colleague or to reach the next level. We know that distributed practice (or spaced rehearsal) is an effective learning technique and a well designed games naturally embody that concept. Another advantage is problem-solving. You can’t get to level two in a game if you can’t problem solve. Immediate feedback is another advantage. Games provide immediate feedback unlike a test or a quiz which requires time for an instructor to grade and return. Engagement or flow works in video games and simulations and is another advantage. If the learner is absorbed in the learning, he or she will loose track of time and only focus on the game. Another advantage is motivation. Games and simulations tend to motivate learners more than text on a PowerPoint slide. Perhaps one of the most powerful cognitive elements is transferability. In a well designed simulation, the learner is put into a realistic situation and he or she must act as they would in the actual situation. This makes the learning highly transferable as opposed to learning about something in the environment of a classroom which is not the typical environment in which the learner needs to apply the learning. So, ironically, an electronic simulation can be more realistic than a lecture because of the visual cues of simulations. They provide a context for the learning that can be highly realistic for knowledge transfer. Coach: What technologies and gadgets could eLearning designers be making better use of right now? Karl: Well, one area that is near and dear to me right now is the use of 3D virtual immersive environments. Probably because Tony O’Driscoll and I just finished a book on that topic, called Learning in 3D. The book grew out of my frustration with how learning and educational professionals were using 3D worlds. My first experience in a 3D world was horrific. It was foreign language instruction.  After I was invited to the class,  my avatar walked into a room that looked like a classroom, sat in a seat facing forward, and the virtual instructor showed a virtual slide show as he had us repeat the phrases in the language. I couldn’t believe it. Here was an awesome virtual environment in which he could have had me order from a restaurant in the language or buy a bus ticket or ask someone for directions on a street corner. Instead I was sitting in a virtual classroom. Such a waste. As learning professionals, we need to leverage 3D virtual immersive environments for real, contextual-based learning. These virtual environments are great learning tools but are not being used properly.Thankfully, there are now wonderful case studies and examples of truly immersive learning in these environments. Again, they aren’t appropriate for every type of learning but they fill a gap that classroom and even page-turning e-learning doesn’t fill. Books by Karl Kapp: Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning:Tools and Techniques for Transferring Know-How from Boomers to Gamers Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration Know someone who’d like this article? Share with the social buttons below. Post from: The eLearning CoachGames And Simulations Share this on LinkedinTweet This!Email this to a friend?Share this on FacebookShare this on del.icio.usStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponAdd this to 100 bookmarks

Several people have asked about obtaining copies of the slide deck I referenced during the mLearnCon MOSH Pit debate on Flash vs. HTML5 earlier this month. As noted in my June 24th blogpost, I was fortunate that my friends from...

It first happened by accident a couple of years ago. It was late summer and me and my partner went on a driving holiday to Scandinavia for 2 weeks. I took my mobile phone and iPad because I can’t be away from them. But because we were camping for a large proportion of our time away, there was no WiFi, and I hadn’t bothered to buy a bundle of data for my BlackBerry. As a result, other than the few nights we planned to stay in hotels, my phone was used solely as a camera and my tablet as an eBook reader. We had been camping in the middle of nowhere for five nights before driving to Stockholm and checking into a hotel. I immediately unpacked my tablet and mobile, dug out their chargers, plugged them in and hooked my iPad up to the hotel’s WiFi network. It’s what I always do. I still had my coat on. What happened next surprised me - as almost a week’s worth of emails, Facebook updates and Tweets starting pinging and peeping and parping at me I realised that I was back in my digital bubble. And I felt really disappointed. Like my holiday was over and I had been jettisoned back to reality before I was ready. I found myself disconnecting from the same WiFi network a few seconds later and just like that-I was on holiday again. My shoulders sort of ‘un-tensed’ (and I remember that actually happening) and for the rest of the holiday, my phone was used solely as a camera and my tablet as an eBook reader. Last year we went camping again (in West Wales) and I made a conscious effort to untether myself from technology again. It could have been more tempting to use my phone, as there was a signal and no extra data costs as I was still in the UK. But it really wasn’t too difficult. Indeed, it felt like a relief to just unplug and relax. Like being on holiday when you were a kid. In a couple of days we are going on holiday again, and again we are going to Pembrokeshire. This year I am going to leave the tablet at home and take a couple of books with me. I’m going to leave my phone behind as well. I am even toying with the idea of taking a sketchbook and seeing what rubbish scribbles I can make. Naturally, I assumed that what I have been doing was something revolutionary, but this is called a ‘Digital Detox’, and it’s been an official ‘thing’ for a while now. There are weekends and retreats popping up everywhere offering device-free yoga, meditation, art and hiking and articles such as this one from The Telegraph urging us to have regular, gadget-free evenings or weekends. It’s even in the Oxford Dictionary: Digital Detox: A period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world. But the term ‘Digital Detox’ seems to me a little harsh, as it suggests that technology is poisonous. And yes, I guess too much of anything can be toxic (celery?), but it still seems a bit negative. I’d rather this was a ‘Technology Untethering’. Something that doesn’t imply going cold turkey and having withdrawal symptoms of Nick Cottonesque proportions, but letting go, relaxing those shoulders and allowing oneself to be unreachable.

So, my school has this program "Natural Helpers", where juniors and seniors go on retreats and discover how amazing they are and how they are change agents.  Good stuff. At the end of the day Thursday, the Natural Helpers were in the cafeteria  preparing for their retreat when one of them, a former student, Kaitlin, […]

I am proud to announce that Techsmith’s Camtasia Studio is the official screen capture / flipped lesson recording environment for the NCS K4STEMLAB! Version 8, announced in June 2012, has many new features and all the production capabilities we could ever need. This includes importing from external devices/recordings, content animation, and support for interactive elements (quizzes & more!) Techsmith is providing me (not NCS) a free personal copy of Camtasia Studio 8 because I am a Google Certified Teacher. I’m happy to recognize them as a partner on the NCS K4 STEMLAB project!

For-profit education companies running virtual / distributed / adult serving colleges and universities have come under increasing fire. The most recent volley of criticism was made last week in a 17-page report from Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who...