Best techniques, practices and tools for content curation, a skill for the 21st century.Post from: The eLearning CoachELC 012: Content Curation For Learning

The e-learning industry is currently engaged in a mad rush to get their stuff to work on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). This rush is driven primarily by clients who can be a little naive when it comes to the tricky technical bits (think of those car buyers who are never interested in looking under the bonnet). For many projects we get a reasonably sensible brief but then tacked on the end is the request that the e-learning also has to be ‘accessible on mobile devices’. Now, in the words of software development, this is ‘non-trivial’ - there are many challenges to developing e-learning that works across the vast number of mobile devices. However, one of the key challenges is not actually technical at all. It’s about device ownership - because in the majority of cases the mobile devices that learners will be expected to use to access their work based learning are their own personal devices. These are devices that they have purchased and for which they pay all the bandwidth usage costs. This simple fact can throw a big spanner in the works for any roll-out of work based learning on mobile devices. The simple solution of course is a ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) policy and here’s a really useful infographic that explores the pros and cons of BYOD. "BYOD has freed up many enterprises from the responsibility of exclusively purchasing and maintaining computing devices, such as notebooks, tablets and smartphones, but companies still need to have policies set in place to make things work." Infographic from http://www.biztechmagazine.com The post BYOD for e-Learning appeared first on Designed For Learning.

Explore what a learning on demand system could do for the world of learning and development.Post from: The eLearning CoachLearning On Demand: How the Evolution of Technology is Shaping the Future of Learning

In the e-learning business we are increasingly hearing the mantra, "Resources not courses." It sounds simple - replace courses with resources that are accessible at the point of need to deliver seamless just-in-time learning. In some circumstances it can be a good strategy, and when it comes to mobile devices resources are much simpler to access than courses, but before we get too carried away with this idea let’s take a deeper look at the difference between a resource and a course. A resource is a piece of information covering a specific topic or sub-topic. It could be a document, an article, a blog post, an image, a video or an infographic. Some resources may be fairly comprehensive (e.g. a 10 page PDF guide to Project Management) while some might be fairly simple (e.g. an image showing the project lifecycle). Most resources are indexable by search engines though additional metadata may need to be supplied for images and videos. This makes them easy to find in a hurry. Resources are normally discrete and unconnected. There might be a collection of resources relating to a specific theme (e.g. Project Management) but it’s up to users to make the connections and to infer meaning from a resource collection. A course moves things up a gear or two. It differs from a resource in that it has been developed using pedagogical principles. What does the pedagogical approach add? The course designer has identified the areas where understanding is weak and developed strategies to overcome these blocks to understanding. The course designer uses a range of instructional techniques to overcome these issues ranging from metaphor, analogy, stories, visual aids and learning scaffolds. They then check that the material is understood though practice, questioning and reflection. Some of the best resources are almost like courses while some of the worst courses are almost like resources but it’s important to recognise the role of each as part of a hollistic approach to learning. There is a lot of value in sharing and using resources (like this blog post) but added value comes from either collecting resources together under a common theme or curating resources to create a narrative journey through a specific topic. To add further value those resources can be developed into a course complete with the whole gamut of instructional approaches and techniques. Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses but it’s important to remember that they aren’t always interchangeable.   The post Resources or Courses? appeared first on Designed For Learning.

Improve your designs by interviewing your learners and users. Steve Portigal shares best practices.Post from: The eLearning CoachELC 013: Best Practices For Interviewing Your Audience

Ideas to design enriching learning experiences.Post from: The eLearning CoachIdeas For Designing Non-linear eLearning

Lots of resources to help you get started with mobile performance support.Post from: The eLearning CoachUltimate Resource List For Mobile Performance App Design

A ‘conventional’ SCORM e-learning module (Articulate Storyline on iPad) There are many definitions of e-learning. Some limit its scope while others broaden it depending upon the needs of the definer. Its definition in education is quite different to its definition in the commercial world. In the commercial (non-education) world there is increasing pressure from clients to develop e-learning that is shorter and which can be delivered in bite sized chunks (see ‘Resources or Courses?’). This pressure is forcing many to redefine the very nature of e-learning and this is causing confusion amongst many who are new to it all.  I’ve always preferred a broad definition and one that encompasses a wide range of web based learning technologies and approaches. E-learning is a broadly inclusive term that describes educational technology that electronically or technologically supports learning and teaching. Wikipedia For me online learning and e-learning are synonymous but this isn’t the way e-learning is understood by many in the commercial world where efficiency and cost reduction is the key driver for its popularity. So in an attempt to clarify what most people mean when they talk about e-learning (what I often call conventional e-learning) here is my updated definition: E-learning is a packaged digital resource that helps someone learn something new. E-learning resources are normally called ‘modules’. A course may be a single module or a collection of modules which must be completed in a set order. E-learning is different to other learning resources in that it requires learner interaction. Learners must respond to questions, engage in activities and make decisions. Based on their choices they receive feedback and may be directed to different material. In this way the resource is adaptive and will be experienced differently by different learners.  In  E-learning the leaner is active not passive. Most e-learning modules will be produced as a SCORM package and delivered via a learning management system (LMS). Of course not all e-learning modules will meet these criteria - much of the early e-learning modules belonged to the ’page turning’ genre but most professional e-learning developers today will rarely build page-turners for their clients. E-learning authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate are designed to develop these conventional SCORM packaged modules - ideally packed full of exciting learning interactions and activities. So applying this definition - a video (even a very cool explainer video), a beautifully designed PDF or infographic does not constitute e-learning even though they may be delivered digitally though a ‘learning platform’. The problem with conventional e-learning is that it lacks flexibility and is tied to the old teaching paradigm - it’s usually linear and needs to be completed from start to finish to work effectively. Although some e-learning modules offer a more flexible way to navigate through the material most clients and LMS’ prefer the ‘screen at a time and test at the end’ structure. The technologies on which most e-learning modules are built (Flash or HTML) are also less flexible that other web based formats such as video or PDF files. In particular the growth of mobile devices in their various form factors and operating systems has really challenged the role of conventional e-learning and many new online learning platforms (e.g. Udemy or iTunes U) have sidestepped SCORM altogether in favour of video and other mobile friendly content standards. The so-called successor to SCORM, Tin Can recognises this new online learning landscape and substantially broadens what constitutes learning on the web. Reading a blog, commenting in a forum, or watching a video are all learning activities in the world of Tin Can. They are all potential learning experiences which is why Tin Can has been re-badged as the Experience API. So does the conventional e-learning module have a future? In the short term the answer has to be a resounding yes. Most e-learning is still done on non mobile devices accessed via a conventional LMS, and tools such as Articulate Storyline are making it easier for everyone (not just the pros) to develop conventional e-learning modules. However even if, like the classroom, the conventional e-learning module may be with us for some time yet many in the industry are exploring new approaches to learning online and I’ll take a look at what those new approaches are in my next post. The post Defining e-learning in 2013 appeared first on Designed For Learning.

More innovative and creative ways to learn online.Post from: The eLearning Coach14 Ways to Learn in 2014

Source: NonProfitCollegesOnline.com The post Adventures in Online Learning Infographic appeared first on Designed For Learning.