The Consumer Electronics Show displays technology available today as well as dreams of future tech. And while most of the eLearning industry is driven by software, it's the hardware that changes how we interact with that software. I wrote a little more about this in last Monday's blog post, and need to revise my thoughts on the disappearance of the screen. CORNING Gorilla Glass Collaborative Table From what I saw at CES today, it's obvious that screens aren't going away any time soon. Yes, there will be new innovations in screen technology, but they are no where near disappearing. There were walls and walls of towering screens all over the event. But my favorite example was from CORNING. They displayed a massive interactive touch screen, translucent interactive display cases, and giant collaborative tables. All based on CORNING's Gorilla glass. If you thought classrooms with electronic whiteboards were cool, just wait until the walls are all covered with interactive glass. The instructional possibilities go way beyond how we currently view large screen monitors in classrooms...if at all. Consider the combination of an interactive wall of glass with collaborative interactive tables in the classroom. Not only is the screen not disappearing, but the classroom isn't going anywhere either. It's getting an upgrade. Blue becomes NEAT My favorite microphone for last few years has been the Blue Yeti. Blue was recently acquired by Gibson. Yes, the guitar company. The creators of Blue have created a new brand called NEAT that will launch new designs on a regular basis. Their first designs fall under the monicker of Bee and Widget. They are cute and quirky looking but the Gibson folks assured me that the insides are as good or better than my favorite Blue Yeti. NEAT has a little something for everyone. The entry level range is the Widget at $99. They look a little like toys, but do a great job for the podcaster or YouTuber in your family. The Bee lineup does not look much like your average microphone either. But that's what really makes them cool. They each have names like Worker Bee, Beehive, Bumblebee, and Beecaster. If you're in the market for a new microphone and have been wanting a Yeti, I'd recommend you take a look at NEAT's Bee lineup. MicroVideo and MicroLearning is Different at CES2016 2015 was filled with excitement around microlearning and microvideos. The learning content we create is getting smaller and shorter. But the tools we use to capture images and videos are getting smaller as well. So much so that they give micro video a whole new meaning. While we continue to use software to edit and publish shorter videos, the hardware manufacturers are busy creating smaller and smaller micro cameras to help us capture footage. And with micro cams comes the reality of flying 4K micro cams. That's right! You've seen drones with cameras. But I can assure you they are getting better, faster, smaller, and cheaper. Have you thought of all the ways you can use a drone cam to gather video for training? Giving your learners a new view of their environment might help give them a new perspective on their work. Several companies showed off small video cameras that you are probably familiar with, like GoPro and Polaroid. But did you know VIVITAR has a microcam product? Every where I looked development tools were getting smaller and smaller while the displays we use to view eLearning are getting bigger and bigger. And Kodak was showing off a micro camera that shoots 360 interactive video. 360 Degree Video Capture Becomes Real Kodak's micro cam that shoots 360 degree interactive video could have easily fit into the micro trend above because of its micro size. But the trend of 360 degree video capture and interactive display is just as big. The Kodak product has a free player you can download on mobile devices to interact with the video. But I was more interested in finding out if we could embed these interactive 360 degree videos into our authoring tools and LMSs. You'll be happy to know the answer is yes... sort of. March of 2015 Youtube announced that it supported interactive 360 degree video. And now we are seeing the cameras emerge that give us the ability to capture video in this amazing format. It's still a very new technology on both the hardware and software sides. But it's an interesting trend that will only get better and better. Any ideas on how this might be useful in your eLearning development? VR and Headsets Realtime VR Goggles at the Intel Booth OCULUS seems to have started a race to make VR goggles a reality. It seemed like everywhere you looked there was a booth either demoing headsets, or using headsets to show off their products. Some headsets showed pre-recorded content while others gave you a live 360 degree view of a location in realtime. I tried several of them. The one in this picture was in the Intel booth. They had a couple half pipes setup outside with BMX riders and skateboarders doing their tricks. And there was a 360 camera taking live 360 video of the action and feeding it inside to the headset I was wearing. It was a bit unnerving to feel "teleported" outside to a real location and look around as if I was actually there. And yet... it was really cool too. All day long I was asking myself why. Why are most of these products developed? And why would I use them to train/teach someone? I'm not sure the VR is quite ready for primetime just yet. But it's fun to see it moving forward. Some of the tech was old tech but highly improved. Sony cameras now shoot 20x super slow motion video, and their phone cameras have amazingly fast and accurate focus. And the new car technology on display was mostly just for show. But seeing how engineers envision the auto interface of the future is inspiring. Actually, all of the interfaces were inspiring. But some were so good I didn't even take the time to recognize them. When the interface disappears for the user, you know you got it right. Follow me on twitter @Litmos for more updates tomorrow and Friday. The post CES 2016 Trends that will Influence Your eLearning Development appeared first on Litmos.

Days before Christmas, I gathered all my empty coffee cups and prepared for my winter solstice, briefly stopping in the doorway of my friends office to wish her a merry Christmas. I asked her about her plans, assuming they would be similar to mine: a loud chaotic celebration with family. Her response caused me pause. Her plans elicited a sense of pride, admiration, surprise, and sadness in me. I felt like an underachiever, now mind you that wasn’t her intention. However, I think it was a normal response when you encounter someone who puts words into actions. Her plan was to go to a Wal-Mart, in an area that poverty is commonplace, with a stack of $25 gift cards. With her family, she would peruse the toy aisle looking for parents who were literally counting the change in their pockets in order to buy Christmas gifts for their children. I’ve been to this store and I am certain it wasn’t difficult to find recipients—people whose lives would be changed by $25. Show of hands if you spend $25 a month at Starbucks or MacDonald’s…and we don’t really think twice about it, do we? I’m not saying everyone should fling gift cards into a crowd, but it made me think of compassion. Honestly, I have thought about this gesture every night since December 22. We work in an industry that cares for the sick, oftentimes without any promise of payment, which is in part the definition of compassion. However, does that compassion end at the visit? The patient cycle begins at intake and ends when the bill is paid. If you’ve done it well, your patient will return when they need to (let’s face it, even patients shop for the best deal). There are so many factors involved in this tangled web and humans can be trying, especially when they’re sick. In the age of technology we have to remember there are eyes and ears everywhere. Are you certain your entire staff is engaging your patients with compassion? Facebook and Twitter are filled with examples that show we are not. We are device-driven, often wishing for more hours in a day. We walk away from our computers, just for a second, leaving them unlocked. One second turns to an hour. Your laptop is stashed behind the passenger’s seat and you run into the dry cleaners. You text your friend who is a dermatologist about another friend who has a suspicious mole. You vent to your circle of friends on Facebook about a rude patient who chewed you out at the office. Careless and not compassionate. Take a moment to think of ways to empower your staff. Educate them, value them, and realize everyone’s job is difficult and critical to your business. Studies show that employees who feel valued at work will strive to do a better job and increase retention rates. The compassion you extend to your staff will trickle down to your patients. Meanwhile.... Next Christmas you can find us at Wal-Mart trying to start a movement. The post The Gift of Compassion appeared first on Litmos.

Most of us have heard of e-learning and maybe you’ve even taken a few online courses, but what does it really mean and how can the benefits of e-learning apply to your business? E-learning is a generic term for electronic or online learning.  Most Universities now offer online courses and you can even earn an entire degree without ever stepping into a classroom.  Most people are familiar with this type of learning when connected to a college or university but may not think of it as applying to their business.  In fact, e-learning is one of the fastest growing parts of the business world because it is highly flexible and offers many options for training your employees. The Benefits of e-Learning for Office Staff Companies have recently started using e-learning to train office staff on topics like HR compliance, legal issues, email etiquette or company policies. The benefits of e-learning are significant: Training can be done at the employee’s convenience and is available 24/7. Content is offered exactly the same way to every employee. Each company can customize the content of the course to their needs. Employees can train from their desk, on their PC without having to assemble in a conference room and interrupt productivity. Training is automatically tracked so you know who has completed it and who may have missed it. A short quiz can be included to ensure they actually paid attention and understood the content. These are just a few of the benefits of e-learning to the office staff.  But what about the plant, warehouse or shop floor employees?  How can e-learning apply to them and how would it be conducted?  Many forward thinking companies are now starting to use e-learning to train their operations employees in a variety of ways that just a few years ago was not possible. The benefits of e-Learning in Operations Training There are primarily two types of training for plant and operations employees.   First, training new employees to do a specific job like picking orders, receiving product or assembling a part. Next there is training for current employees on new company procedures, policies or rules. Operations Managers tend to think that all training needs to be "hands on", meaning a trainer, supervisor or lead is used to show the new employee how to do a job.  For current employees who need to be updated on new policies, the expectation is they need to gather in a conference or training room where a trainer holds a class.   But what if e-learning could help in two very significant ways? Shorten the time it takes a new employee to get "up to speed" and be productive. Provide a way to train current employees on new policies and procedures more efficiently than ever before. E-learning is a tool that adds convenience and flexibility to your current training programs while enhancing the message with a more meaningful and interactive experience. So how does this all apply to your operations or plant employees? All of the benefits listed above for office employees can also apply to your warehouse or plant employees.  Let’s take the benefits of e-Learning one at a time and see how they apply to your operations. Training is done at their convenience. Operations employees can utilize a simple training station or kiosk to access online courses that introduce them to their job, what is expected, how to be efficient, safe and effective.  A kiosk is inexpensive, secure and available 24/7. Training offered the same to every employee. You have already defined the best practices for each job.  By putting those procedures online, every new employee sees and hears the right way to do the job; the way you want the job to be done. Training can be customized. You decide how the course will look and feel.  You will use your terminology, pictures of your plant, your employees, and your procedures. Training will be specific to your company practices. Employees can train from their desk. Of course warehouse or plant employees don’t have a desk or PC so the kiosk is their desk.  Employees can be sent to train at the supervisor’s convenience when production is slower or those rare days when you are fully staffed. When you need to train current employees on new policies there is no longer a need to gather everyone in the training room and bring production to a halt for an hour.  They can be sent individually to the kiosk to train while production continues. Training is automatically tracked. For new employees learning a new skill, e-learning will track their progress and report on which courses they have taken.  You can set up a list of required courses for new hires and ensure all training is completed. This includes safety training as well as job specific. For current employees being updated on new policies, e-learning will track who is complete and report on who has not taken the required training. A short quiz can be included to ensure they understand the material. It is important that new employees understand the training, especially when they are doing it online.  Interactive Q&A sessions will ensure they "get it" and if not, you can be notified via email and can retrain. When training current employees in a classroom setting do you ever really know if they understood the material or were even paying attention? Using e-learning, you will be certain they know the major points because they need to answer questions specific to the topic. E-learning is an efficient and effective way that companies are now training their office staff and it can be used just as effectively for plant, operations and warehouse employees. It is simple, convenient, is quickly catching on and will soon be the new standard for operations and production employees across many industries. The post Benefits of e-Learning (Can it really help my company?) appeared first on KMI Learning.

  Gone are the days when a classroom meant blackboards, chalks and maps. Because of the use of so many new technology in education, modern classrooms have changed dramatically. As a result, the learning experience of students have also improved. New technology in education can enhance the learning of students by the following ways:   AUDIO VISUAL MEDIA: One of the best new technology in education is the use of audio and visual media. Students tend to remember images more than texts. When the boring black and white words in books are replaced by colorful, moving objects and audio, then obviously students will remember it better than reading directly from the books. Apart from this, YouTube is also a great new technology in education. It has specialized channels designed for education and there are lots of learning materials as well. Many modern universities are using audio visual media instead of text books.   MOBILE DEVICES: Mobile phones are the favorite gadgets of students and most of them end up spending half of their day using their phones. The idea of using mobile phones as a new technology in education is great. Many schools and colleges now provide their students with phones or iPad’s to improve their learning experience. As a result, students can directly access the internet and read online books and study materials. There are also many great apps which provides great online lessons.   ONLINE CONVERSATION WITH EXPERTS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD: Video conferencing is probably the best new technology in education. A great way to enhance the learning experience of students is to engage them in conversation about their subjects with experts in the field. Conversing with professors in their own college is not enough. Through video chatting or other virtual platforms, students can engage in active conversation with experts.Also, with the help of video tools, students in any college can also directly listen live to a lecture given at another college.   SMART CLASSROOMS: Another great new technology in education is the use of smart classrooms. Smart Classrooms means the use of Smart Boards and other devices which will boost classroom activities. The traditional boards used can be boring for students of the digital age. Smart boards are used now in most universities. It is basically an interactive whiteboard that uses touch detection for entering any input. It is also easy for the teachers to teach via a smart board.   CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: While investing on any new technology in education, it is important for the management of the institution to keep in mind about proper classroom management. While using Smart boards or mobile devices, it should be ensured that proper software of effective classroom management is at place. It will guarantee that all the devices are properly used to enhance learning experience of students.   TECHNOLOGY EMPOWER TEACHERS ALSO: Many teachers don’t like the use of new technology in education, but they are not aware that new technologies empowers them as well. Teachers can constantly keep in touch with their students with the help of various social networking sites. Teachers can also use mobile apps to grade and evaluate students. The post How new technology in education can enhance learning? appeared first on Fedena Blog.

What do you get when you combine Pantone's colors of the year with everyone's favorite church basement game? Pantone Bingo! Read more...

This week's challenge is to make something Star Wars happen, so I booted up BB-8 and made a mini droid quiz. Enjoy! Read more...

This week’s challenge is to share an instructional design job aid, so I turned one of my faves into a zippy little interaction. Read more...

Happy New Year from NCCE and the Tech-Savvy Teachers!  We are so excited for what 2016 will bring!  Expect more information in coming weeks concerning NCCE in Seattle in February along with professional development opportunities throughout the year! Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with three EdTech superstars (and all previous featured speakers at NCCE!), Wes Fryer, Nikki D Robertson and Eric Langhorst looking back on all educational technology 2015 and looking into the crystal ball for 2016! It was an amazing 80 minutes of interesting and challenging banter.  Check it out on YouTube: or, if you prefer, Wes has exported the audio into a podcast here. In any case, 2015 was an amazing year and 2016 should be our best year yet! Happy New Year!   The post Weekend Listen: Looking Back, Looking Forward appeared first on NCCE's Tech-Savvy Teacher Blog.

There are times when we sense a student is in need even though the details are unspecified.  In our relationship with a student, an unsolicited act of caring can touch a life in unexpected ways....Continue Reading »

Perceived Reality: Teaching can sometimes feel like a lot of thankless work. Grading the same insubstantial content issues, correcting the same obvious grammar errors, and responding to the same vexing requests for leniency can dull...Continue Reading »