TODAY'S BLOG BOOK TOUR STOP:May 24: Webinar event with Dan Bliton who challenges attendees to the game "Are you smarter than Karl Kapp". Dan Bliton will be hosting the game and conducting an interview with me on the 24th of May during BAH open webinar at 1:00 ET.Stops for Week SixMay 21:Games Teach!Encore stop from last week. May 22: Bruce Walsh Can video games help us learn? May 23: Jeanne Meister Gamification: Three Ways To Use Gaming For Recruiting, Training, and Health & Wellness Great examples and a quote from the book in Forbes.com. May 24: Webinar event with Dan Bliton who challenges attendees to the game "Are you smarter than Karl Kapp". Dan Bliton will be hosting the game and conducting an interview with me on the 24th of May during BAH open webinar at 1:00 ET.May 25: (These two entries are not "official stops" but great reading on the subject) Julie Brink, Game-Based Learning for the Corporate World and Mark OehlertAn Amplification of the power of Game-Based Learning in the Corporate World Plus we have added a few new tour stop dates in June, a few more interviews on the tour and an article appearing in the June issue of T&D.Recap of Week Five Week Five was a great week with some interesting postings about the book. Over at Designing Digitally, we had the stop: The Gamification of Learning and Instruction. John Rice, who contributed to a great deal of the thinking and ideas in chapter 7, was a stop on the tour with his post New Book The Gamification of Learning and Instruction. We had a stop with Christy Tucker who, herself, was passoinately defending games as an instructional medium in her posting Research in Gamification of Learning and Instruction. The tour also pointed to the Gamification Happenings Pinterest page which has over 82 pins and is growing. Also, don't for get the Facebook page for the book.And if all this has gotten you curious to read the book, you can pick up a copy at the ASTD online book store or just stop by and read the first chapter.

TODAY's BLOG BOOK TOUR STOP: June 6: Live appearance at the 8th ANNUAL INNOVATIONS IN e-LEARNING SYMPOSIUM.I am speaking on the topic of Getting Lost in a 3D Virtual World: Selecting and Evaluating Appropriate Virtual Worlds for Learning.Here is a brief description of the presentation.This presentation details the trials and tribulations of selecting, implementing evaluating and teaching within a 3D virtual World. The presentation is based on the experience of DAU as the organization journeyed down the road of 3D virtual world implementation. From cataloging hundreds of virtual worlds to working with a vendor to create a browser-based virtual world solution to preparing learners to enter a virtual world, you'll gain an understanding of the entire process from start to finish. Join your tour guides who will describe the process undertaken to choose a vendor, work out technical details, prepare instructors and conduct a pilot program learning within a 3D virtual environment. This engaging, exciting session highlights lessons learned from a real live implementation. You will be provided with tips and techniques for selecting your own 3D virtual world for learning, advice on conducting a pilot and a few pointers about what to avoid during the process. If you are there at the conference, please stop by and say "Hello." I am speaking at 10:00 AM ET.

The audience for mobile devices wants to be able to learn from any device at anytime, anywhere. This creates a challenge, as we have to plan, develop, and deliver tools and content that can be used in all facets of learning, as well as work on the range of devices we use now and will use in the future. This e-book shows the reasons why mobile learning has seen such recent growth and what areas are best suited for this type of learning.With this 20 page e-book you will be able to answer: what is mobile learning?how mobile learning differs from e-learning?what are the benefits of mobile learning?why you should consider mobile learning?when is mobile learning appropriate?how to Design successful mobile learning programs?what are the ingredients for a successful mobile learning strategy?what is the future of mobile learning?Download your free copy today >>

The audience for mobile devices wants to be able to learn from any device at anytime, anywhere. This creates a challenge, as we have to plan, develop, and deliver tools and content that can be used in all facets of learning, as well as work on the range of devices we use now and will use in the future. This e-book shows the reasons why mobile learning has seen such recent growth and what areas are best suited for this type of learning.With this 20 page e-book you will be able to answer:  what is mobile learning? how mobile learning differs from e-learning? what are the benefits of mobile learning? why you should consider mobile learning? when is mobile learning appropriate? how to Design successful mobile learning programs? what are the ingredients for a successful mobile learning strategy? what is the future of mobile learning?Download your free copy today >>

Over the weekend, Mission to Learn quietly slipped into its third year. As befits such occasions, I’ve been trying to spend a bit of time reflecting on how the site has changed over time and where I’d like to take it going forward. One thing that occurred to me is that, in spite of this being a site about learning, I’ve never actually offered a definition here of what I mean by "learning." So here’s my definition: Learning is the lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, and habits. I might add to that: It is not dependent upon classes and courses - though these can be very useful tools for learning It does not require a degree, certificate, or grade to prove its worth - though clearly these have social value that most people would be unwise to ignore It does not always - probably not even most of the time - happen consciously - though I think that those who strive for a more conscious approach to learning throughout their lives - whether at work or otherwise - tend to be more successful in pretty much whatever way they define success. I think that pretty well sums up the view of learning that drives my efforts here at Mission to Learn. What do you think? Does this capture your view of learning? What would you add or take away? Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - Please join me on the ongoing Mission to Learn. Subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

With the 6th Annual Games for Change Festival under way (Twitter: twitter.com/g4c), I decided to revisit the post on learning games for change that I did last year and add new games I have found. The original list of 26 is now up to 36, and I expect to add more over the coming weeks. If you have suggestions for games to be included, please comment or contact me. Link to updated original post Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/missiontolearn

My previous post, To Learn, To Lead, highlighted McGill professor Henry Mintzberg’s criticism of traditional MBA programs. That inspired me to go through the archives of the Free Learning Monitor to dig up all of the free self-learning options for business education that I have published in the past year. So, here they are. I may come back and add to them, as they don’t currently include selections from the Human Resources and some other categories in the Monitor. Comment or contact me to let me know if there are others you would like to see here. Categories here include (anchored links coming soon!): General Collections and Libraries Planning & Starting Nonprofit Sector Marketing Green Business Strategy Accounting & Finance Odds & Ends General Collections & Libraries Small Business Administration - New Courses New courses include:* Finance Primer: Guide to SBA’s Guaranty Programs * Technology 101: A Small Business Guide * Marketing 101: A Guide to Winning Customers * Global Enterprise: A Primer on Exporting * How to Prepare a Business Plan * How to Prepare a Loan Proposal *** OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN A wealth of resources for business owners — videos, articles, blogs, and expert advice to boost your business, sponsored by American Express OPEN. *** Management Methods | Management Models | Management Theories Management portal explaining 250+ methods, models and theories on strategy, performance management, finance, valuation, change, corporate governance, communication, marketing, leadership and responsibility. Value Based Management. *** Free Management Library The Library provides easy-to-access, clutter-free, comprehensive resources regarding the leadership and management of yourself, other individuals, groups and organizations. Content is relevant to the vast majority of people, whether they are in large or small for-profit or nonprofit organizations. Over the past 10 years, the Library has grown to be one of the world’s largest well-organized collections of these types of resources. *** American Management Association Free Learning Resources *** IRS Small Business Video and Audio Presentations These short presentations are dedicated to helping your small business. In addition to these video and audio presentations, please visit the Small Business Tax Workshop Video page for instructional lessons. *** Free Business Training Keep your employees up to date on today’s important skills & requirements.Test out the best business training system available online by taking one of our free business training courses. Simple course authoring, student administration & branded for your company. *** Businessballs Free online learning for careers, work, management, business training and education. **** How to Get a Valuable Education Without Mortgaging Your Life From The Personal MBA - Skip business school: get a world-class business education by reading the 77 best business books available. (Visit your local library to make this one free!) *** read it for (dot) me A growing collection of business book video summaries. *** Brain Trust: 100 Ivy League Business & Entrepreneurship Courses You Can Take for Free *** 5 Minute Management Course 6 lessons with morals. Tongue-in-cheek, but with a dose of wisdom as well. Planning & Starting Free Business Plan - Start a Business Free business plan to download. Read basic core knowledge about how to start business and how to run a business. Be an entrepreneur. *** Learn Online | SCORE Learn your way. Take these courses anytime. Try these useful & interesting courses to help your business get started and grow. *** Learn how to Start A Business, how to Write A Business Plan, and all about Business Start Up The Internets Top Free Start A Business Course. Learn how to write a business plan, pick a business, sign a lease, do small business accounting and much much more! Nonprofit Sector Wild Apricot Blog : Social Media for Non-Profits: 26 Great Slideshare Presentations You Can Use Great new presentations on social media are coming out almost daily, and many are directed specifically to the needs of non-profits. But it can be time-consuming to search out those that are up-to-date, actionable, and appropriate to nonprofits. Here’s a list. *** The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Free Management Library’s Free, Online Nonprofit Organization and Management Development Program Marketing Free Marketing Courses | IttyBiz Starting a Home Business | Home Business Ideas | Work From Home, Starting a home business? Legitimate home based business advice, tips, and ways to work from home. (Note: Some readers may take offense at Naomi’s language, but she knows what she’s talking about!) *** ShoeMoney Xtreme Internet Marketing Guides (Registration Required.) I’m Jeremy "ShoeMoney" Schoemaker and for 13 years I’ve been building successful online businesses. For the past five years I’ve been working hard writing a book to help others get started online. I recently decided that there is just too much great information in my book to exclude people from reading it. I have now backed out of my major book deal and turned it into a completely FREE 12 week guide to Internet marketing. No strings attached. Enter your email and start receiving the weekly guides directly in your inbox! *** The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II (eBook) The creator of BzzAgent, co-founder of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) and author of THE GRAPEVINE, Dave has a new book out. It is entitled THE WORD OF MOUTH MANUAL: VOLUME II, and in an rather unorthodox move, he has decided to self-publish it. The physical edition costs $45.00, but he is offering a digital edition to you free of charge. *** System Seminar TV: Internet Marketing Education (Videos) The world’s greatest Internet marketing seminar presents the world’s greatest TV channel for entrepreneurs *** Marketing Webinars from HubSpot Download free on-demand Internet marketing webinars / videos about blogging, SEO, social media and more. *** J.S. Gilbert : Referral Marketing Tips for Voice Actors Join Voice Over Expert J.S. Gilbert in his lecture, "Referral Marketing Tips for Voice Actors". J.S. discusses the importance of referral marketing and how some strategic planning can prepare you for success, both in the realm of business and artistry. Learn how to get business and referrals from people you already know, develop an elevator pitch and get in touch with your prospects. (Podcast) Green Business EcoSector Method: Free Online Course for Green Startups Steps to a successful green enterprise - a short online course! Strategy Corporate Strategy A video lecture of corporate strategy from the Life ning. Accounting & Finance Simple Studies - Best Free Online Accounting Lessons Free online accounting lessons on simplestudies.com explain accounting principles in a simple way. They include accounting tutorials on introduction to accounting and accounting exercises with solutions. Intro to accounting is presented in simple accounting terms! *** Free Accounting Course - Bean Counting 101 Bean Counting 101 is a free accounting course for non-accountants that covers debits, credits, general ledger, payroll, inventory, depreciation, accrual accounting, double-entry bookkeeping, etc. *** SMExcellence :: OFFICIAL WEBSITE SMExcellence is a free online learning system that helps you improve your small business and financial management skills. *** Financial Management Training Center "Fast Free Learning in Business Finance" Odds & Ends Trump University (The Donald throws a bone to free learning with this one promo course.) Real Estate Investment Strategies, Foreclosures Investing and How to Buy and Sell Investment Properties - Learn from Donald Trump’s experts. *** Improve your personal networking skills This basic networking tutorial will show you the advantages of networking, how adult social networking can help your business and how to use social networking sites to your advantage. *** IRS Small Business Video and Audio Presentations These short presentations are dedicated to helping your small business. In addition to these video and audio presentations, please visit the Small Business Tax Workshop Video page for instructional lessons. *** Free Business Training Keep your employees up to date on today’s important skills & requirements.Test out the best business training system available online by taking one of our free business training courses. Simple course authoring, student administration & branded for your company. *** Business Change Management Library Check out our sample video covering The Change Agent. You’ll find it to be a lively presentation that gives cutting-edge insight, and pragmatic tools - all proven methods that have produced world class results in organizations all over the planet. *** Play Kebab Van Online Kebab Van Sim Game Review Hints Play Kebab Van sim game free online. No download. Serve kebabs in busy area make big profit. Kebab Van game review hints. tips, cheats. *** Free Online Courses Open to Business Professionals Affected by Down Economy SmartDraw.com, maker of SmartDraw, the software that helps you work smarter by communicating visually, has announced a free, three-part series of e-Courses entitled, "Recession Proof Your Business." This timely series, accessible through SmartDraw’s Working Smarter blog at http://blog.smartdraw.com/ or through the series overview at http://www.smartdraw.com/Recession-Proof-Overview-PDF, is divided into three 20-minute online e-Courses that include printed materials and video instruction. *** Strictly Business The American Society of Media Photographers provides this forum to encourage the development of critical skills and to foster new ideas. Our goal is an informed and savvy professional photography community. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. The Internet has made the lifelong pursuit of knowledge easier for nearly everyone in the world. There are tons of websites dedicated to providing free courses, reference books, education apps, and other learning materials. Here are 25 stand-out sites that would be useful to almost any lifelong learner. Clusty - This unique search engine sorts results into clusters of related information so that it is easier to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant. Schoolr - Schoolr is a fully-customizable search engine that can be used to search Google, Wikipedia, and other popular sites. It can also be used to translate text, convert units, and cite sources. MyStickies - This site offers an alternative to bookmarking. Instead of saving URLs and page titles, MyStickies allows you to place digital sticky notes with annotations around the web so that you can retrieve previously viewed pages and understand immediately why they are important. Diigo - Diigo is a handy research tool that can be used to highlight and annotate pages on the web. Anything that is marked with Diigo can be accessed later on from any PC. Hooeey - Hooeey is a unique tool for people who like to surf the web. It records browser history, measures productivity, and offers tips to help you better understand your browsing habits. Internet Public Library - The IPL is a free public library for the Internet community. Resources include books, magazines, reference materials, subject collections, a physical library locator, and an "Ask the Librarian" section. RefDesk - This award-winning, family-friendly website is a great place to find reference materials online. RefDesk also offers one of the best fact checkers on the Internet. SparkNotes - SparkNotes is an incredibly useful resource. In addition to an enormous literature section, the site also offers study guides and discussion forums for a wide range of academic subjects. Schmoop - This free beta site makes it fun to study literature, poetry, and U.S. history. Schmoop features include easy-to-read study guides, homework helpers, and other educational materials. History.com - The official History Channel website is one of the best places on the web to learn about a broad range of history topics. You can read articles, watch videos, and explore many other resources. Wolfram MathWorld - This extensive math resource contains contributions from all over the world. Entries include information about algebra, geometry, calculus, applied mathematics, discrete mathematics, number theory, statistics, and other math topics. OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium - The OCW Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions. The Consortium’s website is an excellent place to find free courses and course materials from some of the world’s best colleges and universities. Lecturefox - Lecturefox is an online directory of free audio, video, and text-based lectures from universities like MIT and Yale. LearnOutLoud - This Internet catalog contains more than 20,000 free educational materials, including books, videos, audio lectures, and podcasts. The Online Books Page - The University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page is one of the best places to find free unabridged books online. The site lists more than 35,000 books that can be downloaded or viewed at no cost. The Free Library - Farlex’s Free Library contains more than five million books and articles that can be viewed online for free. The site also allows you to create your own home page with your favorite bookmarks and RSS feeds. BookMooch - This book swapping site makes it easy to get rid of the books you don’t need and get books you want in exchange. Membership is free and books can be exchanged worldwide. wePapers - This site is geared toward college students, but it is also an excellent resource for lifelong learners. At wePapers, you can find academic papers, study groups, and a venue to share your knowledge. Livemocha - Livemocha is an international community of foreign language learners. You can use it to study almost any world language at your own pace. VerbaLearn - VerbaLearn is a good place to practice English vocabulary. You can review words, make flashcards, and customize the way you learn. Class Marker - At ClassMarker, you can create online quizzes that test your knowledge on any subject. No software or download required. Mikogo - This free screen sharing tool makes it easy to share your computer screen with other people who are online. Mikogo works well for online meetings, presentations, and collaborative learning. Bloglines - This web-based tool makes your home page look like a newspaper. It allows you to assemble all of your favorite sites and blogs amidst information like local weather, sports, and other items of your choosing. ThinkFree - ThinkFree offers Internet-based file sharing and storage as well as a Microsoft Office compatible application suite that allows you to access documents without opening the necessary application. Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online colleges for OnlineCollege.org. *** P.S. (from Jeff) - Any other resources you’d like to see here? Please comment and add them. Also, if you are interested in submitting a guest post like this one, or like the earlier 5 Tips to Lean Towards Lifelong Learning, please contact me.

As I have time, I am continuing to reflect upon two years of Mission to Learn, and part of that reflection is to spend some time going back through old posts to try to understand how the site has evolved, and what I may have learned along the way. It occurred to me in doing this that I should pull together a post that reflects some of the major themes and resources. So, here it is. I’ll keep coming back and revising and adding to this one as I think it will serve as a good guide for new visitors to Mission to Learn. A Definition of Learning This is a very recent post and one that was long overdue: a blog about learning should offer a definition of what learning. I won’t claim there is anything relelationary in this one, but it serves its purpose. A Definition of Learning Perspectives on Learning The following posts offer thoughts on how we learn, how we might learn better, and what has changed about learning in a hyper-conected world. 5 Themes for the Web 2.0 Learner 5 Tips to Lean Towards Lifelong Learning (Guest Post from Katie Wilson) Is Your Brain In a Box? What Have I Learner at Work and the related When’s the last time you asked why? Taking Notes(s) Learning Tools The following posts offer some great tools you can use to enhance your learning efforts. 10 Tools for Tracking a Topic or Issue 7 LinkedIn Tactics for Lifelong Learning 25 Free Online Resources and Web Apps for Lifelong Learners (Guest post from Karen Schweitzer) Learning Experiences The following posts offer a wide range of places to learn on the Web - most of them free. And don’t forget you can follow Mission to Learn on Twitter and subscribe to the Free Learning Monitor to get more resources on a regular basis. 36 Learning Games to Change the World More Than 100 Free Places to Learn Online and Counting 20 Language Links from the Free Learning Monitor 35+ Free Online Business Education Sites (And see also Learning to Do Business - And Other Things: 4 Models) More Than 50 Web Widgets for Your Learning Mix Customer Education: 25 Sampler Sites The Organizational Perspective I don’t write quite as much in this vein here anymore - I tend to do it more over at Hedgehog & Fox to the extent I do it at all. Here, however, are a couple of posts that may be of perennial interest. Learning 2.0 for Associations Learning in Context - From the Bottom Up Well, that’s it for now. Please let me know any comments you have about the items above or about things you might like to see here on Mission to Learn going forward. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn

This is a guest post by Caitlin Smith Learning a language on your own can be done, but it’s much more fun and potentially easier to learn through communicating with others. The Web provides a great forum for this, with tools of all kinds that let language learners talk to one another and learn from direct, immersive communication. Here are a few collaborative language learning tools you may want to try: LiveMocha: LiveMocha offers a wide ranfe of self-paced language lessons, but the real power of the site is in its focus on social language learning. The site features real-time text and audio chat tools that let users converse with native speakers to build skills and confidence in the oral and written practice of the language. Babbel: Many people learn well with the aid of flashcards. This site lets users create and share their own flash cards through a slick and user-friendly interface. That isn’t all that the site has to offer, though. Users can also chat with others in the language that they’re learning and take advantage of a  host of other useful tools. Right now the site is limited to English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. italki: If you’ve got Skype you can take advantage of this great language learning add-on. Through the italki interface you can find other users to talk to, chat with them using Skype or a host of other online chat tools, find language resources, and communicate with other learners through the online language forums. Busuu: Busuu features language tools at all levels that incorporate both writing and speaking practice. Once users have completed a few lessons and built up a general knowledge, the site offers video chat as well so learners can test out their new skills with someone who speaks the language. LingoPass: LingoPass is like a bartering system for those willing teach their language to another person while also having the opportunity to learn a new language of their choice. Everytime you lead a one-hour discussion class in your language of expertise, you earn credits to participate in all other language discussions on the site for a week. If you want to keep learning for free, you have to keep teaching! This post was contributed by Caitlin Smith, who writes about associates degree programs. She welcomes your feedback at CaitlinSmith1117 at gmail.com. Interested in writing a guest post? Contact Mission to Learn.