Yesterday I wrote about Apple’s two new releases that are significant for those of us working in online learning - iBooks2 and iTunes U2. One of the issues for those of us in online learning, but in the non-education sector, is that iTunes U is aimed at educational institutions. True we can all consume the FREE content in iTunes U but ONLY educational institutions can use the course development platform (iTunes U Course Manager). This is a pity because it would provide a valuable alternative for those designing learning programmes in the non-education sector. I guess a ‘commercial’ version may feature somewhere on Apple’s secret roadmap but I think Apple also needs to recognise that ‘education’ is a business too and not get too carried away with its ‘free stuff for future Apple customers’ strategy. More significantly there appears to be an even bigger spanner in the works when it comes to iBooks2. This product isn’t targeted just at the education market; though most of the posts on it over the last 24 hours have made a big play of interactive textbooks for students. Unlike iTunes U the authoring software for iBooks, iBooks Author, is available FREE to all (provided you use a Mac of course). The problem appears to be with the licence agreement. If you develop a book in iBooks Author the copyright of that book belongs to Apple! What’s more you can only sell an iBook through Apple - though you can give it away free on another platform (such as your own website). Apple, in this EULA, is claiming a right not just to its software, but to its software’s output. It’s akin to Microsoft trying to restrict what people can do with Word documents, or Adobe declaring that if you use Photoshop to export a JPEG, you can’t freely sell it to Getty. Dan Wineman Learn More: Apple at its Absolute Worst A Quick Video Tour of iBooks Author

Take a look at the photo above. What could possibly attract the attention of a group of  students like that? Last week, my 4th graders were given an opportunity to catch up on some assignments they hadn’t finished or wanted to tweak before turning in via Google Classroom. Some chose to work on their soon-to-be-3d-printed cell phone designs using Tinkercad, others brushed up on their keyboarding skills using the gamified (and not so drill-and-killish) Typing Instructor, while others chose to work on a spreadsheet project - our "$1,000 challenge" (goal: build a spreadsheet with a Toys-R-Us items coming as close to $1,000.00 as possible, including tax.) Which do you think it was? If your guess was 3D printing, congratulations, that was my thought too … but we’re both wrong. "You’re almost there!" "You need something for three dollars!" "Don’t forget the tax!" Yup. They were building a spreadsheet. A simple assignment. Find some items. Add them to a spreadsheet. Create some formulas, including a tax calculation. See where you’re over - or under. Remove something, add something else. Iterate. The winner? A student in another class whose total was $999.88, including correctly calculated NJ sales tax. The cheers in the classroom that day would have led you to think the students had just won a class pizza party or something. I’m still puzzled as to why the kids found this project so engaging. Was it the way I pitched the concept? The items they were shopping for? The ability to make their own choices? The instant gratification upon seeing their spreadsheet totals inch closer to the goal? The challenge of getting everything loaded into the spreadsheet properly? The spirit of competition that erupted, as each kid called out their total, ever closer to the elusive $1,000.00? But … why ask why? Sometimes, a lesson or activity just takes off when you least expect it.  

An eLearning visual style guide provides one graphical standard for everyone.Post from: The eLearning CoachHow To Write A Visual Style Guide for eLearning

Not the first time these first graders have worked in 3D - BuildWithChrome is a longtime favorite - but there really is no comparison; Tinkercad is substantially more powerful and complex. The goal of the lesson was to get them comfortable with the Tinkercad user interface and give them experience designing in three dimensions: Students had to combine (with minimal modifications) basic geometric shapes to form a house. They found out it’s easy to think something is lined up properly… …when in reality, it isn’t: It was a very successful day, but, we’re just getting warmed up - yesterday’s class was the first I’ve ever done with Tinkercad in First Grade. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of my students do! I was very impressed by the ease with which they learned the program and feel this is a sign of great things to come with these kids! - Mr. Jarrett

  There has been much discussion in the twitterverse recently over whether we still need the ‘e’ in e-learning - what with all the new stuff coming along such as: m-learning (e-learning on a mobile device) social learning (self organising e-learning powered by social media tools) live online learning (virtual e-learning classrooms) I still use the term e-learning because it’s well known and reasonably well understood - though if you ask anyone at Learning Technologies next week you will get some quite different definitions. Personally I prefer the term online learning since it seems more inclusive of all that new stuff listed above. However the primary aim of this short post is to highlight a new use of the ‘e’ in e-learning; enhanced learning. Where did I find this new usage? Pretty close to home actually - in Plymouth in Devon. It comes from the title of a conference on e-learning which has been run each year by Steve Wheeler (@timbuckteeth) and his team a the University of Plymouth. This year though it has been re-branded as ‘The Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference‘. I like this new usage - what about you? Should we re-invent the ‘e’ or just lose it altogether?

Some things to consider when deciding what fonts to use in an eLearning course.Post from: The eLearning CoachWhat font should I use?

In September 2015, a new chapter begins for elementary technology at NCS - one that does not include me because I am transferring to our middle school to design and lead a brand new STEAM (STEM that incorporates art) program called "Technology, Engineering and Design." But first, some perspective. Three years ago, we changed elementary technology instruction at NCS forever. Back then, we: designed and built the "STEMLAB," a student-centered, flexible learning space unlike any other classroom in the district; incorporated an emphasis on STEM, and engineering in particular, by, among other things, integrating selected units from the award-winning Engineering is Elementary program from the Museum of Science in Boston; embraced mobile devices, i.e., Chromebooks … including, naturally, Google Apps for Education (but still also instructed students on the use of PCs and applications like Microsoft Office); captured students’ imaginations, encouraging their sense of wonder, possibility and curiosity about the world around them. The NCS elementary technology program has a bright future. Under Principal Maureen Vaccaro’s leadership, and considering the team she is assembling, the continued support from our outstanding teaching staff, and the creative ideas I’ve heard so far, the best is yet to come. Honestly! Leaving the elementary school is definitely bittersweet; my heart will always be in K-4, but I’m also tremendously excited about the opportunity that lies ahead in our middle school. So, for my current students in Kindergarten through third grade, this isn’t goodbye, it is "see you later." In the case of my fourth graders, it’s "see you next year." And, for the middle school students whom I’ve already taught, and will again next year, it’s "see you soon." I’ll close by thanking the people who made this program possible: my elementary principal Maureen Vaccaro; our previous superintendents Dr. Rich Stepura & Dr. Janice Fipp; our Board of Education; my elementary colleagues; parents (especially those who volunteered in my class); the Northfield PTO; the Northfield Education Foundation; and everyone else who contributed ideas, inspiration and encouragement all these years. Thank you! All my best, Mr. Jarrett to follow my next adventure - bookmark this blog: http://blogs.ncs-nj.org/daedalus/

Storytelling can capture the imagination of an audience. Find out why.Post from: The eLearning CoachWhy You Need To Use Storytelling For Learning

The term ‘mobile learning‘ or m-learning was coined a number of years ago to cover the use of mobile devices for learning. The term was introduced in the days before smartphones and for a while learning on a mobile was a dire experience - the combination of poor screen resolutions and poor connectivity made m-learning something to be avoided. But with the rise of the smartphone m-learning has finally come of age. The only problem is that the range of ‘mobile’ devices has become so enormous that it’s now quite hard to distinguish between a device that’s mobile and one that’s not. Laptops and netbooks are essentially mobile devices but learning on these devices is still considered e-learning rather than m-learning. What about tablets? These are also ‘mobile’ devices but are they better for e-learning or m-learning? For me (and many others) the differentiation between m-learning and e-learning is essentially redundant - what matters is the form factor of the device and the context in which the device is used. Form Factor Form factor is a term that describes the physical attributes of a product. In the case of computing devices there are a number of key components that contribute to the device’s form factor: The overall size - will it fit into a pocket, handbag or briefcase The weight - is it light enough to carry anywhere or so heavy it needs wheels The screen size and resolution The keyboard size - together the screen and keyboard size determine the overall size of the device The power supply - small or big battery. Though portability is important, the most important factor relating to the suitability of a device to be used to access e-learning content is the screen resolution. Pixels count when it comes to consuming or interacting with online content - generally the more the merrier. If I have a 320 x 240 pixel Blackberry then the type of content I can access is going to be different to the content I can access with a 1280 x 800 pixel tablet. Click to Enlarge: Screen Resolutions (Source: Wikipedia) Conventional e-learning ‘modules’ are designed for a specific pixel width and height - they are often targeted at resolutions around 800 x 600 (SVGA), so that they will work on relatively low resolution screens. In recent years though the XGA standard (1024 x 768) has become more prevalent and we are also seeing increasing use of wider aspect ratio screens - which are optimised for entertainment uses (widescreen video). The standard Articulate player has pixel dimensions of 980 x 640 so it requires an XGA display to appear at optimal size. The standard aspect ratio of SVGA and XGA is 4:3 but 3:2 is now becoming more prevalent. Most movies are now shot in 16:9. I definitely prefer a wider screen format for my e-learning courses but when working for clients we often have to design for the lowest common denominator. So getting back to mobile devices - can we run a conventional e-learning module on a mobile device? Well if the resolution is high enough then theoretically yes but the problem is that the scaling makes the content pretty much unreadable. Although the latest smartphones have reasonable resolutions the pixel density makes things look quite small in practice. Note - I’m ignoring the Flash on mobile devices issue in this post (another post covers that). The iPhone has a screen which is 640 x 960 so it’s actually pretty close to the size needed to run the standard Articulate player (980 x 640) but since the screen is only 3.5 inches (diagonally) the content would be too small to read and navigate effectively. However the iPad with a resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA) and a screen size of 9.7 inches is ideal for running conventional e-learning modules (at least those not built in Flash). Pixel Density (Pixels-per-inch) Taking a standard laptop screen of 14 inches and with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels gives a pixel density of 91 pixel-per-inch. The iPad at 1024 x 768 with a display diagonal of 9.7 inches has a pixel density of 132 ppi. The iPhone 4 has a resolution of 640 x 960 pixels which when combined with its 3.5 inch display results in a massive pixel density of 326 ppi. That means that text, images and interface objects such as buttons are going to appear much smaller on an iPhone than on a conventional screen. The same 100 x 100 pixel image on devices with pixel densities of 72, 144 and 240 pixels-per-inch. Source: MobiForge In practice the limited resolutions and higher pixel densities of smartphones mean that m-learning content needs to be re-worked to be successful on the small screen. However, tablet devices are much closer in resolution and pixel density to conventional laptop and desktop screens so it’s much more likely that they can be used to access conventional e-learning content provided the player interface works satisfactorily on a touch screen (e.g. the buttons and menus are big enough to select with a finger) and of course that they support the publishing environment (e.g. Flash or HTML5). Context Closely allied to portability is the context or environment in which the device will be used. A smartphone is always on and available instantly wherever the user is located. It’s therefore ideal for just in time access to content but it also supports multimedia in a way that computers in the office might not - for example it’s acceptable to listen to a 10 minute podcast while travelling on the train but it may be inappropriate while you are sat at your desk in the office. Horses for Courses Ideally as a learning designer I would prefer a design once publish anywhere approach but because of the form factor and context in which various devices are used in practice I need to design my learning programme for a specific device, or where appropriate create a range of learning activities that can be accessed across different devices. I’ve started to refer to this as the ‘device mix’. There are countless nuances to the device mix and we all face decisions each day whether to use one device or another. For example - if I’m at home and want to find out what the weather forecast is I have four options: Fire up my desktop Fire up my laptop Use my iPad Use my iPhone For this quick task the hassle of starting-up either my desktop or laptop is a no-no; so for me the iPad on WiFi is the best option. It’s always on and has a screen resolution that will allow me to see a decent weather map. If I’m shopping and need to find the nearest Waterstones then the iPhone is going to be my only real option. If I need to work on my presentation for Monday then the desktop will provide the most power and screen real estate to get the job done. Every day many of us deal with this device mix. My current computing and e-learning devices. When we design e-learning/m-learning we need to take these device choices into consideration. Does the material need to be provided across a range of devices or is a single device option (such a native app) the best option? Is the material for use on the go and likely to be required at the point of need, sometimes referred to as just-in-time learning (JIT) or performance support, or is it something that can be consumed more slowly and when you are in a more reflective mode (most conventional learning is definitely not JIT).

Wall Street Journal PSFK

Count 'em! Six adventurous ways to help learners acquire concepts!Post from: The eLearning Coach6 Proven Ways To Use Examples And Nonexamples

Smarter than an instructional designer. Faster than the speed of light. It's the New Learning Architect.Post from: The eLearning CoachThe New Learning Architect: A Book Review

I’m always so late with my post event blogs, but then they say that you should always leave some distance between the experience and your reflection on it. This one is especially late because my website was hacked via some rogue WordPress plug-ins. I have been attending the Learning Technologies Show (I’m not describing the conference here) almost since it started back in 1999. In the early days it was dominated by learning platforms and systems - primarily LMS’ but also KM and Talent Management systems. Since then it has re-balanced somewhat in favour of content, and these days even the technologies are so much more accessible (and affordable). In particular, the rise of DIY authoring tools and learner friendly LMS’ combined with the focus on learning content has resulted in an event that is as much about learning (or at least learning content) as it is about technology. I spent two days at the show with a part of each day on the WillowDNA stand. I managed to see some of the free seminars on the floor of the show but didn’t get the chance to participate in the conference. Last year there was some criticism that the conference and the show were out of step but then this is a problem with all conference/show combinations. Emergent ideas don’t productise very well - there needs to be healthy signs of an emerging market before savvy entrepreneurs will risk their cash. Here are some of my reflections of the show. e-Learning Content All the key bespoke content developers were there including Kineo, Epic, Brightwave, Line, Saffron and IMC. Sponge were also there with a refreshed stand and the same yummy sponge cakes. A new player on the content development front was Purple Media - the stand was modelled on the cabin of an airliner - it looked good but suffered a little from putting form before function (just like their painfully slow Flash driven website - which degrades ungracefully on an iPad). Information Transfer had the most elegant stand complete with tulips and a sort of fung-shui feel in the midst of the chaos going on all around. Off the shelf vendors included SkillSoft and Jenison. SkillSoft were a little cagey on whether their massive back catalogue would work successfully on mobile devices but Jenison’s categorisation of their content into Shapers, Express, Pathways etc. was a useful attempt to direct buyers to content that would be appropriate for different learning contexts and form factors (see my recent article on m-learning). LMS’ and Platforms On the LMS front there was a return for the two old boys - Saba and SumTotal. Certpoint were there as were Upside, NetDimensions, Kallidus and Coloni. Most encouragingly there were a variety of flavours of Moodle on show from Kineo, Epic, Webanywhere, Aardpress and Traineasy. I have always liked Moodle for its trainer centric approach so it’s great to see it finally coming of age in the non-education sector. Willow’s Pathway product is actually a sort of ‘Moodle lite’ aimed at the non-education market. So far it’s been really popular with developers of continuous professional development programmes (CPD) Authoring Tools Don Freda demonstrates Articulate Storyline As far as tools go the usual favourites were there including Adobe, Lectora, Seminar, Zenler, Luminosity and this year Articulate had their own stand manned by Don Freda and Gabe Anderson. They were demonstrating Storyline which as expected was creating a real buzz. They were handing out a Storyline brochure which includes a URL to download a FREE 30 day trial but also when I tried it you only get to register your interest. I’m guessing that Storyline will be available very soon though. The update to Studio is also in the pipeline but I got the impression that we won’t see that until Q4 2012. Kaplan ran mini-classroom sessions taking people through STT Trainer and Content Point (Atlantic Link) but these didn’t seem particularly busy. I just sense that now Mike Alcock has left the business Atlantic Link is going nowhere quickly. I did a quick demo of Zenler with Rakesh Vallil. Zenler is a really good alternative to Articulate if you have limited budgets. I’m going to evaluate the latest version soon and write an accompanying blog post. Mobile Learning Of course mobile learning was high on lots of people’s agendas with mobile authoring solutions from a wide range of vendors but the solution that most impressed me was Epic’s GoMo. This authoring tool takes a straightforward approach to authoring for mobile devices. Articulate’s Storyline is also going to be able to publish content to mobile devices but it will do so on the iOS platform via the special Articulate app. I am on the Storyline beta programme but we have yet to see the ‘publish to HTML5′ option in the beta release. It’s not clear yet whether all the functionality that is available via Flash (Articulate’s standard publishing format) will be available on iOS and whether if publishing for a Flash enabled tablet whether Flash will still be recommended over HTML5. Video for Learning The rise of video as a ‘learning channel’ was also apparent at Learning Technologies with the biggest splash made by Fusion with their impressive mini-theatre focussing on 70/20/10 and informal learning through the medium of video. Fusion is the brainchild of ex Fuel CEO Steve Dineen and their ‘informal learning’ platform offers a refreshing change to the standard SCORM centric LMS. Live Online Learning Redtray are a custom content developer but their stand this year was majoring on CloudRooms - their own virtual classroom product. Clearly Redtray are confident that 2012 is going to the year that live online learning takes off! Social Learning There was some talk of this new ‘paradigm’ in the show but little evidence that any vendor had really developed anything approaching a full social learning solution. I guess that the interpretation of social learning is still a little vague in many people’s eyes so it’s difficult to pin down what features a social learning platform might provide. At LT2012 Fusion were probably closest to the mark with their Fuse product and I’m keen to investigate this, and the whole concept of social learning, more closely in 2012. Fusion Universal is the first company to design a performance and support solution that addresses the whole 100% of learning. Up until now, nearly all learning suppliers have focused on only one component of the 70/20/10 principle - usually the 10% formal course part. www.fusion-universal.com Of course the proponents of social and informal learning approaches will hate the idea that the concept could be ‘productised’ along the lines of a traditional LMS or KM type system but there is definitely a gap for a ‘learning sharing’ platform that really combines the best of formal and informal learning approaches. Follow-up articles planned: Review of Epic’s GoMo m-learning authoring tool Evaluation of Zenler authoring software Social Learning Unconfused Related: Twitter stats for #LT12uk

How many types of writing can one instructional designer master? At least 10!Post from: The eLearning Coach10 Types Of Writing For eLearning

No ideas? See four types of creative blocks you may need to bust through.Post from: The eLearning CoachIs your creativity blocked?

TED launched their new education orientated series of short films today. Called TED-Ed the formula appears to be: Identify a cool topic (e.g. How do Dolphins Communicate?) Find a brilliant teacher (e.g. Miss Hogarth from Anytown High) Put 1 and 2 together with some ‘pro-animators’ (volunteers wanted) Create a 10 min video and share with the world. It’s a nice idea, and of course it will all be free to share but I can’t help thinking that we are in danger of turning learning into ‘videobites’.

People who create on demand need more than ADDIE.Post from: The eLearning CoachIs Design Thinking Missing From ADDIE?

There is a ‘perceived wisdom’ among many of my clients and potential clients that younger workers need a different type of e-learning to other workers. These ‘digital natives’ are characterised by having a short attention span and valuing form over function, and because many of them have grown up playing computer games it’s assumed that their learning needs to be more game like in order for them to be motivated to do it. In reality the situation is more complex than this - these learner’s are awash with information - the problem they have is about relevance. With so much to learn, about so much, they need learning experiences that build capability quickly and which are appropriate for ‘here and now’ - not some future point in time. Motivation isn’t the problem - relevance is. This video sums up the issue from an educator’s viewpoint: I love the segment from 21s to 29s. Enjoy and learn.

Fascinating learning technology trends for the coming year. Post from: The eLearning CoachLearning Technology Trends To Watch In 2012

Drafted at: Costa Coffee, Farringdon Last Thursday (7th March 2012) saw the launch of the eagerly awaited iPad 3. As usual with a new Apple device the blogosphere has been full of speculation about what new features will be included. Speculation it has to be because Apple’s approach to marketing is to build hype as a new product launch approaches. If you are interested there was an excellent article in the May 2012 edition of PC Pro comparing Apple’s and Microsoft’s vastly differing approaches regarding new product launches - and guess what? Microsoft comes out as the good guy - it shares a lot of stuff with its developer community prior to key launches. So what does the iPad 3 bring to the tablet party? Well not that much surprisingly. The headline feature is the ‘invisible pixel’ Retina display - imagine 4 iPad 2 screens tiled together and you begin to get a feel for how sexy this is going to be (I haven’t actually seen an iPad3 at this point but I’m already salivating). iPad Screen Resolutions Compared (same 9.7 inch screen diagonal) Apart from the sexy display we get 4G network access (well we will when we get a 4G network in the UK), a faster chip and a better camera and video capability. The battery also has a higher capacity (70% higher) but this doesn’t deliver any extra usable life which remains around the 10 hour mark. Sadly all this loveliness has resulted in extra thickness and extra weight. Think something between an iPad 1 and iPad 2. This doesn’t bother me being an iPad 1 owner but all those celebs are going to whinge about the extra room it will take up in their Gucci handbags. So what will this new form factor mean for m-learning and e-learning? Well as a learning designer I love the idea of the extra pixel real estate but in practice these pixels aren’t that usable. Why? Because the pixel density is so high - much of the benefit ends up simply in improving the interface resolution. In other words smoother fonts and more curvy buttons. Most conventional e-learning content is designed to display at 1024×768 max. Some content scales - Articulate can publish so that it scales but this degrades quality. Of course since the iPad 3 doesn’t support Flash this is a hypothetical issue anyway. The extra pixels will improve video and will also benefit LMS platforms which can make use of the extra screen real estate for their interfaces. A 'standard' resolution e-learning module running on an iPad 3 The iPad 3 is available in the UK on March 16th. Anybody want to buy my old iPad 1? Or maybe I should wait for a sexy new Windows 8 tablet?

Frustrated because you can't find the right photo? Cry along with me.Post from: The eLearning Coach21 Reasons Why Stock Photo Sites Make Me Cry

Developing e-learning courses that aren’t simply page turners isn’t straightforward (guess that’s why us learning designers are still able to make a meagre living). It takes a lot of experience both of learning design and learning technologies combined to create engaging online learning experiences. However, there are some simple rules and methods you can follow to help ensure that your e-learning is more than just a boring old page turner. In this article I will describe a really simple approach that I first came across in ‘E-Learning by Design‘ by William Horton and which I use as a core part of my ‘Instructional Design for e-Learning‘ course. It’s called the ‘Absorb/Do/Connect’ approach. The idea is that for each topic in your e-learning course you create three elements: AbsorbAn absorb element where you introduce the topic and provide a knowledge primer. In this phase the learner is absorbing new knowledge (or possibly refreshing existing knowledge). The absorb elements could be following a presentation, reading text, watching video, or exploring a diagram for example. DoA do element where the learner then applies that knowledge - usually in an activity. The activity may also require the learner to apply pre-existing knowledge or even to fill in the gaps in what they were given in the absorb activity. ConnectFinally the connect element links what they have done with their own real world situation. This could be an example from their own organisation or a practical exercise or assignment that links back into the workplace. A  job aid could also be used as a connect activity. Examples of Absorb, Do and Connect Activities Not all topics will require all elements. Simple topics may just need an ‘absorb’ element, others an ‘absorb’ and a ‘do’, and some  might skip the ‘absorb’ and drop learners straight into a ‘do’ or even a ‘connect’. It’s also possible to swap the order - a ‘do’ followed by an ‘absorb’ (this follows the age old principle of dropping learners in at the deep end and then following up with feedback). That’s it. Simple but actually quite effective. And it works whether you are developing conventional SCORM e-learning packages or more flexible learning pathways delivered via an LMS or a VLE like Moodle or Willow’s Pathway platform. Here’s an example of the approach applied to an online course on fire safety:  

It's fun, accessible and practical. A painless way to learn instructional design.Post from: The eLearning CoachDesign For How People Learn: Book Review