ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up books.  Readers who have a webcam installed on their computer can also experience any ZooBurst book in Augmented Reality.  Sign up for a free account and test it out.Check it out:  http://www.zooburst.com/index.phphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpmqs7Yn8VU

If you need an easy-to-use "true" drag and drop question application for training courses, check out this Captivate widget.  "This amazing widget allows you to create engaging drag and drop questions using any image, caption, highlight box, button, or animation that you add to your Captivate stage."You must have Captivate 4 or higher to create the interaction BUT you can incorporate the files that it creates in other training applications besides Captivate like Articulate Presenter ( as a web object).Check it out: http://www.infosemantics.com.au/catalog/widgets/question/wdgt_dragAndDropLite_AS3

Wednesday, December 15th at 1:00pm EST - Forio's webinar on "How to Build an Educational Business Simulation or Game."Reserve your Webinar seat now at: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Forio/ca3b8e5139/627b6e615c/09a0211e42 Expert simulation developer Billy Schoenberg will host a 50 minute webinar using Simulate, a web-based development environment to create simulations using the drag-and-drop design tools. Topics covered will include how to: Provide faculty summaries of class results for easy review or grading.Add faculty control over class scenarios so that the simulation can be used many timesCreate both student and faculty login pages with different views of the simulation Create multi-choice, short answer, and long answer surveys or quizzes within the simulationInclude facilitator guides, student guides, and videos into the simulationQuestion and Answer session

Need training materials for Microsoft Sharepoint 2007?  The Microsoft Office website has a number of online courses as well as shorter PowerPoint versions of courses.  Topics include:Work with document librariesWork with calendarsWork with slide librariesWork with workflowsWork with Excel Services Check it out:  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/sharepoint-server-2007-training-courses-HA010235858.aspx

Wondering where your favorite menu and toolbar commands are located in Office 2010?  Topics include: Use an interactive guide to find commands Get a printable list of Office 2010 commands and buttons:  Office 2010 menu to ribbon reference workbooksInstall guides to multiple computers Check it out:  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/learn-where-menu-and-toolbar-commands-are-in-office-2010-and-related-products-HA101794130.aspx

Free CLO Webinar: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 - 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET Organizations today must deal with a new business and economic climate that continues to change with unprecedented speed. Concurrently, effectively managing today’s organization is more demanding than ever due to a multigeneration workforce and increasing adoption of social media tools and mobile technologies. In this fast-moving presentation,Amar Dhaliwal, Saba, Senior Vice President, Product Operations Group will discuss the trends influencing the engagement and impact of your people, the key aspects of today’s business environment, and the central roles of creativity and innovation in meeting the challenges faced by institutions of all types and sizes.

ASTD estimates that U.S. organizations spent $125.88 billion on employee learning and development in 2009. This amount reflects direct learning expenditures such as the learning function's staff salaries, administrative learning costs, and non-salary delivery costs (including outsourced activities). Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. total ($78.6 billion) was spent on the internal learning function, such as staff salaries and internal development costs. The remainder ($47.3 billion) was allocated to external services such as workshops, vendors and external events. These types of informative statistics appear in ASTD's annual State of the Industry Report.Check it out:  http://www.astd.org/content/research/stateOfIndustry.htm

Do you store company or personal data on USB flash drives?  If so, consider using encryption software to keep your data safe.  TrueCrypt is a software system for establishing and maintaining an on-the-fly-encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted right before it is loaded or saved, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys.Check it out:  http://www.truecrypt.org/

The best productivity bloggers send tips to Productive Magazine.  You can download the magazine as a PDF or get each issue downloaded to your iPAD.  Of course, you can also view the magazine online.This month's issue features an article by Michael Hyatt - "How to shave 10 hours off your work week".  A must read!Check it out:  http://www.productivefirm.com/magazine/

Date: Tuesday, January 11th, 2011, Time: 9 AM PST/ 12 PM ESTModerator: James Hilliard, President, Hilly ProductionsSpeaker: Roger Courville, Principal, 1080 GroupOnline training is a completely different ballgame than in-person training. Sure, you don't have to fret about what to wear or if you're trainees are going to smell the onions you ate at lunch, but you do have to worry about how to engage, interact, connect with and understand your audience - all while you can't even see them!  Join Roger Courville, online presentation expert and author of The Virtual Presenter's Handbook, for a webinar on how to plan, design and present like an online training pro. Attend this live webinar to discover how to:Avoid the 7 most common online presentation mistakesDesign dynamic training presentations (no art degree required!)Present - and train - like a pro Register:  http://learn.gototraining.com/forms/011111-NA-G2T-WBR-L?ID=701000000005Wed

I created my first "SCREENR" tutorial last week about adding an interactive PDF to an Articulate Presenter course via web objects.  The SCREENR program is a web-based recorder with no software to download.  It's simple and works great.  They make it easy to share too with mp4 download capabilities and youtube upload abilities.Check it out:  http://screenr.com/RYq

Like it or not, your end users are probably using their computers and mobile devices to access social networking applications like Facebook and Twitter. While valuable tools for networking and keeping in touch, social networking sites can also expose your users to online malware. Download this Internet.com eBook for advice on keeping your users safe, help developing a social networking policy, and tips on how to make the most of social networking tools.Check it out:  http://www.internet.com/Internetcom/Door/41203/Internet.com-Sign-up-p1-v2?44434

Love the rollover Flash widget for Articulate Presenter from eLearning Enhanced.  Works like a charm and is a bargain at $25.Create rollover "hotspots" on your Articulate Presenter slides with this Flash widget. When a learner's mouse hovers over a hotspot, this widget will play an audio file, display a text tooltip, or both! Design your slide as usual in Powerpoint/Articulate Presenter, insert "hotspotRollover.swf" onto each slide on which you want to have rollover audio/text tooltip hotspots, then publish. No Flash experience needed. Define as many hotspots on each slide as you want. Just edit the "hotspots.xml" file in any text editor after you publish your course to define your tooltip text, audio file, size, and position of each hotspot.  Create multiple hotspots per slide and have multiple slides with hotspots in a single presentation.Make sure you read the "Read Me' file and/or watch the demonstration movies before you use the widget.Check it out:  http://elearningenhanced.com/products/presenter

Houston ASTD Jan Event:  In 2014 Generation Y will Grow from 25% of the current Workforce Worldwide to 47%.  Will You and Your Organization Be Ready?  As their numbers almost double in the next five years, what will Generation Y's effect on the WorkPlace be? Find out more in this fascinating 1/2 day Professional Development event!Nicole Lipkin, PsyD, MBA President Equilibria Coaching and Consulting Services Wednesday, January 12,2011 8:00 AM to Wednesday, January 12,2011 11:30 AM

In this eSeminar, you'll learn how to use the Action Wizard, one of the new productivity-enhancing features in Acrobat X. Action Wizard lets you easily automate routine, multi-step tasks and then apply the action to a single PDF or batches of files. Learn how to:Create, manage and execute the new Actions capability in Acrobat XUse the Action Wizard to automate routine tasks and increase productivity Check it out: http://acrobatusers.com/events/50359/introducing-acrobat-x-actions    

Do you want a quick and easy way to add interactive elements to your training course?  The eLearning Interactions product is one to add to your toolbox.  You can easily create an interaction - pick the interaction template, insert your content (including text, audio and images) and apply a theme.  You can save the interaction for future editing and/or download it as a SWF file for inclusion in your eLearning course.   Try it for free. You subscribe to the service for either a monthly or annual fee.  You can create as many interactions as you want and you'll have access to any new interactions that are created.  Check it out:  http://elearninginteractions.com/how-it-works/

Came across a blog site that has lots of good resources including lists for free e-Learning books, photo sites, and storyboard templates.  Today's post is the first of a series of posts concerning evaluation in e-Learning and includes links to white papers and information.Check it out:  http://blog.efrontlearning.net/2011/01/introduction-to-evaluation-in-e.html#more

I'm excited about the new mLearning Studio from Rapid Intake.  Anyone will be able to create and deploy mobile learning content with their easy-to-use mLearning Studio; choose templates, add text, images, audio, video and quizzes, then publish. The content is delivered in a fully HTML5 compatible mobile course player with cross-platform support for iPhone, iPad, and Android (2.2 and higher); support for Blackberry coming soon.   Rapid Intake's authoring tools allow you to do what is called a 'joint package' which means you have one course that allows the learner to access it in the format that makes the most sense for the device they are using. If they access it via desktop, it comes up in Flash. If from a mobile device, it comes up in HTML5. SCORM and bookmarking are in sync so that the learner is able to move seamlessly from one device to the other without missing a beat.Sign up for a demo and to be notified on product release!   Check it out:  http://www.rapidintake.com/products/mobile/mobile-learning-studio/   http://shoutout.rapidintake.com/

Creating Mobile Learning (mLearning) to supplement your eLearning program is a bit of a mystery. How do all of the parts fit together? How do you publish uniform content to both Flash and HTML5 formats? How will the mobile content be accessed? How can you make sure you're still able to track learner results on your Learning Management System (LMS)? It seems like these things should be easy, but does anyone offer a simple solution? Check it out:  http://www.rapidintake.com/mobile-webinar/

Think you "know Kirkpatrick"? Attend this session and be among the first to see the latest adaptation of the Kirkpatrick Four LevelsTM.  Thursday, February 17, 2011 Speakers: Donald Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., Author, Speaker, Thought Leader, Kirkpatrick PartnersJames Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, Kirkpatrick Partners Wendy Kirkpatrick, Director, Kirkpatrick PartnersThis program includes: The most modern ways to use the Kirkpatrick Model to plan, execute and measure training that creates true business valueA rendering of the updated model that focuses on the importance of the transfer of learning to behaviorTips on how to align training with your most important organizational goalsAn overview of required drivers and leading indicators, and their importance in creating organization value through training Check it out:  http://www.trainingmagnetwork.com/welcome/kirkpatrick_feb17

Everywhere we go, we hear more and more about apps, smartphones, and mobile everything.  Is this a fad, or are we seeing a significant change? Our employees are increasingly mobile and increasingly equipped with mobile technologies. This is a new resource that is largely untapped to improve organizational performance, yet promising large returns. How do we take advantage of it? To truly "get" mobile, we need to shift our thinking. In this session, we will explore the new technologies that underpin the excitement, cover the opportunities on the table, review a set of useful frameworks to help shift our thinking, and talk about the design process and organizational imperatives that accompany this new opportunity.Check it out:  http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.1871

This special one-day training event is non-product specific and ideal for all skill levels of technical communicators and managers, regardless of which product(s) you are currently using.  The Roadshow is an excellent opportunity to advance your professional skills, learn about the latest trends in technical communication, and network with fellow peers in your city.  Event Details:March 28, 8:00AM - 4:00PMHilton Austin Airport9515 Hotel DriveAustin, TX 78719Normally $149, this year's price is now just $99, making the Roadshow more affordable than ever. Be sure to sign up early and reserve your seat!To see the detailed agenda or to reserve your seat, visit: http://www.madcapsoftware.com/events/roadshow.aspx

Come join me - the conference is a real bargain with lots of great sessions - http://elearningdevcon.com/Jun 15 10:20 am - 12:25 pm (2-hr BYOL session):  Creating Branching ScenariosA scenario can put the course content into a context that is relevant to the learners because they can use the information in a real world setting. In this session, you will learn best practices for writing and creating branching or "soft-skills" scenarios. The presenter will demonstrate Rapid Development tools used to create scenarios, and attendees will use one of the tools to create your own branching scenario.Jun 16 9:40 am - 11:50 am (2-hr BYOL session):  Adding Interactivity to Adobe AcrobatIn this session, Debbie will show you interesting ways to use Adobe Acrobat PDF interactive documents - either as a stand-alone eLearning element or as part of a course.  Attendees will create an interactive PDF and insert it into an e-learning course. The presenter will also lead a discussion on using PDFs for collaboration and commenting during the e-learning course development process.Jun 17 9:45 am - 11:50 am (2-hr BYOL session):  HTML5 - What You Need To Know and Why You Should CareHTML5, the new web markup language is supposed to eliminate the need for the Adobe Flash plugin. What does this mean for e-learning developers? Even though HTML5 is not fully supported in major browsers, there are those that are pushing forward and experimenting with its new features. In this session, we will create HTML5 pages and CSS3 styles. We’ll explore key features along with reasons for learning/using HTML 5 instead of Flash. Don’t be scared away from this session if you don’t know basic HTML and CSS - I’ll show you enough to be dangerous!

Several years ago I was going to fly with a friend who'd never been on a plane before. He told me what he hated most about the idea of flying was that he wasn't "in control." This was a person who never let anyone else drive the car because he only trusted himself to make the split-second decision to swerve or brake should trouble strike. In helping him try to manage his anxiety, I joked that maybe I should set him up with one of those children's car seat things where they have a toy steering wheel and stick shift so they can pretend like they're driving. He said he thought it might make him feel better because then he'd at least have the illusion of controlling the plane. I thought of this story as I contemplated Dick Carlson's recent post reflecting on the challenge of implementing social media in the enterprise, which seems to hinge in large part on the idea of "control" or, more specifically, the illusion of control. Those organizations most resistant to implementing social media also seem to be those most hung up on the idea that they must control everything that is being said and done, both in and out of the organization. The problem with organizations, social media and the idea of control is that organizations are focusing on controlling access to social media. They act as though their company-owned computers are the only way an employee can get online. I hate to break it to you, but that's not true. The majority of American households have Internet, so if they want to, your employees can access social media after hours and on weekends. Many of your employees also have their own laptops and WiFi connections that they can use to connect during lunch hours or even, unbelievably, during work. 40% of Americans are using their own smartphones to access the web.  Proxy servers are another way to get around your blocks, especially if your IT department isn't as sophisticated as you think. Controlling access to social media is increasingly becoming a fool's game--a waste of time and effort. And it's not only a waste of YOUR time, but a waste for workers, too. If 22 years of parenting have taught me nothing else, it's that the greatest goad to human ingenuity is telling someone "you can't do that." Considerable time and creativity will be expended in proving you wrong. That's what happens when you try to control access, rather than creating an environment where people are encouraged to engage in the behaviors you want them to choose--also a lesson I learned from parenting.