Learning 2010

We are going to continue a tradition in the Big Question ...

The Big Question for December is:

What did you learn about learning in 2010?

If you are a blogger, I would highly recommend taking this as an opportunity to go back through your blog posts over the year and looking for any "aha moments" or highlight the posts that you think were the best/most interesting.

If you are not a blogger, please go read Should All Learning Professionals Blog? and
Top Ten Reasons To Blog and Top Ten Not to Blog and consider if this might not be the perfect moment to start.

If I still (after 3 years) can't convince you, then you should still take this as an opportunity to reflect on the year and come up with what you've learned. I can promise it's well worth the time.

You might want to look back at some discussions going on during the last few yearly recaps:

• 2009 - Learning 2009
• 2008 - Learn about Learning?
• 2007 - What Did You Learn about Learning?
• 2006 - Past experiences. Present Challenge. Future Predictions.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jason McDonald - Maybe You Should Read the Manual
• Ryan Tracey - Online courses must die!
• Tony Karrer - Seven Things I Learned This Year
• Kelly Meeker/OpenSesame - 10 Useful Things I Learned This Year
• Paul Angileri - The Fluidity of Learning in Today's Organizations
• Jeff Goldman - Reflecting on My 2010 Blog Posts and Happy New Year

Questions No Longer and New Questions

I just saw a great post by George Siemens - Questions I’m no Longer Asking where he lays out the questions that he no longer finds interesting or relevant. This is incredible stuff because it really points to what's changed over the past few years.

George is asking this more for educators, but I'd like to piggy back and ask about this for learning professionals (educators, trainers, eLearning designers/creators, etc.).

The November Big Question is:

What questions are you no longer asking? What are your new questions?

If you aren't sure what I'm asking, look at the post by George. It lays it out pretty well.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jason McDonald - Maybe You Should Read the Manual
• Clive Shepherd Clive on Learning
• Questions I No Longer Ask - Jeff's Response
• Paul Angileri - There Is No Chalk
• Holly MacDonald - Spark Your Interest! - Questions I'm No Longer Answsering
• RK Prasad - Custom Training and eLearning Blog
  
  

Examples of Big Impact from Technology

Whoops, October completely snuck up on me. I'm a couple days late posting this. And I have a bit different question this month.

One of the things that has always bugged me is that its very hard to find good case studies. A few years ago, we asked a big question Where are the Examples of eLearning? It resulted in finding some good examples such as: Elearning samples and eLearning Examples. There are a few more to be found via eLearning Case Studies on the eLearning Learning site.

But most of the time, these examples and case studies tend to focus on different styles of interaction in online courses.

I wanted to do something a bit different here. For most of us, we've worked on a few projects that use technology and have had a Big Impact on performance and the business. It wasn't just a check-the-box kind of training exercise. It was big and meaningful. I want to hear about those projects.

The October Big Question is:

Examples of Big Impact from Technology?

Brag a little, it's okay. If you can't name the company, just say "Big Box Retailer" or something like that. I want to know what projects you are most proud of in your life. But it does need to have technology as part of the solution.


How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jason McDonald - Maybe You Should Read the Manual
• Tony Karrer - Goals Accountability and Social Support for Big Impact
• Ignatia Inge de Waard lists her success factors for big impact eLearning

Voice-Over in eLearning

Over the past couple of months, Dr. Joel Harband has been teaching me all about Using Text-to-Speech in eLearning. This has been a great way for me to learn about the topic.

However, there was a comment on one of my posts that made me realize that the discussion of the use of voice-over in eLearning was far beyond the conversation that Joel and I were having. The comment was:

Even the best Text-to-Speech can only do one thing - receive text and spit it back out. There is no substitute for a professional voice talent, who can interpret the meaning and message of your e-learning scripts. A good voice talent knows how and when to change up the tone or feel of a read when things are getting overly technical or have gone on a while. The most sophisticated text-to-speech cannot approach a real voice person for e-learning. Why do text-to-speech when the cost of a good voice talent will more than pay for itself with satisfied clients and learners?

If you step back, there's a set of broader questions that I've often struggled with:

• When does it make sense to use voice-over in your eLearning course?
• Given the range of solutions for voice-over from text-to-speech, home-grown human voice-over, professional voice-over: how do you decide what's right for your course?
• How do you justify the budget and how does that factor into your choice of solution?
  
• Are there places where text-to-speech makes sense?
• Given relatively low-cost recording and editing solutions, does anyone use a studio anymore? When/why?
• And, last but not least, I've read a lot of conflicting information about the right way to use voice-over in a course. How do you do it right? Can you have the same text on the screen? Can you have text on the screen or diagrams/animations only?
  

The September Question is:

Effective voice-over in eLearning?

This is one of the bigger big questions. I'm hoping that we can use this to collect up some pretty good information to help eLearning professionals to make smart choices about voice-over in eLearning.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jason McDonald - Narration in eLearning
• Ignatia / Inge de Waard's thoughts on when to use TTS or the human voice in eLearning.
• Cathy Moore -Do we really need narration? and Addicted to Audio? and Should We Narrate On-Screen Text?
• Jeff's Response - Narration in e-Learning, Sometimes
• Shaun - Perception of value
• Karl Kapp - Kapp Notes: Audio in E-Learning
• Tony Karrer - Text-to-Speech vs Human Narration for eLearning
• Nibha Verma - Effective Voice-Over In ELearning!

Brain Learning and eLearning Design

David Grebow suggested this month's Big Question (thanks David).

There's been a lot of discussion around cognitive theory and "how the brain learns." I've been to a lot of conference sessions around this and I've captured a bunch of really great resources below.

But even with all of that discussion there's a question of whether people are really making changes to the design of their online learning.

So the July Question is:

Does the discussion of "how the brain learns" impact your eLearning design?

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Video Link and Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jason McDonald - Maybe You Should Read the Manual
• Thoughts from Clive Shepherd at Clive on Learning.
• YouTube Video - Brain based education: Fad or breakthrough--high quality
• Clark Quinn's Learnlets - Brain science in design?
• Paul Angileri - If What You Mean Is the Opposite of the Thing, then Yes...
• Rakesh Poddar - Instructional Design is about Adapting Instruction to Brain’s Ways

Top 32 Posts on Brain, Learning, eLearning Design

I used eLearning Learning to do some quick research to find top resources related to Cognitive Theory, Brain in combination with terms like Instructional Design, Online Learning, Learning Theory, Pedagogy such as: Cognitive Learning Theory, Brain Learning Theory, Instructional Design and Cognitive Theory, Brain and Learning Styles, Brain and Instructional Design, Brain Online Learning Design, Online Learning Pedagogy - this found 32 really great resources on this topic that I've listed below:

1. The Science Behind Learning: Cognitive Tips and How Tos for Corporate Training, February 28, 2010
2. Expanding On The Nine Events Of Instruction- The eLearning Coach, April 19, 2010
3. Transfer of Learning - Theories and Implications- Designed for Learning, October 31, 2009
4. Why are people so dumb? (Cognitive Biases), November 1, 2009
5. Cognitive Load vs. Load Time, October 9, 2009
6. Aging. Can We Enhance People's Cognitive Outcomes?, June 4, 2009
7. Rob Barton: Reducing Extraneous Cognitive Load by Accounting for Individual Differences, January 12, 2009
8. Push Your Brain! Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, January 26, 2009
9. Discovering Instructional Design, Part 1- The E-Learning Curve, May 19, 2009
10. Taxonomy of Learning Theories- E-learning in the Corporate Sector, January 12, 2010
11. Game-based meta-cognitive coaching- Learnlets, October 15, 2009
12. 20 Facts You Must Know About Working Memory- The eLearning Coach, June 2, 2010
13. Start and End eLearning Courses with Methods That Facilitate Learning- Integrated Learnings, January 26, 2010
14. Cognitive Psychology Anyone?- The eLearning Coach, January 25, 2010
15. Inaccurate claims of brain training benefits- Lars is Learning, January 8, 2008
16. Definition: Cognitivism- Kapp Notes, December 28, 2006
17. Theory-informed design tips- E-learning in the Corporate Sector, February 9, 2010
18. The science of learning- Clive on Learning, February 21, 2007
19. Deeper Instructional Design- In the Middle of the Curve, November 13, 2008
20. Brain Based Learning- eLearning Blender, September 28, 2008
21. Understanding Learning Styles Research- Experiencing eLearning, September 1, 2008
22. 4 ways to enlist the learners’ unconscious mind- Thinking Cloud, December 20, 2009
23. Daniel Pink and Framing the Task, September 22, 2009
24. Brain rules – where does that leave us?- Clive on Learning, June 22, 2009
25. Brain Rules & learning- Informal Learning, June 13, 2010
26. Brain changing technology- Learning Technology Learning, March 15, 2010
27. The art of changing the brain- Clive on Learning, May 13, 2008
28. Tools and our brain, July 10, 2009
29. Be Skeptical of Brain-Based Learning, July 21, 2008
30. Are you being fooled by claims of brain-based learning?, June 2, 2010
31. That brain of ours, July 9, 2009
32. 12 Brain Rules continue to stir interest with Instructional Designers, April 10, 2009

Tools to Learn

I did an interview last week for the Frank Peters Show around my experience working as a Startup CTO. It was a lot of fun because I regularly list to Frank's podcast. Frank asked me about the disconnect (especially in Los Angeles Web Development) between the fact that it's hard to find really good developers and the fact that there seems to be a lack of opportunity for students to learn about programming. Most high schools don't teach programming. For me, that's when I was exposed. There was a great teacher, Mr. Thigpen, who taught me BASIC and then we worked together via independent studies for me to learn Pascal. It's what got me into computer science. Frank is determined to set up some kind of program for boy scouts locally so they can be exposed. I think that's a great idea. But it also got me to thinking ...

Last month - there was a wonderful set of posts looking at all kinds of things that might come to be Learning Technology 2015. A fair number of these posts suggest that to be a well rounded eLearning professional, you are going to need to know quite a bit about different kinds of tools. And, of course, there are issues like the possible Beginning of Long Slow Death of Flash that might have a big impact on what you should learn.

So the June Question is:

What tools should we learn?

Initially I was thinking - what tools should we be teaching? And I was thinking about the context of things like master's programs. But, it's also what tools should we be teaching to professionals at industry events or training programs?

And really, the reality is that you shouldn't rely on your educational institution, employer, association, etc. to decide what tools you should learn? The question is really about the specific tools that would make sense to learn today in order to be a valuable eLearning professional in 2015? There's also a question of the depth you need to know these tools.

If you really want to be helpful, you might point us to resources that someone could use to learn the tool at the level you are suggesting.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Harold Jarche What Tools Should we Learn?
• Piotr - read more
• Holly MacDonald
• Jeff Goldman - Development Tools I Would Learn If I Were You - Jeff's response to June’s Big Question
• A view from Clive Shepherd
• Tony Karrer - Learning Flash
• Jeff Goldman - What I Would Like to Say About HTML5 and Flash

Learning Technology 2015

I was struggling this month to feel inspired about a Big Question. I probably need some help soon to keep the questions going and interesting. Volunteers?

Luckily Stephen Downes came to my rescue by pointing me to a fantastic piece Technology to Enhance Learning in 2015? In it, Derek Morrison talks about his answers to the question:

So what can, should, or will, we offer the digital generation by 2015?

In the world of workplace eLearning, the question is only slightly different and leads us to ask for five year out predictions. So the May Question is:

What will workplace learning technology look like in 2015?

or more correctly, how will things have changed from today. What are your predictions.

And if you are smart, you will do what Derek did and keep it in a medium where you can enhance it so that if you look back in five years you can fudge your answers.

I'm looking forward to seeing some interesting responses to this. I hope a few of the old timers like Brent, Mark, Jay - heck - you know who you are - will jump in on this.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Kimberly Worthy - Stepping onto the eLearning Path: Learning Technology for 2015
• Tony Karrer - Performance Support 2015
• Clark Quinn - Learning Technology 2015
• Jeff's Response to the Big Question
• Tony Karrer - Beginning of Long Slow Death of Flash
• Amit Garg (Upside Learning) - Future of learning technology - 2015
• Is the Matrix the future?
• Ignatia 2015 - augmented learning in a ubiquitous environment.
• Tony Karrer - Future of Virtual 3D Environments for Learning
• Learning Moments
• Logos Learn -Workplace Learning Technology in 2015: Implications for Instructional Design
• Clive Shepherd's predictions
• Lynn Wernham's thoughts
• Rani Gill - 2015 - Signal vs. Noise
• Sreya - Future of organizational learning.
• The BIG Answer - Maybe!
  
  
  

Keeping Up

Because of my fairly continuous speaking and writing about new tools and technologies, I received a great suggestion for this month's big question:

Isn't this an ever-expanding universe of tech goodies? Will we be forced to chase hot tools and social platforms to stay competitive? How the heck are we supposed to stay up to speed on all the latest stuff and be successful using it personally and professionally?

Thus, the March question is:

How do we keep up?

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jeff Goldman - My answer to April's Big Question
• Holly Macdonald - How to Keep Up - Follow What Sparks Your Interest
• Kapp Notes: Answering the Question: How Do We Keep Up
• Amit Garg (Upside Learning) - How Are We Keeping Up?
• Ignatia/Inge de Waard her 5 strategies to keep up with innovation
• Thoughts on keeping up from Clive Shepherd.
• Keep up with Technology
• PKM in a Nutshell

Open Content in Workplace Learning?

One of my Top 10 eLearning Predictions for 2010 was around Open Content for Workplace Learning:

I’m not sure why this already hasn’t had a bigger impact, but workplace learning is going to start to catch up on the value of OCW and OER.

Just visit the OER Commons and Open Courseware Consortium. Do a search on something like “instructional design”. Drill down a bit and there are some incredible resources.

To me it's a bit surprising that there isn't more going on around this.

Thus, the March question is:

How do we leverage Open Content in Workplace Learning?

There are quite a few different aspects to this question and I would love to get some different perspectives to weigh in around these different aspects:

• There were earlier attempts at consortia aimed at creating common content, but these have had different results. Can someone weigh in with what's happened around that? Particularly, what are some of the challenges there?
  
• Where does existing open content fit into workplace learning needs?
• What are some of the bigger challenges?
• What are the issues around rights with the materials and using it in different situations?

Basically, is there opportunity here. If so, where and how.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below. This may be hard given the complexity of the topic.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jeff - My Response to March's Big Question
• Open Content and the Workplace
• H0w Can Open Education Resources Deliver Value
• Open Content in Workplace Learning
• Kapp Notes: Why Open Content is Not Yet Adopted in the Workplace
• Clive on Learning: how can we leverage open content in workplace learning?
• Tony Karrer - Creative Commons Use in For-Profit Company eLearning

Instruction in a Information Snacking Culture?

There's a trend that seems to be ongoing, but I'm noticing it even more recently. People seem to be spending less time going through information in depth and less willing to spend time on information. We seem to be snacking on information, not consuming it in big chunks.

And it's been something I've been really wondering about on all kinds of levels. I've mentioned before Stop Reading - Skim Dive Skim and that seems to be how people consume blog posts much more these days. I've also noticed a trend towards more twitter mentions of blog posts, but less deep commenting behavior much less thoughtful blog responses.

Inside corporations, there certainly seems to be a continual theme of spending less time on learning activities. In some cases, there's almost an anger about providing additional information to employees.

Thus, for February the question is:

Instruction in an Information Snacking Culture?

There are a lot of aspects to this question:

• Has there really been a shift? Are people changing their information consumption? Are they really snacking more?
• Do we need to think about instruction differently? Is it a matter of better design so that people are engaged beyond a snack?
• Is this a problem? I feel like it's harder to get a deep conversation going, especially in a twitter world. But maybe that's me. How can we effectively work and learn in an information snacking world?

I'm hoping this will actually be a case where we will get beyond snacks to a good exchange because this is something that I'm really wondering about and would like to discuss.

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below. This may be hard given the complexity of the topic.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• The Big Question - Snacking Culture
• Holly MacDonald: My First Foray Into the Big Question
• My take on the big question
• Terry Eberhart - Digin4ed: “On Instruction in an Information Snacking Culture”
• Janet - Just enough? Or not enough?
• RK Prasad - Information Snacking Culture
• Suzanne posted at her blog
• Claudia Escribano - Learning a Little at a Time

Predictions and Plans for 2010

Happy New Year!

We had great response to last month's question - Learning 2009. It was a great opportunity to look back at 2008. This month we are going to look forward.

Thus, for January the question is:

What are your
Predictions and Plans for 2010?

The goal here is to here what people see happening for them this year.

• What are your biggest challenges for this upcoming year?
• What are your major plans for the year?
• What predictions do you have for the year?
  

You might want to take a look back at last month's posts and as well what people talked about in:

• Challenges Plans and Predictions for 2009
• Predictions for Learning in 2008?

How to Respond:

Option 1 - Simply put your thoughts in a comment below. This may be hard given the complexity of the topic.

Option 2 -

Step 1 - Post in your blog (please link to this post).
Step 2 - Put a comment in this blog with an HTML ready link that I can simply copy and paste (an HTML anchor tag). I will only copy and past, thus, I would also recommend you include your NAME immediately before your link. So, it should look like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0

or you could also include your blog name with something like:

Tony Karrer - e-Learning 2.0 : eLearningTechnology

Posts so far (and read comments as well):

• Jay Cross - 2010
• Clark Quinn's Learnlets: Plans for 2010 and Predictions for 2010
  
• Ignatia looks in her crystal ball: 8 learning predictions for 2010.
• eLearn Magazine - Predictions for 2010
• Dan Pontefract hopes for Learnerprise in 2010
• Jana's Plans for 2010
• Tech Crunch Ten Technologies That Will Rock 2010
• the eLearning coach - 2009 Technology Trends That Impact Online Learning
• Forrester Insight and research - Key Learning Trends for 2010: Are You Onboard?
  
• Jeanne Meister New Learning Playbook - Five Words To Describe Corporate Learning in 2010
• Learning Solutions Magazine by Bill Brandon - 2010 Predictions
• E-Learning Queen - 12 Predictions
• mLearning Trends - My mLearning Predictions for 2010.
• Predictions for 2009 reviewed and then revised for 2010
  
• Learning Predictions – 2010
• Jeff Goldman - Predictions for 2010
• Rani Gill - 2010 - Design thinking, Analytics, new metaphors + more
• Tony Karrer - Top 10 eLearning Predictions for 2010
• Ken Allan - posted on 31 December 2009.
  
• Manish Gupta - Predictions for 2010
• Claudia Escribano: My 2010 Challenges, Plans, and Predictions