post to Learn-Learn-Learn 02/11/2013

• eQuizShow Online Templates

  tags: eLearning templates

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

post to Learn-Learn-Learn 02/10/2013

• Why CEOs Want Faster Training–No Matter The Cost – Forbes

  the polling firm Opinion Matters found that 90% of CEOs “will either maintain or increase their training budgets” over the next year. What are a CEO’s biggest priorities when engaging in worker training?

  tags: Learning

• The Future of Mobile Learning – Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity

  Article by Elliott Masie – January 2013

  tags: mlearning mobile learning

• 15 Authoring Tools For mEnabling Your eLearning For iPads | Upside Learning Blog

  tags: mlearning authoring tools

• Cammy Bean’s Learning Visions: If Not ADDIE, Then What with Michael Allen #astdtk13

  liveblogged notes from a concurrent session with Dr. Michael Allen

  tags: eLearning instructional_design ADDIE

• Scenario design in elearning: Two types of feedback

  from Cathy Moore’s blog: Let’s save the world from boring elearning!

  tags: eLearning instructional_design scenario design

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

post to Learn-Learn-Learn 02/09/2013

• 10 Interaction Design Tips: The eLearning Coach

  some tips for designing interactions

  tags: elearning userexperience instructional_design

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

post to Learn-Learn-Learn 01/28/2013

• Learning Resolutions « Mike Taylor

  collection of learning-related resolutions

  tags: learning instructional_design

• 10 Ways to Ruin Your e-Learning by Following Commonly-Held Practices

  “In many professional areas, it is usually a good strategy to look to common practices in the field as a guide — maybe not for the most cutting-edge ideas but at least for reliable models to follow. Unfortunately, in e-learning this can often be a recipe for disaster”

  tags: elearning instructional_design EBook

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

post to Learn-Learn-Learn 01/22/2013

• 13 Predictions (+1 More) for Mobile and Mobile Learning in 2013: Float Mobile Learning

  “The year 2013 will see more companies embrace mobile applications, a wider uptake in mobile learning among the general public, and shifts in what kinds of content and how that content will be delivered to mobile devices. …”

  tags: mobile_learning

• lorempixel – placeholder images for every case

  tags: placeholder webdesign tool

• Donald Clark Plan B: Mayer & Clark – 10 brilliant design rules for e-learning

  seven design principles; multimedia, contiguity, modality, redundancy, coherence, personalisation, and practice opportunities. Clear explanations are given about the risks of ignoring these principles – with support from worked examples and case study challenges. It should be a compulsory text for online learning designers.

  tags: instructional_design eLearning design Richard Mayer Ruth Clark

• Mobile Learning Tools

  The following 39 Mobile Learning Tools allow specific creation of learning modules for mobile devices and/or allow output to HTML5 and/or provide delivery of mobile learning. Most major LMS and LCMS vendors either have mobile solutions in place or are quickly moving to include them

  tags: mlearning mobile learning tools

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Mobile context – Time Opportunity

In thinking more about the context for mobile users/learners, the consideration of “time opportunity” keeps gnawing at me. I started to think out loud via this post, and I’m continuing my lil’ ol’ self-dialogue in this public space.

I start off with:

There is a time opportunity
I didn’t plan to use my smartphone at a certain time. Rather, I find myself with just enough time to look something up or accomplish a specific task. I choose to take advantage of this opportunity.

When I have an opportunity like this, I make a quick mental calculation … how long do I think I have to wait? and do I have enough time to complete the task I want to? In this calculation I consider time as relative and rather general – “Gee, I’m going to be waiting here with nothing to do for a long time.” That’s all relative. I don’t think, “OK. I’ve got 12 minutes to wait on this line.”

Likewise I consider the task in a similar, relative timeframe – “So, I have just enough time to do X.” And thus the calculus, whereby I am considering whether or not to use my smartphone to complete some task, is quick … almost a ‘gut instinct’ approach.

If I believe that I will be able to complete the task, then I’ll take advantage of the time opportunity to do so. If, however, I think for some reason that I really won’t have enough time, then I’ll choose to not do that task.

What may be some mobile learning design implications?

The task needs to be short in duration. If I think that it’s going to take a long time to complete, then I’ll pick something else to do. Even something that’s 10-12 minutes in duration may be too long because I may perceive it to be too long to complete.

Part of my perception about the task is sensing how quickly and how easily I can launch the mobile experience and get to the information I need or want.

• If I have to wade through a series of screens by clicking a ‘next’ button just to get to that one piece of information, then I’ll forgo the task.
• If I am forced to view some type of “Welcome to this …” or “How to use this …” screen, then I’ll think my time is being wasted and go to do something else.
• If, as I fumble through one or more screens and feel like I’m lost – I can’t really remember how I got to this screen, or I’m not even sure where I am within this mobile experience – then I’ll just close it and move on to something else.

Design the interface so that I can access the information without the need to go “next” … “next” … “next” … I want to be able to jump right in, get to the information I want, complete the task, and then exit the mobile tool.

Dispense with an orientation section – those “How to use this” and “Welcome” sections that are common in eLearning courses. Allow me to get right to the information I want or need. Besides, if you have to teach me how to use the mobile content then it might be wise to reconsider the design so as to make it more intuitive because I don’t want to feel as though my time is wasted.

Mobile context

I have had conversations with folks where I mention the need for an instructional designer to understand the context for a mobile experience. Here’s what I mean …

Example 1:

I’m standing on the grocery store checkout line. I take out my smartphone to look over my shopping list one last time to make sure I got everything. Perhaps I’ll then check a game score (because I’m standing on line rather than watching the TV at home). And if this line is quite long and moving slowly, I’ll send a text message to tell my family that I’m probably going to be running late.

Example 2:

I’m in the doctor’s office waiting room and will probably have about 10 minutes, at least, before I get in to see the doctor. I take out my smartphone to “check in” via some social application (such as Foursquare, or Facebook, etc.). It’s in the morning, so I’ll then check my email inbox for any important messages.

Example 3:

My friends and I are waiting in a theater lobby. We’re talking about the different shows we like; and there is a disagreement as to whether or not a certain actor was in the original Broadway cast of a show. We all take out our smartphones and search – some may use Google, others might use Bing, and others may go to Wikipedia. We all discover that our friend is correct … this actor was in the original cast.

Some key things in each example …

• There is a time opportunity
  • I didn’t plan to use my smartphone at a certain time. Rather, I find myself with just enough time to look something up or accomplish a specific task. I choose to take advantage of this opportunity.
• I am likely in a public space or a space with lots of distractions
  • There is plenty of noise (ambient, other people, TV or radio, etc). There are also other people or other store displays that draw my attention as well. If something seems to be more interesting then it’s going to get my attention – or my attention will split into much smaller bits as I look at my smartphone, then glance at a magazine rack, then back to my smartphone, then to listen to the music playing, back to my smartphone, and so on.
• I’m using my smartphone to accomplish some task
  • Since I’m taking advantage of the time opportunity – and I’m pretty sure it won’t be a lot of time – I use my smartphone to do something quite specific … the review a list, to see a game’s score, to send a text message, to look up a fact, to ‘check-in’ via a social app.
  • This task, by its very nature, is short and simple to accomplish. It doesn’t require my reading or reviewing lots of text; it doesn’t walk me through some type of “how to use” orientation or overview.
  • The task I want to accomplish may or may not be related to my location. It makes sense (to me, at least) to double-check my grocery list before I get to the cashier. That’s location specific. Yet other tasks are not necessarily tied to my location – I’m just taking advantage of the time opportunity to read something on my Twitter stream or to check the game’s score.

All of this is the context … the when? where? how? why? questions regarding the use of a mobile device. And these are the types of questions to ask and considerations to take into account when designing a mobile learning experience for someone in my organization.  And I’ll be developing this idea in future blog posts.

… so, stay tuned …

photo credit: Stephan Geyer via photopin cc