Learning in 3D Review - Book Tour Stop #9

Its no secret that I'm a big fan of virtual environments, interactive3D, or whatever you want to call them. My biggest frustration has been waiting to see the acceptance of Virtual Immersive training Environments. I've been waiting for 15 years now since I built my first virtual training app for the semiconductor industry. It seemed so brain-dead simple to see how powerful and effective the learning experience was and yet we couldn't sell the continuation of the project to management.

My hope is that with this book we may begin to see the acceptance of VIEs in corporate training. And after reading it, if this book doesn't at least help then we are doomed to a 2D digital existence. Okay...so maybe that's a little harsh but I think you get what I mean.

Dr. Kapp and Dr. O'Driscoll lay out a powerful narrative about virtual environments. I think every reader will relate to at least one of the personal experiences told in the book. And I think that's what hooked me in. You definitely get a sense of the current state of industry and where people are in their willingness to accept the new technology. They have incredible case studies, and very practical advice on how to get past the hurdles I encountered 15 years ago. I certainly could have used this insight back then.

I've had many, many conversations about virtual environments of the years and I get the feeling that mainstream adoption is farther off than we would like it to be. Especially after watching how a new technology like TWITTER went from "this is stupid" to mainstream adoption. VIE user interface design needs LOTS of work. Designers could learn a LOT by simply mimicking the user controls of current MMORPGs. But even then I still believe it needs to be easier to use before they reach that tipping point.

Besides being simple to use they need to be culturally acceptable. That will simply take time. My 8 year old daughter enjoys World of Warcraft. She runs quests with other players, and contributes to team victories in the battlegrounds. I often wonder what these other players would think if they knew she was only 8. She will have no problem attending virtual schools, and building virtual content to test hypotheses, and join virtual groups for in-world social learning activities.

We certainly do have a few more years to go, but I'm excited for the future. Learning in 3D explores every angle of what makes it so exciting. But remember! Reading the book is great. But to truly understand you MUST experience these environments and see, and feel, what the book is talking about.


DevLearn 2010 Conference & Expo - November - San Francisco, CA

Mobile Apps that build Mobile Apps - Is there room for an eLearning Authoring App?

I have been following the UpsideLearning blog a lot lately because they have been focusing on mLearning. This Post pointed me to the RWW blogRWW blog and the PowerOne Calculator App for the iPhone. It reminds me a lot of what Wolphram|Alpha is supposed to do. Basically, for 5.99, you have the ability to create to your own calculations. This is great for real estate agents, and apparently nurses, and doctors and pharmacists who need to perform complex calculations.

My experience with Bento has been similar. Many people have written it off as being too simplistic of a database system, or just not what they need. Me too. That is until the Bento iPhone app came out. Now I create my own apps quickly and easily for many different things. No more cheesy little todo list apps. Now I make my own custom, cheesy, little todo lists (or libraries).

I've never really mentioned it but now that its been mentioned on MacBreak weekly as a pick of the weekpick of the week, I feel like its okay to mention that I use it ;-)

So, is the iPhone eLearning authoring tool that far off? Is anyone working on one, or something similar? And not just for the iPhone. Other phones too. Yes, I know everybody has an authoring tool that exports to a mobile format (okay maybe not everybody), but that's not what I mean. I want an mLearning authoring tool built specifically for the mobile platform. Who's gonna step up?

Submit a proposal for mLearnCon

DevLearn 2010 Conference & Expo - November - San Francisco, CA

True Mastery NOT possible without FUN! Take it from a 5 yr old drummer prodigy

I don't often follow viral video trends, but sometimes I do it just to find inspiration. Yesterday I found the video below and it got me thinking. I thought the obvious thoughts at first, ya know, "wow, a prodigy", and "there must be something genetic", and "he's just naturally talented", etc, etc, etc.



But then, knowing that my friend and colleague Aaron Silvers (@mrch0mp3rs) also appreciates heavy rock'n'roll (for lack of a better term. I hate to label), I sent him a tweet. I was right...

from @mrch0mp3rs: oh... my... lord...

The questions he asks, however, are different than mine. (BTW - THAT is why pinging your network is important.)

from @mrch0mp3rs: ...Look at the sense of flow. How much practice did it take to get to that mastery.

The key word for me there is mastery. Doesn't something like this just...well...in Aaron's words..."throw a whole wrench into it"? It being our idea of what mastery is. First of all, I'd guess that it took a LOT less than 5 years, because... well... he had to spend at least a couple years of his young life learning how to lift his head, sit up, eat without puking, ya know that infant stuff.

Perhaps this is a much better example of Shoshin or beginners mind. The Zen teacher Suzuki is quoted often, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few". The beauty of watching kids is they just DO what they want. That normally means they do what they like or enjoy. Seeing pure joy in the face of a child is a gift that should be experienced every day by adults(experts). That must be why school teachers LOVE what they do.

Aaron's final tweet-reply was my favorite...

from @mrch0mp3rs: Look at his command of the whole set... you don't get to that kind of proficiency without it being intrinsically fun.

I know we avoid the word fun, but let's get real. Most children will stop an activity WELL before they achieve this level of mastery. Most kids at some point will bang things together and show an interest in making noise and yet have no desire to sit at a drum set. But you can tell by watching this kid that he truly enjoyed every moment of his time on the drums. Heck, most adults just don't even try new things. An adult's "expert" mind rationalizes the time commitment of gaining a new desired skill, and they decide no, without even giving it a chance.

So, why shouldn't we consider FUN a critical part of the learning process?

If the learning experience is not purely joyful and fun, then the pain associated with the learning process forces the child to quit and the adult to not even start. But let's also remember that does NOT mean the learning must come easily. No, in fact, the joy comes from overcoming a difficult complex challenge. The joy of learning comes from the DOING...over, and over, and over, until you get it right. During the over, and over, and over part you are certainly frustrated at times and even angry, but it IS still joyful because you are hopeful that knowing soon you will have overcome the challenge and success is right around the corner. And THAT feeling ROCKS!

How do you help your learners ROCK?

mLearnCon 2010 Conference & Expo - San Diego, June 15-17

The eLearning Singularity or The Inevitable Evolution of eLearning Development

Its that time of year again where everyone wants to know what's coming up in 2010. Or we look back at 2009 and reflect. Both are excellent practices, but I think everyone has pretty much covered all of the bases. If you can't find any, then just leave me a comment and I'll see what I can find for you.

This might not be much of a look into 2010 but I definitely feel a new trend. I'm not even sure what to call it. After years of thinking about it and talking about it, I finally found a blog pot hit me in the face with it. I'd also like to put this blog post up as my choice for eLearning blog post of the year.

http://antonzolotov.com/2009/12/09/why-basecamp-and-campfire-would-be-a-better-learning-management-system/

Anton Zolotov takes a very NON-instructional designer approach to looking at Learning Management Systems. He refers to Blackboard because that's what his school uses, but his line of thinking could apply to ALL of the current LMS offerings.
As a programmer, Anton simply breaks down the functionality that is most used and recognizes the fact that there are other technology solutions that function better and cheaper. In this case he points to Basecamp and Campfire and their genius design that blows most other tools in this category away. Okay, those were my words, not his.

He closes with this paragraph which is very nicely said:

"I think that we can help our customers most by making software modular. Applications should have APIs that allow 3rd party developers to integrate their stuff with yours. As a developer, you are not losing that way – you are winning, because you benefit from the value that other people are creating by extending your software. Everybody wins. That’s the way it should be in education."

There is no reason why we can't modularize the functional requirements of Learning Management Systems. But of course, that is if you are thinking about a tops down application…something very late '90s. The idea that Anton leads me too is that of starting with the user. What if we created the "modularity" by starting with the user? Traditional Learning Management Systems function like giant ERM systems and the user has no choice in how they access the data or add/delete data. By today's 2.0 standards that's simply NUTS! What if we finally started with students like Anton and asked them what THEY use…or what would they LIKE to use?

Actually the technology is already working that out. The best example is standards around XML. Anyone can send me a calendar invite from Outlook and I can add it too my iCal, no worries. And of course, who even thinks twice about email being in the "right format" any more. Nobody cares. You write an email and you send it to an email address. You don't care what app your recipient uses to read the message. Should we care what app our users have to read our eLearning? It even seems strange to say (write) that.

Our development challenge in the coming decade rests in taking the responsibility to create learning content that can be accessed by ALL devices (both desktop and mobile) and sends data seamlessly too and from any cloud source. Some will call this a dream. I call it inevitable in this new decade to be sure.

DevLearn 2010 Conference & Expo - November - San Francisco, CA

Brain Rules - Getty Images - Vision Trumps all other Senses

In my humble opinion BrainRules should be MANDATORY reading for YOU and all of your eLearning colleagues. When the instructional design of 40 years ago was...well...designed, the only thing we could study was behavior. Today's technology looks inside the brain and tells us what that mass of cells is REALLY up too. If you are in an Instructional Design degree program of any kind and have NOT been exposed to the latest brain research then go get it for yourself...on the Internet. Its all over the place...and in books.

Its these new findings that help us understand why we intuitively know that simulations and virtual, highly visual, spaces are AMAZINGLY powerful learning tools. And it also confirms that creativity is at the heart of truly great instructional design. Words alone simply DO NOT cut it!

Special thanks to @cammybean and @tmiket for tweeting about BrainRules.net and helping to spread the word.

Dr. Medina was SO awesome at DevLearn08, I'm thinking about bringing him back...what do you think?

DevLearn 2010 Conference & Expo - November - San Francisco, CA