Trends in Instructional Technology

Moving on...

2009-01-15T11:12:00.002-05:00

Since I have completed my master's degree, I've deceided to develop another blog and leave this one for archival purposes. Check out Instructional Development Personalized at http://idp-michele.blogspot.com/ I hope you will visit me at my new site as I continue my journey in the ISD world.... Michele

Graduation!

2008-12-31T08:30:00.002-05:00

I finally completed my Master's in Instructional System Development from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)! I should have plenty of time to update this blog and contribute to it more frequently. Thanks for reading!

White Paper on Learning Interactivity

2008-10-31T08:48:00.001-04:00

Really good reading from a company who is doing very interesting things with software... Learning interactivity often comes with a serious downside. Custom content can be expensive and time consuming to produce, straining or exceeding the budgets of many learning organizations. A new research paper by Harbinger's Raptivity describes how it is now possible to create compelling and effective eLearning content that not only provides true interactivity, but is also affordable and easily created by individuals who have little experience in content development. Click here to obtain the complimentary copy of white paper on 'Raptivity makes Interactive Learning Easy’.

Free Media Pre-Production Software

2008-10-31T08:42:00.002-04:00

Here's something I've been saving to post since August. It almost makes me want to go back to making videos and films... Celtx http://www.celtx.com/ Celtx is the world's first all-in-one media pre-production software. It has everything you need to take your story from concept to production. Celtx replaces 'paper, pen & binder' pre-production with a digital approach that's more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share.

Learning & the Brain

2008-10-31T08:38:00.003-04:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Things have been crazy at home and work. But this information is intriguing. There is a group that is using social brain research to enhance learning. It's geared toward all kinds of professional involved in education. A flyer for an upcoming conference is how I found out about it. http://www.learningandthebrain.com/

Animator vs Animation

2008-06-05T13:32:00.001-04:00

I think everyone will love this fun animation!! http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf Michele

Share documents with everyone for FREE!!!

2008-05-27T13:58:00.002-04:00

Another great free tool just came across my desk. http://www.scribd.com/ At this site you can upload your documents and share with anyone for FREE. This is similar to the UTube experience but with documents. It will even give you embed code to use in web sites, pages, blogs, etc. How cool is this!! I think this would be a great way to share documents on your resume!! Can't wait to try this, I've got to update this blog with all these neat new FREE tools.

Free Screen capture software and media hosting: Jing Project

2008-05-20T08:39:00.003-04:00

This came across my desk about 6 weeks ago but just came across it again. I've pulled some text from their FAQ's --see below. I'm hoping to use this technology in this blog over the summer basically for FREE you can do screen captures, record video and share online. What is the Jing Project? Is Jing a product? Not exactly. Is Jing a “beta”? Well, it’s not exactly that either. Jing is a concept that we’re evaluating to see if it can improve everyday conversations. Determining if Jing will be a product is what we are trying to do by gathering feedback from people like you. We think it’s a great way to improve daily conversations via email, IM chats and blog posts. http://www.jingproject.com/

Time tracking for projects

2008-05-20T08:34:00.002-04:00

Hi! Just another rainy spring day here in Maryland but something potentially very helpful just came across my desk. Keeping track of time spent on multiple projects is difficult and not knowing exactly how much time it takes to complete a project makes it difficult to predict how long the next one or should I say the next similar one may take. Templates and timelines are all good but if they don't stand up consistently across projects, they are really just guidelines. This tool looks easy to use and the best part is it is FREE!! http://www.toggl.com/

Assessment Information

2008-05-06T08:11:00.000-04:00

Great wealth of white papers on assessment from Questionmark. http://www.questionmark.com/us/whitepapers/index.aspx#pfl

Elearning misconception article

2008-04-24T08:22:00.002-04:00

Great article....I love that the author has shown just a little bit of attitude!! Coming Clean about E-learning Misconceptions By Reuben Tozman At conferences and expos, in leading publications, and during conversations, the e-learning consumer gets bombarded with the latest catch phrases and trends. Here are a few of the top misconceptions circulating the e-learning industry.

Web product development reflections

2008-04-24T08:03:00.003-04:00

Hello! Over the past 18 months I've been working on developing a new product for web delivery at my current job at ASHA. Their current web programs were primarily text based page turners with video, animation and some sound clips. They were really good page turners though and still stand up under today's standard. Technology and web development is moving at light speed these days. New products, services, delivery methods, expected norms, etc. are emerging every day. In order to keep our web programs fresh we needed to update our tools. We reviewed many "rapid" development tools for e-learning and choose Articulate Presenter. This product is an add on for PowerPoint with a strong support community of users as well alot of support from the staff at the company themselves. We did some preliminary testing and found this to be a good fit for our web programs. We intended to use one program as a pilot for the implementing our new process but scheduling issues caused five programs to be in development in parellel. This caused many problems as we were trying to develop checklist and templates for all stages (pre, production, post) to make the process more streamlined. The production was complete on all five programs by mid-December 2007. The post production has taken months as these were not the only projects assigned to staff members during this time period. Projects with time sensative deadlines, mainly "live" offerings, had to take priority. We are finally on track for having our first program ready for sale sometime in June. This process has been stressful. But I'll save that for another blog entry sometime. I'm hoping to blog at least twice a week again now that my workload is almost caught up.

Great graphic tool tips

2008-01-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Hi! Great post on the rapid elearning post about creating powerpoint templates for elearning. I found the info below to be helpful. Use graphics tools to help you build your templates. Many of you already use tools like Photoshop to create your graphics. However, there are a lot of free resources available to help you fine tune your templates, as well. Pixie: quickly pick colors from an image Kuler: create custom color schemes. GIMP: solid Photoshop alternative Paint.net: solid Gimp or Photoshop alternative:)

Update

2008-01-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

I am now to my last two courses in my Master's program at UMBC. I took the last two months off of blogging to catch up on my personal life as I had no classes for the past six weeks!! Classes start again today. But I wouldn't call an internship a class. I will be working on project at my present employer, ASHA, that is beyond my normal scope of work. It is an internal project that will be offered to our members on our website. I'll share more details as the project evolves- basically we will create a web tutorial to train our memebers how to use online journals. That's it for now. I'm hoping to try out some of the new features in blogger soon and I really need to update my photo- I'm not a red head anymore. Here's to another good year!

Rapid elearning Blog

2007-10-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

I think I've mentioned this blog before but I really love this guy even though he is working for Articulate. Another great post this week with great examples of how to use PowerPoint as one tool in the rapid elearning environment. Great demos. A must to look at! http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-using-powerpoint-for-e-learning/

Ten Steps to a Website that Works

2007-10-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

Great ASTD article. http://www.astd.org/content/publications/newsletters_journals/memberOnly/ASTD_Links/2007/Oct/InPractice_Hyatt.htm Ten Steps to a Website that Works Most interesting: When prospective customers visit your website, you have 20 seconds or less to get their attention. If you're successful, your well-crafted website can be a valuable tool to snag new clients and keep existing clients coming back. Good things to keep in mind when I get back to redesign of pages for department.

Rapid Elearning and Brandon Hall

2007-10-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

Hi! Brandon Hall is definitely a research resource so I found this interesting blog article on Janet Clarey's blog, she's a top researcher on learning there. http://www.brandon-hall.com/weblogs/janetclarey.htm She references some of the research that Brandon Hall has done that involve PowerPoint to elearning tools or sometimes referred to as Rapid elearning tools.

elearning and virtual high schools

2007-10-05T08:09:00.000-04:00

Elearn campus has a email newsletter that I like. This past week's focus was on virtual high schools, very interesting. http://elearncampus.com/breakthrough-briefing/newsletter-2007-09-27.aspx

Rapid eLearning

2007-10-05T08:01:00.001-04:00

Hi! I've had to do lots of research on rapid elearning to determine the best softwre and process for creating web-based programs at ASHA. I'm going to use this research and probe further for a grad school paper on an emerging trend in T&D.....My foucus will be on

An intro into what is rapid elearning and how it differes from traditional elearning
Why companies are moving in the direction of rapid elearning (e.g. globalization, faster product-life cycles, etc.)
How rapid elearning is being integrated into training programs
The different roles designers and SMEs must take
Is it effective
What this means to T&D in the future

So over the next month or so you'll see lots of information posted to address this.

I also opened a social bookmarking account so I'll share that as well once I get a little more familiar with the process.

If there is anything that you find and would like to share with me. Please let me know.

Thanks.

Adobe has a lofty claim about new Technical Comm Suite

2007-09-27T09:14:00.000-04:00

Adobe claims it's new product Technical Communication Suite "Revolutionizes technical communication and instructional design". Wow quite a claim. And it even states that it is "the most comprehensive suite for instructional designers and e-learning professionals" Can't wait to start hearing some reviews about this one. Check out Adobe's info at http://www.adobe.com/products/technicalcommunicationsuite/?trackingid=BJHRW

Costs of Training

2007-09-25T10:25:00.000-04:00

It's always hard to determine the cost of a training program, this article, "Forecasting Costs to Maximize Efficiency" is a good overview although a little heavy on the math side for me. Found in Learning Cirucuits http://www.learningcircuits.org/2007/0907baylis.html

Second Life

2007-09-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

Wow! Time is flying by and I haven't got to pay as much attention as I'd like to the blog. I find the idea of using Second Life in training very intriguing. Read the review about IBM @ Play http://www.learningcircuits.org/2007/0907review.html

Voice over Talent site

2007-08-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

This looks like a great resource for voice over work. You can submit your project and get a demo and price quote over the web. Let me know if anyone has tried this. www.voice123.com

Becoming a Rapid E-learning Pro

2007-08-16T08:19:00.000-04:00

Great free e-book provided free by Articulate. Articulate is a great add-on program to PowerPoint that turns your presentation into a flash movie. It's the tool we are primarily using to author our web-based self-study programs now at my current instructional design job at ASHA. We're still using Captivate, some video compression software called Sorenson Squeeze and Flash to create small chunks that will be incorporated into the overall program though.

Mobile Learning for CMEs

2007-08-09T09:06:00.000-04:00

For those of you interested in Mobile learning using PDAs and continuing medical education this is a very interesting company that is jumping on one of the latest trends. Epocrates is an educational vehicle featured on handheld devices. With an opt-in user base of over 500,000 clinicians - including more than 200,000 physicians - they have a guaranteed CME activity completion rate of 600. In addition to MobileCME, audience generation and outcomes activities, Epocrates also strategically partners with organizations like ACC to extend the reach of education and ensure that members have access to all available tools and resources, as publicized in Healthcare Informatics (http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=6529D6C30B054CC0B08979DC71A8B677 ): The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has teamed up with Epocrates to offer a set of tools designed specifically for cardiologists, including CardioMath, a suite of 50 commonly used formulas in cardiovascular medicine. Washington, D.C.-based ACC is shifting its continuing medical education to be accessible from PDAs. “Physicians cannot be tethered to a workstation,” says Brad Ettinger, ACC's senior director of e-business and digital products. Among ACC's membership, more than 80 percent of the younger physicians are using mobile devices.

Free eBooks from the eLearning Guild

2007-04-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

eBooks from The eLearning Guild are guaranteed to put a wealth of information at your fingertips! The Guild has two formats for eBooks. While each eBook is focused on one theme, some are collections of tips we gather from Guild members from around the world, and some are collections of articles from key industry leaders. In either case, you'll find valuable information that you can use in your organization! Guild eBooks are FREE for everyone and Guild membership is not required to access them. We currently have 5 eBooks available… http://www.elearningguild.com/pbuild/linkbuilder.cfm?selection=fol.33

InternetFrog

2007-04-27T08:45:00.000-04:00

Find your IP Address and Internet Connection Speed instantly with this site filled with FREE tools for webmasters, domain owners, network administrators, and website developers

Podcasting how to's

2007-04-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

Great article. ASTD Learning Circuits Direct Download Podcasting: A Call to Action By Ed Mayberry http://www.learningcircuits.org/2007/0407mayberry

Six areas of emerging technology

2007-04-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

Taken from The 2007 Horizon Report (http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD4781.pdf) The annual Horizon Report describes the continuing work of the NMC’s Horizon Project, a research oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within higher education. The 2007 Horizon Report is the fourth edition in this annual series. Again this year, as in years past, the report reflects an ongoing collaboration between the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), an EDUCAUSE program. The core of the report describes six areas of emerging technology that will impact higher education within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years.

Media College

2007-03-12T10:30:00.002-04:00

MediaCollege.com is a free resource website providing educational and reference material in the field of electronic media. Topics covered include video & television production, audio work, still imagery & graphics, website design and more. Another great find of the IS department here at my job at ASHA.

Great examples of streaming media encoders

2007-03-12T09:56:00.000-04:00

If you have ever had to evaluate which product to use for encoding your video, you have to check out this site. It has a screen that you can split, if fact you can move the split wherever you'd like, that displays flash video encoded using various top encoders. They include Flash Video Encoder, On2Flix and Sorenson Squeeze. What a great find for the IS department here at my current job at ASHA. Way to go IS!! http://www.flashvideofaq.com/

Best LMS/LCMS of 2006

2007-01-19T13:17:00.000-05:00

Looking for an LMS/LCMS, take a look at the top rated from Elearning magazine for 2006. http://www.elearning.b2bmediaco.com/issues/winter07/winter07_featuredstory_1.html

The Thlog

2006-12-22T13:25:00.000-05:00

And you thought you new everything about Blogs well now you need to learn about the Thlog. Excerpt form article: You’ll get a payback on the time and effort that goes into writing and updating a blog, they say, if it shows you off as a thought leader in your industry. There’s even a new term for it—the thlog--coined by Vicki Kunkel, CEO of Leader Brand Strategies, an executive brand management company based in Chicago, though many people still refer to them as thought leader blogs. Find out more in Small Business Review at http://smallbusinessreview.com/marketing_and_sales/Beyond_the_Blog_The_Thlog/index.html

Podcast are viable for CEU's

2006-12-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

Check out this resource with great information on how-to's on podcasting for CEU (Continuing Education Units). Podcasting sure has come a long way..fast!

What a good resource- elearn campus

2006-12-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I've posted this link before but it is worth duplicating. I just watched a great webcast on Using SME's Wisely: Keeping Your eLearning Development Projects on Track. Good info.

Collaborative Storyboarding

2006-11-07T08:01:00.000-05:00

Another great elearning circuit article. This one covers collaborative storyboarding- something that I need to implement at my current job on our web projects.

Design and Development Time Estimator for Elearning

2006-11-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I came across this tool by Pete Blair that estimates the time to design and develop elearning. http://www.peteblair.com/

Web, phone meetings replace some business trips

2006-10-27T09:09:00.000-04:00

Great USA TODAY article on Telephone Seminars http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2006-09-19-conferences-usat_x.htm?csp=34

Welcome to the Connected World: How Eight Trends are Radically Changing Work and Play

2006-10-27T09:06:00.000-04:00

Great article http://www.sys-con.com/read/276685.htm

Buyer's Zone: Web Conferencing

2006-10-18T14:57:00.000-04:00

What a great site. Information on all types of things you may want to buy. What is of interest to me this time is the Web Meeting Basics section http://www.buyerzone.com/telecom_services/web_conferencing/buyers_guide2.html?click=1 Good definitions of all those terms flying around!

Culturally Generic E-learning and Games

2006-10-12T07:58:00.000-04:00

ASTD Online Learning News this week has a some great guidelines about designing Culturally Generic E-learning as well as some comments about incorporating games. http://www.elabs2.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=34811&mlid=73&siteid=15988&uid=caf255aeff

Games in Training: Play Scene Investigation (PSI)

2006-09-28T10:11:00.000-04:00

From ASTD The Buzz The Training Game Chain Store Age (09/06) Vol. 82, P. 38; Field, Katherine The Children's Place, a children's merchandise retailer based in Secaucus, N.J., is employing state-of-the-art training tools to help its workers do their jobs better. The company asked Root Learning, its training partner, to develop its latest project, a set of 11 modules about store security and loss prevention, into an instructional design that The Children's Place staff, which is between the ages of 18 and 30, could relate to. Since the business' employees have grown up with the Internet and gaming, they have a completely different learning attitude than the typical "push" approach, says David Serdynski, Root Learning's managing director of e-learning. He states that the 'Play Scene Investigation' (PSI) game, which is modeled after the "Crime Scene Investigation" TV series, has the employees search for data, as opposed to simply clicking 'next' to proceed through a module as they would in a PowerPoint exercise. The PSI modules are only one of part of a total training program that has evolved during the past three years into a completely customized, blended solution that incorporates a CD-ROM section with paper printouts that employees either answer by themselves, with a learning partner, or with the help of store management. All instruction occurs during store hours on learning laptop stations. The Children's Place eventually wants to have its staff receive e-learning via the cash registers. An innovative tracking procedure permits The Children's Place to make certain that every new employee has finished the mandated training modules.

Rapid Elearning: Articulate demo

2006-09-08T09:54:00.000-04:00

Great demo from Amer Technology using Articulate software (similar to Breeze) and some “virtual” presenters. Flash based.

http://www.amersolutions.com/presentations/cw_contractors/

Podcast or Webinar on Podcasting in Associations

2006-09-06T08:19:00.000-04:00

Great resource provided by Blue Sky Broadcast. Listen by Webinar or Podcast format. Webinar format audio seems to be a little better. http://www.blueskybroadcast.com/Client/PI_Webcast/index.html

Save the Internet

2006-06-07T09:54:00.000-04:00

As the House of Representatives prepares to vote this week on whether to protect Internet freedom, a funny new video about Net Neutrality was released online on Monday, June 5 by the SavetheInternet.com Coalition and PoliticsTV.com. In it, Grammy-nominated musician Moby identifies how out-of-touch Washington, D.C. must be if Congress is even thinking about gutting Net Neutrality. He urges Americans to let their voices be heard by flooding Congress with phone calls. Check it out on : http://www.savetheinternet.com/moby

Wiki Innovation

2006-06-07T09:42:00.000-04:00

Wikis are on the forefront of collaboration technology. An interesting article on KM website (originally posted on elearning post) calls Wikis a disruptive innovation. http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=15802

Online survey: Cheap and Easy

2006-05-31T09:34:00.000-04:00

Online survey: cheap and easy
http://smallbusinessreview.com/marketing_and_sales/Online_Surveys/index.html

Save the Internet

2006-05-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

Save the Internet
Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. Your local library shouldn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on your computer.
Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public doesn't speak up now, Congress will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign by telephone and cable companies that want to decide what you do, where you go, and what you watch online.
http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Six Species of Information Architecture

2006-04-28T12:28:00.000-04:00

Six Species of Information Architecture

http://www.disambiguity.com/2006/04/the-six-species-of-information-architect/

Web Design Experiments

2006-04-21T10:04:00.000-04:00

I receive a weekly email called Liquid Treat: The designer’s thirst quencher served daily. I loved the site described below. I hope you do as well. You should check out the designjunction site as well. http://www.designjunction.net/index_f.html

Web designer Chanuki Seresinhe of London has released her latest design experiment online. Everbloom—a sweet website, particularly to those sensitive to pollen—invites you to tiptoe through the tulips, compose a digital flower arrangement, and send it to a friend. More like a video game than a florist shop, you’re in charge of the display, size, and transparency of the pretty petals. Flowers contributed by Rebel Rebel, photography by Jason Taylor, fluttering logo design by Wonderland.http://www.everbloom.co.uk

Virtual CEO

2006-04-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

We are promoting this new site internally at KKI since it is offering free CME for participating in webcast. What is interesting about it from an ISD standpoint is the virtual image of Joe Valenzano, President and CEO of Exceptional Parent. It’s in the upper right hand corner of the sight. I’d loved to hear your comments about this. I find it disconcerting having this guy stare at me.
http://www.epliveonline.com/epliveonline/

Webopeida

2006-04-03T14:05:00.000-04:00

Webopedia (www.webopeida.com) is a free online dictionary for words, phrases and abbreviations that are related to computer and Internet technology that provides easy-to-understand definitions in plain language, avoiding the use of heavy jargon when possible so that the site is accessible to users with a wide range of computer knowledge.

Web 2.0 What is it?

2006-03-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

A great article from webmonkey sited in Wired.com (http://www.webmonkey.com/06/12/index4a.html) explaining Web 2.0

HD here it comes!

2006-03-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

Great article on Wired News about the new legislation passed for HD broadcast set for 2/17/2009.

Web Accessibility- An Overview

2006-03-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

Great overview of Web Accessibility. Discusses use of Flash and some things to consider. http://godbit.com/article/web-accessibility-an-overview

Online Colleges receive boost: New York Times Article

2006-03-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

New legislation makes a big impact on unveristies by no longer requiring them to deliver at least half their courses on a campus instead of online to qualify for federal student aid. Check out the Article in the New York Times, published March 1, 2006.

Instructional Archiving and Study Systems: New Product Tegrity

2006-02-21T14:19:00.000-05:00

Directly from website: Tegrity Campus is a ground-breaking solution that defines a new category – “Instructional Archiving and Study Systems.” It automatically populates the university course management system (Blackboard, WebCT and others) with recordings of every professor from every classroom. Class recordings are linked to the students’ notes, which can be captured with the Tegrity Pen on regular paper, making it an affordable capability for every student.

10 Best Intranets of 2006 incorporate e-learning

2006-02-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

Great article from elearning post http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html

New Macromedia Product- Flex, creates swf files

2006-02-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

Great article on Wired about Macromedia Flex, http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/06/05/index3a.html

Resource of K-12 websites

2005-12-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

Two great resources that create lists of sites for teachers and parents of kids in K-12. Each list has strict rules for listing so you won’t have to wade through or surf endlessly for good resources.

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/index.html
Teacher's resource and educational material ranked by popularity.
http://www.sitesforparents.com/index.html
Parent’s resource and have an emphasis on parenting ranked by popularity.

Interactive Math Miscellany and Puzzles

2005-12-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles This as a fabulous Mathematics site with a huge collection of the basic mathematical principles used in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Games and Puzzles, Logic, Fractals and chaos, Probability, Calculus and Computers. The site is very interactive, the theory nicely presented and well organized. Free, Found at http://www.cut-the-knot.org/index.shtml

New Search Engines for Podcasts

2005-11-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

Ever feel like you spend a lot of time searching for relevant information on the web. Well now there are some search engines just for searching for Podcast. Take a look at the article in Wired at http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69664,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

A Wooden Tongue and Simplicity

2005-11-29T13:41:00.000-05:00

I found the contrast between two articles this week to be interesting.

Wired magazine’s article “Blogging With a Wooden Tongue” and elearning post reference to Fast Company’s article “The Beauty of Simplicity”.

I have never heard the term “wooden tongue” which is defined in the article as the “language of officialdom; of politics, power and propaganda.” It seems that blogs have become fashionable so many are now written with this wooden tongue instead of with the original intent of sharing or logging ideas. So blogs have now become complicated, more diverse, less simple.

That leads me to the simplicity article which discusses the inroads that companies like Google and Philips are making with taking a simplicity approach to their business and products. The first few paragraphs are great. But when you think about instructional technology I think the quote below is the most applicable:

It is innovation’s biggest paradox: We demand more and more from the stuff in our lives—more features, more function, more power—and yet we also increasingly demand that it be easy to use. And, in an Escher-like twist, the technology that’s simplest to use is also, often, the most difficult to create.

New Learning Technologies Conference

2005-11-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

The Society for Applied Learning (SALT) is hosting their winter conference in Orlando on New Learning Technologies. Tracks include Gaming and Simulation, Mobile Computers and PDAS, New Technologies and the Market Place and Knowledge Managment. Any of this sound familiar?! Check it out at http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=orlando

Favorite Class

2005-11-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

I have found this hybrid class style wonderful. I’ve taken two on-line courses and one face to face class. I’ve found that the teacher makes all the difference in both styles. There was such a contrast between my two on-line courses that I really can’t say that I loved the experience. The first class promoted interaction between classmates on the forums on a weekly basis which I found to be great. I did get a sense of who my classmates were. The second class left little time for interaction and the teacher seldom promoted it. I’m not really sure who those classmates were except for the two or three of us who always posted our work in early. We kind of started an unsaid informal feedback loop that way providing comments for each other. I really don’t know how a software class would work on on-line but sometimes having such a varied level of users in a face to face class is frustrating and I longed for the self-pacing of the on-line course.
The mix of on-line and face to face for this class was great. I was able to meet classmates, learn personalities and feel comfortable emailing them after this class has ended. This building of relationships is important to me as I do not have a team of instructional designers at work. The on-line classes provided a nice break from the weekly routine and really improved my skills in web searching. My favorite class was with Dr. Kapp. I found him to be an intriguing man and loved seeing the technology in use for a class. I loved the scavenger hunt and mystery game for the on-line assignment. Again the teacher has made all the difference in this class. Having a teacher who promotes communication, varies his teaching styles/formats, and is knowledgeable has been rewarding.

Open Source LMS

2005-11-16T14:07:00.000-05:00

I’m currently doing research and writing for an undergraduate training grant for MCH. MCH offers the use of an open source LMS called Moodle to all its grantees. I came upon this great article in ASTD’s Learning Circuits.
Wake-Up Call: Open Source LMSBy Sam S. Adkins
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/oct2005/adkins.htm

I think this research had helped me nail down my topic for the white paper: The use of the open source LMS in education? If anyone could provide some suggestions on the in Education part that would be great. Maybe I should narrow it down more to in the university, in health care??

Duke University Digital Initiative (DDI)

2005-11-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

Early in the semester, Lee told us about a program in which Duke University was providing iPods to all their students in August 2004. I wanted to investigate this more for my wiki entry on PMP’s and possibly my white paper (still trying to decide which direction to go with that). Duke actually has a Digital Initiative which prompted the use of the iPods. Their website states: “The Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) is a major instructional technology program focused on experimentation, development, and implementation of digital technology in an academic environment. Over a three-year cycle, the DDI will incorporate digital audio, images and video, collaboration tools and tablet and hand-held computing. This Web site serves as a central clearinghouse of information on the DDI for members of the Duke community and the general public.”Duke has also completed a report entitled “Duke University iPod First -Year Experience Final Evaluation Report “ which can be found on their DDI page.Go to DDI Home page at http://www.duke.edu/ddi/index.html to find out more.

PMP: PC vs MAC

2005-11-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Doing research on my wiki entry and found that Greg needs to spend a little more time in the PC World. Yes I know it will be painful for him but you gotta do what you gotta do. There is a PMP (Portable Media Player) that does combine media storage (video, photo, audio) and some PDA functions and then some. It includes a FM radio, personal organizer that syncs with Microsoft Outlook, voice recorder and a slot for media cards. Of course it doesn’t work with Mac’s at all. And so far that seems to be true with all the PMP’s that integrate media storage with some of the PDA functions. The coolest one I found is the Zen Vision by Creative. It actually won “Best of Show” at Digital Life 2005.

P.S. I found a site called Anything but iPod, sorry Greg.

Moodle and Constructivism

2005-11-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

I am doing research on an e-learning platform called Moodle which allows anyone to make online courses. It is similar to Blackboard but it is free. As I’m reading the Moodle background information in Wikipedia, the constructivism learning theory is discussed. So after our class discussion about Greg’s learning philosophy being a constructivist one. I thought a link to some information in wikipedia would be helpful http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(pedagogical)

Podcast comes to HHS

2005-11-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) Audio Newscast. AHRQ has a new dissemination tool for the Agency's research. It's an audio newscast distributed as a podcast, or you can listen to it on your computer. Each newscast will include at least one interview to further explain the research. Also, some of these audio newscasts will be distributed through other dissemination vehicles such as the HHS radio service called Healthbeat, or by AHRQ as one of our regular audio news releases sent to radio stations across the country. These audio newscasts are distributed through iTunes and Yahoo Podcasts, as well as to other Web sites that provide health information to customers, patients, students, employees, and health care personnel. An iPod or other device is not needed to hear the newscast. You can listen to the audio on your computer by going to http://www.healthcare411.org. This page will include some general information, links to all newscasts, and other podcasts as AHRQ produces them.

Library of Public Domain Material

2005-11-03T13:32:00.000-05:00

Google now offers a Library of Public Domain material. Just think of the use for this in instructional projects. See article on Wired about it. http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,69473,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7

Intranet Development

2005-11-03T11:56:00.000-05:00

This is a great information from Jakob Nielsen for designing and working on intranet sites http://www.useit.com/alertbox/portals.html I’m sure I’ll use it since we are going to redesign our department intranet presence during the next 6 months.

Notes for Ann: Director and Flash

2005-10-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

Macromedia Flash:

Multimedia authoring tool that creates files containing video, graphics, images, audio and 2D animation for use in the development of content for interactive websites, digital experiences and mobile content primarily based on the web
Program designed to create and display small files on the web by limiting the types of images and media that can be displayed
Includes tools to control how and when elements appear, move, sound and change while the flash movie/file plays
Flash files are either called flash, SWFs (pronounced Swiffs) or Shockwave Flash
Playback of files require a free Flash player which is already installed on 98% of desktops on the world
Most widely deployed video platform on internet
Flash files can be imported into Director to extend use of content to other distribution formats (i.e. DVD/CD, kiosks, etc.) or use as part of a director program/file

Macromedia Director:

Multimedia authoring tool that creates files that incorporate a variety of media (video, graphics, images, audio, 2D and 3D animation) for deployment in different mediums (CD/DVD, kiosk presentation, web) and across different platforms
Motto: Author once and publish anywhere multimedia authoring tool
Includes tools to control how and when elements appear, move, sound and change while the director movie/file plays allowing for the creation of a single logical presentation and can create full-featured applications that access, launch , and control other applications within the file
Director files for the web are called Shockwave files and require a free Shockwave player which over 390 million web users have installed on their desktops worldwide

Similarities and Differences Similarities:

Incorporates animation, video, sound, graphics, text, font
Tools to control how and when elements appear, move, sound and change while the movie plays
Creates a web file
Files can be included in html pages containing content to offer interactivity

Differences:

Flash creates web only files that require Flash player
Flash files are small compared to Shockwave files
Director creates 2D and 3D animation but Flash creates only 2D
Director can incorporate Flash files
Director creates a file that can be distributed on CD/DVD, kiosks presentations and web. Director’s web files require use of Shockwave player.
Director file can contain full-featured applications that access, launch, and control other applications

Ways to Use in eLearning

To provide a visual representation of both concrete and abstract concepts, procedures, simulations and walk-throughs
To aid in instruction that lends itself to narrative, animation, simulations and content interaction
Interactivity could be added to a traditional html webpage by linking to a Flash or Shockwave file
Flash or Director can create interactive tests, games, diagrams, or anything your imagination can dream of
Use to develop multimedia presentations

Examples Flash Teaching Matters: The Scientific Process www.atschool.org/materials/principals/planning drag and drop items to design a classroom that incorporates technology examples of classrooms incorporating technology for Language Arts, Science, and Math- rollovers show more details of each item does not incorporate sound Phonetics: The Sounds of American English www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/ use of animation with sound and video with sound to show how to make a sound Beethoven Sonata: Syncopation http://wwwacad-prep.mtroyal.ab.ca/adc/conservatory/learn/movement/ use of sound and/or simple animation to teach principles of music Froguts Online Dissection http://www.froguts.com/ virtual biology lab subscription for several animals check out the demos Fertilization www.uchsc.edu/ltc/Fertilization.html animation without sound Director Multimedia presentation for a sales force within a company http://www.gregwalsh.com/portfolio/flash_pres.html moving text, sound, music, narration Planning Tool instruction elearning rollovers http://www.gregwalsh.com/portfolio/planningtoolrollover_85.html animation with rollovers and no sound

Videogame Genres

2005-10-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

Videogame Genres
As a sat down to do some research on my makeup assignment on Videogame genres I realized how much I already knew about them. I’ll have to admit that I love playing arcade games as a kid and had my own Atari with the classic pong and frogger games. As I entered college my interest reared away from video games but I still enjoyed the arcade. It was only a few years after college when I met my husband that I realized that video gaming systems had exploded to twenty-somethings. Soon my husband had his own Nintendo system and hours were spent on The Legend of Zelda. Then we had children and computers became more affordable. I was drawn to educational video and computer games for our toddler. I still prefer the computer games to the video game systems. I really don’t play the gaming systems- life got too busy. This brings me back to our guest speaker Dr. Kapp said that all instructional designers should play videogames to understand how to design for the Gamer Generation. Using games in education for K-12 students is such an obvious application but what about the use of games in adult education.
Let’s look at some of the major and notable computer and video game genres. A listing with brief descriptions and examples can be found on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videogame_genre and include fighting, first-person shooter, MMOGs/MMORPGs/MMOFPSs, racing, role-playing, simulators, sports, strategy, third-person shooters, city-building games, adult, arcade, educational, maze, music, party, platform, puzzle, stealth, survival horror, traditional and vehicular combat.
The use of games in adult education would be great for many of the same reasons it is great for children. Games designed correctly can teach a skill without the student realizing it. I can think of several applications where it may make a boring topic a little more interesting. In a hospital environment we have yearly training on universal precautions like safety and infection control. How about a racing game between students to see who can wash their hands first and correctly? Recently our department designed a train the trainer course that includes a puzzle game- throughout the day you could win puzzle pieces then at the end of the day the students placed the puzzle pieces together to form a picture with three key points. Our human resource department created a life size operation game where each body part has a pocket which holds questions related to our benefits. A spinner is used for determination of which part you choose. If the employee gets the question correct, they get a chance at winning a prize. So games can be another valuable tool in learning.

Blocking Headaches

2005-10-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

Companies blocking web material is a real issue especially where I work. Just recently I went to watch webcast and our company’s security software, Websense, popped up on my screen and said that all Real Media was blocked. This is a problem since all of the webcast I view for one of our funding agencies is only offered in Real. So I had to contact our Information Systems person. He said the traffic from everyone playing music over the Real Player was slowing down the network so he had to block it. I really understand this, and I think most would, but no one told us. So far I haven’t had any problems with blogs at work including installing the free add-on for Word but that might change…see the article on Wired No Longer Safe for Work: Blogs

Software and Physical Simulations Class

2005-10-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

Software and Physical Simulations

What do you think simulations are? What does it mean to you?
I think a simulation recreates an activity so that a student may learn an activity without actually partaking in it.

What other ideas do you have for uses in simulations?
To teach:

Emergency Room Doctors how to handle children with several different disabilities, you could use a scenario based model and show how to treat several physical disabilities.

How to drive motorized vehicles

How to type

Almost anything

Have you ever used physical simulators? Have you ever ridden one of those rides at EPCOT or some other amusement park to feel the sensations of flying or riding a rollercoaster or sailing through fields of grass?
Yes, to learn how to drive. The driving school I went to had a simulator that we used prior to getting behind the wheel of a real car.
I’ve ridden lots of rides that recreated the felling of several sensations. My favorite are the rollercoasters, you can find these at local shopping malls as well. My children love them.

Design and describe (no pics) a learning environment that uses a Virtual Reality-based Simulation
We provide technical assistance to staff for several tasks so I could see so many uses for a program like Captivate that aids in the creation of software-based simulations. I decided to design a simulation for completing the KKI Trainee Registration Form.

Rationale:
Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) is required to report trainee information to funding and hospital accreditation agencies. Collection of training related data is centralized in Training and Instructional Media Resources (TIMR) through the distribution and collection of a Trainee Registration Form (TRF). The form is broken into two sections: one the trainee complete and one the trainee supervisor completes. The form must be completed and returned to TIMR prior to the trainee start date. The form is available on the KKI Intranet.

The training supervisors are seldom provided with guidance or training by senior staff members of their department causing compliance and accuracy to vary throughout the Institute. This simulation, designed by TIMR, will act as a training aid for the training supervisors with the goal of increasing compliance and accuracy of TRF submission.

This simulation will provide participants with a clear and concise method of completing the TRF’s by leading the participant through the actual task. The simulation will be available on the KKI Intranet.

Target Population:
The population for the simulation will be KKI staff/faculty that provides supervision to trainees.

Description:
The simulation will take 10-20 minutes to complete. The participant must have a computer with a sound card with a connection to the KKI Intranet. The simulation will have six basic sections. The simulation begins with a welcome section containing TAIR information and house-keeping information on navigation and help. The second section is the introduction information including how to find and access the TRF on the KKI Intranet. Completing the TRF trainee information section and the training supervisor section is covered in section three and four. Section five leads the student through the submission process. The last section provides an evaluation form.
All sections will contain screen shots, narration and interactivity. In section three and four the students will successfully complete a TRF. Feedback will be provided when the TRF is not completed and the student given another chance. If the student is unsuccessful the second time, the correct information will be completed for them.

Content Outline:
1. Welcome
2. Introduction: Finding and Accessing TRF
3. Completing TRF trainee information section
4. Completing the TRF training supervisor section
5. Submission
6. Evaluation

Objective:
Given this simulation and the KKI TRF, the student should be able to complete the KKI TRF accurately two out of three attempts.

Evaluation Strategy:
This simulation will utilize level one and level two evaluations. Participants will complete a level one evaluation immediately following the end of the simulation which will also include evaluation of the use of technology. A level two evaluation will be woven throughout the simulation by providing the participant two chances at correctly completing a step before proceeding to the next step. If the participant does not complete the step correctly on the first two tries then the correct answer will be provided allowing the student to proceed.

Participant Prerequisites:
Participants in the simulation should have attempted to complete a TRF. Basic computer skills with a word processor and the Internet are required.

New Video IPod

2005-10-18T14:53:00.000-04:00

Video IPod released: 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299.
http://wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,69193,00.html
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

Nintendo, McDonalds and Wi-Fi

2005-10-18T14:41:00.000-04:00

Getting a little ahead of course work by looking at some gaming stuff.
Take a look at this McDonald's + Nintendo = McTendo
http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/gadgets/index.blog?entry_id=1255016

New User Interface for Microsoft Office

2005-10-18T13:42:00.000-04:00

A new User Interface (UI) for Microsoft Office 12 called results-oriented UI takes the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to a new level. Beta testing to be complete in early 2006 so maybe the new product will be available by this time next year. COOL! Check out the overview at http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/uioverview.mspx
Learned about this update on elearningpost.com article at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/wysiwyg.html

Flash 8 Video

2005-10-13T09:36:00.000-04:00

Flash 8 video
Check out this article about the new Flash 8 video found on streamingmedia.com
http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=9165

Virtual Reality Adventure

2005-10-11T23:23:00.000-04:00

Destination 1: Wikipedia on Virtual Reality

Based on what you know RIGHT NOW, what promise does virtual reality hold for instructional technology?
After reviewing Wikipedia I realized that Virtual Reality (VR) has two models. One model attempts to re-create a real world surrounding and the other creates a fantasy based reality. Both models hold great potential for world of instructional technology. The real world model can provide training in a virtual environment for a skill that requires practice but can not be performed in a real setting due to budget constraints, risk of personal injury, etc. For example the training of astronauts, bomb squads, fighter pilots, combat personnel, etc. Softskills could be taught through either type. The possibilities are endless.

Destination 2: Tools for creating VR
Alias, Maya (Expensive)
Autodesk, 3D Studio Max
Blender (Free and very cool for the “armchair” 3D designer
Alice 2.0 (Free and used for teaching people basic computing programming concepts)
Do any of these tools interest you?
Maya: I had problems looking at demos for Maya. It was impossible on dial-up at home but it was too slow at work on the T1 as well. I never really got a good feel for how the program works although the results look great. This program is too expensive ($7000) and has to high a learning curve for any applications at KKI.
3D Studio Max: This site was great. I loved the demo videos, I have a good idea how the software works. The price ($3500) is a little better on this program but it still has a high learning curve.
Blender:  More problems viewing demos. I downloaded the VLC viewer at work but still couldn’t get the Divix avi files to open. Overall though the site gave me a good idea of what the software can do. The price is right (FREE) so we might be willing to deal with a medium level learning curve to explore how we could use 3D animation. I loved the information about Spiderman 2.
Alice 2.0: The work of The Research Group at Carnegie Mellon University developed Alice 2.0 with an interesting focus: to provide the best possible first exposure to programming for students from middle school to college. This program is different than the others because it is creates 3D object behaviors not 3D objects themselves. While it only creates files in its native format, The Research Group is working on being able to save a world as an applet for insertion onto a webpage or an avi file. This would make the product more viable for instructional technology projects.

Destination 3: Examples of VR in use today
What is VRML? Virtual Reality Modeling Language is a standard file format for representing 3-demensional (3D) interactive vector graphics, designed particularly with the World Wide Web in mind. (see Wikipedia)
Why is it not popular?  The company which championed the format was sold and did not develop or distribute the software.  The VRML Consortium changed its name to the Web3D Consortium and began work on a successor format X3D. VRML is still used in education and research because of the open source programs available to develop it.
How can MOOs/MUDs be used for learning?
MOOs and MUDs are confusing. The literature was not creating a clear picture of what this environment was so I wanted to go on to one. I tried to go to DU MOO but again I hit another technology block- apparently my browser is not java enabled at work.  From what I could find, this seems to be old technology. The MUD’s appear to be an early form of on-line virtual games. The MOOs seem to be early versions of chat rooms and remind me of what we are using our class blogs for as well.
What can Macromedia’s Shockwave do?
Shockwave is a movie format that is created in Director. It is a streaming file that can be viewed on the web by any platform and usually combines animation and scripting. Director movies/files create interactive content for both fixed media (CD/DVD/ Kiosk) and the Internet. It can incorporate multimedia such as photos, graphics, Flash movies, DVD video, CD video, sounds, text, hyperlinking, bitmaps, 3D models, etc.
Note: Downloading shockwave was a problem at home and at work. Finally I did get Shockwave installed at work (after getting permission from the HelpDesk) and I did get to see and play the Got Milk game. It was fun!
Why hasn’t virtual reality caught on like other web technologies?
Creation of good virtual reality programs/files is still very specialized field usually requiring a team of knowledgeable professionals. The programs/files are generally larger than most of the other web technologies like Flash and thus require a high speed internet connection to view properly over the internet and another player is required to view as well. It just isn’t easily accessible for a majority of the population.

Destination 4: Knowing what you know now, what promise does virtual reality hold for instructional technology?
As the file formats evolve into a smaller file size, virtual reality will become widely available to a larger audience on the internet and than accepted as another tool for solving training challenges. An increase in those with the skills to develop 3D models will occur as 3D open source ware gains in popularity. Currently anyone can edit a video and place on the web so it will be with VR programs in the future.

Bonus: Found on Wikipedia: Perhaps the first use of computer graphics specifically to illustrate computer graphics was in Futureworld (1976), which included an animation of a human face and hand - produced by Ed Catmull and Fred Parke at the University of Utah.Although the above was found I have always believed that Tron was the first movie to use computer generated graphics.

Thoughts on Social Simulation Class

2005-10-06T18:54:00.000-04:00

Review of Social Simulation Class
Incredible information! I wish Dr.Kapp was teaching a course at UMBC. He was great and the resources he gave us and that are provided on his website are wonderful. I could spend days looking and reading all the information. I especially liked his review and interviews with Clark Aldrich. I’m very interested in the Gamer and Boomer Gap. This is a real constant for me at KKI. We are in a training department that works with young medical professionals which are the Gamers and all the upper management, discipline training supervisors and directors are Boomers. It is a challenge to educate these trainers in new methods and technologies. We just finally have everyone using PowerPoint!
Two books in particular that I want to read are Got Game-How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever and Learning by Doing.
Great sites: e-learningguru.com, bricksorclicks.com, www.simulearn.net, thebusinessgame.com

Blogs are everywhere!

2005-10-05T12:55:00.000-04:00

The TV Show West Wing mentioned blogs when referring to a picture and story that leaked out to the press about a presidential candidate. They referred to the information as being out on several mediums including blogs.

Video Compression Standards

2005-10-05T10:04:00.000-04:00

The selection of video compression standards just keeps growing.
A quick list includes: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-7, MPEG-21, JPEG, DV, H.261, H.263 and DivX.
Find out all about video compression in this great article in Pro AV Magazine at http://proav.pubdyn.com/2005_September/Septemb912200532206PM.htm

Creating "Print This Screen" and Search Engines

2005-10-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

I’ve been developing on a web-based training plan at work for about 2 months using DreamWeaver and Fireworks. We finally have most of the content complete. The design template was complete until the lead member once again has made changes. This internal web site will need to incorporate two features that I have not included in a project yet- search and print this page.
I called our company webmasters, internet and intranet, and asked for advice. Both told me to do some research and wished me good luck. OK. The research begins…..
So I was on blogger searching for help on the incorrect displaying of my blog and found a site called htmlgoodies. An article I read said that the best way is to create a printable page for each web page that you want to be able to print. Items to consider:

take out extra items like banners

do not create a simple .txt file

make page printable in portrait

take out colors

keep typography simple

don’t worry about page breaks unless it really matters (i.e. book or manuscript)

use simple coding

<TABLE BORDER=”0” WIDTH=”400”>
<TD>

Place text here

</TD>
</TABLE>

I haven’t used HTML much so I’d love to have some comments about this information. I’ve opened my blog so anyone can comment. So please send me some comments.
I haven’t had much luck on the search engines but I think I might need to know a little more about the server that the web site will be running on. Again any input would be great!

Thanks.

Wikipedia and Videogames!

2005-09-26T13:37:00.000-04:00

I spent about an hour and half on wikipedia last night looking at possible topics for our projects. I think that I want to do my presentation on portable digital audio players- all kinds not just iPod. I'm still not sure about a trend yet though but what a great resources! I knew my 11 year old 6th grade son would think this was so cool. So I showed him how it worked and asked him to look up whatever he wanted. So he spent about 45 minutes looking up the history of video games and asking me if I'd played them when I was a kid and Mom how do you say this. His choice didn't surprise me, but what was so interesting is that just prior to going to wikipedia, I was looking at Wired. There was an article entitled a Generation of Game Boys, Girls about universities offering more video game-related courses in response to the digital media industry's appetite for skilled workers and the tastes of a new generation of students raised on Game Boy and Xbox. This brought several ideas to mind in terms of this Game Boy/Girl Generation- 1. The challenge of creating coursework that engages them 2. The trend of the universities to offer classes that would be of interest to this generation 3. The re-design of digital media programs in colleges 4. The challenge of creating coursework for an audience that combines ages from this generation and many others as well My two favorite comments from the article are: Della Rocca compares it to the emergence of film studies programs decades ago. Dismissed at first, they now produce big-name directors in a field now considered by many to be a serious art form. "Just like when rock and roll came of age everybody wanted to be a rock star, as video games have come of age, everyone wants to be a developer," said Carolyn Rauch, senior vice president of the Entertainment Software Association. I know for my 11 year old this is true. His list of what he wants to be when he grows up went from a train engineer when he was between 6 to 8 years old to a video game designer/programer when he started playing videogames between 9 and 10 years old.

Collaborative Work Environment Assignment

2005-09-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

A collaborative work environment can consist of several different features, tools and abilities including document managers, web folders, calendars, schedulers, task managers, to do list, web/audio conferencing, messaging (email and instant), web database, discussion forums, team rooms, personal information management, contact directories, opinion polls, announcements, project management/visibility, customer relationship management, supplier management and multi-channel publishing of a single content item via web site, email, fax, print, handheld wireless devices. If I were to design a collaborative work environment for myself in my current position at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) it would include messaging (email and instant), calendar, scheduler, task manager, project manager, contact directories (internal and external), discussion forums, opinion polls, announcements, document manager and multi-channel publishing of a single content item. Currently KKI uses Novell GroupWise, a business collaboration tool, that has a calendar, scheduler, task manager, contact directories (internal only), email and instant messaging (while on-site only). Xerox copier/fax/scanners are located in each building at each site which allows everyone the ability to scan documents to PDF format and then email the document to yourself or others within KKI. A collaborative work environment is useful for instructional technologists to communicate with the team working on a training project including SMEs and contractors. I especially like the idea of having a single point of access to frequently-used resources like files created with Word, Excel, Access or PowerPoint, graphics, written narrative/scripts, sound files, etc. Since a collaborative work environment really can be anything that helps you communicate, I would say that you could create a something for under $100. A blog would be a cheap and easy way to begin. Business blogs have become a place to share knowledge and expertise with customers or employees. This sharing can be accomplished by postings to the blog or by providing links to information. There are several levels between this simple model and the ultimate model but it all depends on what you need. The intranets.com model is a reasonable solution as well with pricing as low as $60 per month for five users and provides powerful collaborative tools. Bonus: What does groove.net and Lotus Notes have in common? Both provide a collaborative work environment accessible from anyplace yet provides a single point of access for resources like email, calendar, instant messaging, scheduling, and other collaborative tools as well as providing advance replication technology which allows both products to be accessed anytime.

Great gadget and gizmo blog for consumer electronics

2005-09-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

www.gizmodo.com

Electronic Communication With Co-Workers: Is it the only way?

2005-09-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

Today most communication is done through some sort of electronic medium- phone (land line or cell), email, text messages, or fax. Telecommuting to work has become a popular alternative instead of coming to the office. Out of ten of my office type friends about half of them are offered the opportunity to work from home on a weekly basis. However, all of them are required to come to the office each week. I think this is significant. Lets look at the non-office type of worker- the trade person. Can the plumber, electrian, painter, welder use electronic communications instead of coming to the office/job site? No not usually but you would be surprised an the amount electronic communication that does exsist mainly for administrative purposes. Out of ten of my trade person friends about 90% use email or cell phones to communicate with the administrative staff each week. Not only does the type of job influence the use of collaborative work environments but individual personality and learning types have a role as well. I could explain a storyboard of a website to my boss at least three or four times and she still doesn't understand it until I develop a working protype and personally walk her through it in her office. She just can't make the connections from a static storyboard drawing to an interactive model. Then there is the a director in another department that insists on meeting to further discuss simple requests by email. It is not necessary but that is the director's preference. So is electronic communication with co-workers the only way- No. Will it ever be- Probably not. But we've come a long way baby, so only time will tell. Work can not be completed without some sort of in-person collaboration.

Audio- Minidisc Recorder

2005-09-13T09:38:00.000-04:00

Hi! We were discussing the audio issue for our Speech Language Pathologist who are recording their sessions with their patients. My co-worker found this cool mini-disc recorder by Sony for about $78 which holds 80 minutes of audio. It has a USB (im, ex)port that enables digital, bi-directional computer connectivity at speeds of up to 32x, and a broad selection of Windows versions, both classic and current, is supported. The department is probably going to buy one of these for each of its therapist. Buying info and specs on B&H Photovideo at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&A=ShowProduct&Q=&sku=315274&is=REG Sony also offers a Hi-MiniDisc version which holds 1 Gig of information. They offers a musician package for setting up a mini-recording studio that runs about $300 and includes a microphone, Hi-Minidisc, and AcidExpress software. You can check it out at http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=MZRH910KIT&Dept=audio&CategoryName=pa_DigitalMusicPlayers_MiniDisc_HiMDWalkman

iTune/iPods/Nano

2005-09-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

iPhones and Nano http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68797,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_9

History: Engelbart

2005-09-07T13:09:00.000-04:00

On December 9, 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart and the group of 17 researchers working with him in the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, CA, presented a 90-minute live public demonstration of the online system, NLS, they had been working on since 1962. The public presentation was a session in the of the Fall Joint Computer Conference held at the Convention Center in San Francisco, and it was attended by about 1,000 computer professionals. This was the public debut of the computer mouse. But the mouse was only one of many innovations demonstrated that day, including hypertext, object addressing and dynamic file linking, as well as shared-screen collaboration involving two persons at different sites communicating over a network with audio and video interface http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html

Intranet Needs Analysis

2005-09-06T13:06:00.000-04:00

http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_needsanalysis/index.html

Greasemonkey

2005-09-06T12:51:00.000-04:00

A new browser tool lets you rewrite anyone's homepage. By Paul Boutin of Wired magazine. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/start.html?pg=7?tw=wn_tophead_6

Introduction

2005-09-05T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hello! This is my first post to any blog including this one that I just created. I am a graduate student in Instructional System Design at UMBC and as part of my course work for Current Trends in Instructional Design I must create and post to a blog. The primary goal of the course will be the same as the goal of this blog to examine theories and practices of instructional technology.