If you were to get your staff to spend 10% of thier time on a project of thier own design, what do you think they would come up with?
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Brent and Heidi just did a great pres turning housekeeping items into a quest story with translations. Great example. Email me 4detail
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Breakfast bytes- great way to teach, using real life problems. Let learner learn by finding out how to solve the problem.
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So the conf begins with everyone milling around quietly. Finding coffee, pastries, and trying to find thier bearing for the next 3days
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I'm in Orlando and Ready for the AG08 Conference

So I flew in today on a fairly smooth flight. A little turbulence, but nothing to get to motion sick over. I love that the Air Canada flights have been upgraded so that you have on demand tv to watch on the flights. I chose "A Death at a Funeral"...really funny, I recommend it to anyone on the trip back home.

I little wondering around to get a few essentials I didn't want to pack, a little looking around Downtown Disney, and a little something to eat...I was then off to register. Finally got to meet Brent Schlenker face-to-face. I'm looking forward to meeting a few other people that I've connected with over the last year in person.

For the conference my first look at sessions I've picked:

Tuesday
10:45 Generation Y? Designing Learning to Engage your Workforce - James Guilkey
1:00 Engaging and Assessing the Web Generation - Roger Mundell
2:30 Learning 2.0 - Dynamic, Web-based Technologies Enable Personalized Learning on Demand - Steven Shaw
4:00 Feeding your Inner Power Learner! Learning to Leverage RSS - Brent Schlenker

Wednesday
10:45 Whole Brain Design: Enage and Retain you Learners - Ann Hermann
1:15 Instructional Design Techniques for Creating Effective e-Learning - Sighle Brackman
2:45 Scanning the Globe: Connecting your Digital World to the World Around You - Brent Schlenker

Thursday
10:00 Best Practices and Lessons Learning in Driving a Complex LMS Implementation - Brian Elmore
11:15 Structuring Interactive Exercises and Tests -- What's the Difference - Kevin Brown

Of course this is just rough. One of the things I love about this conference is the freedom to get up and move to another session if the one you have picked isn't quite right for you. I had this feeling a few times last year and have come quite prepared this year with 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes 4th choices. There's just a lot of good content to be seen, heard, and learned.

I look forward to participating in it all over the coming week.

So I've arrived for the AG08. Hotel looks great. Location is good. Room not quite ready. Disney shopping it is then!
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Waiting at Pearson airport for my flight to take me to the AG08 in Orlando. Can't wait to learn what's up and coming in elearning.
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Test Posting

This is a test posting from my cellphone. I am limited to 134 characters and don't know how to do the short form msg lingo.
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Blearning at a Conference

Well today was a bit of a test run for next week's AG08 conference. I'm wondering how I am going to capture my info for posts during the sessions. I've thought about a few options.

One is to take notes (paper based) and write them up at the end of the day.

I tried using my pda today to take notes at a conference on the fly, but using one of those little pens to write with proved more annoying then anything. Dear Santa, I would like a new pda (blackberry, iphone, whatever is great!). Although it was a fast way to transfer the notes to my computer/blog, it was a pain to capture.

Another method I will have available to me at the AG08 is being able to use my laptop and the wireless network. I use this method quite frequently while do online webinars so I know I've practiced this method, but will the battery of the laptop last.

I know I could use my cellphone to access Google Docs but I only seem to be be able to see my documents not create new ones. Even if I could this would required me to use bandwith and being out of country for me - this is going to cost.

I can however text message as much as I want. Perhaps I will try this method for some short posts through out the event. But use the note taking and late night posting for the rest of the information I want to capture and share.

Stay tuned.

Southlake - Professional Practice Conference 7th annual

Technology and Practice : do you want to be on the cutting edge?

Some notes from today's conference.

Keynote: Dr. Joseph Cafazzo,
The Evolving Role of Technology in Health Care

Centre for Global eHealth Innovation
-promote & use more technology in health care
-right in middle of Toronto General Campus

Human Factors
-learn how people actually use technology in real situations
-need to understand these systems better

We need to concentrate more on the user and in turn the safety of users and patients (or anyone we care for).

-Users cannot be fixed we need to make or systems work for them not against them

-we must not put the blame on the user we need to make sure the tech design goes with human behaviour in mind

-need to improve adoption of technology
-improve efficency
-decrease training
-improve patient safety

-need to consider labels, diagrams, overall design

3 parodoxs
-paradox of expertise (just because someone l.s brilliant doesn't mean they can teach it)
-don't design by focus group alone
-choice - too much choice can lead to no choice at all (ie yahoo, aol, google)

Google-simple plain interface

How do we prevent errors ?
1. forcing functions and constraints
2. Automation/computerization
3. Simplifications/standardization
4. Reminders, checklists, double checks
5. Rules and policies
6. Training and education
Will lose millions of dollars testing but this will generate huge advertising

Humans will always make errors. We need to keep this in mind when designing.

AG08 - eLearning Guild Annual Gathering Momentum is Building

Well I'm not sure what is exciting me more the AG08 or the fact that I'm away from the office for a few precious days. I can feel the momentum building for this year's event being held in Orlando. I couldn't have picked a better place if I was in charge.

I'm excited as well to be trying out all the neat tools being collected by Brent Schlenker to participate in some live blogging "blearning" at the conference. I'm looking very forward to incorporating more of these tools into my repertoire.

Siegfried Woldhek: The true face of Leonardo Da Vinci?

Ever wonder what Leonardo Da Vinci really looked like. Take a few minutes to view this presentation from this year's TED. Segfried Woldhek has remarkably and quite easily discovered his true face.

Kid Friendly Search Engine

I came across this nice search engine for kids today, GoGooligans.com. It seems like a nice educational tool for kids to use when researching their next school project, pet, or anything else of interest to them.

What's neat is the results that get returned are more geared to kids as well. As an example I tried "fish" I got returns such as:
US Fish and Wildlife Service: Kids Corner
Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department
Kids Konnect - Fish
Flip the Fish - Kids crafts, games, recipes, activities and more!

Great, Quick, To-the-Point, Video Learning from Ray Jimenez

Ray Jimenez has posted up some wonderful "Wacky Videos" as he calls them on his Videos on 3 Minute eLearning. The great thing is there is nothing wacky about them at all. They are quick and to the point on a multitude of topics. He refers to them as being different because they are not all full of glitz and glam, high budget, action packed, big-star, block busters. Exactly what makes them great.

The learner does not get distracted by too many unnecessary visuals. You only need to listen and concentrate and the clear precise message that Ray shares are wonderful learning tips. Another nice feature is if you are more keen to visual presentations, then there is something to watch Mr. Ray him self. However, if you are a learner who likes to multi-task and listen to material as you work, then no fear as you are not missing charts or animation.

Here are a few that I really enjoyed and learned from today.
2.03 - Two Trainer Dieseases: Control-itis and Content-itis
2.04 - e-Learning Behaviors How People Learn Online
3.02 - What is 3-Minute e-Learning?
4.09 - Reviews and Assessments: Not the Same

(Okay really I liked them all) - Thanks for the production Ray.

The Day After Earth Hour

I was happy to see many places last night observing Earth Hour, even if it was just dimming lights in stores. At least something was being done and participation occured. I happened to be at a Montana's restaurant (Newmarket) just before 8pm and asked if they were participating. I was expecting a yes as all staff members were also wearing TapProject.ca shirts, and that is exactly what I heard. They were indeed dimming their lights.

My friend and I then went in to Chapters (like Borders in the US) and I ask a worker as soon as I went in if they were observing Earth Hour. He informed me that we had just missed the message that they were shutting down as many banks of lights as they could. I can understand in a business where being able to see the books is going to be the only way to sell the product, I was happy to hear/see they were at least reducing energy consumption.

A drive along Yonge St. at 8:40pm showed that the mall had turned off all parking lot lights, most of the store front signs and thier scrolling displays boards were off. McDonald's had dimmed their lights, turned off their "Golden Arches" and all exterior lights. Jack Astor's restaurant was in complete darkness, you could see they were using little or no lighting onon all exterior signs and inside it appeared to be candle lit - an impressive job. Walmart did not appear to be dimmed from outside, but I do know during energy crunches in the summer that they always participate, so I expect that they as well turned off many banks. Then my final destination for the evening was the theatre. Yes, I should have stayed home in the dark, but made my plans without thinking. I was surpised when we pulled up to see so many lights on. But once inside they did have the normal lights over the ticket counter and all around the food stand off. They had the displays off going into each theatre and it also appeared that they were not running any of the normal presentations that roll as one is waiting for the show start time.

More impressive was how dark the town was. Most homes seemed to be quite dark with just the odd one having one light turned on. When I called my mother to see if they were abiding by the no lights I was unsurprised to hear the answer. They had for a little while had all the lights out with just a candle going, then drink got split, someone stubbed their foot on a chair, and....well the lights came back on. Again...at least they tried.

I haven't been able to find great results yet of last night's event but I'm sure more and more stats will become available in the next few days.

EARTH HOUR - MARCH 29, 8:00PM (the year - every year from now on)

Google.ca actually made me laugh today. Yes the Canadian Version. Have you seen their homepage today?

By now I hope you and your families, business, organizations have found a way to participate in tonight's global energy saving venture. Everyone around the world has been asked to turn their lights off for one hour. That's it, just your lights. Now imagine everyone in the world doing the same thing, for one hour, at 8:00pm their time. The amount of energy we are all going to be saving will be astounding.

So get out the candles and the boardgames, find someone to snuggle with, tell some stories, have a campfire, go for a walk, have a nap, sing a song. All it takes is one hour of your time to help save a little energy, the environment, our world.

Another way to edit and share photos

A friend of mine shared this editing site with me today, and "looky-here" it's from Adobe. Adobe Photoshop Express allows the user to upload, edit, and share photos.

The Adobe Photoshop Express beta site has the basic tools that you will find on other sites, but also with some cool tools for editing such as pop colour, hue, tint, sketch, and distort. Here are some samples a photo using these tools:


Original:

Pop Colour Sketch Distort

Here's also a sample of the sharing aspect of the site. The one thing I'm not sure I do like is that once you share photos they are up for puclic display. This may not be something for everyone, however there are some great pictures on the site to scan through.

Is Your Blog Your Own?

Yesterday I was approached by someone who was interested in increasing their writing portfolio and offered to write posts for my blog. They would stay true to "good, useful posts/articles on education/college/online education etc." but would like to make sure they had a by-line and a link to their web page.

I found this idea interesting and intriguing, but also a little invasive. It's my blog after all. So turning to Brent Schlenker, I ask for his opinion and advice (once again). He too thought he may have been approached by the same person; or is it a coincidence we got the same email from 2 different people. Brent suggested that, "if your blog is a brand and you are serving a group of readers then it might be a good thing. In this case, any time you can add value to your brand, whether its your content or not, its a good thing."

I'm still unsure how I feel about this co-authoring. I'm not sure I'm at the point yet to open my blog in this way. I'm not sure that I my blog has a "brand", but that's a great thing to think about and strive towards.

I'm curious as to what other think about this idea. Is your blog your own? Is it only to capture your learning experiences and items you find to be interesting? Or is it something more? Was your blog once yours and now serves a much larger audience?

2008 Annual Gathering 3 Weeks Away

Need I say more.....hope to see some of you there.

LMS Implentation Tips

It's a great feeling that after blogging for almost a year now, that I'm being requested to answer questions and give my opinion on various topics. I certainly am no expert in anything, but it is great to pass on experiences and opinions to others, as I have requested the same from many new colleagues I have met through blogging.

I had someone ask me yesterday about my LMS implantation and could I recommend anything after going through the "ordeal" (oh yes, people warned me, but would I listen...)

Some key primary things I wish I had known then:

• you want a very robust system to create content - interactive content
• content can be created and imported by a wide variety of tools (video, audio, PPT, Doc, xls, pdf, swf, basically anything you can think of and more)
• you want a very robust quiz/testing feature (multiple choice, yes/no, essay, matching games, etc, basically anything you can think of and more)
• reporting structure needs to be flexible so you can get the reports you want, but also have many already included, (by student, by course, by instructor, by date, etc)
• be able to import courses that are pre-purchased
• ability to import courses your self (not by the vendor - costs incurred each time)
• user friendly interface for instructors, administrators, and more importantly the students (staff)
• ability to easily interact with your staff database so that students can be created/updated/maintained easily
• easy ability to modify and change the system to suit your organization's needs (internally or by vendor)

My partner-in-crime here at work, Matt - in charge of the intranet side of this project, reminded me today of "How Projects Really Work". Make sure you take a look at this as most projects feel like this and true to form this currently represents our LMS implementation. Matt and I are determined to make it work, but we also would love to start over knowing what we know now. (I'm currently putting in a requisition for 2 super-hero capes....we'll need and deserve them by the end of it all).

Other posts from my LMS Journey:

Friday, September 7, 2007 LMS - I don't want to be Little Miss Should've
Monday, September 24, 2007 LMS Project....A Little More Progress
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 Creating a Nav Model with Mindomo - LMS Project continues
Thursday, October 4, 2007 Is your HR tracking prepared to take on your new LMS?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 LMS Training Finally Here
Thursday, January 3, 2008 LMS - lingers on but isn't getting launched as hoped
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Too many job roles is hindering the LMS launch
Friday, February 8, 2008 Looking for Types of Reports to Get From an LMS
Sunday, March 9, 2008 LMS still not up and going - but I have do have a new question?