aLearning Among the Fearless

Many thanks to Maddie Grant for including me in her list of “Fearless Female Bloggers”! As I mentioned in my comment, this just motivates me to keep raising a ruckus when I see something that needs to be addressed that — for all kinds of reasons — no one else in the association learning world seemed to want to poke a stick at.

 

And congrats to Maddie for making the “original” FFB list at Adria Richards’ Kikolani.com blog!

aLearning Blog Listed as “Most Updated and Popular”

Many thanks to Christopher Pappas at “eFront: News from the e-learning frontier” blog for including the aLearning Blog in his list of “The Most Updated and Popular E-Learning Blogs”!

If you’re looking for more resources to add to your PLE (Personal Learning Environment) on all topics related to elearning, see this eFront blog for recommendations that will keep you busy for hours!

Even More Quick Clicks

As always, aLearning is eager to help save you time and energy by passing along some links you might find of interest and assistance…

LMS:

Learning Solutions magazine features Jessica Athey’s article, “Check It Once, Check It Twice: Your Guide to Choosing the Right LMS.”

Instructional Design and eLearning Design:

Looking for more instructional design and elearning blogs to follow? Christy Tucker’s list at “Experiencing E-Learning” will keep you busy for awhile.
Struggling to move instructor-led training to elearning? Check out: “Don’t Convert! Redesign Instructor-Led Training for eLearning.”

Online Conferences:

Tony Karrer’s eLearning Technology blog has a great checklist in his post, “19 Tips for Effective Online Conferences: eLearning Technology.”

Formal and Informal Learning:

At Karl M. Kapp’s Kapp Notes blog see “Formal Learning All the Way, Baby…” and the comments for an excellent post and discussion about the value of formal “courses” and the role informal learning can play with it.

More Evidence That Learning Styles Are Bunk:

Cathy Moore on a new study concluding what many of us already knew: learning styles are bunk. Her post at “Making Change” summarizes the study (and another one worth reading about) in her post: “Learning Styles: Worth Your Time?”

Is it a speech, presentation, or something else?

A tussle revolving around the notion of speeches, orations, presentations, discussions, and what audiences want and expect waged briefly between David Murray at Vital Speeches of the Day (see the post and comments here) and Olivia Mitchell at Speaking About Presenting, whose original post about what she calls the “third era in presenting” started the ball rolling.

eLearning Library

Every now and then members would call me up and ask if I could refer them to an online course on a certain topic that we as an organization didn’t offer but they needed. If you get similar requests for leads and have almost no time for hunting such courses down, take a look at the OnlineCourses Web site. Though the focus is primarily on academic degree programs, start with their “personal development” page for some ideas on topics that might be relevant to your organization. [Update: 5/31/13. Links removed at the request of the Online Courses administrator.]

Types of Online Educational Simulations

Looking for an easy to read and follow summary of the various types of educational simulations? Karl Kapp’s Kapp Notes post, “Different Types of Educational Simulations,” is just what you need.

Quick Links

You don’t have much time. Every day you field more calls and e-mails than you can count. Your To-Do list trails off the bottom of the page. Every now and then you actually get to check something off that list and it feels like a huge victory.

I know because I’ve been in your shoes, sat behind your desk, stared at your computer screen.

One of the goals of the aLearning blog is to keep an eye on the hundreds of blogs and resources and trends and ideas and developments in elearning, then summarize them here so you get what you need quickly and efficiently.

So here’s your injection of professional development, your aLearning Quick Fix… a summary of some helpful posts from out there in the blogosphere.
Tech Help

Using Articulate? Launching via a Moodle LMS? Need to pass scores, track attendance or pass other information between them? Joe Deegan at eLearning Blender offers some advice for doing just that here: http://joedeegan.blogspot.com/2010/06/articulate-moodle-and-scorm.html

Following the cloud? Amit Gautam summarizes his take on the release of SCORM Cloud that took place June 7. Check out the conversation and links to the SCORM Cloud site to see if it might fit a (non-)LMS need you might have: http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/04/scorm-cloud-will-it-really-change-the-game/

 

Webinar Help

Karen Hyer, Online Session Producer and coach with the eLearning Guild, offers up suggestions for producing your own Webinars in this eLearning Coach interview: http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/webinar-best-practices/

 

eLearning Audit Help

Lars Hyland describes what he calls IMPACT — six categories for reviewing elearning effectiveness, from Interaction to Timing. See the full description at his Lars is Learning blog: http://larsislearning.blogspot.com/2010/06/designing-e-learning-for-impact.html

 

Social Learning Ideas

Eric Davidove at Daretoshare has some thoughts on “Creating Safer Peer-to-Peer Learning Experiences at http://daretoshare.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/creating-safer-peer-to-peer-learning-experiences/

Jeff Hurt gives you “A Blueprint for Socially Augmented Events: The Seven Stages Recap” at Midcourse Corrections: http://jeffhurtblog.com/2010/06/17/blueprint-for-socially-augmented-events-seven-stages-recap/

 

eLearning Design Help

Cathy Moore links to a Webinar recording on using action mapping to design what she calls “lively elearning” here: http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2010/06/how-to-design-action-packed-elearning/

Opinions on Video Streaming of Conference Sessions

First, see Clive Shepherd’s perspective at http://clive-shepherd.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-streaming-brings-events-to-much.html
Then read Mark Berthelemy’s response at his Learning Conversations blog: http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2010/06/16/conferences-presentations-streaming-video-and-conversation?blog=5
Opinions on Whether the LMS is Dead or Just Needs Some Fresh Air

Several elearning experts have been circling around the topic of traditional learning management systems and their need to grow into the current social learning environment… David Mallon at Bersin & Associates has a good summary of the debate (with links, if you have time, to original posts): https://www.bersin.com/blog/post/2010/05/Friday-ReFlects-2—LMS-Edition.aspx

That should make the most of your spare minutes!!

Have links you want to share? Let us know!

LMS Resources

I know, I know. You don’t have time for all of this. You need an LMS and you have a teeny tiny amount of time to spend figuring it all out.

Resist the temptation to skim the surface!! Several studies have revealed that at least HALF of the organizations that invested in an LMS were at least somewhat dissatisfied with their selection! Many orgs find themselves having to pay more than they anticipated to add or change features they thought they were already getting or in the configurations they needed.

One way to reduce the risk that will happen to you is to go into the process as informed as you can be. To help make your search for info more efficient, I’ve compiled a list of blogs/posts with super info on LMSes and LCMSes, and welcome suggestions for others.

Starting Points

A great place to start with a broad picture of LMSes is Connie Malamed’s eLearning Coach interview with Tom Werner of Brandon Hall Research, “Learning Management Systems: Expert Advice.”  

ASTD offers this “Field Guide to Learning Management Systems.”

Choosing an LMS? Lots of resources on this one (a Google search will give you even more):

This TrainingForce post lists basic steps for the LMS process overall as well as some guidelines for what to include in the RFP.

From a techie’s point of view, see “1o Things to Consider Before Choosing an LMS” by Dave Mozealous, an Articulate quality assurance guru.

The E-Learning 24/7 Blog: The Truth and Realities of E-Learning, written by Craig Weiss, elearning and training development specialist and consultant, is a constant source of great info on LMSes. He has so much helpful info on this topic, it’s hard to select just a few posts, but these might be of particular interest include:

• “LMS Moneyball” 
• “LMS Multi-Year Contracts”
• “LMS/LCMS Puzzlers” (on what to demand in good customer service, among other requirements).
• “Product Review: MyUdutu, Udutu Teach, Udutu Learn”

If you’re trying to figure out whether to host your system inside your firewall or have it hosted via the Web, “SAAS LMSs and Vendor Client Lists Questions” is essential reading. 

Looking for ideas on defining your requirements?

Here’s an example of how consultants at Managers Forum assisted some clients in separating what they “needed” from what would be “nice to have.”

And be sure to take a look at Tony Karrer’s “Rapid LMS: eLearning Technology” post in the eLearning Technology blog. His series on LMS RFPs is required reading! Start here: http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2007/10/lms-rfp.html.

Considering Open Source?

A history of Moodle and its incremental growth can be found in the Donald Clark Plan B blog.

Craig Weiss at the E-Learning 24/7 Blog posted his take on the “Pros and Cons on Moodle.” 

And Craig gives us some Open Source LMS options other than Moodle, too.

For general info about open source options, see: http://opensource.com/

Keeping in mind that UpsideLearning wants to sell you their own LMS, Amit Gautam’s post on “The Real Cost of a Free (Open Source) LMS!” raises some important concerns that you need to weigh before you jump headlong into Moodle or other open source options. Amit knows LMSes — making the Upside Learning Solutions Blog one of my regular reads.

Another blog with some thoughtful advice about open source options (and from another LMS vendor’s point of view, so take that into consideration as you read) is Manish Gupta’s “When or When Not to Use Open Source LMS?” at the G-Cube Solutions blog.

More Helpful LMS Blogs!

Looking for more LMS-oriented blogs? Amit Gautam has his own list of  Top 13 LMS and Learning Technology Blogs (and we’re pleased that aLearning made this list!).

Resist the temptation to take shortcuts by skimming past the great info that’s out there. Make sure you’re not one of those dissatisfied LMS clients — go into the process as knowledgeable and prepared as you can be!