eLearning Roadtrip

My "Roadtrip Service Announcement" for the eLearning Guild.

Every so often I am reminded that while eLearning may be a practice that some of us have been doing for a long time, for many others eLearning is a great big shiny world of new opportunity. Whether you are an old-timer or a newbie, staying on top of what's going on is critical for future success.

Sage Road and WCET recently completed a learning technologies industry overview, paying particular attention to finding associations that provide community, collegiality and resources for people working at some point along the elearning value chain. Frankly, we did the work because we wanted to know where WCET fit in that particular ecosystem, which groups were already providing services (so we could avoid stepping on their toes), and which other like minded folks with whom we could collaborate going forward. And we have our niche pretty well identified and defined. More on that in an upcoming blogpost.

Let me start by saying that there are a lot of groups out there doing great work to help (online learning pros, educators, trainers, sales trainers, product roll-out specialists) learn how to leverage eLearning more effectively. I participate in many of them. e.g., Going to the USDLA conference next week. Keynoting at the upcoming Sloan -C summer 2010 conference. Chairing the 2011 program committee for ASTD TechKnowledge. And, of course, we're hosting what will be a great event for WCET's Annual conference in La Jolla

And still, I find that when it comes to finding information I need for making eLearning work that the place I personally turn first continues to be the eLearning Guild. As many know I've been a long-time Guild member. So when people ask me where they can go to get started learning about elearning, I almost always point to the Guild first.

As this has happened several times this week I thought it appropriate to post my "RSA" for the month - If you are just getting started with eLearning you should check out the Guild. Lots of great resources. publications, and magazines and research reports. In fact, there is a rapidly growing series of Getting Started Research Reports, more than 50 articles tagged “Getting Started” and published by Learning Solutions Magazine. Lots of data about the broad eLearning ecosystem, such as salaries and most typically used tools.

As the Guild CEO, David Holcombe, has noted "We’re actively reach out to those who are new to e-Learning because eventually they all become seasoned high-end e-Learning pro’s. Whether you work in education or government, small business or large enterprise, I think you will find the Guild to be one of your best friends if you want to know how to create and build elearning solutions of all kinds, from courseware to mobile apps.

National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity Stays Alive

From Inside Education April 26, 2010

U.S. Accreditation Advisory Panel Lives: The U.S. Education Department on Friday announced the formal (if still tentative) resuscitation of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, which advises the education secretary on accreditation issues and grants federal recognition to accreditors. Congress killed the last iteration of the panel in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, but planned for its re-creation in different form, with appointees by both branches of Congress as well as the Education Department. The panel now has not met since 2008, but the department's announcement Friday said that the committee would meet in mid-September -- if the House of Representatives makes its appointments to the panel, to which Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the U.S. Senate have already made theirs.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

If you have been involved in academic distance learning you know about the University of Texas System TeleCampus.  As it says on the UTTC wesite the Telecampus works with all 15 UT System institutions to build and deliver high-quality online courses, degree programs and support services for distance learners in its mission to expand the reach of the UT System.

Since launching in 1998, UTTC has partnered with hundreds of UT faculty members at UT institutions to serve more than 86,000 enrollments in more than 30 online degree and certificate programs. UTTC partners with the same faculty that teach on campus, and provides a full spectrum of training and support services for both faculty and students. UTTC also provides grants to UT institutions to help fund course and program development, including faculty course release time, instructional design support, and course production.

Today's Inside Higher Education carried a story on the decision of the Chancellor of the University of Texas System in which the UTTC was praised for its leadership, their mission was declared a success and the entire staff was laid off. Headline of story: Texas Kills TeleCampus.

There are a number of references to vague dissatisfaction about licensing duplication, and murmuring of taxes for services. Mumblings of how the campuses "owned" courses and students, the TeleCampus didn't (which, is how it's always worked, was designed that way.) Anyway I leave it to you read the fine article.

So here's where I get to vent a bit. And this has nothing to do with WCET. I am just a cranky UTTC stakeholder.

Apparently the University of Texas System leadership doesn't understand that technology companies typically don't mess with Texas - not with Marge Knox protecting licensing at the UT Austin campus, and with Darcy Hardy at the helm of the TeleCampus. We tremble with respect. So I'm thinking that some of these dis-satisfied murmuring may have more to do with other issues best left alone. All I can say is...Gonna be an ugly moment when the Deciders understand just how many Texans are going to find their dreams of completing their degrees compromised by this poorly considered decision.

There continues to be shocking naivete about how system wide academic, library and student services have to inter-operate to make sure things are seamless. I expect there is also a bit of arrogance and hubris at play as well. Desperate times make some people behave desperately. And despicably, I might add. "Thank you for your service excellence. You are canned." Yee Ha.

Sometime people forget that what they may see as duplication is just another part of an interactive system. UTTC made distance education look easy, because they are so good at it. Very few multi-campus distributed learning/management/services systems in the world have ever achieved their metrics. 

There are many institutions, foundations, NGOs and corporations that turn to the UTTC for ideas about how to create systems, online learning and student support services that are the gold standard for quality online learning in the US. So it's particularly sad to watch these goings on at a time when people are crying for better access to academic opportunities, better student retention, more student completion, and when  demands for quality online education is exploding.

I admit it - I'm biased. I'm on the UTTC advisory board. Have been for several years. I've seen the program grow, watched the staff achieve the very things that people long for in an online learning program: student retention in the mid-90%. An exemplary business - profitable in the terms of how it is funded, with steady year on year growth. I've seen what these folks been able to achieve, up close and personal. A fabulous team. Like I said, award winning and world class.

Will be interesting to see the story evolve. This just feels not quite right - at least not the way it's being represented in the system PR. I do hope that the academic press spends some time poking around. Even more than that - I hope that SREB can help the thousands of students whose program just got cut apart with some online course exchange assistance.

"Roadtrip Service Announcement" - Changes in Federal Distance Ed Policy: How You Can Respond

Every so often we offer "Roadtrip service announcements" about events and activities that align with the projects that we are working on.  I especially like to highlight events where colleagues are featured.

Magna Publications will be sponsoring a webinar on “Changes in Federal Distance Ed Policy: How You Can Respond,”  on April 15th. The program will cover the latest developments in Washington regarding distance education, including: student authentication, financial aid fraud, diploma mill legislation, accrediting agencies, and funding for the American Graduation Initiative.  You will also receive recommendations on actions your college should take and resources for staying informed as these issues evolve.   

Russ Poulin from WCET will co-present with Fred Lokken (Truckee Meadows Community College and the Instructional Technology Council) on the April 15 webcast. WCET members receive a 10% discount on their webinar registration.

Contact Magna Publications <http://www.magnapubs.com/wcet/100415.html?s=wcet&p=wcet>  directly for more information and to register.Publish

Mobile Trends that Matter for 2010

CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, dedicated to expanding the wireless frontier. Its most recent annual conference was held in Las Vegas March 23-25. It is considered a leading industry trade show and premiere marketplace for all things wireless (e.g. what we need for our cell phones and personal digital devices like iTouches, iPhones and now iPads, at 2.5G, 3G, and 4G).

I enjoy tracking events like this since it is such a great place to find mobile industry statistics. I used to be totally fascinated by the possibilities for mobile learning until I came to understand that the swirling world of mobility was even more fascinating. I've been was especially interested in this year's CTIA conference, given the outrageous growth in interest in all things mobile this year.

During the recent event, the CTIA released the results of its Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey. Some interesting data tidbits: 257 million data-capable devices in consumers' hands. 50 million of these are smart-phones or wireless-enabled PDAs, and nearly 12 million are wireless-enabled laptops, notebooks or aircards. As of December 2009, there were over 285 million wireless connections in the United States.

The conference was also a great reason for press releases and summary reports. Here are some of the highlights of CTIA's 2010 in Review Top Trends in Mobile:

• 4G Networks - Imagine having the network speeds you have become accustomed to at home on your mobile device. Sprint is the first to market with WIMAX, in 27 cities and 15 more by the end of the year. When it is released this summer the HTC EVO 4G will be the first commercially available phone to use WIMAX. AT&T and Verizon are backing a network specification called LTE (Long Term Evolution) that won't be available for another year.
• Android - Android, the open-source system for mobile feature and smartphones, was the big platform winner at CTIA, with new handsets and tablets announced by a variety of manufacturers.
• Mobile Video - Cisco CTO Padmassree Warrior (I follow her on Twitter at @padmassree) asserted that by 2013, 91% of all Internet traffic will be video content. She also noted that video will constitute 66% of all mobile network traffic by 2013. Mind-blowing.
• Internet of Things - @padmassree also noted that by the end of 2010 we can expect to see 35 billion devices connected to the network, by 2013 that number is expected to climb to 1 trillion. These include RFID chips, Bluetooth, network-connected sensors and other devices beyond phone and laptops that will increasingly be talking to each other.

(Kinda nice to see that the Roadtrip has been been following the right trends. There have been several posts on Internet of Things, mobility and Internet video.) Looks like it is going to be a great year for the "unplugged" crowd.

By the way, do you have your iPad yet?

#LS2010 Trip Report: ID Pecha Kucha, New Skills for IDs, and More

I spent last week (March 22-26) at the Hilton Hotel at Walt Disney World for the eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions 2010 conference in the company of many of my fellow elearning professionals. Cammy Bean described the scene as "spring break for elearning geeks". It was another great gathering hosted by David Holcombe, Heidi Fisk and the eLearning Guild crew.

There have quite a number of excellent blogposts about the conference. I refer you to  Cammy Bean, Gina Minks, Claudine Caro  Mark Oehlert (and by the way, Mark, my PK session wasn't illegal).

Rather than report on the big general conference activities here are the highlights of my week in Orlando:

• I was a member of the faculty for Dr. Marc Rosenburg's eLearning Foundations Intensive workshop. This was a Guild-sponsored 2-day institute that preceded Learning Solutions 2010, providing attendees with a deep dive on various key points in the successful e-learning practitioner's workflow. Cammy and I gave a presentation on the Differences Between Classroom ID and eLearning ID. It was great to meet the many newcomers to the elearning professional who participated, and to see so many long-term friends who were there sharing their various insights, tips and advice.
• I had the pleasure of dining with Wayne Hodgins, Futurist and Fellow, Autodesk, Inc. and Dr. Erik Duval, Professor at KU-Leuven Antwerp, Belgium.  A fantastic opportunity to learn more about their work on the "Snowflake Effect" of mass customization.
• It was excellent to have time to brainstorm with Dr. Phil Ice, American Public University System and Justin Beals, RoundBox Global.
• It is always wonderful seeing the eLearning Guild crew. What a great group. Thank you everyone.
• It was very nice to spend time with the Kineo team.What great energy!!
• I was glad to catch up on developments with LETSI. Thank you, Avron Barr.
• So great to see so many industry friends and colleagues!!!
• I really enjoyed presenting with Cammy Bean and Koreen Olbrish. "New Skills for IDs" was one of the high point of the conference for me. Thank you, ladies!! We are all very different, all came to ID from very different paths. It was fun to put our heads together to consider what the IDs of today and tomorrow need to be able to do to be successful. It was during this session that I gave my very first every pecha kucha presentation, Entitled "Secret Handshakes of ID". 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide. Whew.I am fortunate (??) that Cammy had her Flip camera with her - she recorded the whole thing and it is now out on YouTube.

Here is a link to the YouTube recording of my pecha kucha session. I like this idea so much I am going to be hosting a Pecha Kucha Salon at the November WCET conference. Have already been in touch with Jean Snow from the PK 20 X 20 Foundation in Tokyo to make sure we are a fully sanctioned PK event.

Here is a link to the (Download) PechaKucha that I used in the presentation. There is no recorded narration for these slides. I'll need to get around to that, and then can submit to the PK 20 x 20 gallery. BTW the photos are either licensed through iStockphoto, or they are photographs that I have taken myself.

Here is a link to the SlideShare version of the presentation that Cammy Bean and Koreen Olbrish and I gave on Friday March 26, in which I delivered the "Instructional Design Secret Handshakes" pecha kucha session featured in my YouTube video. 

Thanks to all for a productive, insightful, engaging few days.

"Sorry Flash, You're out of luck"

I have a special fondness for Flash. Having worked at Macromedia in the years before it was purchased by Adobe, and then staying with Adobe for a few years after the acquisition was completed, I came to know a fair amount about this great little vector graphic program that made web animation work.  One should be aware of nuances when talking about Flash. You know you are looking at Flash animations when your file extension ends with a ".swf". SWF is to web animations that PDF is to written documents. Somewhere near 50% of all SWF development tools come from companies other than Adobe. An FLA file is also Flash. This is used to designate files used during development; FLV files are used for working with Flash video. Flash Player is needed to play Flash content on devices. It is currently on approximately 97% of computers in the world. It differs from Flash Professional, which is a scripting-level development tool. Flex and Flashbuilder are being used to develop all kinds of new apps and RIAs.

One would have to have been living on a desert island to have missed the sniping between Apple and Adobe about not being able to play Flash-based content on the iPhone and the iPad. Steve Jobs has been slapping Adobe for being lazy, slamming Flash for being bloated and inefficient. And on and on.

So I was amused when I saw this cartoon in my local Sunday paper. Bill Amend's Foxtrot is my favorite comic strip. I subscribed to the San Francisco Chronicle for a number of years for my daily fix of nerdy Jason and the rest of his family. Foxtrot now shows up on Sundays. And this is what showed up on Sunday March 21st. I'm still snickering.

I once asked Bill if I could use his comics in some presentations I was doing, and  he said it was okay with him if I wasn't making any money on it. Hope his agency agrees. Enjoy!