I was reflecting on some of the eLearning projects on which I have worked recently and marveled at the variety of topics these covered. These have included career planning, financial reporting, dealing with workplace hazardous materials, landscape design and construction, golf course design, and greenhouse management, to name a few. Am I an expert in…
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It always amazes me when I attend eLearning conferences, read eLearning articles, or listen to technology vendors talk about eLearning, that the topic of how people actually learn rarely enters the debate. It is like having an 800-pound gorilla in the room that we choose to ignore. For me, however, getting at how people actually…
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In a previous post, I stated that real interaction in learning happens in the learner’s mind, and not via the mouse. Someone has asked for clarification on this point. I traced down the origin of this distinction, and it comes from a great thinker on workplace learning, and keen advocate for active learning, Thiagi Thiagarjan.…
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I have talked a lot lately about the wisdom of “in-sourcing” the competencies needed to produce good eLearning – competencies and expertise that you may not have on hand. For example, I understand the important role that good graphic design plays in communicating a message and in engaging learners on different levels, but I can’t…
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A few years ago, one of our clients asked me to review an online training simulation and provide feedback on its effectiveness. The simulation was titled ExperienceCSR, developed by a Toronto-based company called ExperiencePoint. It takes a participant through a process of planning and implementing a corporate social responsibility program within a fictional organization. You…
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I can’t seem to read a training journal, magazine, or conference abstract lately without hearing about blended learning. It seems that everyone is in search of the holy grail of the perfect mix of classroom and online, real-time and anytime, instructor-led and self-service learning. What is the perfect mix? Well, it depends. Most specifically, it…
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One of the great things about working in the eLearning field is the variety it affords. In the last year, for example, I have developed eLearning courses or online job aids that teach people how to: use software; manage greenhouses; work safely with hazardous materials; provide support for individuals with special needs; design landscapes; run…
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Some time ago I was learnnig Mandarin Chinese via ChinesePod. Based in Shanghai, ChinesePod broadcasts daily online audio lessons. These are free of charge. For a fee, however, learners anywhere with an Internet connection can also get access to lesson transcripts, dialogue breakdowns, vocabulary expansion examples, exercises, tone charts, a grammar bank, etc. On top…
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It is that time of year again – the start of a new semester. And along with the start of a new semester will come a great many training sessions and workshops for faculty and teaching assistants on how to use their organization’s learning management system. Inevitably, such sessions will focus on the mechanics of…
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We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us. Winston Churchill I am often reminded of Churchill’s wisdom concerning architecture when conducting quality audits on online courses for clients in the post-secondary sector. By this, I mean the technology we use to create online courses greatly effects how we end up teaching online. The learning management…
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